If you read my last piece on some of the unconventional ways we save money, you already know that our spending habits look a little different than the norm.
In case you missed it, here it is:
That post got more responses than almost anything else I've written, which tells me that specific, practical strategies are much more useful to you than generic advice.
This is the sequel to that post. It includes five more expenses we cut that made our life better (as well as cheaper), starting with the one that gets the most surprised reactions after the cloth diapers.
This one started because we wanted a laundry detergent without a long list of synthetic fragrances and ingredients that we couldn’t pronounce.
We originally landed on Molly’s Suds powder detergent because it had simple ingredients and worked well. The only problem was the price, which adds up quickly when you’re a family with young kids doing laundry every day.
We looked up a DIY powder laundry detergent and gave it a shot. It worked so well that we’ve stuck with it for over three years.
The laundry soap we make has four simple ingredients — just baking soda, washing soda, sea salt, and Epsom salt mixed together with a whisk (frequently by a toddler) and funneled into a 32-ounce mason jar that sits in our laundry room.
Let me know if you want the exact recipe.
We use one tablespoon per load and run 1-2 loads per day. Each batch costs us less than $2, takes about five minutes to make, and lasts a few weeks.
After the pandemic hit in early 2020, we decided to buy a stationary exercise bike for our apartment so that we could exercise at home without wearing a mask.
Slowly over time we’ve expanded our home exercise equipment to include a simple walking pad, some adjustable weights, and a kettlebell. We also pay for an on-demand workout subscription that costs a fraction of what the gym did. Get the full list of exercise equipment we use daily here.
We do not have a dedicated exercise room or “home gym” (though that would be lovely), but we both work out more consistently now than we did when working out required getting in the car and driving to the gym.
Exercising at home saves us money, but it also makes exercise more likely because it removes the extra time required to commute.
Another benefit of excising at home means that our boys see us prioritizing our health. Kids learn so much through observation and it makes me smile when they try to mimic us by doing squats, push ups, and shoulder presses during free play.
We have three boys under five. Our house has a reasonable number of toys (you can check out our favorites here). I wrote about what minimalism looks like in our house with kids here if you want to check it out:
We rotate the toys that are available at any given time, and we spend as much time as possible outside. Spending time outside costs nothing and honestly our boys almost never get bored of hitting things with sticks.
We also go to the library, which is such an underused community resource. My husband takes our boys to the library every other week. They return our last haul, choose about 20 new books, and spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch in our living room exploring their new stories.
The book selection at the library is larger than most bookstores, it costs us zero dollars, and the habit of borrowing/sharing rather than buying/owning things is aligned with our values.
We still buy books occasionally, especially when there is a particular topic we want to teach our boys about through stories. But most of the time, we will be borrowing.
We kept two streaming services (Netflix and Amazon Prime) and cancelled the rest.
Before having kids, we were paying for multiple streaming services like most households do. After kids, we realized how little we were actually using most of them.
The savings are nice, but honestly, the money isn’t the main reason we cut back. We just don’t watch enough TV to justify paying for multiple subscriptions.
This isn’t to say that we never watch TV either. As I write this, I’m making my way through the newest season of Love is Blind, so I’m definitely not trying to claim any moral high ground here.
It’s just that, on most evenings, we’d rather play a board game, read books, or spend time together without screens. And for the nights when we want to veg out on the couch and watch something together, the streaming services we kept are more than enough.
This one surprises people when I talk about it as an expense that has been cut. But when my husband worked full-time, there were certain costs that came along with it — things we no longer pay for with him being a stay-at-home dad.
Here are just a few examples:
Professional clothing that needed to be replaced periodically
Regular professional haircuts
Lunches eaten out because he was invited by colleagues
Coffee purchased on the way into the office
Gas for his daily commute
With my husband no longer working full-time, I cut his hair using these clippers (which I like to think I’m getting better at each time). He also has no work wardrobe to maintain, and he eats lunch and drinks tea at home most days.
To be honest, we are still spending about the same amount in gas each month, even without the daily commute.
That’s because my husband is now spending time shuffling our three boys to playgrounds, the library, the aquarium, or other activities. The daily commute cost has been replaced by driving in service of the life we chose instead, which makes it a lot easier to budget for.
Making laundry detergent from scratch means that we know exactly what is going into every load of laundry that touches our (and our kids’) skin.
Exercising at home means that movement is a consistent part of daily life.
Borrowing books from the library is a bi-weekly outing that the boys look forward to.
Having fewer streaming services means choosing to play a board game instead.
My husband no longer needing a work wardrobe, professional haircuts, or a lunch budget means we get more time with our kids while they’re young.
Cutting these five expenses has saved us money, but they’ve also made our daily lives more sustainable, more intentional, and often, more enjoyable.
I’d love to know: Is there an expense you cut that made your life better overall?
Leave a comment, reply to this email, or send me a message. I truly enjoy reading your replies.
Jenny :)
P.S. Please reply and let me know if there is anything you’d like me to address in an upcoming Ask Me Anything.
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