We’re all feeling the cost-of-living pinch at the moment. Leaving your house immediately costs you $100 and staying IN your house costs you more than that per hour.
We’ve stopped buying coffee out (thank you $6 lattes) and avocado’s are cheap again, so what the hell else are we supposed to do?
We’ve read the articles that tell us to shop around for interest rates and electricity and buy food in bulk blah, blah, blah. Anyone who’s organised their life admin before knows that changing up things that are already in process, falls waaaaaay down the list of “things I need to get done today”.
We all live somewhere and it’s EXPENSIVE. Whether you rent or own, the monthly payments are only going up. Our homes are costing us more than they ever did, and unfortunately we’re not fans of cave-living anymore. So what if the thing that costs us the most each month, could also save us money!?
You wouldn’t buy a super-expensive pair of boots and leave them un-used would you? No way, you’d wear those babies out every-damn-where.
So let’s use our spaces people!
COOK like you mean it
Our generation is a big fan of convenience cooking, and don’t get us wrong, it’s A+. Getting dinner boxes delivered with individual cooking rations is FABulous after a long day at work. But..it’s also pricey.
Why not get back into home cooking?
And not the time consuming or Instagram worthy kind of cooking, just the old classics.
Why did we all love our mums spaghetti bolognaise so much growing up? Because she cooked it all the time! It was our comfort food. And it was goooood.
Lasagna, casseroles with mash, sausages and salad, chicken soup..(we’re getting hungry just thinking about them). The ingredients are all affordable and a big batch can feed a whole family twice over. Plus, everyone loves them!
If your bestie said “hey, come on over for a red wine and my home made spag bol” you’d be in that car in 5 seconds flat.
Home cooking is good for the budget AND the soul.
We’ve rounded up some super-awesome instagrams with loads of simple, affordable, home cooked recipes to try.
@recipe_tin, @onehandedcooks, @simple.home.edit, @feeding_five_frugally, @phoeberosewood, @natsnourishments and @deliciousaus
Got a floor? Got a gym!
Gyms are expensive. Like SO expensive.
A lot of people use them for their mental health, to get out of the house, for extra motivation, to stare at hot people in tight clothes, and.. fair. But if the gym is a means-to-an-end kind of situation for you, cut it for a few months and try at-home exercise.
Remember the old ad “Got a door? Got a gym!” well we’ve changed it to “Got a floor? Got a gym!”. And it’s said by a woman with a soothing pilates voice, not a screaming jacked gym-junkie.
You can exercise anytime that suits you, for as long or as short as you can fit in. A thick towel on the floor can be a mat, tins of beans can be weights and your awesome-activewear can do it’s thing. We’ve rounded up some EXCELLENT at-home apps for you to use, that will absolutely keep you fit and extra-absolutely save you a tonne each month.
The Pilates Class by Tash Oakley, Centr by Chris Hemsworth, Sweat by Kayla Itsines, Blogilates, 28 by Sam Wood, Nike Training Club and Popsugars PS Fit.
We don't look like this, nor do our homes, BUT it's good to have inspo right?
Bring a glass to your grass
Sure, going to a bar or restaurant, ordering from a menu, sitting still and being waited on all night is deliciously enjoyable. No one’s ever going to refute that.
But..again..its pricey! And we can’t always justify it.
So what can we do when the sunshine rolls in, you feel like having a few wines with friends, eating some good food and filling up your cup? Use your grass!
Backyards, front yards, courtyards and parks down the road. They’re all YOURS to use.
When we were younger, picnics were the absolute bomb. You could run free, eat with your hands and your parents were always way too concerned with their mates to worry about your whereabouts. So what’s different? SURE we’re a little older, we need SPF now and it’s hard to sit cross-legged for long periods of time.
But a big comfy rug, some camping chairs, sandwiches, dips, a nice bottle of wine and a day with your friends would be 11/10. And the added bonus? No real cleaning up!
We live in a beautiful part of the world, with usually-awesome weather and a range of spectacular picnic spots. No corkage needed!
Pamper at Salon YOUR HOUSE
We all like to get beauty treatments.
Actually we would all like to get ALL the beauty treatments but..we’re not the Kardashians. So we pick the ones we wont compromise on and sporadically do the others.
We’re eyebrow girls at Restitched. You may be a hair devotee, a manicure girlie or a spray tan slave. Whatever your non-negotiable, you accept that you can’t have it all.
Or can you?
We did some at-home beauty treatments in the Restitched office and we can tell you that while the experience is not exactly the same as a salon, the immediate post-treatment glow..is!
Say you have an event coming up and you need hair, nails, brows, eyelashes and a spray tan. Getting these done at a salon would set you back at least a whopping $600. BUT lets say you used your own bathroom and did a few things a-la-home. Miiroko hair colour kit ($65), OPI nail polish from the chemist ($21), LeCIL eyelash kit ($39.95), Bondi Sands Tan ($19.95) and salon brows (don’t ever do these at home..).
Now we’re looking at a much more affordable $195. And we’re not even factoring in that we can re-use a lot of this multiple times.
Off you go to your event looking like the absolute QUEEN you are, with a bank account that hasn’t been decimated.
Go Circular!
It’s always nice to treat yourself to a new outfit but when did a dress start costing so damn much?
There are many reasons to shop in the circular economy but price is a BIG factor. The circular economy has come a long way since “someone’s old Supre top” and is now a fully fledged sector of the fashion market.
On circular economy platforms like Restitched, you can find yourself a beautiful designer outfit for at least half the price. Stocking only amazing-ly good stuff from superb-ly stylish Australian designers. There’s also free shipping and free returns if it doesn’t fit, so it’s a no brainer!
And the real cherry on top? You can SELL your clothes with Restitched too!
We’ve all got clothes we’ve bought that we’ve never worn, clothes that don’t see midnight anymore, clothes that never fit quite right and clothes that we “might wear next summer” but never do.
Set aside a Monday night or Sunday afternoon (organising is always better done at the start of the week) and go through your wardrobe. Keep things that “spark joy”, donate things that are used and sell things that are worth something.
There would be nothing truly as satisfying as having a one-in-one-out moment with your wardrobe that was easy, enjoyable and left you with something awesome to wear this weekend.
Sell and shop circular on Restitched, at-home beautify yourself, hold a front-yard picnic with some friends and cook one of your now-famous dishes.
A new outfit, a makeover and a social event that’s basically cost you nothing.
Girl math, out.