There are so many ways to save around the house and in life. Here’s 45 great ways to save. Feel free to add your own ideas in the comment section at the end of the list.

1.  Use vinegar. Vinegar is useful in so many ways around the house. It’s a great replacement for several household cleaners. Take for example window cleaning, you can easily pay four dollars on a bottle of Windex, or simply mix 30 percent white vinegar with 70 percent water and create an excellent window cleaner. Many even say it works better then Windex. Dry the windows with newspaper and save on paper towels as well.

2. Save cans. I know we all know this but if you drink soda, beer, or anything else that comes in an aluminum can it can add up quite quickly. Did you know that you can sell the pull tabs on eBay for around a penny a piece?  If you save the cans til earth day many recyclers pay double the normal fee as a way of promoting Earth Day and their company.

3. Use less shampoo and conditioner. Some dermatologists say that we all wash our hair too often. By washing our hair every day and sometimes twice a day we are stripping out essential oils that leave our hair too dry. Then we spend more on conditioners in order to replace the natural oil.

4.Make your own pet food & save money If you’re like me your always looking for great ways to cut down on waste and save some money at the same time. Pet food can be quite costly and if you have dog’s like I do, one of their favorite activities is eating. Making your own dog food can be a wonderful treat and a fantastic way to save money

5. Wash out your zip lock bags. Many times zip lock bags are used only once and then discarded. These bags are expensive and can be used more than once and in many cases several times. Name brand bags are more durable so it pays to spend the extra money up front if you plan to reuse them.

6. Always ask for deep discounts to discover the real price of an item, if you ask for too big of a discount it will often makes the seller give you the absolute lowest price they will accept.

7. Save your change, save the dollars or save every other 5 dollar bill, what ever your budget will allow. Get a 5 gallon water jug and put your “extra” cash away.

8. Invest in a deep freezer. You can get a used deep freezer for as low as 75 bucks. (make sure to consider whether it’s energy efficient, you could end up spending your savings on an electric bill) When meats go on sale, buy in bulk and freeze it til you need it. This can save big on your grocery bill.

9. Adjust your thermostat up or down. Those few degrees can make a big difference in your monthly electric bill. Use blankets when its cold.

10. Consider using Skype phone service. We’ve recently switched and now we use video conference to talk to family members that live far away. They use Skype as well, and that makes long distance family phone calls completely free.

11. Shop by unit price. Paying attention to the price per ounce or pound can save big at the grocery store. Here’s an article I wrote on the subject. Unit Price

12.  Keep your vehicles tires at the right air pressure. This is a common one but under filled tires can really eat up the gas.

13. Stay in and rent a movie. Even if you splurge on the new release you will save big if your doing it instead of a trip to the movie theater. It use to be that a trip to the movies was a budget night out. Now a family of four going out to the movies can cost 60 or 70 dollars and more.

14. If you can quite drinking, if you don’t want to quite, consider cutting down. This is a big expense that varies by the person. You can sit down and figure out what you would save by cutting down or quiting or even switching brands.

15. Quit smoking, or at least cut down. If you smoke a pack of Marlboro’s a day at over 4 dollars per pack, that’s over 120 dollars per month. Cut down, switch brands, or even quit.

16. Shop at thrift stores; you can find great deals on just about everything at thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales. Yes you can negotiate at a thrift store.

17.  Skip Star Bucks at least on occasion, or buy the less expensive regular coffee and take advantage of the coffee condiment section. You can create an excellent vanilla, chocolate, or even hazelnut brew for half the price.

18. Buy generics. Generics can often be just as good as the name brand, and in some cases, at least as far as Walmart is concerned. In most cases there are less preservatives, and in fact Walmart brand almost never have hydrogenated oils.

19. OVER DRAFT! Man, I hate overdraft fees they can ad up so quickly. Over draft twice for even a buck or two and you got 70 dollars in fees at bank of America. Keep a reserve in your account to guarantee that this doesn’t happen.

20 Grow a garden. Having a garden can save you a great deal of money on vegetables that you use often. If you have neighbors that have a garden, work out a barter system and trade the extras. Everything you don’t use you can jar up and use over the winter.

21.  If you enjoy eating fish, go fishing. You can catch a few extra dinners each and every month. And, if you enjoy fishing you’re saving on entertainment expense as well.

22.Use coupons. You will save a great deal of money each and every month with the use of coupons, don’t buy it just because you have a coupon, but instead use the ones you need.

23. Use dollar stores sparingly, there are items that you can save on but the temptation to spend a dollar on an item you don’t really need is common. Dollar stores often do well because we come out with 20 extra items that we really didn’t need in the first place.

24. Seal up your windows and doors, caulk every unsealed area of your home. You will save a good deal of money on both heating and cooling your home each and every month.

25.  Save your leftovers and and utilize them. Most leftovers usually last for 3-5 days and sometimes longer. It’s an excellent idea to have leftover night ever few days. If you don’t get to them in time and you have a pet, use it in preparing you own dog food a few times a week and save that way as well.

26. Do your own oil change. It’s recommended to perform an oil change ever 3-5k miles, by doing the labor yourself you can save each and every time.

27. Do your own pet maintenance, you can trim their nails, and give them a bath. If you do this monthly and the average fee is 25 dollars at the dog groomers, that’s 300 dollars a year.

28. Walk more often. Outside of the fact that we all need to walk more often for our health we can save gas money as well. Many of us can’t fathom the idea of walking 2 blocks to the movie store. If you’re not up for a walk consider a bike ride instead.

29. Turn off the TV. Many households have the television on at all hours they are awake. Many times it’s on just to provide background noise. Turn it off, you’ll enjoy the quite, and save money on the electric bill at the same time.

30. Turn off the light. Getting in the habit of keeping the lights of in rooms your not using is a great way to reduce the monthly electric bill. In fact, make sure that no electric is being used unnecessarily. Make sure your not heating and cooling rooms your not in and the TV is off in rooms your not in as well.

31. Brown bag lunches at least a few times a week can save a good deal of money over a month. If you’re in the habit of buying fast food while at work or school, simply putting together a nice bring your own will save a lot.

32. Buy in the off season. Looking to get new ski equipment? Buy it at the very end of the season. Looking for a new bathing suite or canoe? At the end of the season the prices often go down up to 75 percent off in some cases even more. Last year I bought 20 pairs of water shoes that were originally 5 dollars a pair, I paid 25 cents a pair. I bought them to sell on eBay the following summer.  We were also able to get a 99.99 inflatable canoe for only 10.00 at the end of the season.

33. Use a clothes line in the summer time, the electric or gas dryer can run up quite a bill and by using the air and sun you will get fresher clothes and linens without the cost.

34. Put a mason jar or a few bricks in the back of your toilet to cut down on the water bill.

35. If you sell on eBay you can get boxes for shipping at Walmart for free. If you ask the manager or are there when they are stocking the shelves they will give you as many boxes as you desire. You would otherwise spend 1-2 buck for a box at the shipping store.

36. Cut your paper towel roll in half. For most spills you only need half anyway. This is a great way to double the life of a paper towel roll. (Use a sharp bread knife to complete this task)

37. Invest in rubber spatulas. It’s quite amazing how much more mayonnaise or miracle whip you can get out of a jar with the use of rubber spatulas.

38. If you drink, invest in a flask. Generally they hold around 6 shots of alcohol. We ski quite often and occasionally have a cocktail or two while were their. Nearly everyone there drinks and they end up spending a great deal of money on cocktails. If you bring a flask and some packages of hot chocolate. You’ve got a chocolate  peppermint schnapps for around 75 cents and that includes the cup of hot water as well.

39. Use alternative medicine.  Did you know that if you have a serious head ache, you can drink a cup of ginger tea and get rid of it completely. You save the 10 dollar on the bottle of Advil and it’s better for your health. In fact you can take natural magnesium for a head ache as well.

40. Pay all your bill on time (if possible) to save on the late fees.

41. You can save on entertainment by spending the extra money on services like Netflix. It’s kind of a double standard because you’re buying an extra service, but if you have a tendency to go out a lot or go to the movies, or even if you spend too much at the movie store renting movies, Netflix can save money on the entertainment bill.

42. If you have the garden it pays to save all your leftover coffee grinds. They work well as a rich soil and can certainly make your plants grow nicely.

43. Incorporate rice into your meals. It’s an excellent way cut down on costs. In fact, if for example you make a pot of chili, and serve it over rice the chili goes twice as far.

44. Use beans rice and potatoes in your recipes, they are great fillers and are low cost at the same time. These ingredients make your meals go much further.

45. Take advantage of the library. Libraries are free and you can save big by reading the books and returning them when your done. They often have the same books as Barns and Noble does but without the cost. Many libraries carry an inventory of VHS and DVD movies as well.