The Frugal Homemaker’s Must-Haves

You’re probably looking like I’m crazy right now, aren’t you? I mean, here I am telling you, “here are some things you can buy for your frugal lifestyle.” The thing is, these are things that will help save either money or time – or both – as I’ll explain below.

By the way, I’m not being compensated for any of these recommendations – nope, these are all independent decisions on my part. I have, however, included my affiliate links where applicable. You can read my disclosure policy here.

1. Kitchen Grain Mill
    
   Yes, I’m still beating this drum – I always will. You can save a lot of money by grinding your own flour, and you can make time to do it.
2. Popcorn Air Popper
   
   It might sound corny (har har), but a popcorn popper can actually save you money – especially if you eat as much popcorn as we do! Think about it – using air is cheaper than popping with oil, and eventually, that pays off!
3. Food processor
    
   The food processor simplifies a lot of my made-from-scratch cooking, whether it’s shredding blocks of cheese, making hash browns (it’s so much cheaper to shred your own than to buy them frozen!), or whipping up a batch of hummus. A food processor is worth it! I’ve owned both a Kitchen Aid, and a Black & Decker (which I left with my mom when I was given the former as a wedding gift) and like them equally, except I felt the B&D did a better job shredding cheese.
4. Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil 
   They often run sales and free shipping specials, which make their coconut oil very affordable. Occasionally, you can take advantage of half off 5-gallon pails with free shipping. Sah-weet! At first glance, you may not think of coconut oil as being frugal, but a large part of a frugal lifestyle is thinking about the long-term effects of what you do, eat, etc. on your body, and since coconut oil is so healthy, I definitely consider it a frugal must have!
5. Baking Soda
    
   The ultimate frugal cleaner and deodorizer. And don’t forget – you can make crafts like playdoh with it too!
6. Slow Cooker
   
   When you’re making all your food from scratch – which is the ultimate method of feeding your family frugally, a slow cooker is a must-have! Life is so much easier when you can throw dinner in the crockpot after breakfast and then forget about it until it’s ready to serve.
7. Distilled vinegar
   
   This stuff is so good for cleaning – and so much cheaper than most cleaning supplies – as well as for killing weeds, and washing away ant trails. Oh, and making pickles! I wouldn’t be without it!
8. Microfiber cleaning cloths
    
   Oh my word you guys! These things have changed my life! Ever since I was introduced to microfiber, my paper towel consumption has gone down to nearly nothing. Admittedly, I haven’t figured out how to wipe windows quite streak free (maybe I’m not wringing them out hard enough? who knows).
9. Hydrogen Peroxide
    
   From cleaning up cuts and scrapes to removing blood stains from laundry, to brushing teeth, peroxide is a MUST. It’s cheap, and it’s beyond effective.

Despite the rather counterintuitive fact that these are all things you have to buy, they’re also some of the most frugal things you can own.

What are your frugal “must-haves”?

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