10 Ways to Save Money as a Crunchy Mom

Trying to save money while in a crunch?

Finding ways to save money in this economy can seem impossible… and when you’re wanting to make healthier choices for your family, it can feel even harder. Everywhere we look, there are loads of expensive subscriptions, products, and green washed solutions that make crunchy living seem out of reach.

For our family, between allergies and sensitivities, being on the crunchy side is kind of our only option… but not having a lot of money also means budget living is our only option.

Here’s the good news: you can have both! Here’s a list of 10 ideas that we’ve used to save money and stay crunchy–

1. Cloth Diapering

When we announced we were pregnant with our first everyone told us how we would go broke with the cost of diapers (“No more coffee dates for you!”). You can probably imagine how they reacted when we announced we were going to have 3 under 3…

Cloth diapering might sound…yucky… for some, but the way I put it is you would wash sheets if there was a blowout, diapers aren’t much different. My husband tells himself “this is how we pay for dates” every time he sprays a poopy diaper!

And it does pay off! We switched to disposable for one kiddo for a week and it cost us $50 for one week! After calculating our average changes per day with 2 under 2, we ended up saving over $2300 using cloth diapers last year! Wow! .

To put into perspective, that was about a month of income for us… can’t imagine working for a month to literally flush it down the landfill… And compared to the $600ish that we invested into cloth to use for years, that’s a big deal!

If you’re new to cloth diapers, I highly recommend starting with Cloth Diapers for Beginners! They have a free Facebook group and free resources to help you get started on choosing diapers and figuring out a wash routine.

If you’re worried about the initial investment cost of cloth diapers, be sure to checkout The Cloth Option, a wonderful nonprofit that can help you get cloth diapers for free!

2. Thrifting

You might be rolling your eyes and saying “obviously” and I wouldn’t blame you. I thought it was obvious too, but I never actually did it and I didn’t know there were extra ways to save money while thrifting!

I used to think of thrift stores with dread… old worn out clothes that aren’t in style and don’t fit? Pass… Until I started looking deeper.

Our local baby and kids’ thrift store has big ticket items for really cheap–including cloth diapers, cribs, pack and plays, baby wearing devices, toys, and more. And they often have sales on clothes (a onesie that’ll fit for about a month for only 10¢? Yes please!).

Thrift stores are also good for curtains, small appliances, gifts, shoes (especially for fast-growing little feet!), furniture, and more! Lots of thrift stores also have big sales on certain items on different days, so be sure to check your local thrifts for sale schedules!

3. Cloth Kitchen Towels

When you have kids, especially littles, messes happen. Oftentimes our biggest messes were during the sleep deprived newborn haze! And paper towels? They can add up. Which is why switching to cloth kitchen towels is a great way to save money!

We were already really conservative with paper towels, and we still ended up paying around $400 a year on paper towels. Not to mention the amount of trees, water, and chemicals that go into producing your average paper towel.

It’s an easier transition than you’d think, and you don’t even need anything fancy. We inherited a big stack of old tea towels, but you can also use old receiving blankets, thrifted tea towels, or make your own with some cotton fabric sewed together to your size preference. Have a hanging mesh bag to put them in and wash when it’s full!

4. Farmer’s Market Programs

Did you know that if you qualify for WIC you also qualify for extra benefits to use at your local farmer’s markets? This can be a big help financially, while also ensuring you have locally grown, in-season foods! (Seniors are also eligible for free food from the markets with the Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP)!)

Either way, you can still save money while buying in-season and locally grown foods at your local market. Meal plan ahead of time to help guide your purchases and you’ll find better quality produce often at a cheaper rate than the viral $9 carton of strawberries at the supermarket.

Not sure where to go? You can use this directory to help you get started! Bonus: Farmer’s markets are a great place to get connected with your local community and a fun place to take kiddos!

5. Plant Based Eating

Plant based eating not only has great health benefits, it’s also a good tool to save money. We spent 2023 transitioning to “mostly plant based,” meaning we tried to buy as little meat products as possible for home cooking and focused on eating at home.

The results? Better gut health symptoms (especially for Chron’s and MCAS), better mental health symptoms, increased mood and energy, and a much cheaper grocery bill.

Last year we saved about $3000 on eating mostly plant based for two adults and two littles. Our average grocery bill now that we’re fully plant based is about $140/week!

I actually recommend against mass googling “plant based recipes” when you first start. They’re often intimidating, complicated (especially for the beginner cook), not super kid friendly, and have really long ingredient lists.

Instead, I would recommend replacing meat products in foods you already eat and enjoy. Lentils, beans, chickpeas, and quinoa are some of our favorite substitutes for proteins.

A favorite for us was making a lentil based pasta sauce with spaghetti instead of ground beef! I’ll be sharing some of our favorite, truly easy and allergen friendly, plant based recipes soon so be sure to subscribe to my email list to stay in the loop!

6. Visit Your Local Libraries

Libraries are not the old dusty silent book shelves they once were… Local libraries are chockfull of ways to save money!

When we need to get out with the kids, we used to depend on getting coffee out several times a week just to catch a break from being at home. Spending up to $150 a week for some relief wasn’t working for us anymore, so we turned to the local library!

Our local libraries have lots of activities for kids like story time and jiggle and jam (a fun dance class), but if your kiddo gets overstimulated like mine (and let’s be real, like me) libraries often have a corner just for littles. Our has lots of fun toys, books, and coloring activities with nice comfy chairs and couches for mom and dad.

Plus, there are lots of resources for all ages! For example, our library has teen activities, kits for homeschooling, a “library of things” where you can check out anything from board games to water quality testers to sewing machines to podcast kits and more, a seed library with kits to start growing your own food, and lots of free workshops, plus more!

I could go on about libraries forever, but bottom line is they are a great place to save money while still enjoying being out and about!

7. DIY Cleaning Supplies

I first started looking into saving money with DIY cleaning supplies during the height of the pandemic. I wanted to save money, was sensitive to all the chemicals, and finding cleaning supplies in stock was a mess.

Hot water and soap is an underrated but effective way to clean surfaces. We like to use dish soap or some pure Castile baby soap (unscented) with a clean cloth kitchen towel (which get washed regularly in hot water).

If you want to take the next step from cleaning and sanitize or disinfect, you can make a great hydrogen peroxide DIY cleaner which is great if you’re sensitive to bleach like we are! Vinegar is also a classic option, but remember, it has to sit for about 30 mins to be effective. And, vinegar + baking soda cancel each other out so avoid recipes using both.

8. Save Money By Not Spending

Again, “obviously…” I know. But hear me out: there needs to be some kind of replacement dopamine hit for not spending.

We would justify little purchases here and there with “it’s only $5, and it would be so nice!” but all those small purchases would add up really fast. We tried spending freezes, and they just felt too extreme. Even cutting back felt too extreme because those small purchases were giving us something of a small joy.

But as Christians, we are not called to find our joy in frivolous purchases, and at the end of every month we felt the crunch of how much we spent. I think everyone, regardless of faith, has felt that sting.

Our solution? I made a fun Savings Challenge tool to give a small incentive for not spending and to help us visualize how much we were actually saving! All we do is color in a snowflake each time we say “no” to spending about $10 on something we don’t need. It’s made it a fun challenge to save money instead of a begrudging act of not getting what we want, and that’s made all the difference.

9. Selling Things You Don’t Need

Remember the olden days when we used Craigslist to sell things we didn’t want online? Now, all of it is much more optimized with options like Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, Poshmark, Ebay, Mercari, and more. And while this blog post is primarily how to save money, this tip can help you earn some money too!

We actually found that the less stuff we had, the less stuff we felt the need to buy. The less clutter, the more we felt free to live in our home and the less time we spent tidying all that stuff.

By selling things you don’t need in your home, you get a nice dollar reward for switching out of the consumer mindset. You don’t need to host a whole garage sale (but you could), that can be intimidating when you start. I instead list 1-3 items on Facebook Marketplace a week (because I don’t enjoy shipping).

Selling clothes, unused toys, small appliances that sounded cool when you got it but you never really used, and more are a great place to start! And, in reference to number 2 on the list, you can sometimes trade in your old things for store credit at thrift stores!

10. Have Fun! Seriously.

If you’re trying to save money, it can feel like you’re denying yourself all the fun things in life. This isn’t a sustainable way to save money at all, and can lead to impulse spending or just plain feeling yucky.

You would be surprised how much fun you can have while on a budget or saving money! Check out free to attend local events like open mics, poetry slams, art walks, free museum days, and more! Visit your local library and maybe they have a library of things like ours where you can borrow outdoor games, board games, bird watching kits, telescopes, metal detectors, and more!

If you’re in a relationship, you can go out to free events or you can stay in and find unique ways to have a fun home date night! Recently we did a free 2-player online escape room!

Don’t underestimate the fun of taking kids to local national parks, nature centers, or pulling out special toys for bad weather days (we always have a small stash of special toys like magnet blocks or play dough to keep the novelty up for when we need a change of pace).

Ready, Set, SAVE!

Now that you’ve got some starting ideas and tips, it’s your turn to go out there and start saving money while also being a crunchy mom by taking into consideration your family’s health and the environment!

Chronically yours,

Sierra