Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Don't leave home


I have found that one of the things that works best for me is to not leave my house! LOL There are the obvious reasons, such as gas prices, but there is time saving ones as well. It all started when I was pregnant with my twins and put on bed rest. How can you prepare your house for the new bundles of joy if you can't leave? How can you get hard to find items at the grocery store? Would you trust your DH to pick out a book you liked? I was never really computer suave, but it soon became my best friend. Not only can you order books, cars and cloths on-line, but you can get groceries delivered to your door and reserve anything you need for a school project at the library.
The twins are now 4 and I still enjoy these techniques to save time and money. First there is the obvious, if you don't drive you won't have to spend money on gas. On top of that, did you know that every time you enter a store you almost always leave with something besides the item you went in for? If you don't go in. you won't buy extra. I don't have all the links handy but in my area Sam's club does a program where you click your order on-line and they pack it for you. All you have to do is swing by , or have hubby do it after work to save gas, and pick it up at the front desk. We also have an organic store called Plum Good Foods that will deliver right to your door. The list goes on and on, just search in your area. Other services I enjoy is the library being on line. There is no greater pleasure I get than jumping on-line, searching for a book, reserving it and having them call/email me when it's ready. I just run it, or again have hubby do it, pick it up at the front desk. The possibilities here are endless.
Other ways to save by staying home is to not run to the store every time you run out of something, be it food or other. Look around your house and see what you may already have that would work. Run out of sugar? Swap out half the amount of honey and decrease oven temp by 25 if baking. Run out of pasta sauce? Do you have tomato sauce instead? You get the idea. The list is endless. Run out of paper towel? Make some cloth napkins instead with any leftover fabric or out grown cloths. It will save you money, and the environment. Even the toilet paper tubs can be saved when empty. They make great fire starters for camping when stuffed with dryer lint. I recycle computer paper. If the kids only color on one side, I use the other to print out recipes or what not. Same applies for junk mail. Don't throw it away if you can use one side for scratch paper. And save those plastic bags inside of the cereal box. They make a great surface for chopping meat and veggies. Protects your counter, disposable and no cross contamination. Once again, the list is endless. All I am saying is that before you run out the door, make sure you can't use something you already have or take care of it on-line or on the phone.
For more "Works for me Wednesday" check out www.rocksinmydryer.net
Blessings, Beth Ann

3 comments:

MediMonsters said...

Great ideas!! I agree, I don't go anywhere unless I absolutely need to. And I will be trying to use some of your other ideas. TFS!!

Kirstin said...

Great tips. I almost always make homemade spaghetti sauce. It is amazing what we can "make do" with.

Anonymous said...

Love PlumGood Foods! I'm one of those folks who use the net for just about everything.

Helps me keep it simple!