Doing stuff on your own to gain self-sufficiency is an important element of ensuring you can make it through a survival situation.
Best of all, it saves money while teaching you a new skill; here are a few things you can make on your own with a little bit of research.
Shave Cream – I tend to use Tom’s shave cream anyhow which means we were using around 1 can every few weeks. Instead of buying it, I started making this homemade shave cream and ya know what? It conditions our skin better than any store bought product ever has and is super cheap to make.
Shampoo – Both Emma and I have crazy thick hair, shampoo can get really expensive really quick. I’m allergic to a lot of the budget friendly brands so I was having to pay around $10.00 per bottle just to wash my hair. Now? I’m using this homemade coconut shampoo recipe and my hair has never been cleaner. No allergy issues either!
Dishwasher detergent – Dish tablets are usually pretty expensive and since I hadn’t been able to actually snag a great coupon deal on them in a while (bare shelves when there were deals), I started making my own homemade liquid dishwasher detergent.
Lotion – I have incredibly dry skin if I don’t have a great lotion. The issue that I was having was that I couldn’t find one that would work. So as almost a last resort, I tried my own homemade dry skin repair cream and I haven’t looked back since.
Laundry Detergent – I wish that I could tell you just how much I adore my homemade laundry detergent. We use the powdered version only and now instead of $0.10 or more per load, its more like $0.01 per load. Our clothes? Never been cleaner.
Fabric Softener Sheets – When the laundry detergent went, so did the fabric softener sheets. Luckily, I fell in love with my reusable dryer sheets. Trust me. You’ll love them just as much.
Window Cleaner – When I wanted to get rid of commercial Windex, I took at look at making my own. What I found works better than the store bought stuff and is so much cheaper!
All-Purpose Cleaner – Want a super quick and powerful all-purpose cleaner that won’t harm your family? Make your own homemade all-purpose cleaner for pennies on the dollar over the store bought stuff. We switched completely and I don’t regret it at all.
Floor Cleaner – If you’re looking for a good floor cleaner, skip the store bought stuff. Instead, use vinegar, castile soap and lemon or orange essential oils or you can check out this homemade floor cleaner recipe.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner – Want a sparkling clean and germ free toilet? Toss some baking soda into the bowl, follow with a few drops of tea tree oil and then toss in 1 cup of vinegar. Let sit for 5-10 minutes and clean like normal.
Pasta Sauce – Jarred pasta sauce is expensive to make and generally tastes really bland. Instead of buying it, I now make our own homemade pasta sauce saving myself an average of $2.00 per jar. If you eat pasta once a week, that comes out to almost $100 each year by itself.
Bread – While you can find bread at the store for less than $1.00 a loaf, I can make it at home for around $0.49 per loaf. Plus? Fresh baking bread always tastes better and makes your home smell so nice! If you don’t want to spend your days kneading, a bread machine can be a huge help. It’s a more expensive investment but it’s one that will pay for itself many times over!
Pizza – I’ve admitted it before but I will again. I am a huge pizza snob. It really is true though that making it yourself can save you big so even though I’ve been making them myself for years, this year we stopped ordering them completely. Just grab your favorite pizza crust recipe and bake on! Want a tip from someone who has baked plenty of pizzas though? The pizza pan that you use really does matter.
Liquid Castile soap – Castile soap is great for a lot of things, but it’s used in so many of our homemade recipes. The liquid stuff is super expensive to buy though. Making your own homemade Castile soap is a great way to save. I can get a huge batch made for around $5.00 and it works just as well if not better!
Canned Chicken Noodle Soup – My Emma is a huge chicken noodle kid but at $0.98 per can it was causing me to go broke. Instead, I started making up monthly batches of this homemade chicken noodle soup and freezing it in individual servings for her.
Frozen Chicken Fingers/Nuggets – All kids love chicken nuggets but the frozen ones often don’t contain meat that isn’t filler. Instead of buying them, I now make my homemade chicken strips recipe once a month and freeze them. They reheat the exact same way as the store bought ones but taste so much better!
Cooking herbs – Seriously. Why pay $2.00 per bottle or more for quality cooking herbs? This year we started growing our own indoors and saved. I dry them out in my dehydrator then chop them with my food processor. Voila! A homemade version of the same stuff you get in the spice aisle.
Feminine products – Believe it or not, these were the first to go. No, I didn’t stop using them (ew). Instead, I switched to cloth. I paid more up front to build my stash, but I’ve saved that amount many times over since we started.
In an effort to gain self-sufficiency and save money, many homesteaders and survivalists are increasingly doing all they can to make their own survival and daily living products.
This list is just a short one that includes most of the easy stuff.
To see a list with even more DIY survival items you can make, check out Six Dollar Family.