When looking to save money, sometimes it matters less about how much you pay for something and more on how long you can make it last. Here’s a few simple tips to stretch out the use of regular items around your home.
When not using batteries, take them out. Just as with plugged in appliances and electronics, there may be a drain on the battery, even when in the off position. This is especially practical when you won’t be using the product for an extended period, like Christmas decorations. If you’re looking to get the most life out of your battery purchase, go with rechargeable NiMH batteries. You will pay more upfront, but you’ll get hundreds, if not thousands of charges out of the latest brands.
Flip or rotate your mattress every month. This redistributes where you are weighing into the mattress and prevents sagging. Of course, if you have a pillow top mattress you’ll have to settle for just rotating as you can’t flip it over. Using a mattress pad will help prevent stains and can be thrown in the laundry.
Check the instructions on your box or bottle of laundry detergent and make sure you’re using the right amount. There may be multiple lines on the scoop or cap for different load sizes and for dirtier clothes. Want to save even more? Try using a bit less than the suggested line for your load. Most likely, the stains will still come out and the clothes will still smell fresh.
While looking to save money in the laundry room, you may be able to get by on half a dryer sheet. Depending on the brand, you’ll hopefully find that the clothes still come out soft and static free. By tearing your sheets in half, you’ll obviously double the life of your box of dryer sheets!
Properly dry your razor blades. Shake them dry or even blot them with a towel. Putting them away while wet will rust them out and you’ll have to replace them sooner. By drying the blades, you can increase the amount of uses you get from each of your rather pricey blades.
You may be adding toothpaste across the entire head of your toothbrush, you only need about a third to one half that amount. Just make a pearl sized drop on your toothbrush and your tube can last twice as long.
These are just a few of the items I thought of that can easily have their usage increased. Do any readers have some good ideas on how they get the most out of their household items?
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You can cut down on laundry detergent a lot more than “a little less than the line”. I cut my detergent dose nearly in half and the clothes get just as clean.
Don’t forget, “recommended usage” for consumables walks a fine line between the company making sure you use enough so that the product works properly (eg 2ml of laundry detergent won’t clean a full load of muddy clothes) and wanting you to use as much as possible so you have to go out and buy a new bottle/box/tube.
Toothpaste commercials show people using over an inch of toothpaste, but the toothpaste tube says to use a pea-sized amount. Shampoo commercials show people lathering their hair with enough suds to wash a small car, but the bottle says to use a quarter-sized blob.
Or at least the packaging used to say those things, I think those have been removed, in an effort to make you purchase more. I can say with certainty that they have not been removed because it now takes more product to do the same job as less product did in the past!