Intentional finance. Intentional family. Intentional business.

Here's what's new:

35 Things You Don’t Need to Buy!

From Crystal: What We Ate and What We Bought at the Store This Past Week

35 Things You Don’t Need to Buy!

Looking for a few ways to save more and spend less at the grocery store? Check out these tips on what you may not necessarily need to buy and could probably skip!

One of the best ways to improve your grocery budget is simply to stop buying things that aren’t a necessity… right? But what constitutes a “necessity”?

Certainly, that’s based on personal preferences, your current lifestyle, and even where you live. However, if you’re willing to get creative and maybe do a little extra laundry or dishes, you can likely save a bunch on your grocery budget!

35 Things You May Not Need to Buy

Recently, I polled my Instagram community to get ideas on what kinds of items are easy to skip buying to save a little extra on the grocery budget. Here are some of the most common ideas that were submitted!

Note: These are just ideas to give you inspiration for creative ways to save money. Everyone is different and it’s important to do what’s best for you and your family!

Dryer Sheets / Fabric Softener

Do without, use wool dryer balls, or use white vinegar.

Laundry Detergent

There are so many online recipes for homemade laundry detergent — or you can skip detergent entirely and try laundry balls.

Paper Napkins

Use a set of cloth napkins and keep them on your chairs between meals. You can usually use the same napkins for a day or two before washing. (Or just use wash cloths or hand towels!)

Paper Towels

Use old t-shirts cut into rags instead of wasting paper towels. Keep them in a separate basket so you always have them ready to go whenever a spill arises. (We haven’t bought paper towels at our house in years and it’s been super easy to go without!)

Dishwasher Detergent / Jet Dry

There are many online recipes for homemade dishwasher detergent, but one follower recommended this combo recipe:

Squeeze 2 drops of liquid dish soap into the dishwasher dispenser and fill it the rest of the way with baking soda.
Pour a bit of distilled vinegar into the rinse aid slot and run your dishwasher on the normal cycle.

All Cleaning Products

Vinegar and essential oils can make up most of the cleaning products you’d need around your home. They’re super easy to make yourself!

Plastic Bags / Food Wrap

Store leftovers in glass food storage containers or bowls with beeswax wrappers. You can also invest in a set of reusable zip-top bags which are great for school snacks and are washable.

Trash Bags

Use leftover grocery bags from the store. (These are great for dog waste bags, too.)

Disposable Plates / Silverware

It’s a little more hassle to wash everything, but you can save a lot by never using disposable dishes.

Feminine Hygiene Products

A reusable menstrual cup will save so much money and waste over the years. Plus, these reusable cups don’t contain toxic chemicals that are often found in regular pads and tampons.

Disposable Diapers

Use cloth diapers to save money and the environment!

Tissues

Use a few good old-fashioned handkerchiefs, or just use toilet paper.

Hand Soap

You can make your own for pennies using a few squirts of dish soap and a foaming hand soap pump. (Or check out this slightly fancier recipe that uses essential oils — still very inexpensive!)

Makeup

It’s amazing how much money people spend on cosmetics when they really aren’t necessary. Consider going make-up-free or adopting a very minimal makeup routine. It might feel strange at first, but you’ll get used to it!

Alcohol

This is a huge budget breaker at grocery stores and restaurants — just go with water!

Pop / Juice / Extra Drinks

Cut back on the soda pop and stick with water or milk — your wallet, your healthy, and your teeth will thank you!

Bottled Water

If you don’t want to drink tap water, purchase a filter for your faucet or a filtered water pitcher to store in your fridge.

Eggs

Although it’s definitely an investment up front, having your own chickens could help your grocery budget in the long run (especially if the price of eggs skyrockets like it did recently!). It’s also a great chore for small children.

Junk Food / Candy

These items really add up at the register and don’t add anything to your health. Skip them and enjoy the savings!

Snacks

Skip snacking in between meals and you’ll likely notice a big difference in your grocery bill — especially if you buy lots of pre-packaged snacks. Or try making your own snacks! (Looking for ways to save on snacks? Check out some easy ideas here!)

Ice Cream

Make it yourself or go without.

Buttermilk

Simply pour one tablespoon of distilled vinegar or lemon juice in your measuring cup, then fill the rest with regular milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes and you have buttermilk!

Heavy Cream

If you just need heavy cream for an ingredient (not to make whipped cream), you can substitute half whole milk and half melted butter.

Salad Dressing

Most store-bought dressings are full of sugar and preservatives. You can make your own with more quality ingredients for pennies — just Google your favorite dressing and dozens of recipes will show up. You can store them in mason jars in your fridge, so they look pretty too!

Mayonnaise

It’s surprisingly easy to make your own mayo with oil, mustard, lemon juice, and an egg. And it tastes SO fresh!

Jams / Jellies

It’s quite easy to make your own jams and jellies from fresh or frozen fruit. You can even make freezer jam so you don’t need to can/process anything with special equipment.

Salsa

A big vegetable garden always means lots of freshly canned salsa throughout the year. You could also buy veggies from a local farmer’s market.

Taco Seasoning / Spice Blends

You can save a ton of money by mixing up your own seasoning/spice blends, and they will likely taste better too. Just Google your favorite seasoning blend and you’ll find a recipe!

Flour

Buy wheat berries in bulk and grind your own flour. Of course, this involves purchasing a grain mill which can be pricey, but if this is something you’re interested in, you’ll likely save in the long run. (You can also check out this frugal hack submitted by a reader years ago to use a coffee grinder to make your own flour!)

Bread

Invest in a bread maker and you’ll make your money back in no time — plus it tastes delicious! (Or try sourdough for very little out of pocket! I’ve been on a sourdough adventure over on Instagram, if you want to follow along!)

Broth

Any time you have leftover bones or vegetable scraps, you can boil them to make your own bone broth. Store it in the freezer and use it for soups, stews, casseroles, and gravies.

Meat

Try going meatless several nights per week to save on meat costs. (Check out these 52 meatless meal ideas for some inspiration!)

You might also experiment with buying meat in bulk directly from local farmers to save over grocery store prices (and support your local farmers).

Deli Meat

Skip the high prices on processed deli meat and buy a whole ham instead. The deli counter will usually even slice it for you for free!

Cereal

Toast, eggs, or homemade muffins are typically less expensive breakfast options — unless you can get cereal at a rock bottom price.

Yogurt

Making homemade yogurt is very simple and economical — you can even do it in the slow cooker!

What would you add to this list of things not to buy?

From Crystal: What We Ate and What We Bought at the Store This Past Week

We had snow on the ground for 8 entire days — all of last week and spilling into this week. Which means it was what is considered “very cold” here in these parts of TN (and honestly, 2 degrees is super cold… though I know some places have been seeing temperatures of something like negative 37, so 2 degrees sounds balmy!!).

When there is snow and ice and cold, everything shuts down here because we don’t have the equipment to clear off all the ice and snow. So, our kids were off school all last week! We stayed home and did lots of cozy things like baking and reading and watching movies/shows (Jesse and I finished watching the most recent season of The Amazing Race! Have you seen it! We really enjoyed it and were rooting for all three finalist pairs!).

My First Attempts at Sourdough Bread

One of the things I was most excited about was actually making sourdough bread and it TURNING OUT! I have been so scared off by sourdough bread for years. It felt so time intensive and scientific and I just was sure I would fail at it miserably.

But I found this account called Acts of Sourdough in December and I watched her step-by-step videos (I’m very much a visual learner!) and I was like, “I really think I can do this!”

So I ordered the starter from her and followed the directions. And, get this, my starter started bubbling and then it doubled in size and then it tripled in size! I was so excited that it was actually working and it wasn’t at all as hard as I’d envisioned!

I had set the goal to learn how to make sourdough bread as a yearly goal since I figured it would take me lots of tries to get a good loaf of bread. To my shock, my very first loaf turned out quite beautifully and tasted delicious!

I’ve since made three more loaves and each has gotten progressively better! I honestly cannot believe this! In fact, I’m feeling so encouraged by this whole experience that I ordered a Kombucha Kit and a Water Kefir kit and am determined to learn how to make those next.

People on instagram are joking that this is my Ma Ingalls year. I’m not really sure what to call it, but we’ll just say that I’m loving it and may even start sharing some sourdough recipes here because it’s so inexpensive (just flour, water, and salt!) and SO, SO easy!! Plus, the bread is just amazing!

I made Sourdough Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with some of the sourdough discard — and I had been outside a lot that morning, so I was still wearing my coat and hat while I was still thawing out!

If you’re new here, I don’t do a rigid meal plan most weeks; I usually just make sure we have enough on hand for 8-10 different dinners and then I plan that day what we’re having based upon the time I have and what sounds good.

I know that this system doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s worked pretty well for this season. I also make sure to have back-up emergency dinner options in the freezer (chicken nuggets/strips + frozen pizza) so that if I just don’t feel like cooking at all or run out of time, we still have options that are much less expensive than takeout.

If you are the type who needs a structured meal plan and you feel stuck in a rut, check out my 10 Weeks of Money-Saving Menus for some of our very favorite inexpensive and easy recipes — all done for you, complete with grocery lists! (And you can also download my FREE 60 Meals to Make Instead of Getting Takeout list for some great last-minute dinner ideas.)

What We Ate This Past Week

Monday: Sourdough Pancakes + Mac & Cheese

Tuesday (the kids were gone at friends’ houses): Jesse went out to drop the kids off and ran by the store and picked up a Rotisserie Chicken + Caprese for us to have for dinner.

Wednesday: Leftover Chicken and Twice-Baked Potatoes

Thursday: Sausage and Potatoes and Banana muffins

Friday: Chicken Barley Soup, Sourdough bread, and apple slices

Saturday: Fend For Yourself

What I Bought at the Grocery Store

Because of the snow, I wasn’t able to do my usual grocery pick-up order (they were under-staffed and you had to wait at least 4 days to do a pick up order), so I ended up trying grocery delivery. I paid about $20 extra to have someone shop and deliver groceries (that was for the fee + tip), which honestly wasn’t too bad. I was also very impressed that they didn’t mess anything up on my order and I got everything I ordered!

(The last time I tried grocery delivery through Instacart, I had a less-than-great experience. Read about it here.)

I stocked up on cereal, shampoo, and sausage and was excited about the deal on strawberries ($1.99 with the digital coupon — though they didn’t look that great!).