I’m all about saving money wherever I can these days… it’s so scarce that I’d rather use my coins toward making my house payment than replacing everyday items when they could last longer.  That’s why I love this post about stretching the life of common household items.  My favorite tip,

If your sponge starts to look gross, simply wet it and put it in the microwave for one-two minutes to sterilize it and give it a new life. Once it has reached its end in your kitchen, make this sponge your new bathroom cleaning sponge to stretch its life even further.

At my house, I use every last drop of toothpaste I can.  My husband – and this is weird to me – doesn’t use toothpaste at all.  Instead, he brushes his teeth with his mouthwash thereby eliminating toothpaste completely.  I turn off power strips at night (every penny counts), use leftovers for soup (or dog food) (I know, dogs shouldn’t eat human food but I still give them some), and don’t return my red box movies the day they’re due unless I’m out already.  Why spend that money on gas when it only costs a dollar to keep one more night.

What money saving tips do you have?

Photo by Horia Varlan via flickr creative commons.