Stretching your dollars

In this bad economic time, thriftiness is a virtue. Here are some ways to lower the grocery bill by changing our daily habits.

Toiletries come in different containers and shapes. For example, a pump bottle would need a certain minimum volume of liquid to dispense. In the first picture, I found there was still about 1 cm of moisturizer left which could not be dispensed. By cutting the bottle, I was amazed at the number of times I could apply with the remaining moisturizer. Do cover the opening with a Saran wrap to prevent evaporation.

The next picture was my shower gel bottle. Because of its viscosity, most of the shower gel would adhere on the inner wall before reaching the opening. By inverting the bottle, all the gel would be collected at the opening. To get the last bit out, you could dilute the gel with a tiny volume of water. Similarly, you could dilute shampoo and conditioner with water.

The third picture depicted a rolled up toothpaste tube. Squeezing along and rolling up the tube as you used helped to consolidate the paste for easy squeezing as recommended on the tube.

The last picture was my facial cleanser which I cut into half. There was still a lot left on the inner wall though I could not squeeze it out. So, invert and let gravity does its job. Remember to keep the opening folded to prevent the cleanser from drying out.

Avoid grocery shopping on an empty stomach as I found that I tend to buy more food.

Check through your home for the things running low and make a grocery list to prevent buying unnecessary things or items you already had.

Buying things in bulk or larger size is usually cheaper.

Buy items on discounts offered at supermarkets which often rotate items on sale. I often buy toiletries to store since they have no expiry date. Use coupons and mail-in-rebates.