Does Gardening Really Save You Money?

As I’m starting my seeds and getting ready for the gardening season, I have to ask myself if I’m really saving anything.  Or if its just the first year, start up costs that have me down.

Go vote in the poll about it. :)  You knew that was coming.  Long term gardeners, short term, anyone can vote.  They’re simple answers, so please, if you have some insight to share, comment!  I can’t be the only one who wants to know. :)

Technorati Tags: Gardening,Polls,Saving Money

Saving Money: Reducing Household Cleaning Costs

Image by bradleygee via Flickr

Saving money on cleaning supplies can be a large issue in most households. Far too many households have more cleaning supplies then they need. You do not need a product to clean everything in your house. Narrow it down to five for one week, and if you do not like how the products clean, then keep throwing your money away.

All a household needs is some sort of multi-purpose cleaner, a disinfectant, a floor cleaner and glass cleaner. The only exception would be if you have specialty woods, or something else that honestly needs its own special cleaner. Now the average household does not have 4 or 5 cleaning products, in fact, most households have at least 10. And that's not including the specialty items, or the "I tried it and it doesn't work" products. Take a look under your sink (or wherever else you keep your cleaners), what do you see? I thought so. Throw them out. Seriously. Can you even find your regular cleaners?

Take it down to basics, and you'll be surprised that you ever lived with all those products. Who wants to lug 7 products with them just to clean a bathroom? I sure don't. I use products that make cleaning easier on me. I'm a single Mom, I don't have time to lug that many cleaners to the bathroom, the bathroom would never get cleaned. I also use products that last me a long time. The only exception to that rule is the Swiffer Wet Jet pads.

A total list of my cleaning products: Simple Green (multi-purpose), Bleach (disinfectant), Swiffer Wet Jet (ha ha, I'm lazy), Windex (glass cleaner), Fabreeze (I like it), Tide (Laundry Detergent), Dawn (Dish Detergent), cheapo Dishwasher Powder (stain remover). Yeah, that's it. And that's including those that weren't included on the above list. That's really all you need!

Getting the most out of your products isn't hard either. Simple Green lasts me forever, as do the rest of my cleaners, because I ignore what the bottles say. Simple Green is meant to be dilluted, so I have two spray bottles and one large bottle of it. And I've had that large bottle for over a year. One spray bottle is diluted for regular cleaning, and one undilluted for some serious heavy duty cleaning. Bleach can be diluted, and works just as well. Straight bleach is bad for you, you can develop contact allergies to it. Ask me how I know. With laundry detergent, use only about 1/2 of that silly cap. If you really need to cut costs, use 1/4. If you use a full cap, most of your money is going down the drain with the suds, it doesn't clean any better. I get at least 104 loads out of a 52 load bottle of Tide. Lower the amount of dish detergent you use as well, you only need about the size of a dime. Ignore those high priced stain removers...that $2 box of cheap Dishwasher detergent works better. Can also be used instead of OxyClean. For the most part I do use name brands, as I find I get far more mileage out of them, no reactions, and I use far less of the product. That can add up to significant savings, especially if you use coupons.

If you are really strapped for cash, use what you already have around the house. Vinegar cleans and disinfects just about anything, from windows to your toilet. I think it smells better too. Use up left over shampoos, conditioners, bars of soap, body wash...you name it...and use that as a cleaner. I use it in my toilet, and I think I have the best smelling one around! Obviously the cleansers work best, but I mix mine all up. Just a squirt and you are off running. Dab some vinegar if you are worried about germs, but frankly, if its good enough to clean my body, its good enough for everything else too! Vinegar can also be used as fabric softener, without harming your septic. Use cheap Dollar store cloths instead of paper towels, then toss them in the wash.

As you can see, there are tons of ways of saving money just with your cleaning products! I'm sure there are even more tips out there...I just haven't discovered them all yet! Feel free to let me know if you have one that I didn't cover here.

For the online/bulk shoppers:

Tide Free HE 2x Concentrated Liquid Detergent, 64-Load Bottle (Pack of 4)
Simple Green 13022 All Purpose Cleaner. 22 oz.
DRA90135CT JohnsonDiversey Windex Trigger Glass Cleaner


~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Saving Money: Coupons And Recipes From Pillsbury

Hurry and enjoy Spring recipes for free! Sign up for the Pillsbury newsletter and be able to browse their extensive database of recipes, and print coupons directly from Pillsbury.com They have an online recipe box for saving your favorites, or those you want to try, and you can even print out a grocery list based on them. Go check it out!

Sign Up Now!

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Keeping Household Supply Costs Down

Image by leff via Flickr

As I was digging around, editing some of my AC articles, I ran across 5 Tips To Cut Costs Year Round, that I had written back in January. Its a fairly straight forward article, and I realized how much doing what I had outlined had saved. The only trick I don't use currently is vinegar...working at Wal-Mart ruined the scent for me. Even though it fades quickly!

The detergent tip is one of my favorites. I'm still running off the same bottle of detergent! Its about empty now, but I can still get more loads out of it. And when my detergent costs $15 a bottle, the longer I can go before buying, the better!

Check out the article, and let me know if any of the tips work for you! If you have other tips, feel free to share! I know there's a ton out there that I don't know yet.
~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Cutting Costs: Quitting Smoking

Image by Saquan Stimpson/monstershaq2000 via Flickr

One of the latest ways I am cutting costs is by quitting smoking. Yes there are other reasons, but besides energy, this is my second most important reason. Currently a carton of my cigarettes costs me $60. I buy one carton about every two weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less. That's $120 a MONTH! Assuming the price doesn't change in a 12 month period (and we all know it will), that's $1440 a year. No wonder I never had any money.

Not that quitting smoking in itself is cheap. If you go the patch route, you are looking at about $40 a box. That's some upfront cost. Of course there are cheaper versions, I've seen them at half that in stores such as Wal-Mart and Target. I personally had skin reactions to the cheaper versions, so I knew to avoid them. Why add to my distress?

But lets take a moment to do the math. Assuming you do the full program (2 weeks on each level, 3 levels) at $40 a box...that costs you (drumroll please) $120. That's 6 weeks of nicotine people! For the price it is currently costing me for 4 weeks of smoking. So lets cull the price of quitting from our yearly savings. That's still $1320 you will save in a year. What could you do with that money? Go on vacation? Put it towards your mortgage?

Personally I could never actually save that money. If I were still working, I definitely would. But freelance isn't a steady gig right now. But if I could, I'd probably save for a car, a nice shiny new one. And I'd pay cash. Granted at the current prices, it would take me quite awhile to do with only saving that amount. But it would be worth it in the end. :)

I did start a blog detailing my quitting smoking journey here on Blogger. Of course I had to have a new one. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Free Program Spotlight: Associated Content

As far as online, Associated Content is where I make most of my money. I'm still fairly new in the grand scheme of Associated Content, but I'm loving it so far.

The premise is simple, write articles and get paid for it. You can write an article on whatever your little heart desires, and submit it for upfront payment or for just page views. You can earn twice on the same article, once from upfront, then again for your page views.

And Associated Content DOES pay, with no payout threshold. You earn it, you get it. Its an amazingly fast turn around in comparison to other sites out there. You choose how much of your rights to give away. And its completely free to sign up. You pay nothing to earn money. Ever.

The downside to Associated Content is they are a growing site, so they have the bugs and quirks that many others do. I haven't had any problems yet, but others have. They sometimes take awhile to go through your submitted articles, but its all worth it in my eyes. If you expect everything to run perfectly, then get offline. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

New SwagCode

Ha ha, as if using the lyrics of one of my fave songs wasn't enough. One of those lyrics is wrong. The first 750 to guess the right lyric get the SwagBuck. Guess you're just too blind to see it. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Save Money, Shop Online

One of my favorite ways to save money is by shopping online.

That almost seems like it would cost you more money, especially with the surges in "online shopping" addictions. But if handled responsibly, I find I save more money then all the coupon clipping in the world.

• You can instantly see the total. This is a big one for me, as I am horrible about mentally calculating how much my purchase is going to cost. Then I get nailed with sticker shock, and end up buying it all.
• No trip, no gas. Another big one, since I often have to make a special trip to be able to shop at my favorite stores. I live in the country, and one run can cost me over 4 gallons of gasoline.
• Less impulse buying. Oh yes, I'm one of those. I see and want it. Even if I don't need it. I am a lot less likely to do so online, based on the fact that I know what I'm spending, and I'm usually looking for something specific.
• More time. No more standing in line waiting for your turn to cash out. I also hate it when I make a special trip to a store and they don't have what I want.

Of course there are downsides to shopping online. Having to return a product, not being able to try things on, shipping costs. Some companies will send you labels for online purchases so that you can return items, others do not. Most do allow you to return in store, so grab it when you feel like making a trip. Shipping costs haven't been a big deal for me, especially with so many stores offering shipping deals...including free shipping.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

A New Path

Image by Darren Hester via Flickr

Well, I have officially hit the bottom of one income living...not having an income! At least a steady income. I fought as hard as I could to keep my job, not because I enjoyed it, but because it was a steady stream of something. I could count on that money every other week, just by showing up.

But I'm not worried about what the future holds, or even really concerned about the lack of income. Little scared about relying on myself, but I'm mostly excited for the challenge. It gives me what I want most, my freedom.

The freedom to fail or succeed. And its all up to me. Yikes.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

SwagCodes: SwagCode Alert

Hurry and grab this code! Only valid for the first 318 people who nab it. MVP Quarterback is BRADSHAW. Riddle from SwagBucks Blog. Worth one SwagBuck

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

SwagCodes: New SwagCode Alert

New SwagCode, worked for me as of a minute ago. Not sure when it expires, so get there quick! The Code is BeRewarded. Good luck!

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

SwagCodes Code Alert

Just got LAVONNERULES in my Twitter, worked for one Swagbuck. Not sure when it ends, so hurry and give it a try! :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Amazon Deal Of The Day And Lightning Deals

Today's Deal Of The Day!

Hyloft 540 45-by-45-Inch Overhead Storage System

Lightning Deal! Only a little over an hour left. :)

Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator



~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

SwagCodes Code Alert

This one only lasts two hours, it was posted on Facebook! Type in Jan0809 to receive one free Swagbuck! It expires at 3:30pm PST, which is 6:30 EST.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Online Money Making Programs

Just a quick note to help you navigate the programs on this site. I have them broken down into Recommended Programs and Program Testing Ground for a reason. I even put them in two different spots so that there would be no confusion between the two.

Recommended Programs are the programs in which I have actually received the money or prize, and they were within the time frame stated on the site. These are the ONLY programs I am actually recommending. They pay, pay on time, and are easy to use. Oh yeah, and free to join.

Program Testing Ground is just that. They are still in the testing phase of my online endeavors. Join these at your own risk. Many of them have come highly recommended by numerous others, but until I get the cold hard cash in my hand, or the gift card in the mail, or whatever the result is...they will remain in the testing phase.

I refuse to promote any program in this blog that I haven't actually tested. You are always more then welcome to join me in testing these programs out, but be aware that I have yet to receive even one payment from them. So do so at your own risk.

As a side note, all programs on this site will be free to join.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

SwagCodes

Hurry and get this SwagCode, good for 1 Swagbuck. You only have until 12 PST (that's midnight) to claim it! The code is VideoGames.

And if you didn't get it already, I believe freeswag is still available. Its still showing on the ad, so give it a try and see. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Free Program Spotlight - MyPoints

Current MyPoints Earnings: 710 points

I absolutely adore Mypoints. They are a godsend for a single mother. I've redeemed several times, and the gift cards always come in within 6 weeks. And they actually work, unlike a couple of other programs I have tried that shall forever remain nameless. I've used the gift cards for birthday presents, anniversary presents, Christmas presents and they have seriously saved my rearend when I'm flat broke and need toilet paper!

The premise

MyPoints rewards you for reading email, taking advantage of offers and playing games. There are many ways to earn with MyPoints, and all points are redeemable for gift cards to over 70 well known merchants. You also earn points by shopping online and printing coupons. MyPoints has over 400 merchants to shop through. The possiblities are endless with MyPoints. They even have a toolbar you can use to simplify the process. With a click you can shop, search (and earn points), see your account balance or visit the page. They are 100% free to join, and most offers require no money or credit cards.

I personally have redeemed for gift cards to Barnes & Nobles, Starbucks, Walmart and Bath & Body Works. The points add up really fast, even if you do nothing more then just verify that you read the email. I would suggest creating a new email account at Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail for this and any other site, so you do not have to clutter up your personal or work account. I've never had any problem with spam mail from this site, but others are not as scrupulous. And it helps to keep everything in one place!

If you want to join, send me an email and I get 250 points for referring you. I just need an email and a first name (can be a psuedonym). All that does is send you an invitation, and your email will be used for no other reason. I hate spam. Of course you are more then welcome to sign up yourself. :)

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~

Secondhand Children's Clothes In Danger

Image by david_s_carter via FlickrWell isn't this awful? It appears that Congress has passed a law that states that anything being sold for children 12 and under must be tested for lead prior to selling. Which includes clothing items, as well as secondhand objects.

New Safety Rules For Children's Clothing Have Stores In A Fit

With this economy already going downhill, can they really afford to do this? Many secondhand stores will be unable to continue to operate, which means we will all have to buy new clothes for our children. And with the cost of kids clothes nowadays, and the rate they outgrow them, that will be prohibitive for many of us.

I shop secondhand for my 5 year olds clothes as much as I can, although it can be hard to find her size in most shops. I also donate all my daughter's outgrown clothes to them, so that someone else can purchase them for their kids. I hate throwing away perfectly good clothes and toys, but that looks like what is going to have to happen. With as much trash as we generate already, why are we adding more to landfills?

I understand the fear, lead is bad news for anyone, nevermind children. And we've had several lead fears and recalls lately. I want to protect my child as much as anyone, but I want to clothe her too. Here's a thought...why don't we stop outsourcing all our toys and clothing to China and Tawain and maybe make them HERE under our regulations? Gee, but then we wouldn't be able to whine about how we can't control the factories in China.

~*If you know of any money saving tips or tricks that have worked for you, feel free to share them! You can always email me at raiscara.avalon@gmail.com. *~