Saving money today is super easy, if you know the tricks. These thrifty tips will help you save money, make money, and stretch your family’s budget, leaving more money for the fun stuff. These are just a few things I’ve learned over the years, have done myself, and most of them I learned from my mother!
Save Money on Personal Care and Hygiene Products for Teeth
When the toothpaste tube appears empty, cut off the bottom with scissors and you can squeeze out three or four more full brushes of toothpaste, saving you from having to replace the toothpaste so soon.
If you can stomach the taste, brushing your teeth with baking soda will clean your teeth and help prevent bad breath. It doesn’t taste great, but your teeth will feel wonderful and your breath will be naturally clean. Baking soda is a lot cheaper than toothpaste.
For inexpensive teeth whitening, use a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to clean your teeth. The hydrogen peroxide can be purchased in small to really large bottles, and it takes very little to brush your teeth. You’ll feel the same tingling sensation of the expensive whitening kits. In fact, the active ingredient in many of these teeth whitening kits IS hydrogen peroxide!
Using thread to floss teeth is a lot cheaper than dental floss. Most dental floss is coated in wax, which makes it easier to slide between your teeth, but it’s completely unnecessary. A spool of thread can cost less than 50 cents to a quarter, and will do essentially the same thing if you double or triple it up, and will last a lot longer.
Buy generic brands or store brands whenever possible. Dollar stores often have good personal care and hygiene products that are high quality, but because they make them in build quantities and do their own distribution, they can sell them in simple packaging for cheaper.
Save Money on Personal Care and Hygiene Products for Hair Care
When the shampoo and conditioner bottles appear empty, turn them upside down overnight, and you’ll squeeze one or two more uses out of them. Add a little water and shake and you’ll stretch that even further.
Use less shampoo than you think you need to save money on personal care and hygiene products for your hair. Most people glob on shampoo and conditioner, and either most of it will stay on the hair, weighing it down and making the hair dull,
or it will just got rinsed down the drain. You’d be surprised how very little shampoo and conditioner are required to work up a rich lather and clean your hair.
With conditioner, use less product, but leave it on the hair longer, and rinse it with lukewarm to cool water for better results.
To save money on personal care and hygiene products for hair care, use mayonnaise, heated olive oil, mashed avocado, banana and other healthy foods. The natural oils from the food are the same as the extracts in expensive hair care products and work better!
Avocados, peaches and bananas and other fruits can be used when they start to spoil and would be thrown away anyway. They might not be good to eat any longer, but they are perfect for your hair and then there’s no waste!
Vinegar and beer are good for stripping your hair of build up, hair spray, styling products and shampoo, and you’d be amazed how wonderfully clean your hair will feel using these products AND saving money on personal hair care products.
Save Money on Personal Care and Hygiene Products for the Body
When lotion bottles appear to be empty, turn them upside down over a new bottle of lotion and overnight, they will drip the contents back into the bottle. Add a small amount of water and shake the old bottle and pour into the new one.
Instead of buying disposable razors, consider investing in an electric one and simply replace the blades as needed. Sometimes the small upfront payment is better than a whole bunch of smaller ones over the months.
If you have very dry skin, skip expensive lotions and oils, and instead, buy plain generic mineral oil. You can add drops of your own favorite fragrance for a scent if you must have one. Put the mineral oil on immediately after a towel-dry that leaves your skin moist still, and the mineral oil will absorb and seal in the moisture. Mineral oil can be purchased super cheap at the pharmacy.
There are many other money saving tips for other things I will be sharing in the future, but these money saving tips for personal care and hygiene products will get you started saving money without having to scrimp on the niceties and non-essentials that make you feel attractive and pampered.