There are always exceptions, but most of the time, it is cheaper to make something rather than purchase it. In addition to items that we’ve already talked about previously, like baby food, gifts, taco sauce, and laundry detergent, some other examples for kids are place mats, play dough, and crayons. Whenever possible, try exploring making things yourself.
Place Mats
Place mats are especially great if you have kids. Even beyond the time where they’re in a high chair, they still can make a big mess out of your table. You can combine your child’s natural love for artistic ventures and also use it in a practical way. Have your child color or paint a picture on both sides of construction paper or any large paper. They can use glitter, stickers, pictures, or anything else to their liking. You’ll be happy if you jot down the date on it which they made it. They will look at in in the future and remark on what they liked at that age and it will remain a nice memory.
When finished and dried, you can take it to a copying center to have it laminated, but that option is pricier than other options. You can purchase a personal laminator at a craft store which you may be able to use for many items throughout the years. Flash cards are great to be laminated. However, the cost of a laminator can be pricey. I personally did end up purchasing one for our family; however, I used a 50% off coupon that the store had to make it worthwhile for our family. Even though it’s been more than 17 years, I still use it for things even today. The most reasonable and convenient option is to purchase clear contact paper at the store (typically your larger discount stores are cheaper depending on the sales and coupons—even the Dollar Store has it). You then sandwich the place mat between the contact paper and cut away any extra. Presto, an easy place mat that can be used during meals and a memento of their childhood.
Play Dough
Play dough is really easy to make and the kids love it. It’s also great as a gift for someone. Just put it in a nice container with the directions. If the teacher wants you to purchase some for a classroom donation, suggest that you bring this homemade version in instead. Very easy to make and your kids will have a blast doing it.
Ingredients: 1 c. water 1/4 c. salt 2 to 3 drops food coloring (If you want to color it) 1 pkg. Kool-Aid (If you want it scented) 1-½ T. vegetable oil 1-¼ c. flour Directions: Bring water and food coloring to a boil in a small saucepan. In a bowl mix flour, salt and Kool-Aid (if you want scented playdough). Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and add the boiling water and oil, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is cool enough to handle (which takes several minutes), knead the dough for about two or three minutes until proper texture is achieved. And now your homemade playdough is ready to use! It can be stored in refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Crayons
Crayons are especially easy to make with the broken old crayons that you probably already have lying around the house. I would recommend a mini muffin pan or one with special shapes. I’ve used a heart one for Valentine’s Day and just for fun. First, spray pan with cooking spray or use muffin cups and put crayons in. **I would not use silicone ones for this activity, but recommend using regular disposable ones. You can decide to do rainbow or group like colors together. Preheat oven to 150 degrees. Heat until all the wax is melted, probably about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool, then pop out of tin. They are chunky little crayons that can be used by your child or as a party favor or gift for a friend. Not only is it a fun craft to do with you kids, but in addition, you save money by reusing old and broken crayons. You can have your child help you by peeling the paper off the crayons if any remains and breaking them into smaller pieces to melt better.
Vegetables and Herbs
The price of purchasing fresh or dried herbs can get very expensive. You can grow your herbs within your own home even if you don’t have a yard for a garden—this means YOU, Condo or Apartment dwellers. Not only do they smell wonderfully on the kitchen window ledge, but they are a fraction of the cost of dried herbs at the store. Most people who use spices, don’t use enough to finish store bought dried herbs before the flavor is diminished. If you have fresh herbs, the flavor is at its peak.
If you have a green thumb and have the space in your yard for a garden, it can be a very rewarding experience. It can be very relaxing as well as supplying food for your table as you’ve seen through every aspect of the process. Unlike grocery stores, where you never know what the food has gone through or where it has come from, items from your own home taste even better. Even if you don’t have a plot in your yard for an actual garden, you can think about getting a tool where you can do it in your own indoor space. Through the company Juice Plus, they have a “Tower Garden” where you can grow without soil and keep it right in your home space or garage. Aeroponics at work. Explore https://mariannebreneman.towergarden.com/?fbclid=IwAR0uHzqhLajR1ntF-m2T7UKpZ30jMP2XUVX6AnU9pIefJskwR5hylzDYWm4 to learn more about how it all works. You can buy a packet of seeds for $3 and can grow from that all summer long versus buying organic greens from the store for $5 each. It’s also environmentally friendly and a great teaching tool for kids and can become a great hobby. Also, the veggies are delicious because you eat them immediately after picking. However, it may not be for everyone. If you detest gardening, you probably won’t like doing this. The same can be said for the herbs as well.
Clean Your Own Home
It is very nice to have someone come in and clean your home for you when you are gone, but this is obviously a convenience expense. It is definitely NOT a necessity. I know many may feel that house cleaning is something that other people can do quicker so it’s worth it to have someone else do it.
This may be true. However, you definitely have to crunch the numbers. How many hours would it take you to do all of the things a cleaning person would do? Now, take the amount paid and divide by the number of hours that it would take you to do the work. For example, cleaning service $85/week (will vary by area and region), time for you to clean the entire house - 6 hours. 85 ÷ 6 = $14.17. If you can make more money than $14.17/hour, then it would be worth your time to pay for a cleaning person. However, you should actually be working EXTRA hours than normal to make up for the expense. Because if you choose to use your extra time earned by not clearing to watch Netflix or surf Facebook, then it would be more beneficial to clean yourself. Not only could you save $4,420 per year, but you can also spend less time in the gym since you’ll be fit from all the vacuuming and housekeeping.
Now, for those of you who have small children, we have to add in some other factors. First of all, you don’t typically have block time to clean a house unless your children are out for an extended time. If you try to clean with them in the house, those who have children know that they run behind you undoing all that you’ve just achieved. Of course, you could always pay for a babysitter, but you have to consider the expense of a sitter offsetting the price gained by cleaning yourself. The best scenario would be to have a relative watch your children while you and your partner or friends clean the house once a week (if you’re lucky). Another solution, if you have older children, would be to get them involved in the cleaning process and teach them about life responsibilities and chores. On Saturdays, when the kids were younger, we would blast music and run around to all of the main areas of the house to work together as a family. Now that they’re teenagers, they have responsibilities of their own around the house and their personal space.
Choosing to do things for yourself can save you thousands of dollars per year. Another benefit is that you may find a fun hobby or cultivate newfound skills. With YouTube around, it’s easy to do many of your own things at home. It’s a learning process, but you’ll be surprised how much you can learn AND save over time. **We will go more in depth with DIY projects around the house in a future blog post.
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