Stop Buying And Start Making These 5 Things

Stop Buying and Start Making These 5 Things- Originally appeared here at the Tin Hat Ranch

As prices rise ever higher, people are looking for more ways to save money and make their dollar stretch as far as possible. One of the things I have learned as I work toward being more self-sufficient is that convenience equals money. Buying laundry detergent, for example, is expensive! The prices aren’t going to go down anytime soon, either. If you want to save money you have to trade time. By putting the raw ingredients together yourself, not only are you learning new skills and saving money, you are investing in yourself!

These are tried and true methods of producing 5 common household items that are consumed in high quantities and the savings add up! By investing the time to produce these things yourself instead of buying them at the store, you also usually end up with a superior quality product too! So many people never consider the possibility that they can make their own jarred and dehydrated foods that come in pre-packaged dinners

Bread – The average family of four in America consumes 1-2 loaves of bread a week. Making bread is time consuming but worth the cost trade off. You can freeze it just like you would any other excess bread. Saving bags from the store bought loaves or getting some from friends and family to recuse is a good way to save money, too. There are several bread makers on the market that are very reasonable in price. For the whole grain breads, prices can be $3-4 per loaf! If you buy the ingredients yourself and do the labor, the savings are at their highest and your arms get a great workout. Even if you use a bread maker, the cost of the machine will pay for itself within a year for a family of four. Either way, you know how your food was processed and are able to regain control over what goes in your food.

Laundry Soap – I have learned how to make a liquid laundry detergent that works really well and the ingredients cost around $20 for 600+ loads! There are numerous recipes out there that meet everyone’s special needs or preferences for scent, chemical allowances and preferences for liquid or powder detergents. I encourage you to do some research and then figure out whether or not making your own detergent will save you money.

Consider other detergents and cleaners. Natural cleaners that contain citric acid cleanse a remarkable amount of surfaces and make the house smell fantastic. Be smart when researching other cleaning products and use your best judgement. You want to make sure that bacteria is killed so no one gets sick. A beach-water mixture in a spray bottle is a good, inexpensive way to ensure there are no lingering illness causing microbes on your surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom!

Jams and Jellies – Taking advantage of berries and fruits when they are on sale, you can easily make your own jams and jellies! The possibilities of flavors are endless and it does not require any specialized equipment to make your own. Just a few simple ingredients, a large pot, some jars with lids and bands and you are set! There are plenty of recipes for a refrigerator jam that you can make in small batches as you need it. You can always go traditional and water bath can the jams and jellies, too. It is not as expensive as you may think, either! A water bath canner at Amazon is only about $20 with free shipping and the canning set is another $7ish. Imagine spending one afternoon and canning up jams and jellies for the next 6 months and you know how it was processed! You control the sugar content, you control the spices and flavoring. The jars are reusable so they end up paying for themselves, too.

Soups and Stews – Stop buying soups and stews! Instead, make large pots of them and use ingredients you got on sale. You can freeze them for later or if you are into pressure canning, jar the excess up and have a stock of your own long term! There are plenty of recipes out there if you don’t have your own. Think about your favorite soup and then simply go learn how to make it!

Crackers – Crackers are one of the easiest things in the world to make. A cup of flour makes an incredible amount of crackers! We love to use fresh ground wheat flour and granulated garlic in the dough for a flavor packed punch that costs literal pennies to make! It is easy to get creative by adding in dried herbs and other spices, too. I made a free infographic that will teach you how to make crackers in 20 minutes or less! The great thing, too, is you can change what type of cracker it is just by altering the thickness. It would be very easy to make an edible plate or some thicker ‘pilot’ type bread though it would not last near as long as traditional pilot bread.

There are so many little steps you can take to save yourself money by just putting the time in yourself to make what you need. You are taking out the middle man and controlling more of your life while also saving money and learning new skills! By adding these small things over time, in a year you will be amazed at how much you have accomplished! I highly encourage you to look at your grocery bill and think about what you can cut out by doing it yourself. Start with the items that you commonly use or those that are particularly expensive. Do not get too frustrated if you just can’t produce something on your own. No person is an island!

LeAnn InAK lives in beautiful Southeast Alaska with her husband and fur babies. She is the owner of the site www.homesteaddreamer.com and focuses on working toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle while trying to be prepared for the unknown.