These are all little things that I like to do, but every little bit helps! And, it puts you in a frugal state of mind.

1. Save the wrappers off of butter/margarine. They are excellent to "grease" baking dishes and butter corn on the cob. Saves on non-stick cooking sprays.

2. Use the juice in canned fruit to make Jello. It adds extra nutrients and saves water.

3. Skimp on some ingredients. If I'm making chocolate chip cookies and the recipe calls for 1 cup, I use 3/4 cup. No one notices the difference, and the savings add up.

4. Always use the last of the icing! If I have icing left over, it goes in the frig. We can use is later for quick snacks like iced graham crackers. Or, I put t over banana bread or pumpkin bread for added flavor.

5. Use any leftovers you can! Use them for snacks or lunch. Better yet, repurpose them. Last night I made a casserole from our lefover spaghetti dinner. I put the spaghetti dinner leftovers in a casserole dish and covered with shredded cheese. A whole new dish that cost very little!

6. Freeze fruit before it goes bad. I always slice bananas, apples, etc. and freeze them before they have a chance to go bad. Later I can use them as ingredients in breads, pies or smoothies or as a snack! For instance, if DD only eats half a banana, freeze the rest in a resealable bag. That way I can add to it later.

7. Save leftover vegetables for soup. I keep a large container in my freezer. All leftover veggies get put in it. When it's full (usually after a month or two), I add beef or chicken stock for a yummy soup.

8. Reuse disposable containers when possible. I use butter bowls, cottag cheese cartons, yogurt containers to send home leftovers with others. That way they don't have to return the container. I also reuse certain reclosable bags. I keep homemade frozen pacakes in a bag. I wrote "pancakes" in permanent marker on it. Now, when it is emptied, it goes in the freezer door and waits to be refilled.

9. Use bread heels! I tear mine into pieces and freeze for dressing or to make bread crumbs. If we are low on sandwich bread, I sometimes use my bread knife to "shave" off the crusty end. I also disguise heels by putting them crusty side in when I make grilled cheese or PBJ.

10. Always crack eggs in a separate dish before adding to a mix. This way if you have a bad egg or get shell in the egg, you won't ruin the mix. And, shells are easier to get out! This one is especially important if you are baking with kids that haven't learned the art of cracking eggs yet!

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Homeschooling Mom to Daniel (13 Years), Andrew (10 Years), Stephen (8 Years) and Emily (4 Years)

Great tips! I do most of them already but you suggested a few new good ones !

Some things I hadn't thought of even though I do already do a few of them. Thanks!

you can keep dryer sheets to dust with and i like to clean our tv and pc screens with them.
or use them to start a camp fire you can keep lint to do that with too...so if you little guy is a boy scout, bag up your lint.

Thanks for the great tips. I already do a few of them, but you have listed several that I hadn't thought of. I especially like the idea of freezing fruit. DD rarely eats a whole banana.

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DS - 9
DD - 6