Money Saving Challenge #1 - The Toiletry Task

As part of our mission to budget and cut back our spending, Andrew and I are trying to come up with some ‘fun’ challenges to save money. Our first challenge has the added bonus of de-cluttering (something we’ll definitely need to do before moving into our motorhome full-time.)

The challenge – Use all of the trial sized toiletries we’ve gathered over the years, before purchasing more full-sized bottles.

For most “normal” folk, this may not seem like much of a challenge. However, between our frequent personal travels, and Andrew’s bi-weekly travel for work, we spend many nights in hotels. We both hate the thought of all of those barely used toiletries going to waste (and the plastic ending up in the landfill) so we bring them home. The intention is to use them and recycle the bottles. You know what they say about the best of intentions…

So, when I was rooting around in our bathroom cupboard today, this is what I uncovered:

This is our trial-sized toiletry challenge…

The grand total of my rummaging breaks down to:

21 bars of soap
1 bottle of bodywash
12 bottles of shampoo
2 bottles of conditioner
13 bottles of lotion
29 sample packets of various lotions and creams
4 bottles of sunscreen
2 bottle of facewash

Keep in mind these are all hotel/trial sized bottles and the list does not take into account all of the full-sized bottles we still have around the house as well.

Needless to say, we shouldn’t need to purchase any more toiletry items for the next while. (Maybe not at all if Andrew keeps travelling so much for work!)

We have lots more silly/fun challenges for ourselves to both save money for our European RV adventure and help us de-clutter our flat before we move into our motorhome full-time. Stay tuned for more!

We’d love to hear your money saving and de-cluttering ideas. We can use all the help we can get, so leave your suggestions in the comments below.

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Alison

Writer and Photographer at CheeseWeb.eu

Alison Cornford-Matheson is a freelance writer and travel photographer. In 2005, she landed in Belgium where she founded CheeseWeb.eu a travel resource for slow travel in Europe and beyond. She dreams of the open road and exploring Europe’s hidden secrets in her motorhome, Amelia, with her husband, Andrew, and her spoiled house-cats. She can often be found with a Nikon, a good book and a glass of red wine within reach. You can also follow her on Google+ and @Acornn on Twitter.