Today I thought I’d share what I’ve been doing to make some money-saving swaps. However, most of these do require being willing to sacrifice in other small ways to save money in the long run. For some people needing immediate relief, these ideas may not be the best solution in the moment. With that in mind, here are some small changes I’ve been making lately to help my family stretch our paycheck and use our money better…
Frugal Changes We Are Currently Making to Save Each Month:
- Gardening to reduce grocery costs: While it requires and upfront investment and has been a huge time investment, this one has been a joy. I love being outside and being in nature, so this one has been an easy transition. I've spent many hours doing research and watching YouTube videos on good gardening practices and ways to grow more in less space, and it seems to be paying off so far! We currently have more cucumbers and squash than we know what to do with!
- Raising chickens to support food security: Again, this was another upfront monetary investment, and it requires a decent amount of time, but I firmly believe the payoff will be worth it. This one won’t so much save us money as it will provide self-reliance and food security. (If you want to know more about the upfront costs of raising backyard chickens, check out my post on How We Raise Backyard Chickens On a Budget!)
- Couponing/Buying in Bulk: This is a new thing for me, and I’ve invested a lot of time into learning the ins and outs of coupons before I even attempted a run to the store. (Again, lots of YouTube research!) The biggest thing to remember with this one is to NEVER impulse purchase—always weigh out the benefits, get things you actually use, and compare pricing. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to get $100 worth of groceries for around $50! It was a huge couponing win for me.
- Using kitchen scraps to reduce food waste: I’ve recently started cooking using scraps from my kitchen (if it doesn’t go in the compost or to the chickens) and it’s been so enlightening to see how much good food I was throwing away for no reason! For example, a week or two ago, I saved a lot of strawberry tops and I made homemade strawberry syrup to add to my morning matcha. You can also save veggie scraps and make vegetable broth, or even combine it with leftover chicken bones and make chicken broth!
- Switch to reusable: This has been a slow transition, and I’m still not all the way there. The biggest change I’ve made so far is I’ve switched my toddler to cloth diapers roughly half the time, which alone will save us hundreds a year! Our plan is to continue transitioning to fully cloth diapering until he is potty-trained. Additionally, I've also invested in some Swedish Dishcloths to cut down on the number of paper towels we are consuming.
- Cutting back on impulse spending: This one sounds like common sense, but it can make a huge difference. As a simple rule, instead of instantly buying items I want or "need" on Amazon, I let them sit in the cart for a while and come back later. I'll also do this with in-person shopping as well. Honestly, this simple step of hitting "pause" has helped me to take the emotions out of spending, which helps me to not spend money on products we don't truly need.
- Limiting subscription services: My husband and I don't typically keep many paid subscription services at a time. We've evaluated which ones were truly "worth it" to us and our lifestyle, and cut all the rest. (For example, we chose between Netflix or Hulu instead of keeping both. I also chose to just use a free Spotify account instead of the paid version, which really wasn't as big of an inconvenience as I expected.) These paid subscriptions add up very quickly every month, especially with inflation driving up the monthly prices!
- Swap eating takeout for cooking at home: This is another simple switch that feels like common sense to most of us, but it can be easier said than done in busy seasons of life. This does take a little planning ahead, but meal planning is a skill that can save your family quite a bit of money with a little self-discipline. Plus, there's the added benefit of home-cooked meals generally being more nutritious and filling anyway!
Future Changes We Plan to Make in the Coming Months to Continue Saving Money:
- We are in the process of switching to using a water filtration system instead of buying disposable water bottles every week. This will save us quite a bit of money every month, as well as help us cut down on consuming extra microplastics.
- We will be installing a clothesline outside to dry our clothes, which will help our electric bill (especially in the summertime) and extend the life of our clothing.
- We plan to expand our garden to accommodate more homegrown produce.
- I plan to learn more about canning and food preservation so I can start relying less on the grocery store for all of our food.
- We hope to add more livestock (such as meat chickens and pigs) in the future. This will help us have more control over our food in general, but also help to ensure that we always have meat on hand, even when things are tight.
- My goal is to breastfeed/pump when our new baby comes, so that will hopefully save us money on formula.
- After we get through my postpartum journey, I hope to stop using disposable paper plates! However, that’s not something I currently have the energy to give up at the moment.
Just remember, when it comes to making frugal swaps, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Different seasons bring different challenges. Some days (like me) you will be thankful that paper plates exist–and other days, you will miraculously have the energy to wash all the dinner dishes before bed. These are just the frugal swaps we are making to help our family live well on a single income.
Have you ever tried any of these frugal swaps? Did you have a good experience? Which would you be willing to try? Let me know!
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