9 Inexpensive Things that Make Me Feel RICH

I’ve definitely lived the paycheck to paycheck, I can’t pay my bills lifestyle. Now that my husband I make decent salaries it can be a real struggle not to let lifestyle creep get the best of you. Like… really hard!

Today, I’m going to share 9 of my favorite inexpensive items that make me feel rich, I also have this in video form if you would like to check it out!

Good showerhead.

Yeah this may be a weird one to start out with, but stay with me. An amazing shower after a long day at work is sometimes exactly what you need. Yesterday was Friday and after an extremely long week at work and 1.5 hour long drive home I barely kissed my husband hello before taking a LONG hot shower.

It was like all of my stress the the week just melted off me and went down the drain. I instantly felt better.

I have had some really bad showerheads in locker room showers and past apartments. It’s amazing the difference a showerhead makes on your whole experience. I definitely recommend upgrading if your showers are subpar.

Having a “smart” home.

I’ll admit that I was VERY against converting our home to a smart home. LED lightbulbs are a lot more expensive than incandescent bulbs and I didn’t think we had the extra money to spare when we were saving for a house. But when you are married to a lighting designer that isn’t really an option.

Jayme is slowly converting our whole house to be “smart”. We have the Phillips Hue Smart Bulbs, Ring Doorbell, Ring floodlight cameras, Ecobee Thermostat, August Smartlock and August Keypad which is ALL controlled through our phone.

Having to get my phone to turn off or on a light was pretty annoying in the beginning especially since I was conditioned my whole life to use a light switch, but then the time came when I was lying in bed wanting the light off and didn’t have to get up. I was officially converted!

Audiobooks

As I mentioned earlier, I have a very long commute to work, sometimes up to 3 hours a day in the car. Audiobooks have been a game changer in not wanting to pull my hair out. Through amazing services like Audible, I am able to turn my awful commute into a place that I can learn and grow through personal development books or escape reality in fiction books. Audible and Kindle Unlimited are both amazing ways to up your lifestyle for a very small cost!

ALDI face cream.

Yep, that’s right. $4.99 face cream from ALDI is one of the ways that I feel rich! I don’t know how they do it but that little jar of heaven feels so good on my face!

Now that I am in my 30s, I am really paying more attention to taking care of my skin. I absolutely love this $5 night cream but I’m also investing in some more expensive products like Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel. Yes, it’s an investment in my skin but I can see and feel such a big difference.

Felt hangers.

One of the first thing Jayme wanted to do when we bought our new house was throw out all of our hangers and buy matching ones. I thought this was an odd request from him but I said that it was fine as long as they were the FELT HANGERS! I’d heard so many people talk about how amazing they were and I just had to try them if we were buying new hangers.

I’ll admit, they were a little pricey but totally worth the investment. Not only does our closet look super sleek but they also take up HALF the space!! My only complaint is that sometimes they are hard to get shirts with a small collar on and off like polo shirts but the pros definitely outweigh this one con.

Quality towels.

I’m embarrassed to admit this but before I got married none of my towels matched and they looked pretty grungy.

Earlier I mentioned the importance of having a good showerhead and really enjoying your shower. You wouldn’t want to ruin all of that by ending your shower with a scratchy towel with holes. Investing in some good quality towels makes the whole shower experience complete.

Coffee frother.

One of my favorite parts of my day is my coffee. I am told that I drink too much coffee but lets be honest… that’s not possible.

I have invested in not one but two coffee frothers, one for home and one for my desk at work. All of my coworkers think I’m so extra but y’all it really is a game changer for your coffee. It adds the perfect froth on top that makes you feel like you paid $5 for your coffee when in-fact it was only about 20 cents (Thank you Graham Stephan for doing the math 😉 ).

Toilet paper.

Yep, I saved the best for last! Quality toilet paper is something that I will NOT skimp out on. I will pay the extra money for the 10 ply, quilted fabric to make our bathroom experience just a little bit better.

Ways I save money:

Here at Freedom In A Budget, I am all about saving money! Here are some of the EASY ways that I save money:

• Billshark negotiates lower prices on your monthly bills to save you time, money and hassle.

• Fetch Rewards is a free grocery savings app that rewards you just for snapping pictures of your receipts. That’s it. Really. Free gift cards on groceries on thousands of products every day, no matter where you get your groceries. 

Just scan your receipts and get gift cards from retailers like Amazon, Target, Ulta, Applebees. Use code QHKBH to earn 2,000 points ($2)!

• Credit Sesame offers Credit Score and Monitoring, Savings Recommendations and Identity Theft Protection. ALL FOR FREE.

• CIT Bank offers high interest savings accounts and CDs to provide a safe, secure way to GROW your savings.

• Gabi is a full-service, online advisor who compares all your insurance options to find you the right policy, all in under two minutes.

• M1 Finance is an easy to use brokerage platform that allows you to invest in Fractional Shares and auto reinvest!

• Webull Get 2 Free Stocks on WeBull when you deposit $100 (Valued up to $1400).

Your turn!

Let me know what are some of the small investments that you have made in your life that make you feel rich?