I'll start with a simple one.
Get RID of as many paper products as possible. We stopped buying paper towels and paper napkins a while back. Instead we invested in dish towels and cloth napkins. Honestly, I just got tired of throwing money away every time I used a towel or napkin, and I have to say, I don't miss they at all. It's not toilet paper after all: THAT I might miss. But even then, I get sick of knowing that I'm literally throwing $15 a month down the toilet.
We were using paper towels and napkins for the convenience. So, what I did was make the use of dish towels as convenient as possible, all the while not endangering my family with germs and bacteria on dirty dish towels - a selling point of paper towels for years. I keep a basket of dish towels close to the sink so I can easily grab one to use. I happen to have this basket on a shelf on my kitchen island. A side note: I bought this kitchen island at Ikea for $350, and it is the BEST kitchen purchase I've made - Well, one of them anyway. More on that later.
I have a basket of hand towels on top of the refrigerator and a TON of cloth napkins in the buffet next to the table. My daughter has the job of getting napkins for us at dinner time: makes dinner feel a bit Donna Reed, and I LOVE that!
I also keep a small trash can under my sink for the dirty kitchen laundry. I empty it and wash these towels with the regular Sunday wash. I'm not spending any more to wash them because I'd be washing bathroom towels anyway.
Dish Towels: I bought two sets of towels at WalMart for $3 each, for a total of $6. I replace these every six to eight months because of high usage.
Hand Towels: lucky enough to get most of these for gifts, but I two sets of 5 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond using one of their coupons. I bought these about seven years ago, and aside from some puppy tears, they're still in good shape. Buy them at two different transactions for the full benefit of the 20% off when you get coupons in the mail. I paid about $16 for two sets SEVEN YEARS AGO.
Cloth Napkins: I had starter sets of these that I got as wedding presents. My mother-in-law donated some to me, and the rest I bought on clearance aisles at Walmart. I have about 40 napkins, give or take, and spent no more than $20. So, some of them are cheap looking and wrinkle easily. Big deal! We're not entertaining the Queen: just feeding a toddler!
Total cost: under $50 per year. Remember, I replace the dish towels regularly, but I haven't replaced the hand towels or the cloth napkins in several years.
Paper towels: We were paying approximately $1.50 per Bounty roll: although we bought the half sheets, we were still going through four rolls per month easily.
Paper napkins: To get a softer feel and a stronger napkin, we were paying about $2 for 100. With three people using these two to three times per day, we went through two packages a month. Not too bad.
Total cost: $120 per year.
Savings in a year: $70
But this is just the beginning....
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