Miscellaneous Ways to Save Money:
Raising a Teenager and Making Your Own Cleaning Products
Ways to Save Money Raising a Teenager. The average cost of raising a teenager is $14,000 per year. Perhaps it is so expensive because teens are always nagging their parents to buy them something new every week and it gets expensive. But there are ways a parent can keep their teens happy and save a bit of money at the same time on the things they want. For example:
(1) Refurbished electronics. Apple, Dell and other manufacturers sell refurbished or slightly damaged computers, tablets, laptops, and cell phones often at their outlet stores or websites for a fraction of the price you would pay for a new product. Since your teen is likely to put a dent in the device a few weeks after buying it, why not just buy it cheaper with a dent already in it? If you want to buy new, compare deals online to find the lowest price.
(2) Lower cell phone bill. The average teen sends almost 3,400 texts a month and can often exceed their monthly limits, forcing you to pay a big phone bill. Contact your carrier and ask what parental controls are available so that you can limit your teens’ phone use and cut them off if they exceed their limits. You can install free apps that will allow your teens to talk and text one another free. With Google+ Hangouts, Skype or Apple’s FaceTime, you can make free Wi-Fi calls and send free text messages using the WhatsApp and GroupMe apps. For these services to work, all parties must have them installed.
(3) Clothing. Use websites such as RetailMeNot.com or Shopzilla.com to find discounts and sales at all of your teens favorite stores. Buy clothing when retailers are getting rid of their winter and spring lines. You can also buy used clothing at consignment and second hand shops, but just don’t tell your teen it’s used.
(4) Student discounts. Many of the large companies give discounts to students, everyone from Apple, Microsoft, and others.
(5) Sports equipment. Find used sports gear at PlayItAgainSports.com or at a Play It Again Sports chain store
(6) Video Games. Find bargains on new video games at Amazon.com or GoGamer.com. You can also trade your teen’s video games for other games at GameSwap.com and Swap.com
(7) Braces. If you live near a university or dental school with an orthodontics program you might be able to get deeply discounted orthodontics from orthodontic residents.
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Ways to Save Money
Save lots of money making your
own cleaning products
Most laundry detergents and other cleaning products available for purchase at stores are very expensive but often made of simple products you can buy for next to nothing and use to make your own cleaning products that are lots cheaper and better for the environment.
For example:
(1) Laundry detergent is just borax and a few other ingredients and you can find a laundry detergent recipe online by googling “how to make your own detergent”
(2) Dish soap can be used as laundry detergent and it sells for significantly less
(5) Use lemon juice to get rid of soap scum and hard water deposits. Lemon and baking soda can be used to clean copper and brass, and lemon juice and olive oil makes a really good furniture polish.
(6) Instead of buying fabric softener at the store (which damages your clothing over time and turns them yellow and dingy), use about ¼ cup of distilled vinegar in the final rinse cycle to soften your clothing. If you like using the dryer sheets, you can cut them in half and save 50 percent instantly
(3) Stain removers are mostly ammonia and water
(4) Baking soda and vinegar disinfect and clean just as well as the powerful cleaning agents sold in stores, but at a fraction of the price and they don’t hurt the environment. Vinegar can be used to clean the toilet bowl as well as remove pesticides from fruits and vegetables.
