Comments on: Five Simple Ways The Blankenships Are Saving Money While Paying Off Debt

By: Mandy

Mandy — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:32:34 +0000

Actually, we only spend $35 for a gallon of Dr. Bronner’s on Vitacost. And it usually lasts a year.

By: sharon

sharon — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:49:42 +0000

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.

By: Renaud

Renaud — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:07:15 +0000

kicking your blow habit has helped too.

By: ChrisWho

ChrisWho — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:34:38 +0000

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.

By: Keegan Jones

Keegan Jones — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:03:39 +0000

Whoa! Had no idea you could buy those AA shirts on Amazon for 10 bucks. Thanks for the tip.

By: Anne Marie

Anne Marie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:00:37 +0000

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!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:29:00 +0000

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.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:29:33 +0000

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.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:11:27 +0000

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?

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:51:29 +0000

ok, WOW. this was really helpful.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:44:35 +0000

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.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:35:42 +0000

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.