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We homestead and are semi-self-sufficient. I am a stay-at-home wife and mum. We have to save money on household expenses to cope with the state of the world today. Some of the ways to save money are also good for the environment, or better for ethical reasons. Here are our top 10 ways to save money today.
Top 10 Ways To Save Money Today
These are some of the simple ways that we save money on household expenses and groceries today. As a homesteader with land, as a person free to stay at home, I have privileges, I know. But both of these things came about because we’ve always been very good at frugal living. We saved, we became minimalists, we lived and travelled on a budget. Saving money makes me happy, so here’s how we’re doing it today.
We are a family with adult kids living at home. We like it that way, and it greatly cuts everyone’s living costs, plus more incomes are coming into the household. It makes life more affordable. We do not charge the kids rent.
Cancel Subscriptions
Plenty of people are cancelling subscriptions for both ethical reasons and to save money. Spotify is cancelled for us. I believe that costs about $120 a year, saved. Instead we have a stack of old CDs and vinyl records that will see the light of day again. I’m sure recording artists will be happier too if we stopped streaming.
TV subscriptions can also go. For now, we still have Netflix, but Disney+ is cancelled.
We got rid of Amazon Prime and Prime Video 7 months ago and haven’t missed it at all. We’re definitely spending less by not shopping online, it’s just too easy. There hasn’t been one thing that we’ve needed so far that we haven’t been able to find elsewhere.
What other subscriptions can you think of that you really don’t need?
Don’t Buy Non-Essentials
There are a lot of small savings to be made here, for a touch less convenience. As I am Gen X, I remember life before these things were deemed “essential”. Not buying these things is not a big deal to me.
Stop buying kitchen roll or kitchen paper, use cloths instead. Stop buying paper tissues, use cotton handkerchiefs. You don’t need plastic bin bags or liners; wash your bins instead.
I’m fairly certain that I can stop using baking parchment if I just return to butter and flour. So far so good.
What else can you think of that is “essential” but really isn’t?
Stay Out Of The Supermarket
Here in Australia we have a duopoly controlling supermarket prices, with frequent accusations of price-gouging.
Enough is enough, so we decided to shop at markets and local small businesses instead. I quickly found that we could buy everything we really needed, easily, with a lot of it being organic and of better quality.
We love that we’re helping local businesses and growers, not huge corporations.
I think that if you have a nice piece of cheese from a deli, you treasure it more and it’s more special to eat. You use less of it and enjoy it more.
I know, for a fact, that we’re spending less on weekly groceries by shopping this way, rather than at the supermarket.
There is less temptation created through sneaky marketing, no impulse purchases, and fewer items bought.
Sure, we may have to do without a few things, but I’m sure we’ll survive.
Buy Goods That Will Last A Lifetime
Cookware comes to mind here. Cast iron pans last forever, stainless steel is my favourite, it lasts a very long time. I own a Le Creuset dish that is 40 years old, I still use it often. Go for quality and durability.
Using these items is also better for you. No non-stick, microplastics and silicone. Non-stick pans have a very short life expectancy, almost built-in obsolescence.
Stop Buying Pet or Animal Feed
We have a lot of animals. The dog eats raw pet mince from a local farm. Some butchers also offer this. We have excess eggs at the moment. And excess, dirty or developing eggs that we find get boiled up for him. The cats normally eat tinned sardines and eggs. Tinned sardines aren’t going to be happening without the supermarket. Maybe I’ll go back to fishing.
If we go fishing, there may be scraps for the chickens, otherwise we can grow at least some of the animal feed. The cow loves grapefruit, the goats love banana plants, and we grow pulses, in the form of pigeon peas, these are good for animal feed. We need to grow more.
Any excess fruit, and there is a lot, can go to the animals. We have a post about the various fruit we are able to grow in a tropical climate.
Eat What You Have
Eat what you can get, what you can afford, and what you can grow, in season. So for instance, we grow bananas. When we do not have a bunch of ripe bananas, we don’t buy bananas, we eat something else. Some we will freeze for future banana bread, some go to the animals, but we only eat bananas occasionally. It’s not essential to have bananas constantly in your fruit bowl.
If you have to buy your fruit, buy what’s in season, it will be cheaper when there is a glut.
At the moment we have no cucumbers in the garden. We love cucumbers, but we won’t buy them. We have cucamelons, they’ll do.
Always cook from scratch. I baked a loaf of bread this morning, the unbleached organic flour cost under $3 Au. The cheapest loaf I’ve bought at the markets so far has been $8. That $3 loaf could feed us for a whole day, coupled with our home-produced eggs and some fresh fruit.
We don’t consume processed food as much as possible. Buying real, whole foods is cheaper. Buy vegetables, fruit, meats and cheeses, not composite dishes from a factory.
Don’t eat out, is a no-brainer, as is don’t buy coffee and carry a bottle of water. We do eat out about once a week. If we really had to economise, we’d stop.
I make a packed lunch for my husband, usually leftovers or something I put aside from a bulk cook.
Bulk Cook & Bulk Shop
If you have to use the oven, could you cook a second or third meal in there at the same time? If you have to cook rice, could you cook double the amount and put up some freezer meals or use it the next day? Both will cut your gas or electric costs and free up some time in future.
As I mentioned, I make packed lunches for my husband. I usually just cook more than we need and either freeze it for him, or he takes it the next day. This saves us $9 per day. That’s the cost of his lunch in work. That adds up to $180 per month in savings, or thereabouts.
If I’m making a complicated dish, like a lasagna, I’ll cook 2. If I make pastry, I’ll make double and have some frozen for next time. The latter doesn’t save money, but it saves time, time I can use for my side-hustle.
Bulk buy too. When you see produce discounted, think of ways to preserve it. Our flour comes in 5 kg bags, salt comes in bulk sizes, and shampoo in the biggest possible bottle from an online source. Bulk buying usually saves you money, but do check. Sometimes it’s a scam.
Have a Side Hussle
I’ve been earning money through blogging since 2012. The site you’re on right now is not monetised currently, but I have a lot of other sites that are. This one should start earning early next year.
If blogging isn’t your thing, maybe you could make something to sell, physical or digital. You could take a market stall or have a garage sale and sell off the junk that could be somebody else’s treasure.
If you’re keen to enter the digital space, with a set it and forget it business of your own, from home, you need Kelly. Kelly is a friend of mine and she teaches people like you how to do just that. Check out Kelly’s online business ideas here.
If you can do this, do it before Christmas, people will need presents, and everyone is feeling the pinch today. I’ll be selling my grown kids’ old toys from the shed very soon.
How about face painting? I’ve done this. Or offering your services as a gardener or handyman? There are a million ways to make a little extra money, even if, like me, you are a stay at home mum.
Grow Your Food!
This is my passion, growing food for my family. It’s better for you, with way more nutrients than supermarket food, and it’s not covered in pesticides.
We use nothing artificial in our gardens and orchards.
I would say that to make a big dent in your shopping bill you should grow a carbohydrate vegetable. We grow sweet potatoes in our tropical climate. If you have a carb you don’t need to buy rice or pasta or whatever. I can make pasta if we want it.
You also need to grow a green veg. Since our longevity spinach really started producing we haven’t needed to buy green veg from the supermarket.
A citrus fruit is a really good idea for vitamins and the odd juice drink. Lemons are most useful because they also see use in savoury dishes, but grapefruit are big and the juice is amazing. As mentioned, our cow also loves grapefruit.
Herbs and chillies are also garden essentials for me. They make your food interesting and add extra nutrients.
If you don’t have space, strt with herbs on a windowsill. We can all grow something.
We have manure and we compost, so we don’t need to buy bagged soils or fertilisers. There are many ways to make your own fertilisers at home.
Solar, Power, Water
Solar is expensive to install and doesn’t last forever, but we have it, it was already installed on the farm when we bought it. We do not have batteries. I wish we did, but we don’t. We can’t afford them. This means we have to be smart with how we use electricity. It also means that we need a generator for the frequent power cuts that tropical weather and cyclones create
When the sun is shining, we run the dishwasher or the washing machine. If it’s cloudy or dark, we don’t. If we were really short of money I’d do more laundry by hand. I can use soap instead of eco washing sheets from the supermarket, or, for convenience, I could buy laundry products online from a small business. You can cut out the middleman, the supermarket.
We have an abundance of wood on our property. Trees drop parts of themselves constantly. My son is working on building a wood-fired pizza or bread oven. Free power for cooking from the garden!
A bio gas generator setup would also be a good idea. Maybe we could do this in future.
We have bore water. But we should also be collecting rainwater from our roof or guttering. The pump for the bore is electric. A gravity-fed system would be an advantage to have.
A Bonus #11 – Opt Out Of Conditioned Spending
We have been conditioned by marketers and big corporations to spend big over the holidays. From buying a Halloween Costume to a table groaning with food at Christmas, to fancy birthdays and weddings. None of it is necessary.
It was my birthday last week. We did nothing and bought no gifts. A hug and a “Happy Birthday” is just fine. Honestly, it’s a relief not to have to plan something fun or special, usually with a hefty bill.
My son had to dress up for Halloween; his work required it. We sorted out a costume for $10 and some imagination. Otherwise, nothing happens here during these holidays.
We normally celebrate Christmas with a huge family meal and gifts. This year, Christmas dinner will be more low-key. I will not buy any new decorations. We don’t buy gifts for anyone other than immediate family and we send maybe 2 Christmas cards to elderly relatives. We know they appreciate it. But even the very elderly are waking up to some of the realities of this world.
Gifts will be extremely limited, maybe some chocolate from a local producer or something that is needed. And I’m quite excited about that, I enjoy a challenge.
We have completed 1 week without the supermarket and 7 months without Amazon. Sign up to follow, I’ll be sharing more on life without the supermarket, becoming more off-grid, growing food, keeping animals, cooking, and more.
