As with all areas of life you will need to cut back and make sacrifices in certain areas…
Whether you have a homestead or are looking into having one learning how to save money should be at the top of your priority list. As homesteaders, we want to become as self-sufficient as possible so if we can learn to keep our expenses low and take care of things ourselves it will play a huge part in achieving that goal.
My dad is an accountant so I was raised with money and numbers. I really enjoy making spreadsheets and budgets. To me, it is fun to find areas where we can save and do things on our own. But I have learned that it is also okay to live a little and enjoy what you have as well….that being said let’s get right into it.
Doing things yourself
One of the biggest ways to save money is to do absolutely anything you can yourself. Labor cost is crazy high and if you can get away with just buying the materials and doing the project yourself you will save lots. Some examples of doing things yourself would be…
- Building projects
Such as building your own animal cages, feeders, storage units Etc.
- Maintenance
Taking care of things such as oil changes and cleaning your machines on your own.
- Butchering
Butcher as many of your animals that you can on your own. For example, if you pay to have your chickens butchered it could cost you hundreds of dollars just for that one job. And doing it yourself is really not that hard. Check out my post about raising chickens for the quick run down.
- Yard work
Do as much of your work around the homestead yourself. I’m sure most of you do this already anyway but I just wanted to throw it out there just in case.
Shop Smart
Thrift shopping is one way I have saved lots of money for me and my family. But the more I do it the more I realize that I end up with way more stuff that I need because it was such a fabulous deal. But I really love doing it and it is so fun to find the good stuff among all the junk. I have just had to learn to only get what I really think I am going to use.
If thrift shopping is not your thing or you have a problem buying everything at the store then do your best to shop smart. What do I mean by that? Well, do your best to find things that you will use and will last a long time. Even if it does cost a little more it will be worth it in the long run.
Oh, and You and your family do not need the biggest and the best of everything. You will feel so much better if you can simplify your life and get rid of any debt and start from scratch…
Don’t get in Debt (Or get out)
As I said in our culture we think we need the newest and best things available. But spoiler alert the newest thing will not make you happy. Things don’t do that! So if you can do your best to not get into debt over things you will not be “happy” with tomorrow.
I know this is a foreign idea to some people but it is possible to live mostly debt free. The only debt my husband and I have is in our house. ( we could not figure a way around that one) So take a look at what you currently have and find ways to get out of debt or make decisions to stay out of it.
Like I said we don’t need the biggest and the best of everything. Maybe get rid of that car payment and get an older vehicle. Look at your budget and find ways that you can cut back so that you can pay off your debt faster.
Budget
Creating a budget if you don’t already have one is very important. This will help keep you accountable for how you are spending your money. Like I said I have fun doing this stuff but now that I have a lot going on in my life I can’t spend forever on my budget. So I need a quick and easy way to keep track of everything.
I have tried different budget apps and the best one I have found so far is called mint. You hook it up with all of your bank accounts and your bank. When you buy something it will automatically put it into your budget. If you have any cash transactions you can just add those manually.
Another app I love is called Qaupital. If you need some help saving this app will be your best friend. You can set different goals and different “rules”. So let’s say you are saving for something big. Maybe a new vehicle. Your goal would obviously be the vehicle and then you can choose from different options for the “rule”. You can have it take a certain amount each paycheck, or round up to the nearest dollar when you buy something on your credit card, a certain % of your paycheck Etc. I have found that it is really helpful because money is being saved and I don’t even realize it.
If you follow this link you will receive $5 after you make your first deposit!
Meal Planning
We all know what traditional meal planning looks like…You make your menu ahead of time so that you can save money when you go to the grocery store because you know exactly what you need when you get there. But when I talk about meal planning on the homestead I mean planning much farther in advance. Now I know that sounds overwhelming but just let me explain…
As I am sure you already know you can save a lot of money when you do things yourself. Growing your own food, raising your own meat Etc. but you want to do your best to plan ahead of time so that you have the right amount of each food. Think about how much your family usually eats and go from there. For example, I know that my family eats green beans a couple times a week so I plan on having just over 100 jars of canned beans.
Also, be thinking outside the box a little bit. We know the normal fruits and veggies to grow and preserve, but what about the other stuff that you buy regularly? This last year I made all of my own tomato products. Salsa, pasta sauce, tomato paste Etc. It saves quite a bit of money. And they are so easy to grow.
So when I talk about meal planning I am just suggesting that you look ahead at the year and think about what your family eats the most of and planting and raising enough for the year. You will be amazed at how much this will save you. And you will be eating so much healthier.
Saying No
I mentioned how we do not need the biggest and the best of everything. And if you are in a place where you are a little tighter I would encourage you to “say no” to certain things. You will have to make some sacrifices for the homestead but I promise you it will be worth it.
It is also a great lesson to teach our kids. They need to learn that they don’t need everything exactly the second they want it.
Cleaning supplies
I was doing some research and I found that an average family spends $600 a year on cleaning supplies! I about had a heart attack. Cleaning supplies? Really? And not only that if you are buying the traditional cleaning supplies you are paying $600 to fill your home with chemicals. Gross!
I would recommend that you make your own. You can make so many things with very few good natural ingredients. I mean you can clean pretty much everything with vinegar. I also love Dr. Bronner’s soap. Again, you can use this for just about anything.
I also love norwex. It is amazing. I wrote a whole post about how you can save money by using their products so if that is something that sounds interesting to you make sure to check out my post!
Beauty Products
This one can kill your budget. I for one am not huge into beauty products but I know how much they can cost. There are so many great ways to make your own. Which is not only awesome for your budget but when you make them yourself they will not be filled with nasty chemicals.
As you can see I am an advocate of saving money but am trying to find a way to balance getting good deals but also good healthy products. Because sadly the saying “you get what you pay for” is so true. But when you make things yourself you can get things at a cheaper price and still have a good quality. Oh and just so you know coconut oil is the “vinegar” of beauty products. You can use it for just about anything and it is so so good for you.
This post would go on forever if I posted all the recipes for all the things you would need around the house so I would just suggest to look up specific recipes when you are ready to make one. That seems to work the best for me.
Gifts
This item seems like kind of an odd one to have in a homesteading blog but it applies to everyone’s life so I figured I would throw it on here. We have a very large family and there always seems to be graduation open houses, birthdays, Weddings Etc. Now I am not telling you to be stingy and not give gifts but if you think ahead you can come up with super fun and creative things that don’t cost as much.
Again, when you do it yourself you will save so much money! And personally, I like gifts that people make me because I feel like so much more thought went into it then if they just ran to the store and grabbed something quick. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking…
- Homemade beauty products
One year I made a basket with all homemade beauty products in it for my aunts birthday. I made homemade body wash, bath bombs, bubble bath etc.
- Food
Depending on who the gift is going to they might love some of your homegrown and preserved food. Some of my family is to busy to do things like that for myself and love getting my homegrown foods. You could also make it fun and make a themed basket. Maybe a Mexican basket? Throw in some of your canned salsa, canned taco meat, and some chips! Any busy mom would love it!
Another thing I have done is giving kombucha. It is so expensive in the store but cost almost nothing to make. I made a batch and put it in cute little bottles and gave it to my husbands boss as a thank you gift.
- Flowers
If you have a flower garden pick your own flowers to give as gifts. If you think ahead of time maybe plant a little garden just for giving away. Everybody loves fresh flowers. And you can enjoy them until you need to give them away!
- Time
The gift of time is sometimes the best gift you can give. I know as a mom the thing I need and want most is some quiet time. If you need a good gift idea for a fellow mom offer to give her the day off. She will love you forever!
These are just a few ideas of how you can save money when it comes to gifts. But I know there are probably lots more that I missed. If you have any awesome ideas please share them with me in the comments.
Insurance
Insurance is one of the things that can just about kill you! I am talking about health insurance, car insurance, house insurance…and any other insurance that you have. But don’t freak out there are ways to make that bill just a little bit lower.
Let’s start with the car and house insurance. The first thing is to make sure you shop around everybody is going to claim to give you the best deal but you won’t know that until you search it out for yourself. The other thing to look for is a multi-policy discount. For some reason when you have more things on one policy it is cheaper. So make sure to put all of your vehicles and your house on one policy.
Also, once you have insurance make sure you shop around every couple of years. You never know what might have changed and other companies might have a better rate.
Now, health insurance. I am actually excited to share with you how affordable it can be. With all the changes that have taken place over the last couple years insurance has become insanely unaffordable. I can’t even begin to tell you the stories I have heard of the prices people are having to pay. I started freaking out thinking that there was no way we could afford that. Then I found Christian Healthcare ministries…
It is a Christian sharing plan. It is super cool and I honestly am so glad to be a part of it. I know that my money is going to other Christians when they need it and I will have what I need if something comes up. If you want a learn more I plan to write more about it soon. Anyway, back to the affordable part. I am totally blown away by how much coverage I get a such a low price. My price will obviously be different from your depending on the plan you get but I would check it out. You can get an instant quote on their website.
If you sign up with this link my family and I will get a discount on our plan next month!
Saving on insurance has been such a relief to our budget and yet we are not sacrificing the quality of service that we have. I can’t recommend it enough!
Utilities
There are the obvious ways to save, such as using less electricity and getting the house set to a lower temperature so that your propane bill is lower..but there are a few ways to make an upfront investment that will really help in the long run.
The biggest way my family saved was a having a wood burning stove. We have the land so we just cut down all of our wood. When I was growing up one of my favorite memories was when we would sleep in the basement in front of the Woodstove together. We would turn off the heat in the upstairs and all sleep downstairs by the fire. It was awesome!
Vacation
Using the capital app I try to put money aside each month for fun little trips or a big vacation. This way when we go on vacation it does not feel so overwhelming when the time comes.
But again, if you can’t afford to do that just plan fun little things around your house. You can still make plenty of great family memories close to home. You just have to be intentional about planning fun things to do. If you again interested in planning a “staycation” check this blog! It has so many great ideas.
As always please let me know if you have any other great ways to save money on the homestead!
Happy Homesteading!
~Courtney