Over the last five years, my buying habits have changed considerably when it comes to household, body care and cleaning products.
I used to buy nearly everything at the store. I disposed of all of the excess packaging for each product, over and over. I didn’t question the ingredients. I’d look at my Target receipt with a twinge of guilt at having spent more than I had budgeted for…but felt that this was what I had to do; these were my household necessities.
My priorities have since shifted drastically in the direction of more natural products with fewer chemicals. I’ve always had a desire to make things myself, and as I’ve slowly changed my buying habits to favor handmade alternatives, I’ve been somewhat surprised (and always delighted!) to find homemade versions of many, if not most store-bought staples that are often much cheaper and easier to make than you’d expect.
But realistically, the shift didn’t happen instantly. On one hand, it’s incredibly overwhelming to realize how many products you have that don’t meet your new criteria. And for me, the thought of throwing away something I’ve already spent money on just to try something homemade made me cringe at the unnecessary waste. In a handful of scenarios, where the product is extremely toxic or I learn that it’s harmful to have around, it’s worth it…but most of the time, I feel the need to use up what I have first.
But that’s okay, because that’s where this idea will shine. It will bring you incremental improvement that, over time, will turn your habits around completely.
The idea I’m sharing with you today isn’t a secret. It’s simply recognizing an opportunity that presents itself over and over again.
Whenever you run out of a product, you have a distinct opportunity to find something better.
Each time you run out of something you use regularly: toothpaste, shampoo, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, paper towels, whatever…you have an opportunity to make a choice.
You can choose auto-pilot and buy the exact same thing again.
Or you can seize the opportunity to:
- Try making a homemade version
- Try going without it
- Try a different brand
If it’s a product you can’t live without, try doing your experiment when you get down to a third of a bottle, so you have something to fall back on just in case.
Maybe you seized the opportunity, tried a homemade version and it flopped. Then you can try another way or go back to the product you knew worked before–but this time with new insight, having learned from your experiment. Your purchase was not made on auto-pilot; it was intentional.
Or maybe, even better, you’ve found a recipe for laundry detergent that works great and rings in at five cents per load. Or a DIY two-ingredient version of Goo Gone, minus the toxic chemicals. Might I suggest testing your ranch dressing addiction out on this recipe?
I like to keep a Pinterest board of recipes for the lovely occasions when I run out of something. (In fact, I get excited to run out of things. Right now, I am genuinely pumped to run out of deodorant.) You can find my ideas for products I want to try someday on my Household Recipes board–which is incidentally my most popular Pinterest board.
Check it out by clicking the image below….and tell me, are there any DIY household recipe’s you’re itching to try? Have you tried any really fabulous ones lately? Let me know in the comments!
