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There are two ways to save money when push comes to shove: make more money or cut down on expenses. If you already live on a tight budget, you can create a little wiggle room by making everyday items at home cheaper (and maybe even better) than buying them.
Parents can save money by cooking at home and making household cleaners from a few cheap ingredients. Some homemade products may be even better than store-bought versions in taste, safety, or efficiency.
Here is a list of what I almost always make at home because they are cheaper and better. For the skeptics, I even included another list of items that are not cheaper to make at home. Let's jump in!
1. Coffee or Tea
I love coffee and tea, and that fancy cost me way too much back in the day. Naturally, I cut coffee and tea shop trips when I had a little one to budget for (and keep entertained).
Cutting those nearly daily trips out was one of the best decisions I ever made because I discovered how much tastier I could make them at home!
Pro Tip: During Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you can get a really sweet deal on an espresso machine. You'll make that money back quickly by making your own espressos and lattes at home!
If you don't have the space for an espresso machine but really enjoy lattes and espressos, consider a stovetop espresso maker. I have one from Bialetti that I use with Bialetti's Perfetto Moka espresso grounds. These are so delicious and give me the jolt I need to power through working parenthood.
If you like mochas, add a fancy hot chocolate mix to your Bialetti espresso and hot milk--perfection!
2. Laundry Soap
Believe it or not, homemade laundry soap does the job just as well as store-bought detergent. The cherry on top is that you can control exactly what's in it, which is better for your family's skin.
A basic recipe will combine washing soda, baking soda, and borax. It's dusty to make, but you can make a year's worth in less than an hour. You can even scent it with your own essential oils!
For powdered laundry detergent, you can use this recipe:
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda
1 cup borax
5 drops of essential oil (optional)
When using homemade powdered laundry detergent, put it on top of the clothes so it starts to break down while your machine is filling.
If you prefer liquid laundry detergent, you can find a recipe for it along with other common household cleaners in Cost-Effective Eco-Friendly Cleaning Tips for Busy Parents.
3. Bath Salts
If you love taking baths to relax and unwind, you already know how expensive scented bath salts can be. After you make your own, you will probably never buy more because the mark-up is ridiculous!
Basic bath salts are Epsom salt and a few drops of essential oil. But you can get creative by adding different types of salts and dried flowers, too!
4. Fertilizer
Chemical fertilizers are efficient but full of stuff that can harm little ones. Luckily, there are tons of nifty ways you can feed your plants organically.
Whether you use fish tank water, coffee grounds, banana peels, seaweed, pasta water, or egg shells, you have a surprising number of options from things most people tend to throw away!
Here is a simple article on 15 easy organic fertilizers.
5. Bug Spray
Bug spray is another common household item with a list of scary ingredients, so I have done many experiments to find an effective homemade option.
Here is a solid recipe for toddlers:
1/4 cup witch hazel
1/4 cup distilled water
5 drops of citronella, lemongrass, and lavender essential oils
1 teaspoon of vitamin E oil
When my children were infants reacting to detergents, I put a drop or two of French lavender oil in a tablespoon of olive or coconut oil on a cloth and wiped that on their arms, legs, and neck (avoiding the eyes and hands for risk of ingestion).
These options won't repel every bug, but they are much cheaper and safer for little ones' skin.
6. Whipped Cream
You have not had real whipped cream until you've made it yourself. Buy heavy whipping cream and sugar for this one.
Put 2 cups of heavy whipping cream in a mixer with an appropriate whisk attachment and beat it on high until it begins to thicken.
Then add 4 tablespoons of white sugar and a splash of pure vanilla extract. Keep whipping on high until it is the consistency of whipped cream. My kids prefer homemade whipped cream, and it only takes a few minutes to make!
7. Bread
I enjoy bread so much—all breads. But as bread has become increasingly expensive over the years, I've started making it at home. Let me tell you—this is one of the best decisions I've ever made!
I started with rolls, banana bread, biscuits, tortillas, and naan because they are quick, simple recipes that go with everything.
Then, I discovered sourdough bread, focaccia, ciabatta bread, and pizza dough. I really got into it! Don't worry about getting into the fancy stuff at first; just master the easy recipes. It's so much tastier!
8. Tomato Sauce
I didn't realize how bland tomato sauce from a jar or can was until I was in a pinch one day and decided to make my own. Good night. It was so fresher and tastier!
Since then, I either take a plain can of tomato paste to spruce up with seasonings myself or make the whole bit from scratch.
Using fresh tomatoes for a tomato sauce recipe is not often cheaper at home, but if you find a local farmer drowning in tomatoes mid-season, you can score buckets of tomatoes at a bargain. From there, you can quarter and freeze them or make your various sauce recipes and can them for later use.
One trick I've learned over the years is to quarter and broil fresh tomatoes at 500 degrees for about three minutes. The tomato skins come right off, making small batches of fresh salsa or sauce easy.
9. Granola Bars
Granola bars are far easier to make than I initially thought, and they last a long time in the fridge.
Here is a basic recipe I use that's super easy to modify:
5 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup honey
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Toast the almonds and oats on a big cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10ish minutes or until gently toasted.
2. Combine everything in a large mixing bowl and cover it with a damp cloth or aluminum foil for 20 minutes to soften the ingredients.
3. Divide everything into two 13-by-9-inch cake pans lined with parchment paper. Use a large spoon, spatula, or your hands to press everything down tightly and evenly.
4. Place in the freezer for 8 hours or overnight.
5. Pull the sides of the parchment paper gently to remove the granola from the pan. Use a large serrated knife to cut your granola into bars.
6. Store in the fridge for up to a week.
If you "mess up" and make super crumbly bars, you can use them as granola for yogurt, oatmeal, or cereal!
10. Syrup
I still buy maple syrup from the professionals, but fruit syrups are better made at home!
Just add frozen or fresh berries to a saucepan with a little water and bring the whole thing to a boil. Add sugar to taste (usually 1 part sugar to 3 parts fruit), a teaspoon or two of lemon juice, and reduce it to a simmer.
Stir and mash the berries with something like a potato masher until the whole thing is more like syrup. Turn the heat off and let the syrup cool. Then, pour the syrup through a sieve into a bowl or jar. Use a spatula to squeeze the juice out of the fruit.
That's it! Berry syrups are tasty in teas, yogurt, and oatmeal but also delightful with whipped cream on cakes and pancakes!
5 Things That Are Not Cheaper to Make at Home
To be fair, not everything can reasonably be made cheaper at home. Some folks just happen to be in the perfect place to find bargain prices on ingredients or materials for these things, but the majority of us may not be so lucky.
That said, it doesn't mean these are not worth making at home. They could still be better!
1. Ice Cream
Homemade ice cream tastes better to me than the store-bought stuff, but it always costs me more to make it at home. I still do so during peach season because homemade peach ice cream is hard to beat!
You can reduce some costs by buying your salt, sugar, and cream in bulk, but it's still more expensive than going to the store.
2. Pasta
If you haven't tasted homemade pasta yet, you're missing out! Fresh pasta is delightful, but it is hard to beat $1 a box at the supermarket.
Pasta also takes a lot of time to make, though a pasta maker can shorten that time.
3. Fried Food
This one purely comes down to the cost of oil. Whichever oil you purchase for frying food, you will probably not fry enough food to offset the oil's cost.
Restaurants can use the same oil for a while to get more bang for their buck. They can also buy oil in massive quantities for a cheaper price per fried food batch.
So, unless you use the same frying oil for several meals or many people, you will likely not save money by frying food at home.
4. Kids' Clothes
Homemade kids' clothes, especially little girls' summer dresses, can be adorable. However, thanks to fabric price inflation, clothes at the store tend to be much cheaper.
Sure, you can lessen the cost of fabric by buying from clearance sections or a large bulk retailer, but most of us will spend more time and money making kids' clothes than buying them from the store.
5. Canned Food
I grew up canning food grown on my grandparents' farm. We spent weeks harvesting, prepping, and canning jams, jellies, tomatoes, picante sauce, tomato juice, pickles, cabbage, and many other fruits and vegetables every summer.
However, growing and canning your own food is not as economical as it once was. Canning jars, water, electricity, and pectin prices have shot up over the years, but you can still find canned food for around $1 per can in many places.
Though it is generally more labor-intensive and expensive, I still prefer canning food at home because I like controlling the salt and seasonings. I also like pickling vegetables, which is healthier than canning them.
Yet, I must save up for this cost throughout the year because it means time off work and money to replace broken jars and lids.
Cheaper vs. Better on a Budget
Being on a tight budget as a parent often causes tension between cheaper and better. For example, we know that replacing processed foods with fresh produce is best for our health and that of our children, but fresh produce is much more expensive in many places.
It's not just food, either. It's where to spend time off with the family, gifts for others, toys, educational experiences, and many other areas of life.
One way to approach this tension is to decide beforehand what matters to you and your family. What foods, things, and experiences are worth spending money on? What isn't?
Identifying the things that don't add value to your family makes it easier to find cheaper options or nix them altogether. Doing so will make saving up for your priorities and worthy wants easier.
In a Nutshell
Prices constantly change, but they consistently trend upward over the years. Thankfully, managing a tight budget doesn't have to be restricted to never eating out or going places, but we can trade a little time for big savings.
Just remember to factor in your time when figuring out whether making something at home will be cheaper or better. Saving a few dollars may not be worth a six-hour project! What are some things you make at home to save money?
