If you’ve followed me for long, you know that I’m a quality girl. I love getting the best quality at the best price. Because of this, there are very few things that I purchase off-brands for. So, how can I do this and still come in under budget?
By getting a lot of the things my family uses for free or eradicating them from our home all together.
15 things I don’t spend money on…
Just as my rule is, I don’t WANT to pay retail for the items I buy, such is the same with free stuff. Some things I just don’t WANT to pay for. It’s a spending habit I’m so glad I implemented. I find that by doing this, my budget and income is opened up on a much larger scale, and I’m able to focus on buying the things that ARE really important to me and ignore the unnecessary things.
1) Kids Clothes
I have found ways of going around paying for kids clothes. Read more on my tips to get free kids clothes here: How to Get Kids Clothes Free
2) Movies and Movie Rentals
Since I rarely watch movies, I don’t buy them. If the kids want a movie, usually they get it for Christmas or birthdays or we rent them online at places like Amazon Prime Video or YouTube. Another trick is not to PAY for movie rentals (for example, I already have Amazon Prime for my business and so the video section is free for me). It makes a lot more sense buying the movie to me for $5-$10 on eBay than to rent it for nearly that same amount, and the gas it takes to pick up the rental and to return it.
3) Household Cleaners
Between the benefits of Grove Collaborative, Norwex, and Essential Oils, I never have to pay for cleaning supplies.
For every friend that signs up with Grove Collaborative, you get $10 and they get $10. It’s a win win! The products Grove sells are amazing. Things like pull ups, cleaning supplies, candles, lip balm, trash bags, and so on, are products that I never have to pay for thanks to this company.
Since I have a few Norwex cloths that were given to me by a friend, I don’t really need a whole lot of cleaning supplies to begin with. I have the Envirocloth and I especially love the polishing cloth that does windows. It makes things sparkly (like my stainless steel appliances)! You buy the rags one time and can wash them all you want. Never have to replace them, so long term, saves money.
With the essential oils, I really only use two homemade cleaners and they do most of my cleaning.
4) Video Games
We just don’t play them. When we do play games, they are board games. My favorite at the moment is Sorry, though I’m telling you, I lose every time! Grrr. Other good media choices for us are free apps on apple devices.
5) Many Office Supplies
Staples has so many Free After Rebate (FAR) items. We are usually able to stock up on free office supplies like pencils, pens, scotch tape, printer/copy paper, and all those types of little office supplies. It’s easy. Get items you use everyday for FREE at Staples.
6) Virus Protection for My Electronic Devices
Every year, there are FAR rebates that I use and get my computers protected for free. I use Slickdeals to find AH-mazing deals all year round! Simply click Forums, then Hot Deals.
7) Dry cleaners
I do not purchase clothes that need to be maintained at the dry cleaners, although I do have one jacket as such. I useDryel on it.
Bonus Tip:
Another idea is when you get free beauty samples etc from company’s, you could make a care basket and donate to homeless shelters or give as gifts to your friends for birthdays, etc. or even sell them. I know people who make the baskets & keep for overnight guests when they’re family is traveling and I’ve donated to homeless shelters. When you’re getting as many things as you can for free, then we, save our money and can then AFFORD the things we WANT. 🙂
8)Furniture
I got my dining set (pictured above) that includes the middle leaf and 4 chairs for free outside someone’s home. They had a free sign on it and while I was yard saleing, I stumbled upon it. There are also several other occasions where I get free furniture by reselling.
9) Salon Costs
Haircuts, mani, pedi’s. I’m a simple girl. I have found that doing these things myself gets me much better results, and I like my wages: free. See my article “Save $160/year on Salon Costs.”
10)SomeHerbs and Veggies
This year, we started a garden. My daughter was in control of pulling weeds before we started planting. We have Chives, Squash, Tomatoes, Yellow Onions, and a couple others. This helps keep our food bill down a little bit as we get the herbs and vegetables for free from our garden.
11)Homeschooling Material
With all the homeschooling material that is available online, there are really only a few occasions to actually pay for lessons, at least in the early years before your children hit junior high. If you’re looking for Christian material for your kids, check out all the Christian content in my shop here!
12)Kindle Books
There are SO many eBooks you can get FREE on Kindle. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the app to your computer here and read Kindle right on your PC! One of the places I love to find out what free eBooks are available at the time is on Money Saving Mom.
13) Synthetic Medicines
Before I started using essential oils 5 years ago,I was on 4 daily medications. It was very much a domino effect for me. Thanks to my essential oils, I am on none. I do take vitamins and supplements, but again, through my essential oil company, those are free for me.
14) Doctors Visits
I won’t say that we never go to the doctor, but that it is a lot rarer now that we began using essential oils in our home. Maybe once a year for routine checkups. Whenever there is a need to seek medical advice, I have my handy Zyto Bio-Scanner that is amazingly accurate.
15)Energy Efficient Products
You’ll want to call your power company or get ahold of your local LIHEAP program, but every city has a program where the power company will come out to your home to make it more energy efficient or put on some sort of class to help teach people how to reduce their energy costs. At that class or at the walk-through when they come to your home, they completely hook you up with a ton of free energy efficient products and upgrades for your home to make it more energy efficient. These things can include CFL lightbulbs, electrical outlet plate covers, aerators for your sinks, shower timers, and many other things.
