Thought I’d share a handful of budget savers I’m using or recently heard about. The first is one that will go away this evening, but the rest are ideas that may save you some $$$ in the coming months.

Have a nearby Dairy Queen? Tuesday, March 15th is Free Cone Day at DQ, and everyone can get a small soft serve cone. At the same time, for anyone who wants to donate to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals in the US and Canada, you can make your donation there.

Just noticed my closest Aldi store has avocados on sale for 49 cents each, bananas 39 cents a pound, gala apples 50 cents per pound, navel oranges 45 cents per pound, and 16 oz packages of fresh asparagus for $1.39–BUT, only until the new ad comes out tomorrow. That closest Aldi store is a 50-mile round trip I don’t have time for today, but my hometown Walmart will match those fresh produce prices. While most Walmart checkers will take my word on price matches, I always print out the online ad page to take with me when I shop. You can, too, if you go to Aldi online, and if you pick your nearest store’s ad you may find other great pricing that’s special to your location.

We’re always looking for ways to make extra cash in our house. Recently, a neighbor on a fixed income told me about the website  RealWaysToEarnMoneyOnline.com where she found a lot of good advice on ways to supplement her income using skills she already has.

This time of year I love starting container gardens. I grow herbs like peppermint, chamomile, rosemary and basil. My house not only smells terrific, but I save money pinching off the herbs I want to use for cooking and evening cups of tea.

A friend of mine was having trouble with her computer’s WiFi dropping out as she changed locations in her home. She didn’t want to have to buy a signal extender or a new router, so she tried a hack her brother suggested and found it worked perfectly. She used scissors to carefully cut off the top & bottom of an aluminum pop can, then sliced it down the side and unrolled it, placing it behind her router to create a freebie signal amplifier. Her brother said an aluminum cookie sheet would work just as well, but recycling the can for this use appealed more to my friend. She said Netflix is streaming better than ever!

Finally, I want to talk about the clothes dryer. I have one, but I don’t use it to dry everything all the time. I got so tired of cleaning out loads of lint whenever I dried towels and sweatshirts, and knew the fabric was wearing out a little more with each load. Also, all the athletic and yoga pants my family loves — their great elastic waistbands got a little less stretchy with each round in the dryer. So, about ten years ago I quit drying things so often. I use plastic hangers to hang each item straight (and help reduce wrinkles) and drying racks to let smaller items air dry. Then, once they’re dry, I pop the clothes into the dryer for just five minutes to soften them (makes a huge difference on towels and jeans and sheets) and to help knock out any wrinkles. While this helps my clothes buying budget, it also help reduce energy costs too–especially in summer months when the dryer would heat up the house and the A/C would have to work harder to cool it back down.

These are a few things I do or know that friends do to help the family budget each month. Would any of these ideas work for you? Or do you have some dollar stretchers you’d like to share? Feel free to add any info in the comments section 🙂