How to save money on personal hygiene is simpler than you might think. Read on for 10 ideas that can help you be more frugal… literally saving you hundreds of dollars per year.
The story.
The thick, slimey blob oozed from the bottle into the palm of my hand. My nose scrunched. That did not smell nice.
The squirt was about the usual amount needed to lather up hair, so I smeared it onto the top of my head.
Nope. Like every other natural shampoo I’ve tried, this one didn’t go very far.
I pushed out another blob. Then another. I began scrubbing my head. Now it felt like too much!
The shampoo required an inordinate amount of water to rinse off, and after it did, the offensive, musky smell lingered in my hair for a couple of hours.
It also made my hair drier than a desert and brittle as a potato chip. It also added no body to my slightly curly, fine strands.
Two weeks went by, and I reverted to using bar soap in my hair. Then I compared the price of this natural shampoo to a more popular brand known for its quality, and its use of ingredients that were, however synthetic, non-toxic to the planet.
The natural shampoo cost two and a half times more.
You can have good personal hygiene without throwing money away.
Not taking female beauty products into account, the average American adult probably spends around fifty dollars a month on personal hygiene products. With beauty products, the number jumps into three figures.
What if I told you that you could push that smaller number down by at least twenty dollars? And that you could cut your beauty regimen costs in half?
Following are ten ways to do both.
How to save money on personal hygiene #1: Use only bar soaps in the shower.
Whether for body or for hair, bar soaps last much longer than their liquid equivalents.
Use the plainest ones you can find. Most name brands with added fragrance and special ingredients do nothing more than any other soap or shampoo.
But do search specifically for shampoo bar soap for your hair, as it is differently formulated than your average hand soap. Hair is different than skin.
How to save money on personal hygiene #2: Use liquid castile soap for handwashing.
Bar soap would be the cheapest here, but unless you’re willing to sanitize the container it sits in on a daily basis, it will gather bacteria like a conspiracy theorist collects YouTube links.
Instead, use diluted liquid castile soap. Pour two to four ounces in an eight-ounce pump or squirt bottle, then slowly add purified or distilled water as close to the top as you can.
How to save money on personal hygiene #3: Use disposable razors.
My husband used an electric razor back when. Come to find out, it ends up being more expensive than using disposable razors.
It’s the same for electric razors for women.
Ladies, I know this might not work on a particular body part. I don’t know why you’re shaving that hair, anyway. I mean, wear more modest bottoms at the beach. No one otherwise ever sees the top of your thighs or bottom of your buttocks, so there’s no reason to tan them.
But for armpits and legs, a disposable razor works just fine, once you get the hang of using it.
Save even more money by giving up shaving altogether. I’m telling you, it’s unimaginably liberating. (Uh, I’m talking to the ladies here…)
How to save money on personal hygiene #4: Don’t always go with “natural.”
As I illustrated in the introductory story, just because a product is made with zero synthetic ingredients doesn’t mean it’s cost effective.
It almost always means the opposite.
If you have a particular sensitivity or allergy, research all the ingredients before making a purchase. But these days, most of the time a conventional product containing low-toxin ingredients is longer lasting, better, and more cost-effective than an all-natural equivalent.
This goes for products like toothpaste, body wash, hand soaps, and laundry detergent as well as shampoo.
Speaking of that…
How to save money on personal hygiene #5: Forgo hair conditioners.
I haven’t used a hair conditioner since I was in college. Maybe since high school. I don’t remember.
Unless you work in an industry that requires perfect hair styling, a quality shampoo is all you need.
And speaking of that…
How to save money on personal hygiene #6: Use less than you think you need.
You know those instructions on shampoo that say, “Lather, rinse, repeat”?
Total B.S. The average person gets their hair plenty clean with one squirt – or, if you’re using bar shampoo, one rub-through – of shampoo.
Oral hygiene requires time and care, not an entire brushful of toothpaste. And you could probably use half the amount of moisturizing lotion that is recommended and still have smooth, silky skin.
How to save money on personal hygiene #7: Shower less frequently.
The exception is for people who work in manual labor jobs. But that’s not most of us. Showering the three days a week you go to the gym is plenty. Or not more than every other day.
Some claim that it’s not healthy on your hair to shampoo it every day, though I’ve never heard of anyone meeting their demise due to shampooing their hair too much.
On the other hand, research suggests that rubbing soap all over your body can rub off the precursor chemicals which your body uses to produce vitamin D. I can’t argue against a nice shower to help wake you up in the morning. Consider doing a simple rinse half the time. It will save you money on personal hygiene, and possibly help you be all-around healthier.
How to save money on personal hygiene #8: Reduce (or quit) makeup use.
If you wear makeup to attract a man, using too much is not only deceptive, but also likely to attract the wrong kind of man. If you wear makeup because it makes you feel good, or because you need to for your career, consider experimenting with less. Touching up just the right spots with just enough color might result in a look you like even better than what you’re doing now.
How to save money on personal hygiene #9: Stop buying “youth” creams.
The industry of anti-aging creams is probably the biggest legal scam in all of history.
They don’t work. Stop buying them. Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in junk, exercise regularly, smile a lot, and reduce your stress.
That’s the only long-term strategy to keep you looking younger a little longer.
How to save money on personal hygiene #10: Stop using deodorant.
Again, this depends on how much time you spend outside, sweating. But if it’s not much, you can probably just rub down your armpits with a little bit of soap twice a day, and no one will be the wiser.
Bonus tip for saving money on personal hygiene: USE COUPONS!
If you can find a coupon for your favorite products, or find them on sale, by all means, take advantage and buy several. Those ten and fifteen percent savings add up after a while.
Look good, feel good… and save money.
The above isn’t an exhaustive list. I could talk about bath towels and hairbrushes. We could argue about whether dollar store toothbrushes are worth buying.
But I’m confident that the tips I did provide have not only shown you a way forward, but given you ideas on how to cut back on those nitty-gritty self-cleansing details.
Hey! And if you enjoyed this article, you’ll probably also appreciate this one, the Ultimate Guide to Frugal Homemaking.
