The 5 R’s of Saving Money

Everyone’s heard of the three R’s in relation to the environment. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. I actually think they are missing two other R’s that are very important to not only the environment by also your pocketbook.

It should be Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, and Restore. How many times have you heard someone say, or yourself say, ” They don’t make them like they used to.” Well, here is your chance to hold on to the well-made items and save some money in the process.

Reduce — First start out by going through your stuff getting rid of the clutter, but don’t throw it out, give it away to friends or family, take to a church yard sale, post it for free or a few dollars on Craigslist or give it away free on Freecycle. Then limit what you bring into the house.

In our home Surfgirl loves to collect hats, but we have a rule that when one is brought into the house, one must go. This is in addition to the once or twice a year that we go through the closets and get rid of items

Recycle — This picks up where reducing leaves off, trying to get more stuff to other people who need it than to the landfill. This would include using tote bags for grocery trips as opposed to getting another handful of plastic bags that you already have enough of.

Reuse — This is pretty simple. It goes along the same vein of using your washcloth a little longer to cut down on loads of laundry, washing out a bread sack and using it to put your sandwich in for your lunch to work. May be even washing out your sandwich bag, letting it dry and using that again for the next days lunch as well.

Repair — Just as it sounds, instead of going out to look for a new coffee table, try some creative ways of repair or spicing it up. Who cares what friends say, you have just saved yourself a wad of money and added more character to your home.

Restore — When you are saving money, you want the best for as little as possible. Since you shop at yard sales and flea markets to find those antique gems that are made well, you are going to bring home some stuff that doesn’t look as good as it should.

Recently, Surfgirl and I saved a much-needed dresser from the garbage truck; even though it had seen better days it was well crafted. We brought it home, sanded it down, painted it and put on some nicer drawer knobs. Viola! Like new again and people who see it would never know where we got it unless we told them.

There you have it, the 5 R’s of Saving money and holding onto quality items at the same time.