A while back I went through three months of bank statements with a highlighter, the way you do when the checking account keeps running dry the week before payday and you can't figure out why. Nothing huge jumped out. It was all the little stuff: $4 here, $9 there, a $12 thing I don't even remember buying. Since then, one by one, a bunch of those items have fallen off our list. Some I cut on purpose. Others I just forgot to buy one week and realized nobody noticed.
Here's the full list, grouped loosely, with how it's going.
The List
In the Kitchen
- Paper towels. We use a stack of cheap bar towels. I keep one roll hidden for bacon grease and cat accidents.
- Paper plates. Except for birthday parties. The dishwasher runs every night anyway.
- Name-brand cereal. The store brand at Aldi is fine. Owen claims he can taste the difference. He cannot; I've tested him.
- Bottled water. Everybody has a refillable bottle with their name on it in Sharpie.
- Individual snack bags. I buy the big bag of pretzels and portion it into reusable containers on Sunday.
- Pre-shredded cheese. A block and a box grater. Ella now does the shredding, and she's weirdly proud of it.
- Coffee pods. Back to a regular drip pot. It's cents per cup instead of fifty-ish.
- Salad kits. A head of lettuce and a carrot do the same job for a third of the price.
- Plastic wrap. Plates on top of bowls, and a few containers with lids.
- Takeout pizza on Fridays. Homemade pizza night. Dough is flour, yeast, water, salt. The kids pick toppings.
Around the House
- Dryer sheets. Wool dryer balls, bought once, still going.
- Air freshener sprays. I open windows and simmer orange peels and cinnamon when company comes.
- Specialty cleaners. One homemade vinegar spray, baking soda, dish soap, and one store-bought disinfectant cover almost everything.
- Swiffer refills. I bought washable pads that fit the same mop.
- Decorative seasonal stuff. We have one bin per holiday. If it doesn't fit, we don't buy more.
- New candles. I have enough candles to survive a two-week blackout.
- Gift wrap. Kids' artwork, brown paper, and saved gift bags.
For Me
- Salon manicures. I haven't had one since 2021, and my nails are mostly used for opening applesauce pouches anyway.
- Magazine subscriptions. The library has them free.
- Makeup I don't wear. Mascara, tinted lip balm, done.
- Fast-fashion "just because" clothes. I buy one or two things per season, usually from the thrift store.
- Expensive shampoo. I switched to the store brand and my hair did not revolt.
For the Kids and the Rest of Us
- Brand-new kids' books. Library, thrift store, and the free little library down the street.
- Character-themed anything. The toothbrush with the cartoon on it costs double. Plain ones get the job done.
- Extra streaming services. We keep one at a time and rotate when a show we want comes out.
- Gas station snacks on road trips. A cooler in the minivan with sandwiches and apples.
- Car washes. A bucket, a sponge, and three kids in swimsuits on a warm day. It's their favorite chore.
What We Tried to Quit and Couldn't
To be fair, not everything stuck. Store-brand diapers leaked on Rosie every single night back when she was in them, so we went back to the name brand for overnights. Trash bags are one thing where cheap costs more, because the cheap ones split and I'm cleaning coffee grounds off the floor. And Mike's work boots are non-negotiable. He's on his feet all day at the plant. We tried a cheaper pair once and they fell apart in four months.
What It Adds Up To
I went back through the statements after about a year, and I estimate these changes save us somewhere between $120 and $160 a month. That's not an exact science, since some of it is stuff we simply stopped buying rather than swapped. But it's real money on one income. It covered most of our minivan repair last fall without touching savings.
The funny part is that I don't feel deprived. Most of these, I don't think about at all anymore. My next project is the pantry, where I suspect a few more things are hiding, probably whatever those $12 mystery purchases were.
