I second the Dr. Bronner’s. We use it for body wash, dish soap, and general around-the-house cleaner.
Also, I have a different angle on #5: buy a safety razor. It’s a $30 one-time investment, but the blades are 50 cents apiece and aren’t made to disintegrate after a set period of time like many modern blades (they say) are.
If you guys need any other tips, you can ask us (as you know, we went through this in an _extreme_ fashion), but we some good insider tips.
ok, WOW. this was really helpful.
I’ve been hearing about Dr. Bronner’s lately, and I understand that it’s probably a lot better to use than most alternatives for nearly every reason, but it seems to be a lot more expensive. Does it not take much to do the job?
Kyle, it’s concentrated, so no. We buy the gallon for around $50, mix it with water in smaller bottles, and we might need to do that 2–3 times a year.
Great tips man, especially cooking at home. I cook at home often and I encounter the same thing with friends. No one ever comments on how great the food was at Tijuana Flats when we ate there, but I still have people talk about meals I cooked 4 years ago. And I’ve been using the same Mach 3 since I moved to Florida about 4 months ago. It’s good to know they’ll last. I don’t shave much, well, usually ever, but still. I’m glad they last.
This may seem like a ridiculous question, but… how do you dry your razors? More specifically, what do you use? Because I don’t see it going well for my bath towel, nor toilet paper, or anything else handy in my bathroom. Just wondering. Thanks!
Whoa! Had no idea you could buy those AA shirts on Amazon for 10 bucks. Thanks for the tip.
Helpful post Joshua, many thanks. I hope others continue to post comments – this could become a valuable thread…
A second comment about Costco/Sam’s/BJ’s:
Certainly you can save on the items you buy, but it goes farther than that. Buy all non-perishables (toilet paper, toothbrushes, soap, trashbags, etc) in bulk and you only have to make one trip vs lots of small trips to the store. Saves time/gas/money, etc.
kicking your blow habit has helped too.
i third the costco/sam’s/BJ’s thing. we always stock up on TP, paper towels, olive oil, flour, sugar, rice, pasta, frozen veggies, & tomato sauce there. my husband is fabulous at cost-cutting. he makes batches of pizza & spaghetti sauce every couple of weeks. he makes pizza dough & freezes in batches. we have a garden with veggies & herbs.
sam’s also has great deals on appliances & mattresses. we saved over $100 when we bought our serta eurotop mattress when they had a sale. we also bought a deep freezer there for less than $100 which means we can stock up on frozen items (& have room for the aforementioned bulk items like pizza dough & sauce & frozen veggies).
living on a grad school budget + my salary has it’s advantages!
thanks for the tips.
Actually, we only spend $35 for a gallon of Dr. Bronner’s on Vitacost. And it usually lasts a year.
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I'm a graphic designer and sometimes writer living in Anderson, South Carolina. I serve as the Design Director for NewSpring Church. I love Jesus, my wife, Levi's Jeans, good Tex-Mex, and 8oz glass bottle Coca-Cola Classic. On good days I love them roughly in that order. Email me.
Five Simple Ways The Blankenships Are Saving Money While Paying Off Debt
Fri 07/10/09
1. We shop online. We buy most of our vitamins and home care stuff on Vitacost. Great prices, and $4.99 flat shipping. I really dig AmericanApparel’s Tri-Blend Track Shirts, but they run $22 in the store. Or $10 on Amazon.com. Whatever you want, you can likely find online for cheaper. Stop paying everyone’s overhead for their physical stores.
2. We use Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. We dig the peppermint. It replaced soap, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. for me (and Mrs. Blankenship.) Huge savings, and less of me knocking 20 bottles of random concoctions off the shelves every time I shower.
3. We have a Sam’s Club membership. Pick your poison (Sam’s, Costco, etc.), but we made back the cost of our membership the first time we bought toilet paper. We don’t buy a lot in bulk, but the warehouse retail places are great for larger kitchen items like olive oil that’ll run big bucks in the grocery store.
4. Speaking of which, we cook at home. Don’t know how to? Neither did we. After two years all our friends think we hung the moon when they eat at our house. It’s simple, go to the library (free!) and checkout some cookbooks. Follow the instructions. Repeat until you dominate all things culinary. Bonus: it’s healthier, too.
5. We dry our razors off after we use them. Razors get dull from use eventually, but most of the time they just get dull because they’re left wet and the blade oxidizes (e.g. rusts). I use Mach3 blades, shave well once or twice a week, and I haven’t bought a new box of blades since I lived in Dallas. In 2007.