20 Money-Saving Habits That Make Life Simple and Joyful

As I mature into motherhood, I crave for more quality time with my family and less time working. I am much more happy living a simple lifestyle and teaching kids to eat wholesome foods. As my daughter’s personality develops, I seek ways to save money and create a simple, yet rich childhood for her. Right now, it is essential to cut back and develop habits that will increase our savings in the long-run. Here are 20 money-saving habits that I started incorporating into my own life. I hope you find a few to embed into your routine.

1. Learn how to grow the fruits and vegetables you can

Ensure your produce is fresh, nutritious, and organic at an affordable price by growing it yourself. I started a small garden in my apartment as a single lady before children. I believe anyone can start growing their own produce with very little outdoor room. Now with vertical gardening tricks and indoor potted plants, there is something you can grow in your home – guaranteed. My family and I moved to a small country home where we are able to grow squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans, carrots, and potatoes so far! I can’t wait to add the fruit trees soon. The taste of fresh produce from the vine to the kitchen table is unmatchable. I save my seeds for next year, making start up cost minimal year after year. The effort that you put into gardening is relatively small when you have good weed control and thoughtfully prune each plant. Start with one plant and move up in skills until you are an expert botanist.

2. Hunt and fish if you have a carnivore craving

I grew up fishing with my grandfather and father as a young child and into my adolescent years. This was sort of an unusual trip out of my day to day city-life routine. After the initial start-up cost to purchase the proper equipment, you can begin to learn an instinctual skill year after year. Filling up your freezer with healthy, wild meat is the dream. Consider shopping second hand equipment for more savings. Thankfully, I have a husband who hunts white-tail deer, which saves me from developing more skills than fishing on the lake. Take these two joyful pass times and make it a fun adventure while also providing for your family at the dinner table!

3. Utilize canning and other preservation techniques

I began very small in the beginning of my canning journey. It is so impressive what you can accomplish with a stockpot, some Ball Mason Jars, and boiling water. I was so determined to save some money. I bought a huge box of tomatoes from a local farmer’s stand for $10. This small investment allowed me to can over a gallon of tomato and basil sauce for future meals. This lasted me for almost a year and added another excellent stress-free meal to the table on work nights. Additionally, I love canning my own bone broth instead of discarding the chicken bones left over. My husband always makes venison jerky and breakfast sausage from the meat he hunts to save money. Smoking meat is one of the oldest preservation techniques in human history. I also love drying my herbs for kitchen spices and chamomile flowers with mint for bedtime tea. The possibilities to preserve food for longterm storage are endless and should not be overlooked as an essential skill.

4. Buy meats and produce in bulk from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders

My family bought half a cow from a local farmer for $800. My husband picked up beef of various cuts, which lasted my family nearly 10 months. The quality of the meat was so good that we had beef easily 3-4 times per week. I even saved the fat of ground beef when draining it for a dinner recipe. I was able to purify the beef fat into tallow so easily! There are so many opportunities to join a CSA program. Is gardening not realistic for your lifestyle? Want to fill a chest freezer for the year? Shopping from the farm directly is the healthiest choice for your family. Programs like this are so overlooked in this society. We should be preaching to support local agriculture and local businesses in our community.

5. Shop in bulk from wholesale stores

As you can imagine, I love to avoid a grocery store trip for a long while in between. My go-to stores are Costco and Sam’s Club. I have no affiliation with either one outside of a regular membership. Regardless if you want to shop at Costco, BJ’s, or even online on Amazon, buying in bulk guarantees the lowest price per unit. This habit helps busy mothers have large quantities of essential pantry foods. Lengthen your time between grocery store trips by planning meals properly. The top essential pantry items I need are: butter, cheese, frozen foods, shrimp, pasta, rice and other grains, beans, flour, sugar, oils, toilet paper, napkins, sponges, hygiene products, and other cleaning supplies. It’s critical to make a habit of writing a list before you leave the house.

6. Make skincare products like goat milk soap and whipped tallow balm in your kitchen

Once you start one habit, you can build on routine and get more out of a simple lifestyle. My favorite discovery was purifying beef grease in my kitchen and turning it into a whipped tallow butter. This gifts nutrients into my skin with customized essential oil blends. I also learned how to make goat milk soap easily. This delivers the vitamins and nutrients from goat milk into my daily shower routine using homemade soap. It is so important to me during pregnancy, and now for my children, that our delicate skin barriers are absorbing only natural ingredients I can pronounce. Living a toxic free lifestyle is not only essential, but a conscious effort daily through habit and ritual.

7. Learn how to make your own cleaning products

One of the easiest ways to save money, reduce toxins in your home, and embrace a more natural lifestyle is by making your own cleaning products. Many store-bought cleaners are filled with harsh chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin, trigger allergies, or leave harmful residues behind. The good news is that effective, family-friendly alternatives can be made right in your kitchen with simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and essential oils. A multipurpose spray made with rubbing alcohol and vinegar, for example, can tackle everything from countertops to bathroom mirrors. Baking soda works wonders as a natural scrub for sinks and stovetops. Not only are these DIY solutions healthier and safer for kids and pets, but they’re also cost-effective and environmentally friendly. With just a few tried-and-true recipes, you’ll feel empowered knowing you can keep you home sparkling clean without relying on expensive, chemical-filled products.

8. Buy a small chicken coop and raise laying hens

We are blessed to find a free chicken coop from a neighbor selling a property. Transporting the coop down the road only cost us $100, after negotiating with a local skid steer owner to move the coop to our yard. We spent a few dollars on some chicks from a local chicken farmer. We were off to a great start. Eggs are a great source of protein, vitamins A, D, E, K, and B vitamins, including B12, as well as minerals like phosphorus, selenium, choline, and antioxidants. It’s a no brainer why we want easy access to delicious eggs. Free range chickens can eliminate the tick population in your backyard, which can decrease your family’s risk for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Hens graze on a variety of insects as well as grass, weeds, clover, other leafy greens, and various seeds.

9. Mend clothes and repurpose used fabric creatively

I was inspired to invest in a sewing machine after an illness paralyzed me waist-down. It took my ability to walk and move fast. This is called Cauda Equina Syndrome. My hobbies that were previously adventurous like hiking, fishing, rock climbing, snowboarding, and gardening suddenly became sedentary/boring activities like reading and solving puzzles. I recovered some strength to garden with my family on the “good” days. The best mental opportunity during my spinal cord injury was learning a lost skill – sewing. I started by fixing old articles of clothing that were essential to me. Then, I moved toward sorting through old articles of clothing that I no longer wanted to wear. I repurposed them into new sewing projects, like dresses for my daughter.

10. Compost all your vegetable scraps for your garden

Composting vegetable scraps offers numerous benefits, including enriching soil, conserving water, reducing waste, and mitigating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by sequestering it back into the Earth’s soil. It’s a natural process that transforms organic waste into a valuable soil amendment, improving soil health and reducing reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Compost improves soil structure, making it easier for plants to establish roots and access nutrients. It also increases the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients, reducing the need for frequent watering and fertilization. Composting diverts organic waste from landfills, where it contributes to methane emissions. By composting, you’re essentially recycling valuable materials and reducing the amount of waste going to landfills. Compost provides a slow-release source of nutrients for plants, promoting healthy growth and increasing yields. It also helps suppress plant diseases and pests by promoting beneficial soil microbes. Compost improves soil’s water-holding capacity, reducing the need for frequent watering and making plants more resilient to drought.

11. Forge for wild mushrooms and wild berries

Foraging for wild mushrooms and berries can be a rewarding experience, but it’s crucial to prioritize safety by properly identifying edible species. Start by learning to identify common, easily recognizable berries like blackberries and blueberries, and mushrooms like morels and chanterelles. Always double-check your identifications with reliable resources like guidebooks and mycological online clubs before consuming anything you find. Personally, I turn the habit of doom-scrolling on Facebook into an educational time where I follow foraging Facebook groups in New York where I live and use posts as a quiz to identify my expertise on edible species. The best app I have found is iNaturalist for identifying any species based on your coordinates and an image of the species you are trying to identify. I have no personal affiliation with iNaturalist.

12. Bake your daily bread and salvage yesterday’s bread

This is another Facebook trend I fell in love with, watching before and after starter yeast rise in beginner sourdough Facebook baking groups. Make sure whether you bake your own or buy it from a store, the bread has zero preservatives. We do not want to preserve our bodies by consuming fake ingredients that allow bread to sit on your counter for a week without mold. That is just unnatural and therefore, should not be inside your body (period). Before the bread becomes stale over the second day, it’s a great habit to dry the bread and crumble it into breadcrumbs or chop into crouton sized bites for a lunch salad that week. This ensures a zero waste lifestyle that also saves you money and allows you to live simply toxic-free.

13. Make your own granola for yogurt and granola bars for snack

Before I go to a wholesale store, I ensure I am stocked up on steel cut oats or write it on the grocery list for pick up. This item is essential for our pantry at home! Since my daughter is allergic to eggs, one of our breakfast staples at home are oatmeal with fruit and yogurt with granola. I also make her granola bars for a delicious snack and that allows me the peace of mind knowing only healthy, whole ingredients are making their way into that breakfast bar when we are on the go. Steel cut oats and rolled oats have a low glycemic index and are full of fiber, making it the perfect meal or snack to keep my little ones satiated all morning.

14. Plan your meals weekly to avoid wasting money on groceries

I have successfully practiced meal planning weekly for 5 years straight. This small, intentional habit will leave any busy mom feeling like a supermom, and the upside is, you can also focus on saving money when every meal is planned ahead of time. You can save leftovers for lunch the next day or buy all the ingredients you need for dinners without wasting money on anything extra. The key to being successful at meal planning is to have it written down where your whole family can see it each night. My family calls it the “menu” and looks forward to seeing what’s on the menu for dinner every night! We make it a family fun discussion on the weekends when I write the meal plan down for the following week. My family members add their favorite dinner idea they have been craving all week, which helps everyone feel included. Meal planning ensures you use up what needs to be eaten in the refrigerator and pantry first, and my family is happy knowing and participating in dinner every night.

15. Stash freezer crockpot meals for the stressful days before giving in to takeout

I originally started using Pinterest solely for dinner ideas and to try new recipes. Cooking is my passion; we never needed a crockpot until I started having children! We were never bothered by hovering over a pot on the stove watching intently so our food doesn’t burn. That simply gets thrown out the window when your toddler is trying to eat coins found under the couch cushions. I use my crockpot multiple times a month easily now. The best ideas I have seen on Pinterest that have saved me the most money on groceries is hands down already prepped freezer meals that are ready to go in the crockpot. It is a set it and forget it type of dinner. This is where meal planning can come in handy. Take one Sunday a month to stash some dinner ideas in Ziplock freezer bags and thaw one out before you ever give in to ordering a takeout dinner for your family. It will most likely save you money and be the healthier choice in the long-run.

16. Always go to the store with a grocery list and don’t add more in the cart while at the store

This is a small, money-saving habit that teaches you (and your children!) some self-discipline. I originally needed a grocery list during my first pregnancy because I would go into the store for one item (fresh thyme for dinner) and come out of the store with ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, crackers, potato chips, fruit, and yogurt. The point being that I would go in for one item and leave the store with everything but that one specific item I originally desired to buy. Now that’s a prime example of pregnancy brain and the memory issues only went downhill from there when the infant arrived. It is essential to write a grocery list before leaving the house if you want to make intentional habits to save money. The self-discipline part comes in heavily when you or your children want something so bad that isn’t on the list. The only way to save money on the grocery bill is to have a meal plan every week, write the items on a grocery list, and don’t add more in the cart while at the store. Teaching your children this habit only strengthen their conscientious skills for their future.

17. Repair your car and perform routine car maintenance yourself using YouTube videos

As a daughter of a long-haul American truck driver, I am the first to tell you that I don’t have much knowledge of cars. Ever since I can remember, I grew up around men who had a wealth of knowledge about motor vehicles and would always run to daddy if something on my car broke at 16 years old. Now that I have matured into adulthood, I have learned a few lessons from the old man. Most importantly, I moved 1,255 miles away from my parents and found that I enjoy being self-sufficient where I can be. The best money-saving habit I have learned so far is to teach yourself handy DIY skills on YouTube, especially when it comes to knowing your car’s routine maintenance needs. When my vehicle starts having issues, the first thing I do is research everything I can about it before I take it to a mechanic. It doesn’t hurt to know everything about your car’s make and model, even if you don’t want to become an expert on every vehicle and engine type.

18. Have a monthly budget plan that you will actually follow

Out of the 20 money-saving habits, this one is the absolute most important for financial planning. If you don’t have knowledge of your monthly income and expenses, you are not in control of your financial life. To ensure that you are making the smart spending habits you need to make, you have to not exceed the income coming in and avoid creating debt. I personally like The Dave Ramsey Show and other podcasts that preach debt-free and frugal lifestyles.

19. Fund DIY home maintenance projects in planned stages

Home maintenance is an inevitable feat that all home owners have to overcome in their own strategic way. Whatever your methods are or have been thus far, do not ignore routine maintenance on your home. It is cheaper to replace a roof on time than have a leak, long-term structural damage, and increased energy costs. Having an emergency fund for when the water heater breaks down in the middle of winter is a lot different than strategically funding DIY home projects in planned stages. Prioritize having both a saving account for emergencies and then an additional fund for home projects. As the money and time roll into the Home Project Fund, you can make upgrades to your living space at your own pace. Making your space your home takes years of intentional, small changes and adjustments.

20. Prioritize free play dates for fun family time that leaves parents stress-free

Free play dates are a great habit to keep families entertained and stay within their monthly budgets. Some outdoor ideas are parks, nature walks, backyard scavenger hunt, water balloon toss, picnic and hike. I love being a part of a women’s ministry that offers family play dates with others. We meet local kids in the community easily for free fun while I catch up with some old friends and constantly make new friends. We typically meet at local libraries, community centers, swimming pools, or a free event like Movie In The Park. Once you create your solid foundation of community members, coordinate with local moms to take turns hosting play dates at your own home during cold weather months. Some fun ideas are game night, dance party, science experiment, baking competition, movie marathon, tea party, and educational video games.