When you eventually settle into your first place, you quickly realize that the floors don’t clean themselves and you could spend hours trying to figure out why your kitchen smells like socks.  The solution?  Hold your nose and tackle the problems head on.  The only down side is that cleaning supplies tend to fall on the expensive end of the scale, and the bill can get a bit costly when you’re purchasing up a different spray bottle for each surface of your apartment.

One problem spending area I’ve always had trouble cutting back on is cleaning supplies. I have a strong love for Clorox, and I can go through an entire roll of paper towels when tackling the bathroom alone.

However, you don’t have to spend a bundle on cleaning products.  There’s a good chance everything you need to do some serious spring cleaning are right there in your closet and stuffed in the back of your cupboards.  We’ll show you how to dig up some basic household items lying around to finish off that spring cleaning — all while still having enough cash to sign up for that NYC Snuggie Bar Crawl next month.

Towels and T-shirts – My uncle once said to me, if it weren’t for college I would have no clothes to wear. Dig up some of your old t-shirts or towels and use them instead of grabbing paper towels. Not only are you going green, but you can save a bundle and the cloth will do a better job of cleaning since it won’t leave behind any residue.

Vinegar – The solution to any cleaning problem always seems to be vinegar! If you have stainless steel appliances, vinegar will take away those annoying fingerprint smudges. Vinegar will also work for other surfaces around your pad from the floors to the windows. Click here for some useful tips.

Socks – Since you already dug up your old t-shirts, how about grabbing all those socks that have missing mates? You can use them to create your brand new mop to cut back on your Swiffer expenses. A mop generally cleans better than any wet sweepers on the market, especially if you don’t find yourself cleaning that often. Like I tell my roommates, a Swiffer is great for in between messes, but it wasn’t made for the heavy duty chaos that is our kitchen.

Baking Soda – Not only is baking soda non-toxic, but it will clean just as well as bleach. Just add a little water to make a paste, and you can clean your sink, tub and grout for about a buck. When you’re done, stick the rest of it in your fridge as a deodorizer.

Newspapers – One of the things that my high school journalism teacher taught me was that newspapers never lose their value. Why? Because you can use them to clean your dirty windows. It sounds crazy, but it’s worth a try, especially since you can get some dailies for free on the street. Or you can buy a paper for less than a dollar and feel good about helping to save the media world — one window at a time.

Still craving some of those specialty cleaning products?  Hit up your local dollar store. Saving anywhere from .50 cents to a buck per cleaning product can really add up in the long run. Great deals can also be had at wholesale stores like Costco, which has the lowest profit margin needed in order to run a business. Can’t find a dollar store or wholesale club in the big city? The next time you take that big trip home to visit mom and dad, be sure to stock up on the things you need. I always hit up the grocery store whenever I can because there’s a huge price difference compared to local stores in my neighborhood.  The only downfall is having to haul it on the train back to the city.

Also, try going for green products. A big misconception is that going green can be costly, when in fact it can actually be far more cost effective. Many green products are cheap because the market is so competitive and they’re using natural ingredients.

So grab your mop and bucket, tackle that spring cleaning list, and then pat yourself on the back for saving your wallet and the environment.

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