12 Frugal Living Tips for Winter
Winter is often thought-of as being the most expensive time of the year. First the holiday season kicks things off with a bang (and a hefty price tag). Then there are the extra costs for heating and powering our homes.
Plus, since the weather is often cold, dark and gloomy, there aren’t as many fun, free things to do outdoors, so it’s easy to blow your budget on other things that will help you beat cabin fever like eating out, going to the movies and even going shopping just for something to do.
But the flip side to this is that, once January hits, many people are motivated by the fresh start the new year brings and are ready to hunker down for a while and get their finances on track after the holidays. So in many ways that makes winter the perfect time of year to adopt some frugal habits.
If you want to know more about ways to have a frugal holiday season, check out this post: 10 Frugal Living Tips for Christmas.
Otherwise, the following frugal living tips apply all winter long (and certain ones apply all year long!)
1. Have a No-Spend Month
While November and December probably aren’t the best candidates for extreme frugal living, January is the perfect time to plan a no-spend month.
A no-spend month (also called a spending freeze) simply means you don’t spend any money on anything that isn’t a necessity. This means no dining out, no clothes shopping, no beauty products or subscriptions or fancy stuff, and stick to a budget for essentials like groceries, housing and transportation.
For more help with creating a budget, check out the Money & Budgeting section of our Free Resource Library.
2. Plan Meals Around What’s in Your Pantry
Another reason why January makes such a great candidate for a no-spend month is because your fridge, freezer and pantry are likely loaded with leftovers from Christmas and other food you’ve put up throughout the year. So it’s easy to save money on groceries by shopping from your pantry and planning meals around what you have on hand
Related: How to Shop From Your Pantry Like A Pro
Of course, you can and should make a habit of this all year long! But right after the holidays is an extra-good time to eat from your pantry and fill in the gaps on budget for everything else.
For more help with meal planning, grocery shopping on budget and shopping from your pantry, check out the Meal Planning section of my Free Resource Library.
3. Learn a New Money-Saving Skill
Winter’s a great time to learn a new skill, especially when it comes to homesteading. Since we aren’t so busy gardening and preserving, we can take more time to learn something more time-consuming and involved like sourdough bread-baking, knitting, quilting, soap-making, candle-making or cooking on a wood stove.
Related: 13 Winter Activities for Modern Homesteaders
It’s also a good time of year to slow down and read up on any new skills you’d like to learn. Take advantage of having some extra time on your hands and fully immerse yourself in something you want to master. Just remember: one thing at a time if you really want to get good at something.
4. Go to the Library
I love the library. I don’t use it as much as I should, but every time I go back to the library I ask myself why I don’t go there more often.
You can take out an unlimited number of books, DVDs, magazines and even toys from some libraries, all for free! It’s also a great place to get out of the bad weather and hang out for a while if you just can’t stand to be home anymore but you don’t want to be outside either.
5. Get Warm for Free
One of the most expensive things about winter is the extra expense of heating your house during the coldest months of the year. Find frugal and free ways to warm up by layering your clothes, warming your house with a wood stove (if possible) or cuddling up on the couch with a big warm blanket and someone you love.
For more ideas on how to stay warm for free during the winter, check out this post.
6. Spend Time “Off the Grid”
Along with using less electric heating, you can save money in the winter by using less electricity over all. Turn off lights and light candles. You can even learn to make your own soy candles to save even more money and light your home naturally all winter long.
Unplug appliances and electronics that aren’t being used. Cook on the wood stove if you have one. Take a technology break (and a break from unnatural screen light) and read by the light of an oil lamp.
Using less electricity doesn’t just mean more money in your pocket, it’s good for your mental wellbeing to take a break from screen time and unnatural lighting as much as possible.
7. Go Skating
Skating is another frugal winter activity that typically only costs a few bucks for some rink time and skate rentals. Many sports centers even offer free skates for families, kids and teens on certain days throughout the winter season.
If you live somewhere where it gets cold enough for a lake or pond to freeze over, you can even skate for free! Maybe even grab a couple hockey sticks and a puck and play a pick-up game:)
8. Have Fun in the Snow
If there’s snow on the ground (or on nearby mountains), you can have a full day of fun in the snow for next to nothing. Get the kids together to build a snowman. Go sledding. Have a snowball fight. Or just grab some hot chocolate and go for a snowy, winter walk through the woods or down a country road.
9. Play Board Games
Winter is the perfect time of year to sit at home and play games with the whole family. This could mean card and dice games like Yahtzee, Poker, Crib or Go Fish, board games like Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit or Clue, or more “active” games like Pictionary, Charades or Twister!
10. Have a Family Movie Night at Home
The cold winter months are the best time to snuggle up together and have a family movie night, complete with homemade popcorn, popped over the wood stove perhaps? Whether you watch Netflix, Amazon Prime or a good “old-fashioned” DVD, having a family movie night makes staying in a little more entertaining and is way more frugal than going to see a movie at the theatres.
11. Have a Romantic Candlelight Dinner at Home
Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or Saturday night, make it a little more special for no extra cost by enjoying a nice candlelight dinner at home. Cook a nice meal, set the table, dim or turn off all the lights, play a little mood music and get dressed up for dinner at home. There’s no reason why eating in can’t be just as fun as eating out!
12. Go on “Staycation”
Save money on travel and enjoy a staycation in the comfort of your own home this winter. By the end of January/early February, I really start missing the warm, sunny weather, and so I find myself craving things that remind me of sun like tropical fruits and exotic foods. A great way to treat yourself when you can’t afford an actual vacation to Mexico or Hawaii is to have a little staycation at home with all of the things that remind you of warmer days.
Start by preparing your home for your stay. First, tidy up, do all of the chores that need being done like laundry and dishes. Make the bed (and maybe even put a chocolate on each pillow), break out the fancy soap, candles and towels, and then, prepare for your stay.
If you’re going for a tropical theme, cut up some fruit like pineapples, mangos and limes. Stock up on coconut milk for making piña coladas and exotic soups that will warm you up on your winter staycation. Prepare a playlist of “summertime” music or something that reminds you of a sunny vacation like reggae music (my go-to!)
Spend your time however you would on vacation. Have a nice meal, pamper yourself (at home pedicure perhaps?), maybe dress up to have drinks and go dancing with your partner… Yolo, right? If you can’t afford a real beach vacation, you at least deserve to treat yourself to a staycation instead;)
Frugal Living Tips for Every Season
Post-holiday season winter is the perfect time to cut back on our spending and get back on a budget that works. These frugal living tips will help you cut back on non-essential spending and save more money this winter while still having fun.
For more frugal living tips for every season, check out the following posts:
Wishing you health, wealth & homestead happiness:)
CATEGORIES
4 Comments
Submit a Comment
ABOUT ANNA
You Might Also Like
How to Shop From Your Pantry Like A Pro
Every year around this time I go into total organization, budgeting, planning and goal-setting mode. After the frenzy of the holidays, I’m more than ready to settle into a routine and get back on track with my spending, simplifying and health goals. I know I’m not...
11 Frugal Ways to Use Kitchen Scraps
Save money, reduce food waste and and improve everything from your soil to your gut health with this list of 11 frugal ways to use kitchen scraps in your home and garden. *** We’re such a wasteful society, especially here in the west. The mounds of waste we...
***GIVEAWAY TIME!!!***
We’re officially halfway through the pantry challenge and we’re into the “messy middle.” This is the point in the challenge when it can start to feel like a bit of a slog, and even if you’re not doing the pantry challenge, you may still be feeling the slog as we hit the mid-January mark, so to spice things up, I’m offering a pretty massive giveaway...
A chance to win FREE ENROLLMENT into not one, but BOTH of my online courses!
That’s right! If you win, you get full access to my entire Seed to Soil organic gardening course AND my Yes, You CAN! home canning course, so you can (re) fill your pantry with healthy, delicious, homegrown and homemade food!
Plus, you’ll also get a one-year, membership-level subscription to Modern Homesteading Magazine with unlimited access to all current and past issues to help keep you motivated and inspired on your homesteading journey.
——
So, how to enter??
1. Make sure you’re following me on Instagram.
2. Like and save this post.
3. Tag a friend who you think would also like to enter or who would like to take their gardening/homesteading to the next level this year! (Every person you tag = another entry to win!)
4. *5 BONUS ENTRIES: Share this post to your IG Stories for an additional 5 bonus entries!
——
The contest is open to anybody anywhere and will run from now until Midnight PST on Monday night and the winner will be announced this Tuesday at 9am PST.
Let’s make the absolute best of 2021 in our gardens and homes, no matter what else this year brings ❤️
Well, it was no small task, but I FINALLY got everything in my pantry inventoried, organized and put away.
I wanted to share my process with you too, so if you’re interested in getting a full tour of our pantry and seeing how I organize things, click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead and check it out on YouTube!
P.S. I know you’re not supposed to stack canning jars as having multiple heavy rows stacked on top of each other can compromise the seal of the jars on the bottom. I avoid stacking when possible, but due to the style of our pantry I have made the conscious choice to stack one row (max) on top of the bottom and always make sure to stack jars of equal or lesser weight on top. And yes, we do have plans to add more shelves soon. Just a disclaimer since I’m sure I’ll get more comments about it;)
Also, be sure to leave a comment and let me know about any pantry organization hacks you use! I’m always looking to improve our system:)
.
.
.
#homesteadpantrychallenge #homesteadpantry #homesteadkitchen #foodstorage #foodsecurity #pantrychallenge #pantrygoals
Finally got around to taking EVERYTHING out of the pantry today and now getting ready to take inventory.
When everything is buried in the pantry, it can be so easy to forget what you have. That’s why I always recommend taking everything out when starting a pantry challenge so you know exactly what you’ve got. I was feeling like we hadn’t preserved enough food this year to get us through the month, but now that I see everything, I’ve got all sorts of creative ideas for how to use up the abundance of food that we have.
I’m also finding things I didn’t know I had, seeing what I have more than enough of and finding gaps in my food storage. This is one of my favourite reasons for doing a pantry challenge: it’s an excuse to pull everything out and actually see what we’ve got so we know what we’re working with.
In order to keep everything organized, I also created printable pantry, fridge and freezer inventory sheets where I can record everything I’ve got (so it doesn’t get lost at the back of our very deep pantry again). If you wanna grab these printables, along with my weekly meal planning sheet, homestead pantry checklist, pantry substitutions chart and 31 Days of Dinner Ideas cheat sheet, click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead and sign up for the Homestead Pantry Challenge and I’ll send everything to your inbox:)
Alright, back at it. Wish me luck!
Have you started organizing your pantry yet??
.
.
.
#homesteadpantrychallenge #pantrygoals #homesteadersofinstagram #homesteading #homesteadkitchen #foodstorage #foodsecurity
🌱 One of the things I get asked the most during the #homesteadpantrychallenge is what we do for fresh veggies. Now, I much prefer to eat seasonally, which means eating the veggies that we preserved over the summer and fall during the winter. But I do start to miss my fresh greens by the time January rolls around.
Sure, I could grow some salad greens over the winter months, but that would require a level of organization that I frankly haven’t reached yet. And quite honestly, I don’t love going out to the garden in the middle of winter due to the torrential rain, swampy mud and frigid temps we get here in the PNW. No no, I’m a little too lazy and disorganized for all that! I’d much rather plant seeds a few days before I want to harvest them and do it all from the comfort of my kitchen during the nasty weather season.
And so, I turn to microgreens to provide me and my fam with fresh greens this time of year. They’re not only packed with nutrients (said to be higher in nutrients than their full grown counterparts!), they can be grown on your countertop and are ready to harvest in just a few days!
Not to mention, they taste delicious and look beautiful! I made this cheesy pasta dish topped with broccoli microgreens for dinner and the microgreens (which are just the seedling version of the full grown plant) tasted just like broccoli. Plus, the purple and green colours take an otherwise kinda boring dish and make it pop💥
I get all of my microgreens from @trueleafmarket, one of the sponsors of this month’s pantry challenge, as well as the current issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine!
To enter to win your own self-watering microgreens growing kit from True Leaf Market, be sure to join in the Homestead Pantry Challenge on Instagram, and to learn more about microgreens AND score yourself a sweet 10% discount off all True Leaf products, make sure you’re subscribed to Modern Homesteading Magazine (discount code is in the magazine and in the delivery email).
If you’re not yet subscribed, click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead and subscribe for free!
What’s your go-to source for fresh greens in the winter??
Well, we made it. It’s hard to believe that 2020 is finally behind us, but here we are, at the dawn of a new year; A fresh page and a new chapter.
This past year has been one for the history books for sure, and it most definitely has not all been good. But it hasn’t been all bad either. Us humans have a tendency to focus on the bad. It’s a survival tool that’s hard-wired into our brains to be on the lookout for danger. So we have to make a conscious choice to see the good in bad situations; To find what we can control and cling to it in a sea of things that we cannot control and, therefore, must let go of.
But with a new year comes a symbolic chance to let those things go and to move forward with hope and determination. No matter what’s scrolled on the pages of the past, the future has yet to be written.
As we enter 2021, I encourage you to remember that those things that were out of our control last year are still out of our control this year. They always have been, and always will be. But what is in our control are our thoughts and actions; How we choose to see and react to the world and to each other.
My hope is that we can begin to leave the past behind us and choose to see the world in a new light. In the Universe there is no good and bad. Everything just is. We assign the value.
I also hope that we begin to see each other as fellow travellers on the same journey, and to treat each other with equal respect, no matter our skin colour, gender, political or religious beliefs.
Finally I hope that the trend of people taking an interest in modern homesteading and taking action toward living a more sustainable, self-sufficient life continues long after COVID is behind us. As a whole, I think this was one of the best things to come out of this past year; A bright silver lining on a dark cloud.
There’s no way to know for sure what 2021 has in store for us, but I know that if we enter into this next chapter with open minds and hearts, along with a willingness to step up and take charge of the things in life that we can control while committing to let go of the rest, well then 2021 will be a good year no matter what.
To a new year and a fresh start 🥂
It’s the most wonderful time of the year...
Time for the 2021 Homestead Pantry Challenge to begin!!!
Every year in January, I like to challenge myself to eat only what I've managed to store away throughout the year and avoid the grocery store at all costs. And after the year we’ve just had, many of us are doing our best to avoid the grocery store already. Plus, with the financial impacts of lockdowns and the fragility of our global supply chain, saving a few bucks and taking steps to become more self-sufficient are top of mind for a lot of people right now.
Needless to say, a pantry challenge might be just what you need right about now to reign in your spending, put your resourcefulness, kitchen skills and creativity to the test, increase your self-sufficiency and decrease your dependence on the grocery store and on people and systems that are outside of your control.
Kicking things off with a fun pantry challenge can help you to start the new year off on the right foot and gain momentum and motivation that will help get you moving in the right direction and take control over your food supply right off the bat so that you set yourself up for success in 2021, regardless of what unexpected surprises it may bring.
This year's Homestead Pantry Challenge is even bigger and better than before too, with some exciting prizes up for grabs, including a @lodgecastiron skillet, a self-watering micro greens growing kit from @trueleafmarket and an 8-quart Duo Nova Instant Pot!!!
🥫To join in and enter to win, post photos or videos of your pantry, your meal planning, your meals, etc. during the pantry challenge and use the hashtag #homesteadpantrychallenge in the caption. Every post equals one entry:)
🎞 You can also post in your stories using the hashtag #homesteadpantrychallenge and tagging me @thehouseandhomestead for additional entries!
I'm SO pumped about this year's challenge and I really REALLY hope you'll join me!
The challenge officially begins on January 1st and runs until January 31st, but you can sign up via my link in bio @thehouseandhomestead and get all the details before we begin!
Merry Christmas friends!
While this year, and subsequently this Christmas has been anything but normal, and while we weren’t able to be with our extended families this year , I hope you’ve been able to find peace and joy this season, and to enjoy slower, more intimate moments at home with your immediate family.
Now that the big day has come and (almost) gone, it’s time to slow down, to rest deeply and recharge for the year to come. Nobody knows what 2021 will bring, but after the year that was 2020, we’ve proven to ourselves just how resilient we can be. And that is one of the greatest gifts of all. (Well, that and this accidentally inappropriate ornament we got to commemorate a year that will forever live in infamy;)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night ❤️
Cranberry sauce is a holiday tradition, but if you’ve ever had store-bought cranberry sauce out of a tin, then you probably know how unappetizing it can be.
From the “glurp” sound that it makes as it slides out of the tin and into the bowl, to the way the jelly stays formed in the shape of the tin even after it’s out, to the bland boringness of the flavour.
No offence to anyone who loves commercially canned cranberry sauce, but even if you love the store-bought stuff, then you’re definitely gonna love homemade cranberry sauce!
I know a lot of people put orange juice or orange zest in their cranberry sauce, and you can totally do that too! But I’m actually not a fan of the orange-cranberry mix, so my recipe calls for a little cinnamon and vanilla, as well as some sugar to give it a sweet spiciness that goes oh so well with Christmas dinner.
But perhaps the best part is that you’re able to can this cranberry sauce too, which means you can make a big batch this year and have enough homemade cranberry sauce on your shelves to last you multiple holiday seasons! Or you could even give some away to loved ones with whom you’re not able to spend Christmas with this year.
Whether you want to can it for later or eat it fresh or just refrigerate it until Christmas, this recipe is a must-try this holiday season.
Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead to get my full recipe plus canning instructions:)
.
.
.
#homemade #fromscratch #christmasrecipes #cranberrysauce #delicious
Look at that JIGGLE!!!
If you don’t make your own bone broth, this might look really weird (and kinda gross tbh), but this is actually EXACTLY what you wanna see in a homemade bone broth. This jiggly gel means this broth is super high in collagen, which comes from the bones, skin and ligaments of animals (in this case grass-fed beef cattle). It’s also the most abundant protein in the human body, and many studies have show that increasing our collagen intake can help up the collagen in our own bodies.
Collagen has so many health and beauty benefits, including healthy skin (and reduced wrinkles), shiny, healthy hair and strong bones, cartilage, joints and muscles.
I love making my own broth at home because I can pretty much guarantee a good gel and lots of collagen in each batch. Plus I make mine super frugally, with bones and veggie scraps that I save in the freezer.
I’ll be posting my recipe (and canning instructions) soon. Start saving those scraps!
.
.
.
#bonebroth #collagen #nourish #wholefoodnutrition #homesteadkitchen
Christmas is going to look different for a lot of people this year. Restrictions on gatherings mean we’re not all necessarily going to get to be with our loved ones outside of our own household. Celebrations are going to be more low-key: no holiday parties or big family gatherings. But there’s a blessing in all of this if we choose to see it...
This year, instead of travelling all over the country and running around to every Christmas party and holiday event, we can focus on cozying up at home to enjoy the simple pleasures that this time of year brings.
While gathering and celebrating is a big part of the holiday season, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take pleasure in and no way to celebrate outside of parties and get togethers. We can still make the best of what’s left of this year by keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in our hearts and homes.
So that's exactly what we're doing right now: we're cooking and baking all the good food, lighting all the candles and twinkly lights, filling our home with all of the spicy, warm scents of the season and settling in for a long, restful winter ahead.
I hope that no matter where you are or who you're spending your holiday season with, that you continue to celebrate in your own way too and that you soak in all that this season has to offer. To help out, I’m sharing a few of my favourite holiday recipes and projects to help you bring the warmth and comfort of the season into your home this year.
DIY Christmas Room Sprays with essential oils, melt-in-your-mouth whipped shortbread cookies, traditional Christmas Eve tourtière wrapped in buttery, flaky homemade pie crust and delicious homemade eggnog to enjoy by the fire... These are a few of my favourite ways to enjoy the holiday season at home:)
Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead to get all of the above recipes.
Wishing you tidings of comfort and joy, now and always ❤️
After 9 long months of extreme hand washing and sanitizing, the last thing our skin needs right now is the harshness of winter. But winter is here my friends, and that means it’s time to give your skin a little extra TLC.
I make my own body butter every year around this time, and it’s become my favourite way to moisturize my skin during the winter months. Much like a deep conditioner works on your hair, body butter absorbs deeply into your skin to help moisturize, repair and protect it.
While lotions contain water (aqua), they also requires additional preservatives to keep them from going moldy due to the water content. But this homemade whipped body butter doesn’t have this problem because it’s made of nourishing oils and fats like shea butter, sweet almond oil and coconut oil (plus beneficial essential oils for all-natural fragrance). These oils are not only all-natural and highly beneficial for your skin, they’re also easily absorbed, giving your skin a “deep conditioning” rather than just a surface moisturizing.
But the best part of all is how quick and easy this body butter is to make up in your kitchen, and what a nice gift it makes this time of year too! So you can make a jar for yourself and a few jars for the people you love:)
Click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/homemade-body-butter/ to get the full recipe and “whip up” a batch today;)
.
.
.
#bodybutter #naturalbeauty #naturalliving #skindeep #homemade #handmade #naturalskincare
The holidays are fast approaching, and that means it’s time for my FAVOURITE THINGS!!! 🎉🎁🎄(aka. The modern homesteader’s Christmas wish list;)
I’ve rounded up all of my fave kitchen tools, books and home and body products that I use all the time and could not live without (ok, I could live without them, but I wouldn’t want to!) and I’m sharing them all with you in this week’s YouTube video!
Grab a mug of something warm (or a glass of something chilled) and come on in for a tour of all the goods!
Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to YouTube.com/thehouseandhomestead for all the latest videos:)
Error: API requests are being delayed. New posts will not be retrieved for at least 5 minutes.
It seems like this time of year, regardless of the season or which side of the world we are on is the most expensive. Here it is so hot that those who have air conditioning have them on all the time, and spend very little time outside. We dont have aircon but we do have ceiling fans. I have the ones in the living areas on all day and turn them off at night. The bedroom fan goes on at night and stays on till the next morning. We have a three light rule in this house. There will be no more than three lights on at once. Once dinner and the dishes are done all the lights go off and we just have the light of the TV. If I want to crochet I have a lamp that gets turned on.
Here in Australia post Christmas sales are on. These are big sales and often are worth spending to get required items. It is a good time to stock up on pantry items as well. It is also a time when it is easy to get lured in to purchase extra items. I stay away from the stores as much as possible.
I use the Library as a means of getting all the usual things but also as a place to enjoy the cool of the aircon.
Hope that Ryan’s job hunting or ‘Hire a Hubby’ home maintenance business is getting sorted out. I am off to have a mango smoothie for brekkie. I live in the sub tropics, 150m from the beach. I am on holidays all the time.
Hi Jane!
So true. This time of year is expensive across the board regardless of whether it’s summer or winter whereto are. Especially as the world gets hotter in the summertime, the cost of air conditioning rivals the cost of heating! Actually, it’s probably worse because at least you can use a wood stove to heat your house but you pretty much need electricity to run an air conditioner and cool down. Plus there’s the added expense of the holidays no matter where you live.
I love the three light rule. I should try to implement that. We have a toddler who is currently into turning all the lights on that she can reach. Trying to teach her about conserving electricity right now but the concept is a bit advanced to say the least! But now that we have our wood stove running and I make my own candles so we can burn lots without worrying about paying good money to replace them, so we’ve reduced our overall electricity costs for the winter.
There are also still post-Christmas sales on here too, and if you have some extra cash they are well worth taking advantage of. That’s what I did last year and I put things away for this Christmas and shopped throughout the year and honestly this was the most affordable Christmas we’ve ever had (and thank God because it coincided with Ryan losing his job). Right now we’re keeping it super frugal and only spending on absolute necessities while we finish up our big building projects, specifically the laneway house so we can start earning a rental income. But Ryan is off building a shed for someone for a couple hundred bucks today so that will help until he has time to dedicate every day to his new business. There’s lots of work around here so I don’t think it will be hard for him to find work to fill his days.
Thanks again for your comment! Your little corner of the Earth sounds beautiful! Makes me miss Australia for sure. Where exactly are you> I envision Port Macquarie or something like that. So gorgeous there.
Anna we’re quite a bit further north of Port Maquarie. We’re in Hervey Bay Queensland, just south of Bundaburg. We’re a four hour drive north of Brisbane, about half way between Brisbane and Rockhampton. Fraser Island is just off the coast from us. It’s a sub tropical environment and at the moment it feels very tropical. We currently have high humidity and I am hoping this leads to a much needed storm. Stay warm and I will try to stay cool.
Oh yes, I’ve been to Fraser Island:) Will do! Nowadays we look forward to the “Goldilocks” off-seasons when it’s not too hot, not too cold but just right! Take care.