Moms' 10 Weirdest Tips for Saving Money
My three boys didn't potty train until they were 4 years old. While this had many (many, many) downsides, the one upside is that since I spent so many years doing "the potty party" I learned a few tricks. My favorite one is to go to the thrift store and buy a huge plastic bag of Happy Meal toys for a dollar and use those as rewards for not making me change another diaper. The kids loved the toy, and I loved that they weren't all sugared up. But I'm not the only mom who's discovered an interesting frugal tip:
1. "I save half-eaten apples, cut them up, cook them, and put them through a food mill to make applesauce to feed them that evening." - Lizzy
2. "Before we went to Disneyworld, I bought real Walt Disney World 'souvenirs' on Ebay at a fraction of the cost." - Shellie
3. "We buy oatmeal and wheat and sugar (and things like that) in bulk from a grain supply store instead of the grocery store." - Alice
4. "I never buy my toddler kids meals in restaurants. I just share mine with him cause chances are he will fill up on chocolate milk and his food will end up in the trash anyways." - Sierra
5. "We use Tupperware for lunches instead of plastic baggies." - Lyndsey
6. "I save their Halloween candy to use on the gingerbread houses at Christmas." - Lizzy
7. "I put children's toys in bins in the garage when they stop using them. Last year for Christmas my older two boys 'bought' presents from the bin to give to the 2 year old." - Lisa
8. "I use square cotton flannel receiving blankets or flour sack towels, fold them into a rectangle shape and lay them into a wrap-style diaper cover and fasten onto baby. You can get one-size wrap-style diaper covers online for as little as about $9 and you only need about 2-4 a day so you could diaper a baby from birth to potty training for less than $100." - Melissa
9. "Trade talents with other moms. Like cake decorating for babysitting." - Cate
10. "I take my kids to Costco at lunch time and let them try out all the samples. By the time I've finished my shopping, they've had a well-rounded lunch!" - Julia
What's your strangest frugal tip?
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