Even if you aren’t a DIY guru, you can make things at home which will save you money over buying them at the store. Even if you have coupons! As many of you know, I grew up with my grandmother and she raised us with all of the great wisdom of a woman who grew up in the Great Depression. (If you want to hear more of this story, watch My Grandma’s Great Depression Money Saving Ways.) One of the side effects of being raised this way is having a mental mindset to look for ways to do it myself or make it myself before buying it..whatever IT is.
Here are 10 of the top things I make myself, that you can make to. No super complicated skills needed, these are all easy and CHEAP!
When we were little, we used to play with homemade playdough all of the time. We hardly ever had store bought playdough, we preferred the kind we got to make at home. We got to make it, color it and then play with it. Plus we could make things like ornaments for Christmas and bake them in the oven to keep forever. It was so much fun to bake them and then paint them and give them as gifts. Here’s our family recipe for what we called Salt Dough.
Next! This one is so easy it’s just crazy! When I was little I had very long, very thick hair. After I took a bath it took a lot of time and tears to comb it out, especially on ballet day because my Grandma had to wrestle my hair into a giant bun on the top of my head! One of the things she did to make it easier was to use detangler spray. We definitely did not pay the over priced cost of kids detangler. Do you know that Kids detangle spray is usually just a leave in conditioner? Here’s how to make that yourself!
This next one is so easy and is just a few ingredients. You can whip it up, keep it in a mason jar and it lasts forever. Great for men or women! In my house we make our own shaving cream, it’s better for our skin, leaves a softer skin after shaving and is much cheaper than name brand shaving lotions. If you’re an essential oil person you can add a few drops of your favorite scent, but I like it unscented.
This next one is going to have us popping over to the food category. We’re going to start with Refried Beans. It’s just crazy to me that people buy these in the can or from the deli. Making your own refried beans is literally half the cost of buying them in the store in a can. This particular recipe is the latest way I’ve been doing them, in my instant pot!
Yogurt! Our last one today is yogurt, have you actually noticed how much you pay for yogurt in the store? The price per ounce is insane! You can actually make yogurt right in your oven or instant pot. I love my instant pot so I’m sharing that recipe here. Try it and tell me if you like it!