Eco and Budget-Friendly Ideas For Your Home -

For the last few years you can say as a family we’ve lived quite frivolously. We’ve not had to count our pennies, we’ve taken days out when we wanted and the children have been lucky to have plenty of toys and clothes spilling out of their rooms. However whilst we are still very fortunate,we have realised how much money we have been wasting and have decided to take stock and try and reign some of it in.

This has started by balancing the books, so to speak, setting ourselves a budget and sticking to it. Every week I go through our online bank statements and add them into a spreadsheet which forecasts our money for the next year, should we stick to our spendings. It is really satisfying to check in each week and see how well we are doing, it makes all the scrimping worth it.

I thought I would share some tips I have found useful for not only your bank balance, but also some eco-friendly tips for your home that will make a difference at the same time.

In The Garden

One thing I’ve been considering for me time is whether or not to have a comport heap. We don’t have a huge garden so there isn’t a ton of room, but I’ve been looking into compost bins, and it is something I really want to put into practice in the next couple of years. We throw away so much food waste that could be reused. This post has some great tips for beginners to the composting world.

Your Hallway

Go LED. Whilst it can be an expensive outlay initially, you and the earth will save in the long run. After some research I found that you can save up to £240 a year using LED bulbs which definitely makes a difference to me.

Into The Living Room

Over the years I have done lots of upcycling in our homes – from a large unit to old fruit crates, I love bringing old furniture to life. This is also a great idea to restore your old pieces without going out and splurging on new ones, plus think of the . Here is a great post on how to distress old furniture using vinegar – easy and cheap!

The Kitchen

We have been meal planning for some time now, but we aren’t very good at using our leftovers. We have the best intention and Mr H will wrap them and put the in the fridge, only for me to throw them out a few days later, still in the same place he put them. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest though, for how to use those scraps for more delicious meals and therefore cutting down your food spending each week. Soup is always a good way to go, so here are some ideas for what you could do with yours.

Bathrooms

Cleaning products are full of all sorts of chemicals and I’ve noticed more and more people using natural and every day products to clean at home. Vinegar and baking soda have some amazing uses you would have never thought of, and has anyone tried pouring Coca Cola into your loo! This pin are has 36 ways to use baking soda – who’d have thought?!

Your Bedroom

Whilst organic bedding can be on the pricey side, do you know how much better it is for you? Not only is it super soft, but cotton actually counts for 25% of the world’s insecticide use, so you are definitely being more eco-friendly by switching. If that’s not your thing how about using essential oils or making your own fragrances for the home, instead of using chemicals and synthetic fragrances?