It’s the beginning of a new week, and therefore time for another edition of The Thrifty Three! These are just three of the things I’ve been doing lately to try to stretch our money further.
- Iced Coffee at home – Iced coffee is my favourite new drink. I think I’ve discussed coffee a few times here on the blog. (Like here and here.) I’ve also talked about how I haven’t had a Starbucks coffee in (gasp!) months! But, I still adore a good cup of coffee. Now that the weather is warming up a bit, cold coffee drinks seem just right. So, I’ve gotten into the habit of brewing up a big pot of decaf coffee (so I can drink the iced coffee any time of day) and then storing it in the fridge to get it good and icy cold. I also add a spoonful of vanilla to the coffee, to make it even more flavourful. Then, when I’m craving an iced coffee, I grab my cute Mason jar glass, add a few ice cubes, fill about 3/4 full with cold coffee and then top up with milk. (We’ve had 3.25% milk lately, as the store we go to always has that in lactose free. I’d recommend a thicker milk for this drink – it’s luscious that way!) You could also use cream instead. Yummeroo! And rather than spending $3-$4 each on a drink, I’m sure it’s only about $0.25 or so.
- Filling the soap dispenser with…body wash! Or, even a diluted mix of shampoo. Weird, right? But it works! We bought a few foaming soaps, and I wanted to keep reusing the dispensers for a while. (To be totally honest, I’ll probably keep reusing those foaming soap dispensers until they stop working. 😉 ) So, instead of diluted soap, I’ve used diluted shampoo or body wash. It works great, and provides a nice foamy pump of soap for us to wash our hands carefully. (Is everyone still singing while they wash their hands? To make sure they wash for 20 seconds?)
- Different kind of face mask – This time, we’re talking sleep masks! As the days get longer, and the morning sunlight starts to stream through our blinds earlier every morning, I was finding that I just couldn’t get back to sleep. (The sun rises awfully early here in the summer months – this morning I woke at 5:49 am because of the sun!) We had discussed getting blackout curtains and a new curtain rod, but…$$$$! Instead, I searched on Amazon and found these sleep masks, which reviewers claimed really worked at blocking out all light. Well, I’m a fan and now can’t recommend them highly enough! The masks are comfortable, snug without being too tight and when I wake up too early I pop on my sleep mask and fall right back to sleep. The pack of 2 were $19.95, which is a great deal compared to a new curtain rod and set of curtains.
Trying to save money comes in all sorts of different forms – I’d love to hear how you’re saving money during these difficult times. Please leave a comment and let us know the three thrifty things you’ve been accomplishing. 🙂