April 18, 2019

5 ways to SPEND LESS on a cleaner lifestyle!!

It’s no secret that the products associated with living a clean and ethical lifestyle are more of an ‘investment’. Read: they cost you more but we try to remember it’s worth it lol. Really though, when I told Jared I wanted to spend $50 on a pair of shoes for a 6 month old he nearly choked. Since then he’s learned the price point for my values, and understands them so he doesn’t choke (much) anymore and we have adjusted our spending and thinking to make it work. But one thing that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE, is only spending where we really need to and being savvy with where we DON’T!

So here are 5 places we SAVE MONEY on living a more mindful, non toxic, eco friendly lifestyle!

1. SECOND HAND CLOTHES.

Clothing production is one of the most un-ethical industries and also one of the least eco friendly. There’s definitely a higher price for pieces from new ethical brands but that’s for good reason – paying people correctly, sourcing good materials well. However SECOND HAND clothing is to me the most ethical and eco friendly option. So much clothing is trashed each year, and it comes at an affordable price point too. I’m not that good at trawling charity shops (I still do though) but I love Poshmark where I got the Madewell jeans on the left (I think you can get $5 off here with the code kezianeusch.)

2. Hair washing with BAR SOAP AND ACV!

Hear me out. So many people wash their hair every day. If I use clean shampoo and conditioner I’m paying $30 a bottle (cos I refuse to buy it in plastic lol.) So I don’t pay that. I use a Sappo Hill bar soap, and an apple cider vinegar rinse (essential after the bar). I think if I actually added it up it would be 10c a wash? As opposed to $2 in clean products. WIN. It’s also fully non toxic, works a treat, and is zero waste. Jared uses bulk Dr Bronners which is very cost effective but doesn’t work for my hair. Try it, I dare you, and let me know!

3. JUST SAYING NO!

This is sometimes the hardest for people. But it’s amazing how much we can save by just saying no to things that we then realise we don’t need. The extra piece of clothing, the seasonal decor, the skin care product we just don’t need, the $5 to go coffee. Just looking around out lives and seeing where we can cut something out has given us the budget to buy the cleaner, healthier items we want.

4. CLOTH DIAPERING

I need to do a full post on this but cloth diapering two kids has saved us hundred of dollars. Especially as I got most of our diapers second hand. Thirsties is my go to brand, with a cut up old T shirt for wipes. The monthly savings are INSANE!

5. KEEP IT CHEAP +SIMPLE where you can!

Not everything needs to be spendy to be healthy. Work out where you NEED to spend and budget for it, but don’t spend where you don’t need to. I’m a mix of pricey where it’s needed and simple that balances it out. I buy new furniture where I need to and it’s more pricy to be free from chemicals, but I buy it second hand whenever I can to balance out the pricey purchases. Or take my makeup remover, it will always be simple coconut oil. My face toner is an AVC homemade spray. Not everything needs a ‘product.’ I also have a simple makeup (and skin care) routine. My products are more pricey ones to try and get fully non toxic BUT I only buy minimally and what I need so it balances out. My makeup bag totals $150 in products (a number I never thought I’d spend ha but it’s a combo that I finally feel great about of Elate Cosmetics and then Beautycounter – where I signed up to be a consultant too for the 25% discount I’ll take a discount wherever I can!) but that price for clean and eco friendly makeup is SO little once you start researching and it’s balances out with the cheaper stuff which is what makes it work! Investing in clean definitely isn’t cheap but keeping it simple + minimal makes ALL the difference.

6. BUYING IN BULK!

By bulk I don’t mean masses of something, but loose from bins. If you’ve seen our #TWFDGROCERYHAULS you know we shop pretty much plastic free and also spend well below the American average for our family size. It can cost more (ketchup costs me 3x *eyeroll*) but we’ve made actually the change to plastic free food shopping without altering our budget at all! Certain items are a lot CHEAPER bought package free. Two examples, beans and bread. We make out own whole spelt sourdough and it costs us $1.50 a loaf. If I bought that premade in plastic locally it’s $8 – we do 2 loaves a week so we’re saving $13 a WEEK! Beans are also about 1/4 of the price cooked cup for cooked up when you buy them dry and soak and sprout them yourself! Try it!

And I’ll throw this in for free ha… we drink coffee every day so it’s really important to me that it’s organic and clean and packaged in compostable packaging. We are also REALLY picky about good coffee – I’d rather not drink it than have a bad cup lol. Judge me, it’s ok. So we do a subcription from Northbound that is some of the best coffee out there (we love the light roasts) and getting 3 bags a month costs $12 a bag for organic, and SWP clean decaf coffee in home compostable packaging. It we buy good bags from anywhere else its $14+ a bag and not compostable packaging so it’s a win win win!

There are so many more ways so maybe I’ll do another post but it really all can balance out if you want to make the lifestyle work without breaking the bank 🙂

Related Posts

Indulging without Regret: 10 tips for having your summer holiday cake and eating it too!

Health and Wellbeing, holidays, lifestyle

Guys, I’ve been the regretful over-indulger. I’ve done the vacation mode of ‘kick back don’t think about what you’re eating’ and then kill yourself at the gym after a vacation…

The Whole Food Baby: Starting Out

Baby, lifestyle

**A disclaimer: As with everything I write, this post is a combination of my own personal research and opinion, please use common sense, do your own research and consult your physician,…

It Started with Food…

Eco + Conscious Living, Health and Wellbeing, lifestyle

As a child scrambling up trees to pick apples in my grandparents orchard, I thought that sunny picture was the story of all food. It grew on a tree in a grassy field,…

FOOD BUDGET MONTH: WEEK 2

lifestyle

WEEK 2! For an intro and week 1 click HERE! To see a tour of the haul with ideas on how we use the items click HERE. For the highlights…

11 Tips for Eating The Best You Can Through the Tough Seasons of Life

lifestyle

We all go through up weeks and down weeks. Sometimes though there are prolonged periods where for some reason or another, life is tough for a longer period of time….

Travel Food (Yes you can take food onto the plane!)

Eco + Conscious Living, lifestyle

Every time I travel people ask me: Can you really take that on a plane?! Well, I’ve never had anything taken away at security, so yes! The picture above was…

the.whole.home

Talking about companies, products and practices as

Talking about companies, products and practices as just as “GOOD” or “BAD” doesn’t help for so many reasons! Those words remove space for nuance and don’t let us all be at a different point on the journey. We’re human and human journeys are usually made of lots of small steps. 🦶Not just bad ➡️ good.
.
So let’s instead talk about WHY we make choices or stop doing things or move to choosing a different company. Or ask that of other people when they just say something is “good” or “bad”. Avoiding “good” and “bad” and talking more about WHY leaves room for nuance, room for us all to be different, and makes space for understanding and education not just alienating and judging!
.
We NEED to make the journey if sustainability and ethical choices more approachable and I think this is one way we can do that! What do you think?

WAXING WITH SUGAR! Who’s tried it?! A budget and

WAXING WITH SUGAR! Who’s tried it?! A budget and waste friendly way to de-hair that’s happily “low tox” too. It took me some figuring out but it’s worth going on the journey if you want a cheap and low waste to wax! The process is all over the internet from people with more experience than me (I’m a year in!) so I wrote more of a review of the process on the blog with the bits I’ve found helpful and the ratios I like - cos every recipe is a bit different 🤪 and some trouble shooting tips. I hope it helps!
.
If you usually shave and want to try - this is your cue to let everything grow for a while and give it a go! .
.
The full review is on the blog at thewholefooddiary.com/blog/how-to-wax-with-sugar .
.
#ASMR #sugarwaxing #lowwaste #nontoxic

A quick 3 product get ready to work from home this

A quick 3 product get ready to work from home this morning! Beautycounter has been one of go to brands for years for having the 🦄 overlap of carefully chosen ingredients that are screened for safety, full ingredient disclosure and traceability on things like mica which can often come as a product of child labour, as well as start to finish care for the environment from sourcing to product end of life. No company is perfect, and all our values are a bit different but for what I wanted they were a really great hard to find balance!
.
Honestly, I could never wear makeup again happily. But I do like skincare and if I’m going to use anything I want it with those values.
.
The three things I used are linked here: https://beautycounter.com/kezianeusch/list?sharedList=ipxW0tXHwr0EGNphdbKx or comment/DM “makeup” for a clickable link! And any questions - I’ve tried most of what they have so I can give an opinion! Note if you add my name Kezia Neusch at checkout then I’m an affiliate (you pay no more) and I can also add some extras sometimes ☺️, check in on your order for you, or help if you need it!
.
And all of March you can use the code CLEANFORALL20 for 20% off your first order which is always so helpful! .
.
[image description: kezia with brown curly hair and a white chunky knit jumper applying 3 makeup products to her face and explaining them!]

Do you know how many times I’ve searched out a s

I’ve never really felt like a “word for the ye

I’ve never really felt like a “word for the year” person. But Jared and I were talking about 2023 as we tackled a mountain of dishes one night last year and I found a word I really want to be a goal for me personally and as a family this year…

CONTENT.

As in, being content: “content * /kan 'tent/ verb: content yourself with : to be satisfied with (something that is less than or different from what you really want): to accept (something) as being enough.”

It feels like the most contrary-to-normal word and I want it. Every day we’re bombarded with marketing, social norms, and conversations that tell us we should not be content with what we have. Adults and kids alike. We should all apparently want more. No matter what we have. This year I want to slow down even more in what we build as normal. I want to shift our family mentality, norms, mindset to be contentment and celebration of what we have. And not just where it’s comfortable or “normal.” I want to recognise where we’re not content that we actually should be. To turn from looking for more and towards actively contenting ourselves with what we have so that we can put our energy, time, and money into things that actually matter. Last year we moved out of our master bedroom permanently to our one open plan kitchen/living room so the baby could take our room and we could all sleep better. Was it a strange move? For our norms maybe, but outside that? Not really. It allows life to work with one less room and a smaller house. And so we chose it. Do people ask “how it’s going” like it’s a bit different? Sure. But that’s ok. We don’t start making new things normal until we start doing things that aren’t so normal.

We’re often happy with a BIT of change, a BIT of lowering our footprint, a BIT of giving, a BIT of lots of good things - but beyond that we have to work on ourselves to actually change how we content ourselves with less. To actively change what we’re comfortable with, what we’re content with. And THAT is what I want for this year. More of that. More contenting ourselves with what we have, with less, even when it’s not normal, or not initially comfortable.

I LOVE the change we’re able to bring with purch

I LOVE the change we’re able to bring with purchases we’re already making! But I know that seeing another article about human exploration in supply chains can sometimes make us feel defeated, throw up our arms and say “ugh everything’s bad!” 🙄 But knowledge is power and I’m thankful anytime we can use knowledge like this to make changes in our lives.
.
So here are some practical tips from a journey of a few decades in our home to take small steps in caring for people with our purchases. 🏡
.
Full blog with some other helpful links at thewholefooddiary.com/blog
.
I hope it helps, cos this matters! #conciousfashion #conciousshopping #ethicalclothing

Load More... Follow on Instagram