Our house seems to be the home of the equivalent of a toiletries Bermuda Triangle here in our house now that the kids are getting a bit older and taking more of an interest in looking (and smelling) nice!
I no sooner unpack a new deodorant or hair gel when it seems to disappear only to found half empty a few weeks later, by which time a replacement has usually been bought. This means that during our pre-Christmas clear out, we found three cans of deodorant, two tubs of hair gel, two lynx shower gels, a tub of chewy vitamins and a can of hairspray – on top of what we thought we had!
We’ve re-homed them all in a big basket in the kitchen and that’s where the kids have been told they must stay. They take it out, use it and put it right back and if things disappear and are found in their bedrooms then there will be consequences.
In the meantime, I have enough deodorant to last me for a good while and we probably won’t have to buy hair gel for the next six months!
So, how is this money saving?
It’s not really, unless you count the fact that I’m telling you to keep track of your shopping so the kids don’t get hold of it and whisk it away before you’ve had chance to use it. But there is a money saving ending to the story because, if we use up everything we have before buying any more smellies then I would save in my shopping for a few weeks at least.
This got me thinking that I really should do the same with my cupboard under the sink where I seem to have acquired an interesting assortment of cleaning products. Even though I try not to, sometimes the allure of a new smelling polish or a super strength cleaner on offer tempts me into trying it. Sometimes I buy one before I’ve used all of the last one and I start using it straight away (I know, naughty me) which leaves me with *a few* half used bottles of something or other under the sink. I’m going to work my way through these and I will not buy another cleaning product until I have used it all!
Then there’s my bathroom cabinet which has lots of lovely smellies and products in it, some of which have been in there for months (probably longer). I’m going to use all of those up now before I buy any more – even the ones that I’m not a huge fan of (gifts).
And while we’re on the subject of using up products, there’s a great post over on Me and My Shadow about how you can save even more money by using less of certain things, it’s well worth a read!
So, do you have a cupboard or shelf filled with things that you could use up instead of buying more?
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