Top 12 Household Products I Buy

I saw a post on Our Frugal Happy Life about 10 Household Products that her family buys and it really got me thinking.  After couponing for so many years, there aren't many items that we are brand specific on but there still are a few.  I stock up on the items when they are at the lowest price and try to use a coupon, if available.  The great part is that I can stock up at low prices and not have to worry about paying full price for most of these items.

My Top 10 Household Products that I Purchase:
1.  Tide Free HE Laundry Detergent-  We are really brand specific on laundry detergent.  When we had our son three years ago, we bought a new washer and dryer and I am super protective of it.  Plus, both my son and I have sensitive skin so we get the detergent with no dyes or perfumes.

2. Dawn dish detergent- I really feel like it works the best on dishes.  I can usually get the small ones free after coupons and stock up when I can get them.  I do have some other dish soap in my stockpile because I got them free but I haven't had to pull them out yet.

3.  Tissues-  We prefer Kleenex with lotion but my stock pile was quickly dwindling with our current sickness and allergies.  I have recently purchased Puffs because we have gotten so low on the Kleenex tissues.  Goes against my grain to spend $2 a box when you are just using it and throwing it away as quickly as we use them.  I am slightly flexible on the brand name.

4.  Toilet Paper-  We prefer Cottonelle but when the price is right I will also get Charmin Ultra Strong.  I stock up at the lowest prices and when there are coupons and try to pay $0.25-$0.50 per roll.  I keep a bring big stockpile in the basement so we are never caught at full price.  My husband and I agree that we never want to have to use the brands that have wood chips in them (I watched a comedian years ago and that term stuck... don't remember which comedian said it though).  I usually pack a roll if we are going away on a long trip so that we aren't stuck with other peoples single ply toilet paper so we are serious about this item.

5.  Blue Scotch Brite Scrub Sponges-  Per the hotline on my pots and pans, these are the only ones to use so I bought them and I love them.  Previously, I thought the difference was just the color of the sponge but I now know that the blue ones are the non-scratch ones.  I got a bunch on sale with coupons awhile ago and they will probably last for a long time.

6. Plastic Bags-  I use rubbermaid containers to hold most leftovers and food in the fridge but I use the plastic bags to pack up food in the freezers.  I freeze chicken and ground beef in individual bags which can't be reused because they hold meat.  I also make bags of brown rice which is microwaved and the bag is then trashed.  I don't like to wash bags and reuse them so I try to use them only when I am not going to be able to reuse them.  Sounds a little backwards but I get whatever brand I can at the cheapest price.  I do prefer the ones with the zipper at the top (not ziploc but the actual plastic zipper) because I am bad at closing the bags and I feel like the bags are thicker.

7. Windex with Vinegar-  We use this to clean the counters and other things around the house.  When we got the new countertops, they told us that we couldn't use anything with citrus on the countertops.  We have tried a bunch of different things and this seems to do a great job and cleaning the counters and still works to clean other items great.  I have found that the price varies from store to store and coupons are getting increasingly harder to find so I started an experiment.  I put the date on the bottle to see how long it lasts under normal conditions.  The first test lasted 6 weeks so that would mean that we use 9 bottles a year at on average $2-$3 so this is under a $30 habit so I guess that it isn't that bad.

8.  Mircofiber Cloths-  I know that I am totally stealing this one from Our Frugal Happy Life's post but they are the most wonderful and I don't clean the counter with anything else.  That being said, my husband (probably even back before we were married) bought me these as seen on TV clothes for a gift.  I asked him why on earth I would want them.  Then I felt them and they total grossed me out so they sat under the cupboard forever.  I found them one day and I have been using two of them for years to clean the counter and other things around the house.  I knew that it was a set of three that I got but I never knew where the third one ran off and hid until I was cleaning up one day and found it.  I remember why I hated the feel so much so now I have two favorite cloths and one that I tolerate.  My husband actually said at Christmas that he was going to go buy me more since I loved them so much.  I told him that mine were fine and I loved them but if they ever fall apart.... it will be my next Christmas gift :)  If you don't have any, I highly recommend them.  I even watched some daytime tv show say that they were the key to cleaning windows perfectly!!

9.  Paper towels-  I know that this shouldn't be something on a frugals shopping list but my husband was slightly addicted to them when I met him.  He used them for everything!!  I have tried to cut down on the usage by having a hand towel next to the sink, one hooked to the stove (near the sink), a drawer full under the stovetop, and another drawer on the other side of the kitchen.  Did I mention the pile of rags under the kitchen sink?  Of course, then I had to explain to my husband the difference between a "good" towel and a rag but it takes time right?  I am going to tell you that my kitchen is not so big that you couldn't get one of those in easy reach whenever you needed it.  It is more of a habit then anything else that he often still reaches for the paper towel.  My son cleans up with a wash cloth instead of wet paper towel.  We use rags to clean up messes.  I am fine using every towel in the house because it doesn't add that much to the laundry load.  I keep a basket in the basement for the wet towels so that they don't stink up the laundry upstairs.  They often dry out or quickly go in the washer.  We are using paper towels slower these days but it is another thing that I refuse to spend full price on and often get them for free with coupons or through a CVS ECB deal.  I am going to start tracking how long they last to see how quickly they are used as part of my figuring out how much stockpile we need on hand so I guess I will know soon enough if my constant nagging is really working.  Also, I haven't figured out a better way to clean out grease when making tacos so until then, we will have paper towels on the counter.

10. Dishwasher Magic-  If you don't know what this is, it is recommended to use once every 3-6 months to clean hard water out of your dishwasher.  I bought a bottle from the Sears repair man when he came to fix the dishwasher at the end of the warranty period.  He said that this was the best out there and it would be $12 plus tax to get this from him.  Being silly, I bought one.  I went to the grocery store and saw it on the shelf.  Since then, I have seen it at Wal-Mart and many other places.  In order to make up for my two $12 bottles of cleaner (one he used and one we kept spare after he left), I have bought these on sale and with coupon and filled my cupboard.  Which reminded me to today that I really need to clean the dishwasher.  The challenging part is to get the dishwasher empty so that you can run it :)

UPDATE:  I started thinking and I came up with two others as I was drifting off to sleep last night... since I posted this right before I went to bed, it was on my mind. I know that it was a top ten but since it is my list, I am making it into a top 12.

11. Cerama Bryte Cooktop Cleaner-  We got a flat top stove and it is the only stuff that cleans it.  We have only bought one container of the cleaner since we got the stove over 4-5 years ago so I don't think of it as a big expensive item but it certainly is something we can't live without.  There is one for baked on grease too and we can live without that one because we haven't used it that much at all but the cleaner takes off my worst baked on messes!!

12.  Bona Floor Cleaner-  Before we finished the the kitchen, we got our floors refinished and new hardwood in the kitchen.  This is the stuff that the hardwood people recommended and told us is the only stuff that won't mess up the floor.  We are still using the spray and mop from when we got the floors finished but we will need to get new stuff and this is another thing that we can't live without.
Do you have anything that your family can't live without?  Each individual and family has different priorities for how money is spent. These are the first that came to mind when I started thinking about it and looking through the cupboards.  I can't wait to hear the items you find so please share!!! 

Other lists ideas include:

Money Saving Mom's list of things not to buy
Money Savings Mom's list of items to splurge on.