11 Things I No Longer Buy

These 11 things I no longer buy are helping us to live a more intentional life as well as helping us save money.

Many of these items are everyday items that you’ll see in almost every household.  I’ve made a choice though not to purchase them anymore.

Yes it sometimes feels like it takes more time, but after I created a system to replace the items I removed it quickly became second nature and I don’t even think about them any more.

Paper Towels

I no longer buy paper towels.  It started a number of years ago, the kids would use them for so many spills and we were always running out.  So I went cold turkey and stopped buying them.

Instead I took a couple old towels and cut them up into squares and serged the edges with my serger and now we have a stack of rags in the bathroom for cleaning and wiping up spills and around the house.

Napkins

I also stopped buying napkins when the kids were little.  It was such a waste and when they were little it was just so much easier to grab a wet rag and wipe their face after supper.

Now that the kids are older I have cut up 2 older curtains that we weren’t using and I’ve serged the edges so they are nice and we have a stack of smaller fabric napkins that sit on the table at all times.  It’s been great to see the kids use them instead of their shirt or pants at meal times.

Books

We don’t buy any books anymore.  If there is something new out there that is catching my eye and I’m wondering if it is actually something that I might want, I sign it out from the library first.

Almost 100% of the time I find that the book really isn’t worth it.  I do have my eye on one book of natural creams and lotion recipes that I’m trying to decide about.

Likely I’ll sign it out again and just copy down a couple of the recipes and return the book!

Hair Cuts

This one was hard for me.  A couple years ago our budget was extremely tight and I chose to give up my hair cuts in order to stretch the budget.  I have short hair and to keep it in shape I was going every 5 weeks.  At $35 a time, that added up to a lot of money a year.

So I started to grow my hair out for a whole year, but hated it.   So I went to YouTube and started watching videos and figured that even if I screwed up my hair, it was only hair and it would grow back.  I did it and I’ve been cutting my hair now for about 8 months.

I already cut the boys and Arlen’s hair with a buzzer or scissors.  Our daughter is growing her hair out so I’ll just trim the ends for her as well.

Greeting Cards

Have you been down the aisle lately and seen what cards cost?  They can be up to $8/card.  I don’t do it anymore.

If we have an event that warrants a card, I sweetly ask our daughter to make us one.  She has a huge collection of card making supplies and makes the best cards!

Friend Birthday Party Gifts

If our kids are invited to a birthday and we choose to attend we no longer buy gifts.  We will include a $10 bill or a $10 gift card from Dollarama, Walmart, McDonalds, etc.

What kid doesn’t love money?  I refuse to buy a cheap gift that will break within days of opening it, or help another family increase their clutter.

So we no longer buy cheap gifts, I have set a limit of $10 and we stick to it!

Magazines

For a couple years the kids school had a magazine fundraiser and I felt obligated to buy a couple subscriptions.  I finally stopped. Getting rid of all the magazines was such a relief when I started decluttering in our life.

I collected all the magazines around the house, crossed out our name and address and donated them all to the local library.

If we really want to read that latest magazine, we can sign it out from the library.  Honestly though, we haven’t missed a single magazine.

Fabric Softener

I haven’t bought fabric softener in over 14 years.  I never saw any benefit from using it and it was just one more thing to purchase.

When I made the decision to stop using it I didn’t realize that it builds up in your dryer, but its an added bonus that I don’t have to worry about that!

Microwave Popcorn

There is nothing quite like the flavour of microwave popcorn, but if you’re feeding an army of hungry kids it’s going to break the bank!

My Mom gave me an oil popper a number of years ago and it works so much better than the air popper I had.  So we got rid of the air popper and now I can make big batches of popcorn and we just put our own butter and salt on top.

Aerosol Cooking Sprays

There is nothing quite like fresh baked bread.  It smells amazing and tastes wonderful.  I’ve found the best way to grease a bread pan is with Butter, Lard or Bacon Grease.

So for years now I have greased all my cookie sheets, cake pans, frying pans and bread pans with either Butter, Lard or Bacon Grease depending on what the food is.

FYI, bacon grease under a pizza crust tastes amazing!

Anything I can make from scratch

I try my best to make as much food from scratch.  I’ll still buy the occasional loaf of bread if I’m tight for time.  But I don’t buy cookie, pizza or biscuit dough pre-made.

I also do my best to come up with my own recipe mixes for seasonings. This is also a great way for making that grocery budget go just a little bit farther.

So there you have it.  11 simple changes to our life.  Simple things that I no longer buy.  They help save us money and help to keep our house simpler.

What things are you removing from your life to make life simpler?