Most of us have lost, or never truly understood the meaning of frugality. The definition of frugality is, “The quality of being economical with money and food, thriftiness.” We live in such a consumeristic time, desiring things far beyond our basic needs. We have so mistakenly forgotten our roots; the beautiful and contented homemaking that our great grandparents and before worked so diligently at. We think that, “If we just had that,” we’d be happy. However, this isn’t Truth, so long as we are believing that Truth comes only from God’s Word.

Here are a few ways our family practices the art of frugal living.

Welcome to Mama’s Fruitful Home! My YouTube channel and blog is inspired from Titus 2:3-5 and Psalms 128:3. Titus 2:3-5 says, “Older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is Good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, kind and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s Word will not be slandered.” Psalms 128:3 says, “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your home, your children, like young olive trees around your table.” My hope and prayer here is to grow in sweet sisterhood, that we may flourish together in Christ-likeness as daughters of The King, always encouraging with Scripture. I will share tips on homemaking, ways to care for our over-all health in our God-given design and cooking and baking from scratch. Whether you are a brand new homemaker, or you’ve been homemaking for years, my hope and prayer is that God may use me to encourage you in your journey of creating a fruitful home. I am so blessed to have you here!

1 Timothy chapter 6 says, “Minds are depraved and deprived of The Truth, who imagine that godliness is a way of material gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. If we have food, clothing and shelter, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called. Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life. Guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge.”

Number One :

My Job Is Taking Care Of Our Children And Home

When my husband started pursuing me, I was working at a local cafe. Before we even got married, we discussed how my role would be to stay home, and to tend, well, to the home. Then once we would Lord willing have children, their care would be in my hands as well. This is what we both desired for me, our marriage, our home and our growing family. We also believe this is right, Biblically. We got married, and this house that was now “ours” slowly started turning into our home. What are the practical frugal steps we take here, you may ask? Well, with this decision in particular, of me staying at home with the children, we have decided that I do not need a vehicle, and I do not need a job. How do these decisions help us to be frugal? Without us having two vehicles, we are saving money that otherwise would go to a second car payment. With me not working outside of the home, there is no need for our children to be put into daycare.

Number two :

bake and cook from scratch

I came into marriage not a healthy gal at all. We knew we wanted a family, therefore, we needed to be prioritizing our health, and healing from the inside out. The week we got married, we looked into local farms where we could get our meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables. We immediately found two farms nearby, and met our local ranchers and farmers. Our first week of marriage, we COMPLETELY changed our lifestyle of the way we eat. Having an ingredients household is far cheaper than processed and packaged “food,” ESPECIALLY when we are ordering in bulk. We use Azure Standard for our shopping outside of what we can find at our farms- we do not shop at the grocery store anymore. I know I know- I can hear your gasp from here. We also eat seasonally- if it is not growing near us, we are simply not eating it, unless we have frozen or preserved it in some way at peak ripeness and picking. Eating seasonally saves money. Do you ever wonder why fruit is so inexpensive in the summer? Because it is growing around us like crazy! We found that instead of spending more money on things like mayonnaise, pasta sauce, pancake mix, powdered sugar, brown sugar, etc., we can actually MAKE these things just like our great grandparents and beyond did. And, we do not have to waste gas going to the grocery store to pick it up. Since we have an ingredients household, all of the ingredients to make just about anything is in our pantry.

number three :

buy secondhand

Basically, the only brand new items that we have purchased for our home are our couch and mattresses. Almost every other thing in our home is used. You will find us say things like, “Isn’t that unique?! We found it on the side of the road on our way to Church, and were late because we spent fifteen minutes loading it into the car!” and, “Our favorite chair in our home was only ten bucks from the thrift store right up the road!” and, “Welcome to our home for dinner! Yes, all of the chairs around our table are thrifted and all different!” As far as clothing, we shop for our family’s wardrobe once at the beginning of Spring for our Spring and Summer wardrobe, and then again at the beginning of Fall for our Fall and Winter wardrobe. That is how we shop. Not only are the items that we are finding much less expensive than if we purchased brand new, but we are also bringing such beautiful items into our home this way! We never know what we are going to find secondhand- sometimes vintage, sometimes antique and sometimes brand new with tags! Let us remember Hebrews 13:5, which says, “Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or abandon you.’ Therefore, we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”

Number four :

Practicality vs. minimalism

We function more as a practical household rather than a minimal household. They really do both go hand-in-hand, though. Let me explain what I mean. We do not bring things into our home often at all. When we do, we ask, “Do I NEED this?” and, “How will I practically use this within our home?” We simply do not purchase things that sit on a shelf or counter just because “it’s cute.” We want our home to feel peaceful and calm, not cluttered with a million decor pieces just to fill the space.

number five :

no makeup, no hair dye, no nails

I am not saying that you cannot have these things. What I AM saying, is that if you say things like, “We cannot afford to eat whole foods” or to do this-or-that, access where your money is going, and what you can cut. I will use a very heartbreaking and personal example here- I used to be a traveling nanny. I got paid very well. However, I spent all, and I mean ALL my money on Forever21, Starbucks and Sephora. My parents called me two years into this being my lifestyle, and told me that they added up how much I had made over those last two years- they said, “You could have afforded your own home with your own cash right now, but you spent it on materialistic things.” I CONSTANTLY think back on this moment and sincerely wanna cry. I was SO focused on my outer beauty and spending every single penny I had within the same week that I got it. My closet doors wouldn’t even shut anymore! I believe we are so careless with our money nowadays, and we often spend on things that are not even worthwhile. In my late teenage years, I stopped wearing makeup all-together, I stopped dying my hair and I stopped spending a hundred dollars on my nails every two weeks. I am not saying you personally may need to make these extreme cuts, however, another question you can ask yourself is, “Am I idolizing my appearance?” For me personally, that was me, and The Lord convicted me of it in this way. To be completely frank, if I purchased even one of these things in this season, we would not be able to eat the way that we do.

number six :

Make own cleaning spray

I genuinely do not even know what is going on with the cleaning product aisles in stores nowadays, other than a genuine headache and stomach ache the moment I walk into the store. What would you say if I told you that you simply had to eat some oranges, limes and lemons and purchase some vinegar? Eat your citrus, add the peels to a mason jar filled almost all the way with vinegar, shove it in the back of your pantry for about six weeks, shaking every few days when you remember to, then at the end of the six weeks, simply pour into a spray bottle! This is SO simple! We purchase thirty-percent organic vinegar from Amazon, and dilute it- this helps us get our money’s worth. Plus, we can also use the straight-up thirty-percent vinegar on weeds and mold. We use this one simple spray for cleaning our counters, windows, mirrors, as mop solution- seriously it is all we have, and I may be crazy to say, but it is all you need, too. While we are on the topic of cleaning, paper towels are an absolute money drain- we purchased a set of cleaning scubbers from Amazon, and they work wonders! We use them for everything- dishes, counters, windows, mirrors, etc. There is a soft side and a rough side. Once they are dirty, we simply wash them with towels, and they come out clean as new! Or, simply crochet or knit your own re-usable cleaning rags!

number seven :

capsule wardrobe

This similarly goes with the buying secondhand, because ninety-percent of our clothing is thrifted. However, we do buy brand new shoes. We each purchase one pair for the Spring and Summer, and one pair for the Fall and Winter. You heard/read that right- we have two pairs of shoes for one whole year. I believe another toxic consumerism habit is that we think it is cool to have an entire closet worth of shoes, for that occasion we dream of wearing them to that will likely never actually happen. Buy a color that goes with everything, and call it a day, I mean, a year. As far as clothing, we have two pairs of pants- one jean and one another color. We have about three main thick sweaters. We have anywhere from two-to-five shirts. We have a handful of dresses. We have two go-to cardigans or coats. We have anywhere from four-to-seven pairs of underwear and socks. I truly believe the more we have, the more we do not know where to store, and the more lazy we become with laundry, because, “Oh, we’ve still got PLENTY of clothes to choose from.” This not only saves on money big-time, but also our stress- especially as women, because we do not handle stress as well as men, and no one needs more stress throughout the day.

number eight :

cut husbands’ and boys’ hair

My husband wanted me to learn how to cut his hair and beard for months. I was so not excited to learn. He finally had me purchase a set and learn. When I say I was so ridiculous to shut his idea down MANY times, I mean it. We spent about thirty bucks on this razor set, and ONE appointment for him to go get his hair fully done was at least forty-five dollars! We have made our money back, times a ton! Plus, the stress on a wife and mama’s part to find a good salon after being to a ton of different ones, then having your husband come home even later after work to go, then realizing you just spent an arm and a leg and have less money to put to groceries- it just makes sense to do it ourselves! Before hair salons, families did each others’ hair, and even their own hair.

number nine :

no eating out

Sometimes I feel like this is the most common sense one, and then other times I think our family is literally the only ones implementing this, because it is just THAT common nowadays! Food brings people together around the table, so I get it. What I do not get, is why we would want to go home with diarrhea and a probable cold or flu sickness. We went out to a restaurant because we were quite a ways from home the other week, and we spent eighty dollars! If you think we are spending anywhere near that for a meal we make from scratch, you are mistaken. We did go to a healthier restaurant, but may I add that we are getting absolutely NO nutrition from going out to eat at regular restaurants, nor is it helping our wallet. We did bring homemade snacks and a meal from home on this trip, but we were out longer than expected- I say this to encourage you to make your children’s snacks and pack a picnic before full-day outings. I will be sharing homemade snacks that we make our children soon! Before people went out of their home to eat, it was made in the home-kitchen, perfuming spices and dessert as the husband came home from work, and the children running around with joy because they know that once they have tired themselves out, a home-cooked meal will be waiting at the table for them.

Number ten :

remove the mentality of “I want what I want when I want it”

This truly is the core to frugality in itself. We need to understand what God says. He calls us to live a life of self-control, a Fruit Of The Spirit, from Galatians 5:22-23. Just before that, in Galatians 5:16, God’s Word says, “I say, then, walk by The Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.” I do not think that we often see it this way, however, immediate gratification is a sin. It also entitles impatience- also a sin. Patience is another Fruit Of The Spirit. When we started a garden the first year of marriage, it was my very first garden ever. The feeling I had knowing that I put all of this time, energy and work into our food-source just steps from our kitchen made me so absolutely excited and eager to see that tiny fruit start to bear! And then plucking the fruit when it was at full ripeness and ready to harvest, and bringing it into our kitchen to eat right away or preserve it with either canning or freezing. I had never felt so much fulfillment before! We homemakers who cook and bake from scratch are not just saying that it is worth it- it truly is. The pure joy, yet again another Fruit Of The Spirit, that we receive from doing things in an intentional manner is a beautiful thing that we never want to take for granted.

number eleven :

Stop shopping

This sounds so obvious, but is it? We have social media constantly showing us ads of things we do not actually need but we think we need. We think “that thing” will bring us more happiness, or bring our children more happiness. We have actually come to the point of idolizing belongings. Before we consider purchasing something, let us ask ourselves, “Will this purchase encourage me to sin into idolatry?” Romans 1 says, “For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of The Immortal God for idols. They exchanged The Truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served what has been created instead of The Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.” We do not need new holiday decor every single season. Let us become women who do not desire what is “in style.” Trendy marketing literally means “being ‘in’ or popular, short-term trends.” With all of these trends constantly changing, we have to protect our hearts and mindset. Let us choose home decor, clothing pieces and kitchenware with intention, purchasing things that last and are timeless. A more practical way we can implement this is to simply get off our phone. The ads are lurking everywhere, encouraging unnecessary consumption. Even more of a practical step, just stay home.

number twelve :

be resourceful

I believe many of us have completely lost somewhere down the line in the last couple generations the art of creativity. With whatever means we may have, let us start a garden with fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers, raising cows for milk, raising chickens for meat and eggs. Pressure can, freeze and preserve food in season, to be eaten out of season. Let us use what we have. As wives and mamas, we are called to take ownership of our family. Our family is our first ministry. Let us be encouraged to prioritize our family in a way that no one else will. No one cares more about our family’s health than we do. Let us work hard with willing hands as unto The Lord. Colossians 3:22-24 says, “Don’t work only by being watched, as people-pleasers, but work wholeheartedly, fearing The Lord. Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for The Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from The Lord. You serve The Lord Christ.” This is personally a Bible passage I cling to in my ministry of being a wife, Mama and homemaker. This ministry is not for the faint of heart- it is challenging, and it is also the most rewarding calling.

number thirteen :

support local ranchers and farmers, and barter

I believe for the majority of us, the easiest thing we can start implementing is becoming friends with our local farmers and ranchers. As Christians, we are called to make disciples, and putting ourselves out there to meet other folks is important in our Christian ministry. Not only are we making friends, but we are supporting other families. This is how our great grandparents and beyond did things. The saying, “Oh, I'll just go over to the neighbors’ to ask for some sugar” was so real back then. Nowadays, we do not even know our neighbors one door down. It is truly disappointing. Supporting our local ranchers and farmers is how we first started in learning to eat whole foods, preserve, make our own staples and start our first garden together. It is so beautiful to have local friends who grow our food, who we also have access to asking how they do certain things, like how to make a whole chicken not taste dry- speaking from experience. Haha. With also knowing others who grow food in a way that we do not yet, we can barter! I have made caramel, coffee syrup, bone broth, etc. in exchange for friends’ eggs, vegetables, herbs, etc. Every skill that we have should be shared to bless others. Working together within our towns really is the start to beautiful and blossoming friendships that last forever! Practically speaking, the more skills we learn, the more money we save. Let us get back to our roots in loving to learn how our ancestors thrived, and follow in their example.

What frugal habits do you practice? Are any of the ones I shared ones that you implement? Did I miss any? I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments below! Bye, friend!

Frugal Living Tips Of A Christian Homemaker