I’m Cheap. Just Not About Everything.
There’s something you should probably know about me.
I’m cheap.
Not universally cheap. I’m perfectly capable of spending money when I think something is worth it. But if I look at something and think, Seriously? You want me to pay THAT much for that? there’s a pretty good chance I’m going to figure out how to make it myself.
Apparently, this is one of my personality traits. 😂
$8 FOR A BAR OF SOAP?
I tried homemade soap for the first time in 2015. I loved it, but I absolutely did not love the $5–$8 price tag on handmade soap. There was NO WAY I was paying that much for a single bar.
So, naturally, I learned how to make my own.
From scratch. With good old lye and food-grade oils.
And it turned out to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. I know exactly what goes into it, I can choose my ingredients and scents, and I can make wonderful soap for a fraction of what handmade soap costs. I’ve been making our soap ever since.
THEN CAME THE SALVE
In 2019, I was buying a 4-ounce CBD salve for Dave’s pain. It cost $60.
You can probably guess where this is going.
I decided to make my own. I grew the cannabis, decarboxylated the harvest, infused the oils and made the salve myself. It worked well for us, so I’ve continued making it ever since.
I don’t make any claims about its effectiveness. It’s an herbal product, and herbs work differently for everyone. What I can say is that I use high-quality ingredients, make it myself from beginning to end, and over the years many people have told me they found it helpful.
APPARENTLY, I LIKE MAKING THINGS
Soap and salve aren’t really exceptions. I do this with all kinds of things—cooking, canning, gardening, cards, T-shirts and whatever else catches my attention.
Sometimes buying something makes perfect sense.
But sometimes I look at the price and think, I could make that.
And then, because I’m me, I do. 😂
There’s something incredibly satisfying about knowing exactly what went into something and being able to say, “Yep. I made that.”
And saving a little money along the way isn’t exactly a bad thing either. 💜
