I'm always working on new ways to save money. I'm intrigued by the idea of making your own laundry detergent, onion powder, anything else you can make at home to save money. I recently started working from home so now I have more time to try to make things, as long as it's saving money. What are your favorite ways to save money by making something yourself? What's worth it and what's best to just keep buying from the store?
Best things to make yourself to save money?
byu/spammy-bee inFrugal
Posted by spammy-bee
7 Comments
There’s a great book for this called Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. Gives you what is worth making yourself and what you should still buy.
If you can get into OMAD and keto then do it. Coffee, tea, and supplements to help starting with OMAD
Check out the book “make the bread, buy the butter”
I’ll also add…I make my own spice mixes (there are some great copycat recipes online if you have a favourite restaurant ranch or other seasoning) , vegetable stock from scraps then freeze in souper cubes, as well as crackers, and breads. I almost always have a bag of russet potatoes as well to make my own fries, and just to have on hand to throw into curries or soups to bulk them up. 🙂
I’m over half way through a “No Buy Year” for clothing.
I enjoy fashion and forcing myself to style my clothes in new combinations has been a good challenge. The hardest moments this year so far were costume parties, but I managed to rustle up new costumes with items I already own. Being resourceful and creative is part of being frugal for me.
I’ve also raided my husband’s wardrobe when appropriate. Accessories he no longer wears is fair game!
Things to make from home should be prohibitively expensive to buy or I figure the effort isn’t worth it. Onion powder is like $2 at Walmart so I don’t consider it to be something you should make unless youre just absolutely flooded with Onions.
My list of makes shakes out to:
-Mayonaise
-Iced Tea (Given that I always have bought black tea for consumption while hot)
-Anything involving ground beef in different shapes (Hamburgers mainly)
-Bread
-Compost
-Soup base (Either from home made stock or store bought boullion)
Double check that home made detergent won’t clog your machine/pipes.
I read the book recommendation above and wasn’t overly impressed with it, but it can give you an idea of things to try making at home.
We make our own yogurt in the instant pot and it’s much cheaper than straight up store bought (I get a cup of plain Greek yogurt from the store to use as a starter though).
I’ve basically found a recipe for every food I’d normally order out so now I rarely do. A food stir fry sauce, pizza dough to my liking…stuff like that. I’ve gotten them to the point where I make things exactly the way I like them that I don’t even want take out, and when I get it, I compare it to what I can make at home. I make other things too, but this has become my biggest money saver.