One concern that some have about switching to cloth napkins is the cost involved. Here are some ways to save.

1)  Shop for used napkins.  You can find napkins at thrift stores and yard sales.  Many times you can find interesting fabrics and laces that you can no longer find in the stores.

2)  Make your own.  Use scrap fabric that you already have or make them from an old sheet.

3)  Check the dollar store or close out store.  My mom was able to find three packages of napkins at a pottery store for only $1 per pack.  That’s 12 napkins for only $3. 

4)  Ask your mom or grandma.  Mention to your them that you would like to have some cloth napkins and they might just have some shoved in a cabinet somewhere that they haven’t used in years.  Moms and grandmas are good for stuff like that.

5)  Improvise.  We used dish towels for a few days and my hubby and I actually like these pretty well because they are soft and absorbent.  One of my readers at Keeping the Castle suggested using bandanas.

Have you made the switch to cloth napkins?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I was pretty pleased with the jeans and so were my kids.  Here are some reasons that I like thrift stores.

6)  I don’t have the guilt.  I can’t force myself to pay $10-15 for clothing. And even if I did, there would be some major guilt.

7)  Thrift stores usually give back to the community.  The thrift store where I shop helps others in need with food and other necessary items.

8)  No worries about wear and tear.  I told my daughter this week that I don’t like to buy her new clothes.  The reason is because she stains just about everything she wears.  I can’t tell you the number of times I have put something new on her and been so upset because she permanently stained it.  When I pay $1 for something, I don’t get so upset about stains.

9)  I am able to give to others.  When you’re only paying $1 for clothing items, it’s easy to purchase a few extra things for others.  Since you’re already searching the racks, many times you’ll come across items that others you know can use.  I try to remember the sizes that my younger cousins wear or my friend’s children.  When I was shopping this week, I remembered to look for athletic pants for my friend’s son.  She had mentioned duing an earlier conversation that he needed them.

10)  Sometimes you get your money back.  When I shop for used clothing items, many times I can get my money back for them when we’re done.  Sometimes I can sell them at my yard sale or local consignment store for close to what we paid for them.  It’s also easy to give them away since you don’t have much money invested.

Do you shop at thrift stores?

Please check out part 1 of 10 Reasons I Like Thrift Stores.

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

You never know what you’ll find at a thrift store.  This week, I was blessed with some bargains.  I found 12 pairs of pants for my kids for only $12!  That’s $1 per pair.

I enjoy shopping at thrift stores.  Here’s some reasons I like them so much.

1)  Shopping at a thrift store is like going on a treasure hunt. You never know what you’ll find.  Sometimes you’re really surprised.

2)  The items are unique.  You don’t have to worry about seeing five other people at school wearing the same shirt.

3)  You can find name brand clothing.  I’m not one to sport a big name brand across the front of my shirt, but it is true that some brands hold up better than others.  Some of the pants I found this week were from Old Navy, Gap, Children’s Place, and JCPenney. 

4)  It helps the environment.  Shopping thrift stores keeps products from landfills.

5)  Shopping thrift stores usually saves so much money!  This is probably my favorite reason!

Do you shop at thrift stores?

Stay tuned for part 2 of 10 Reasons I Like Thrift Stores.

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I was able to review the Bright Green dishwashing liquid and all purpose cleaner.  The question that I have often asked myself is, “Is it possible to use green cleaning products and get the same results?”  My experience so far has been a positive one.  In all the environmentally friendly products I have tried, I have not found a difference in the way the product cleans from the other products. 

The Bright Green dishwashing liquid cleaned my dishes very well.  It took the grease off my dishes and had a very pleasant lavender scent.  My son especially enjoyed it.  He asked if he could wash dishes, which in our house means that I put some soap and water in a bowl and he “washes” some of the dishes in the sink.  He ended up using 1/2 of the bottle, so there were lots of suds and my kitchen smelled great for days.  lol  The Bright Green all purpose cleaner is great for the kitchen or garage and it has a refreshing lemon scent.

And now, on to the giveaway!

The giveaway includes an attractive  reusable shopping bag and $1 coupons for Bright Green cleaning products.  Safeway credits customers $.05 each time they use any reusable bag at the checkout.

There are many ways to enter this contest.  You can choose as many as you’d like.

You can earn an entry for each item you complete, but you must leave a separate comment for each one.  It just makes it easier to tally and pick a random winner.

1) Leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win this prize or why you use green cleaning products.

2) Give this post a thumbs up at Stumble Upon and leave your Stumble name.

3) Tweet this post and leave your Twitter name or status url. To retrieve your Twitter status url, simply click on the timestamp of your tweet. It will say something like, “5 seconds ago from the web”. You can earn 3 twitter entries each day for each time you tweet this giveaway. You must leave a comment for each tweet.

4) Follow @thriftymommy on Twitter. Leave a comment with your Twitter name.

5) Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to your post.

6) Mention this giveaway on any forums or message boards and leave me a link.

7) Add Thrifty Mommy and/or Keeping the Castle and/or to your blogroll.  You can earn a separate entry for each one.

This contest ends Sunday, April 12, 2009 and is available to those with a U.S. shipping address (no P.O. boxes please). The winner will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. You will not be put on a mailing list, but you must include your email address in the second box under your name (not in the comment box).

Good luck everyone!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

All the current information about plastics, BPA, chemicals, and contaminants is enough to make a parent’s head spin.  Lunchbots helps take away the worry and confusion by offering 100% stainless steel containers.  LunchBots provide an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable containers and they go a step further to eliminate all plastics from its containers.  Finally, there is a stainless steel alternative with a lid.  The LunchBots containers are easy to clean, sturdy, and provide a great storage container for lunches and diaper bags. 

LunchBots are available in two styles, both measuring 6.25″ x 4.5″ x 1.75″.  The LunchBots Uno is perfect for packing sandwiches, sushi, burritos, or snacks. The LunchBots Duo has a handy divider for crackers and cheese, fruits and nuts, and more.  LunchBots also provide a fundraising opportunity for schools, which I certainly would prefer to overpriced candy and gift wrap. 

LunchBots is offering free shipping to our Thrifty Mommy readers (US addresses only).  Simply use the code FREESHIP09. 

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Entering is simple.  Just leave a comment below.  If you’d like, you can include a small bit about why you would like to try this product or what you like about it.

This contest ends on Tuesday, September 16 and is for those with a U.S. mailing address only.  The five winners will be announced next week.

Good luck!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I’ve been using the Clorox dishwashing liquid and personally, I’ve found that it works just as well as other dishwashing liquids at cleaning greasy and baked-on foods.  The great thing is that the liquid has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for using environmentally preferred chemistry.

All Green Works natural cleaners are made using plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils.  The products are formulated using biodegradable ingredients and are not tested on animals.  The Green Works line also includes seven natural cleaning products that can be used in the home, kitchen, and bathroom.

Retail price: $3.59

Scale:  I would strongly consider purchasing this product again.

For more information on this product and tips for going green, visit the Clorox Green Works site.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Recently, I wrote about how Lowe’s Foods is allowing their customers to purchase reusable grocery bags with their green points.  And not only that, they’re giving 50 green points for each reusable bag you bring back in to use. 

Two weeks ago, I purchased one more reusable bag for 1000 green points.  I also received 250 green points because I brought in 5 bags.  Now I have 6 bags of my own!  I’m so excited!!!  I have enough bags now that I haven’t had to get any plastic!  Hooray!  Don’t worry, I still have a large enough stash of the plastic ones at the house in case I need them.

All this talk of reusable bags has been a great conversation piece at Thrifty Mommy.  We had a poll to see who was using the bags, who wanted more bags, and who wasn’t giving up their plastic bag ways.  Here are the results.

Do you have reusable bags that you take to the grocery store?

36% - Yes, I have a lot of them and they are awesome!

28% - Yes, but I’d like a few more.

26% - No, but I’d really like to try them.

10% - No way, I’m sticking with plastic.

According to the results, most of you have reusable bags or would like to use them.  Thanks for working to keep those crazy little bags out of the landfills.

What do you think of the results?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Zwaggle saves time.  It saves money.  It helps save the environment.  It is an online village of parents willing to share their things so that someone else can get some use out of them.  In return, they can receive items.

How does it work?  You simply sign up for an account at Zwaggle.  Yes, it’s FREE!  You can earn Zoints (Zwaggle points) for listing your gently used items, for signing up, and for referring others.  You can also donate Zwaggle points to charity.

It’s also pretty easy to ship items with their integrated FedEx tool which calculates shipping costs and lets you print prepaid labels. 

Check out Zwaggle and let me know what you think.

Thanks to Jody for the tip.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Here are some thrifty ways to help the environment, and possibly your wallet too:

1)  Replace light bulbs with CFLs.  Last year, I replaced several light bulbs in my home with CFLs.  They use at 2/3 less energy than standard bulbs.

2)  Don’t waste food.  When you waste food, you’re throwing out more, buying more products, and putting more packaging into the environment.

3) Shop online.  Shopping online saves gas from driving to the stores and it can be done at night when the kids are in bed.  I’ll admit that I don’t do much shopping online due to shipping costs, but thanks to this site, now you can shop with no shipping.  

4)  Make your own cleaning products.  I am amazed at the cleaning power of vinegar and baking soda.  It’s good for the environment, less expensive than cleaning products, and healthier for your home.

5)  Bring your own bags to the grocery store.  Some stores charge you for their bags and some stores will give you an incentive for bringing your own.  Bringing your own also helps keep bags out of the landfills and saves you the time of recycling them.

6)  Air dry your clothes.  Air drying your clothes can save a lot of money on your electric bill and it also keeps us from using more energy.

7)  Conserve water.  Click on the link to find 25 ways to reduce your water bill.  Simple things like checking for leaks or installing an aerator on your spout can really help out.

8)  Conserve electric.  Here are some tips for saving money on your summer electric bill.  I’m sure all of us could use a little help on cutting costs this year.  We could all implement a few of these tips into our lives.

9)  Buy used items whenever possible.  I try to buy items used if I can.  It saves a lot of money and enables items to be reused rather than being wasted. Selling your stuff helps you to get rid of things you don’t want, clears up needed space, enables you to earn a little money, and helps someone else that wants to buy it used.

10)  Learn to be content.  You don’t need the latest gadget and gizmo to be happy.  Accumulating things takes up room in your house, causes burdensome debt, and only leaves you longing for something bigger and better.  Materialism is a barrier to contentment.

11)  Join your local freecycle group.  Freecycle is an opportunity to give away things that you don’t need and to get things you want or need for free!  I have given away a pair of crutches, a crib, and a bunch of children’s hangers.  I have received clothes for my children.  Don’t put more stuff into landfills.  Find someone that can use it.

12)  Don’t use so much gasoline.  I try to do all of my errands one day each week or plan my errands in a way that will use the least amount of gas.  Check here for more ways to save gas.

13)  Buy Energy Star appliances.  If it’s time to replace your appliances, then you should buy energy star appliances.  These save money on electric and water usage.

14)  Use rechargable batteries.  Rechargable batteries last longer than regular batteries and keep batteries from being throw away.

15) Use the library or get second hand books from others.  I do not have a magazine subscription.  My mom saves some of her old magazines for me.  This is fine by me because I usually don’t have time to read them anyway.

16)  Email whenever possible.  An email isn’t as personal as a handwritten letter, but it saves time, money, and paper.

17)  Buy clothes that don’t need to be dry cleaned.  Dry cleaning is expensive and harmful to the environment.  If you do have clothes that need to be dry cleaned, then check out these safe alternatives.

18)  Use cloth diapers.  Now I could never bring myself to do use cloth diapers, but I had good intentions.  Over the long run, cloth diapers save a lot of money and of course, they’ll keep you from throwing away about 3,000 diapers.  Even though I didn’t use cloth diapers, I’m trying to do my part by putting my two-year-old son in underwear whenever I can. 

19)  Grow your own fruits and vegetables.  You’ll save lots of money, get stuff to can or give away, and then you can keep out the pesticides.

20)  Repurpose old items that you have.  Use curtains or sheets to make pillows, take an old skirt and make doll clothing, glue buttons onto a picture frame.  Lots of stuff can be repurposed.

21)  Cut out junk mail as much as possible.  This is something that is on my to-do list.  I’ve looked into a few companies that can help with this problem.  Some are free, some cost a few dollars.  Maybe I should just try all of them.  That might work.  

22)  Send ecards through care2.  When you send ecards, they’ll make a donation to the rain forest.  Check out their Click2Donate page.

23)  Recycle!  This one’s pretty easy and self-explanatory.  Most cities have a recycling service that will pick up the recycling, along with your trash.  Check with your local area to find out the rules.

24) Join the Arbor Day Foundation.  For only $10, you can get 10 trees.

25) Use the internet.  You can find recipes, tips, send pictures and emails, and check out great blogs.   

What can you add to this list?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy