Friday Frugal Tip - Vinegar

I'm sure many of you know of the great benefits of vinegar. I use this in my house everyday. You can get a big bottle of white vinegar for $2-3 and there are so many possibilities. I also like it since it's environmentally friendly, non-toxic and edible so I don't have to worry about my kids getting into it, in fact they use it all the time too! Here is a small list of ways I use it:

1. Dishwasher - I use my regular dish detergent in the soap compartment that closes, but I use vinegar for the other soap compartment used for pre-wash. It extends my expensive dish detergent and my dishes and glasses come out clear and shiny!

2. Vegetable & Fruit wash - I have a spray bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar in my kitchen and use that to wash my fruits & vegetables.

3. All purpose cleaner - Again, I have a spray bottle of 1/2 water and 1/2 vinegar in my kitchen, and bathrooms and use it to wash everything. Sinks, toilets, tubs, floors, mirrors, walls, etc.

4. Remove odor - I spray my vinegar solution on things to freshen the smell. (It smells like vinegar for a minute but then neutralizes the odor.)

5. Relieve sunburn - I remember many times putting vinegar on my brother's neck to help his sunburn.

6. Disinfectant - Once in a while I spray vinegar on my toothbrush to disinfect it. Since vinegar is edible I don't have to worry about being poisoned. :)

7. Meat tenderizer - I don't cook a lot with meat, but I've noticed the few times that I've sprayed chicken breasts with vinegar, they're more tender. Then I always spray the cutting board and tools I used to cut the raw meat with vinegar to disinfect before putting in the dishwasher.

8. Buttermilk substitute - When we need 1 cup buttermilk for a recipe, we always use about a tablespoon of vinegar and then fill the rest up with milk. (You can do many substitutes with vinegar for things sour like lemon juice, sour cream, etc.)

9. Hard water deposit remover - I soak my shower heads in vinegar to remove hard water deposits.

There a ton of ways to use vinegar, above is just a sample. I've only brushed the surface. To dive in further just google uses for vinegar, you'll find a lot of info.