Saving On The Essentials
When planning a family budget, one must take into account the “little things” that you are always going to need…and therefore always running out of. Things such as soap, shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dish soap, and the like are necessities that always have to be considered.
To avoid running out of these essentials, buy the items in bulk as you are able to. Be sure and check the unit price if you are buying a large container of something to make sure it is really the better deal. This will save you extra trips to the store, and as a general rule, the more you buy the more you save.
Rather than spending top dollar at a grocery or convenience store, go to a dollar store for these items. Often you can buy the dollar store brand of a certain item for much less than the name brand. If you do insist on using a name brand, many dollar stores offer these as well. They are more expensive than the dollar store brand, however they are cheaper than a grocery store.
You also might consider making your own soaps and detergents. A simple laundry soap can be made from sodium carbonate (not to be confused with sodium BIcarbonate, or baking soda) sodium borate, or Borax and a gentle soap. One third of a bar of soap to one half cup each of the other two will create a very inexpensive and effective laundry detergent that costs less than half of what you would pay in a store.
With a few steps and some planning, you can avoid spending more than you have to on those “little things”.
By Angela Sangster, SaveMoneySpot 2010
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