Money Saving Vintage Skills

By The Petite Plantation - May 30, 2017


Learning to become self reliant has been a fun adventure. Well, I don't want to call it an adventure because it's not like I'm going back to my original ways at the end of the day. It more of a lifestyle change we have progressively been making, slow and steady. {Check out our master plan here!}

I love to learn new things, which is probably why I have been to college three times {thank you to my supportive husband!}. So when we decided to become more self reliant years ago, I was a kid in a candy store, a bookworm in a library, crocheter in a yarn store, or a gardener is a seed store. I could go on here...
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We started with the basics, like learning to make our own bread but really, the possibilities are endless. And, because we've learned all these new skills, we've saved loads of cash!


9 Frugal Homesteading Skills to Learn & Save Cash!

Learn to bake your own daily bread! This may seem like an intimidating task to take on, but with this recipe, baking your own homemade bread is quite easy I imagine we save $1.00 per loaf and with a three carb-monster men, baking our own saves us around $156 a year!

Preparing home cooked meals rather than eating out may look like it costs you more on your grocery bill because you are buying more food for the week but it can easily save you $30 per meal. It seems like a vintage skill in our society because food is now so easily and readily available every where we look. But, home cooked food tastes better, has less crap in it and when you get your children involved, you are giving them priceless knowledge and skills for their future!

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Learning handicrafts and life skills we don't often need but outsource from time to time. I'm talking about knitting or crocheting your toques, hats and scarves {yes, I am Canadian and proud}, learning to sew on a button, repair holes in your jeans and hem a pair of pants, especially if you are vertically challenged like myself. 

Growing your own food can save you hundreds of dollars on your grocery bill and is better for your health. This year is our first year growing a vegetable garden and we are keeping track of the amount of food we harvest so we can one day learn to become self reliant. Here are a few links to get you started:


Canning, preserving and dehydrating your home grown, or even items you pick up at the market that are on sale are a great opportunities to save cash. Sure, this does cost you a little money to invest in a water bath canner, pressure canner, and jars, but these are all reusable items that will last you for years to come. It's also romantic to enjoy fruits or vegetables when they aren't season and rewarding to snack on your own dill pickles or strawberry jam!

Enjoy more of your time out of the house and Grounding in nature alone will reduce your electricity bill! Playing lawn games like bocce ball, gardening, exploring your neighbourhood, spending time with the people you share the community with seem to all be 'out of style' or old fashioned. 

Growing and drying your own herbs and medicinal plants or foraging wild plants in your area is a very romantic homesteading skill few practice these days. I am not sure how much we save in a year with our own herbs, but every little bit helps, am I right?

Cutting hair in your household is one you will want to start practicing on little kids before they start caring what their hair looks like. {Are you laughing? I feel like you are laughing at this one, I am!} But, really. The first time I trimmed my husband's hair my sister-in-law yelled in hilarity "What happened to you!?" He really didn't care, and I was committed to learning how to do it, we all laughed and I am dying over here as I write this. Luckily, we had two boys after that, and it got easier! Learning to cut hair, including my own, has saved our family at least $420 a year and investing in a good pair of scissors and a clippers set is worth it!

Repairing and maintaining your vehicle for the easy stuff like oil changes, spark plugs, even gasket replacement has saved us hundreds of dollars over the years. My husband and I aren't particularly handy in the automotive repairing department but you will be amazed at the confidence a good YouTube video, Google search can provide.



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