Sale PSA: Classic adidas Superstar sneakers, now $48, shearling slippers from Ugg, now 25% off (I’m in slippers now a lot!), and a Madewell saddle bag, now 40% off (all their jeans are also $75 now).
Okay, so many years back (nearly ten!!) I did a few posts about small savings. And honestly reading back some of my items are sooutdated and/or embarrassing – making my own tea at Starbucks I gave up many moons ago, going back to my basic vanilla lattes (but with coconut milk! I have personality!). Given the current environment however, I thought I’d share some of the small ways I’m saving with you all, and I really hope you contribute as well. Here goes!
Microfiber cloths – I don’t know if it’s just me who didn’t know about these but I used to be a prodigious waster of paper towels for cleaning until I got this set. And I use them all around the house! To wipe my table after dinner with a cleaning spray, to wipe down the bathroom sinks after each use, to clean spills from the kids – you name it. They come in a pack of 24 so I always have TONS and I’ve never had an issue with them out cleaning in the laundry. The white ones do get stained so I try to use other colors for wiping up sauce, etc.
The Ordinary – The whole line! I have so many products that I’ve found from them and they are so well priced (but still look great in your bathroom). Everything is packaged correctly (in glass bottles, dark ones, to prevent destabilization) and the claims aren’t crazy (will take 20 years off your face!). If people are interested I can do another post about favorite items from them but anything serums I’ve had that I’ve been paying a lot for, I have almost always found a great substitute from The Ordinary. AND at Sephora right now there is free shipping with FREESHIP so I placed an order for a few more items (and it was only $25 or so total). I’m a huge, huge fan of this brand!
Dryer balls! I REALLY love these. I’m so excited to recommend these finally as I’ve been meaning to for a while. What you do, in case you don’ know, is just toss these into your dryer and they will both a) fluff your clothes and b) create friction and absorb water, reducing dryer time! I’m a believer. These penguin ones are a little more expensive than the others (if you want to go with the plain, they’re $17, and careful with the less expensive versions as they can be significantly smaller) – they really do reduce my drying time! Which saves energy (and thus $$)! Also a little trick – I’ve started adding a few drops of lavender oil to mine, which further eliminates the need for dryer sheets. It’s honestly so satisfying using these every week.
What are some of your small savings?
25 Comments
Clara
April 6, 2020 at 8:29 amI love the Ordinary too and switched about two years ago. Would love to know which ones you have enjoyed using ! Tks for the tips!!
Diane
April 7, 2020 at 9:28 pmI want to know too! I have been using the retinol a few months now. It works. My skin is smoother and pores on my nose look smaller. I’m not sure about the niacinamide. I see no difference in oil peoduction. I have oily t zone.
Anonymous
April 6, 2020 at 9:06 amSephora just fired their store employees with a 3 min Zoom lol. Ulta is not as fancy but still paying theirs!
Lena L
April 6, 2020 at 9:14 amI myself learned to love microfiber cloths lately – you can clean so much with one of these and just water! Wool drier balls are new to me as well. I got a 4 pack and gave one to my cat (he loves it, too!)
Stacey
April 6, 2020 at 9:25 amI use a resuable lint brush for easy jobs.
Also been using my Instant Pot to turn older milk into yogurt.
(something like this https://www.amazon.com/EverCare-Evercare-Magik-Lint-Brush/dp/B001I2ER7G?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_9)
Tiredmomof 2
April 6, 2020 at 9:27 amHow are the Stan Smiths 25% off? I still see them at regular price. Thanks!
Kat
April 6, 2020 at 10:36 amOh I’m sorry!! They were on sale last night. I’ll change to something else –
Sharon
April 6, 2020 at 9:44 amI’ve been using dryer balls for over a year…I find they don’t do anything to reduce static in the winter, but I love not using dryer sheets! I’ll deal with static.
Doni
April 6, 2020 at 12:42 pmKinda silly but still a savings…we use those yellow and green Scotch Brite sponges for hand washing some dishes or scrubbing the bath. I’ve found that if you cut them in half they are easier to clean with and you get twice as many!
Kat
April 6, 2020 at 3:14 pmI do the same with Magic Erasers!! Not silly!
Annon
April 6, 2020 at 4:13 pmhttps://www.plasticoceanproject.org/microfiber-pollution-project.html
It surprises me that you live in California, where environment is supposed to be a calling card. The hyper-consumerism on a weekly basis and now microfiber cloth ? Do you live in a rock where no news but luxury consumption related catalogs reach ? Do you know whats going on in the outside world ?
A.S.
April 6, 2020 at 6:06 pmThere is a kinder way to give this sort of feedback, and you have made many assumptions.
I’ve held off on microfiber cloths and continued to use tea towels because of the pollution concerns. However, we don’t know! My tea towels may have been horribly, unethically produced. Kat may wash her towels inside a bag that catches the fibers, or have a filter on her washing machine, or, knowing her, she’ll tell us all about the perfect environmentally friendly and practical alternative in a future post and we’ll all be quite grateful. We all do the best we can.
Kat
April 6, 2020 at 8:26 pmHa, thanks to both you and S in HK for your kind comments – I really don’t get worked up about rudeness on the blog (as long as it is to me – it’s part of the deal) and this particular commenter likes to visit and random ones from time to time and I just let it go! Because maybe someone will find their feedback interesting or helpful. As long as they aren’t cursing at me or going over the line. I do have a Guppy bag which I actually learned about I think on IG (!!) but it isn’t perfect and kind of $$ so I haven’t mentioned it. But maybe I should!! You see where rude comments can get you – actually to an interesting conversation, LOL. Like you say, we all try our best – I’m wishing all of you safety and happiness especially now!!
Sharon
April 7, 2020 at 7:26 amKat, I have and use the guppy bag. In fact, I have a few of them so I can always accommodate “shedding” items on laundry day. At first I didn’t see much but after a number of uses I did notice the build up of microfibers in the corners, which I removed and disposed of. I can also recommend the in line filter that you can connect between your washer and the drain. It’s a little more work but filters very well. Guppy bags are great if you do laundry in a communal laundry room. Even though both solutions are a bit pricey as you said, I think it’s important to mention them to bring attention to the need. We cannot keep filling our waterways and oceans with plastic, even when the pieces are so tiny you barely see them.
Kat
April 7, 2020 at 8:50 amwhat do you do with the fibers??? everyone I ask says something different!
S in HK
April 6, 2020 at 6:26 pmWow, was this rudeness really necessary, especially now?
Kat
April 6, 2020 at 8:27 pmThank you!! <3
susan
April 7, 2020 at 11:13 amLove your posts. Don’t mind that troll.
Sharon
April 7, 2020 at 9:17 amMy method is to save a jam jar or other glass jar with tight fitting lid. I put the fibers in the jar. It will take a long time to fill that jar since the fibers are tiny and take a while to cluster and become visible in the guppy bag. I can take a filled jar to my local hazardous waste site (the same place you’d take leftover paint or batteries). It’s imperfect to be sure. My main goal is to wear what I have, even if it is synthetic fibers, and I do notice the more I wash things the less they shed fibers. As I need to replace things I am looking for natural fabrics.
Nvie
April 6, 2020 at 9:52 pmWe live in an overcrowded world, just read that in 1960s world population was only 3 billion and it’s 7.7 billion today. Disposables are killing and will continue to kill our environment. It’s definitely good effort in reducing disposables/wastage by changing into reusables. I find face towels (more absorbent than microfibers) are the most versatile for wiping almost everything, kitchen top, groceries, wiping off dust, I even use them to mop tiled flooring as they are small enough for my hands to wring them dry. Just don’t use the same towel for everything…LOL. I am seriously thinking of using a face flannel instead of cotton pads to remove makeup.That would save me quite a bit from those pricey Shiseido cotton pads.
I was so so addicted to boba milk tea in the last year, drinking up to almost one cup daily. That’s bad, bad sugar, lots of disposable cups and straws and what a waste of money on empty calories. I decided to cut that out completely. That saves me about USD50 a month. Happy that I stopped completely.
I recently bought a French brand drugstore eye cream instead of my usual brand (can’t get hold of that as the entire country is under Movement Control Order) at a third of the price and works equally well. I might just change my skincare to that range. Substantial savings for the bleak future.
Looking forward to read more about small savings tips 🙂
Meghan
April 7, 2020 at 3:48 amYes, I would like to know what Ordinary products you use. The microfiber and dryer balls sound great.
Jen
April 7, 2020 at 6:01 pmI love those dryer balls! I use boring beige ones. The penguins are lovely. I’m doing my own gardening and housecleaning now and it’s a very good workout so I’ll save on gym fees going forward too. I’ve always liked tidying and I’m actually liking cleaning now too (disinfecting the groceries, not so much…) Stay safe.
Kim
April 9, 2020 at 3:07 pmEnjoyed reading this! Do you put your 20 motif mother of Pearl in soda to soak? Just curious? I have only cleaned my with a q-tip.
Kat
April 10, 2020 at 8:34 amMe too (only Q tip so far). It’s been OK!
Mary
April 10, 2020 at 2:48 amWill you give your tips on how you started your manuscript for the first book (and perhaps this second one)? It’s a great time for us to learn from you given the COVID-19 stay at home situation. Hopefully you can give us tips on of these days.
Enjoy your Easter weekend Kat! Kids love Easter egg hunting at home. Hopefully you have plastic easter eggs handy. Or egg painting is another fun activity although stores are limiting how many eggs cartons you can buy in a day.