11 tips for living sustainably on a shoestring budget

How to live sustainably on a budget: an actually useful post that doesn’t center consumer tips like “go thrifting!” or “buy a reusable water bottle”. (Yes, that’s one of the top results right now on google. WTF y’all.)

I think a lot of people get in their head about being sustainable on a budget. They worry about how to buy the right things (a very reasonable framing when you’re raised in the cult of capitalism), rather than understanding the sustainable option is simply to abstain from buying as much as possible.

Living sustainably on a budget becomes much easier when you realize you can remove lots of decision fatigue by simply refusing to make decisions and becoming an un-consumer except where it matters to you.

A combination of trading, bartering, and absolutely ruthless prioritization of your budget lets you get pretty damn close. With the usual caveats, as discussed below…

So how much of a budget are you really on?

The dirty deets, what you all really want to know! And I love talking about it because keeping finances taboo doesn’t serve anyone.

By 2022 standards, our income this year was in the lowest quartile for household income in Indiana AKA we earned less than over 75% of households in Indiana. Somewhat by choice, somewhat by circumstance. We kind of considered it a gap year for the both of us. It’s still a lot compared to what some folks make who work a lot more than us, which is pretty gross.

You can play around with this income calculator to see where you land if you’d like.

And it’s not like we’re hiding some gotcha, like those idyllic homesteaders with a massive trust fund or the early retirees who earned $300K as software engineers. We've never made more than around $55K combined income.

The caveats

Because inevitably in a post like this, I get feedback from someone who says something like “this is useless and you are a thoughtless asshole because (I make less / I live somewhere expensive / my life is not a perfect parallel to yours)”.

Yes, I’m in a two-person household. We are privileged to be a straight, white couple. I have the privilege of family help and education. We are both now US citizens. We don’t have kids — that was a very deliberate choice that has made our lives way better.

We got very lucky buying our first house in 2017 for basically no money and making a small profit off it which allowed us to move to our current house, a junky, tiny thing no one else wanted that needed a lot of work.

We are in a very fortunate position that our expenses are low and I could likely raise our income by a significant amount if we absolutely had to.

I also recognize we live above the poverty line in a global north country and have financial flexibility in ways others don’t. While some folks on a lower income may find this content useful, survival is always a priority over vague sustainability goals.

OK, now that’s out of the way! Let’s talk lessons.

How to live sustainably on a budget

1. Y’all have got to buy less

Sorry, but so much of the hand-wringing in the sustainability sphere is centered around making purchases that — in all honesty — you could just not make. Sure, it’d be inconvenient and not fun but it’s also the most budget- and eco-friendly option.

Instead of spending hours scrolling through various clothing brands to find the Most Sustainable Shirt™ just commit to wearing what you already have. Same goes for the Most Ethical Linen Towel™. Or whatever. You probably already have something good enough.

But this comes with one major caveat: you cannot buy better, more sustainable/ethical products and expect to spend slave labor prices. You can’t. There is no magic button to press that delivers you a $10 t-shirt or $1.99/lb chicken breast that has no exploitation in the supply chain.

You should buy less, but be prepared to spend more. Sorry not sorry.

2. Make your luxuries super specific

I usually spend no more than $100/year on clothes. But I own two almost $300 jumpsuits, bought 4+ years ago and worn weekly! Our grocery budget is microscopic but we spend $15+ on a bag of coffee. And drink it daily!

While I’m firmly on the side of no buy 99% of the time, there’s no reason not to truly indulge in very specific ways. I buy high-quality clothing when I know it’s what I want. I’ll spend lavishly on food treats because it’s a small joy. I probably agonized over a $25 meal out more than the $800 greenhouse I bought last year because one meant a lot more to me than the other.

But it’s very easy to go overboard on “I love it, I deserve it” if you don’t very clearly define the specific areas of life you get joy from.

3. Barter, trade, and ask

Capitalism has gotten us so fixated on money it’s easy to overlook non-financial ways of getting what you need. But having less money forces you to get scrappy. What do you have (stuff or skills or time!) that are valuable for trade? I’ve traded veggies for eggs, labor for garden space, time for entrance into events, and so much more!

Also I feel like so many folks just ignore the simple power of asking! If you’ve got a little community, why not ask for what you need — particularly if it’s just for a short time? Recently I’ve gotten a pitchfork, wheelbarrow, and dehydrator on short-term loan!

Not only is this kind to your budget, it’s just making that much less demand for new products you won’t use all that often anyway.

4. Figure out what’s actually worth the DIY

A big impulse when cutting the budget — particularly when looking at sustainability through the lens of plastic waste — is to swing wildly towards DIY. But I’ve come to learn that’s not always the best answer.

Really start looking at your budget, your time, and your willingness to DIY and try to align those into a system that makes sense. For me, I consider these things:

• Can I source this locally for a price I can fit into my budget? If I can, I’m not going to DIY. I don’t need to buy molds and specialized ingredients for soap when there are 10 local soap makers at every local market!

• Can I make something of a similar or greater value/quality? Similar to above, I know I got caught up on DIYing all the things at first before realizing a lot of what I made… kinda sucked. I now only make things I think will be a step above what I would otherwise buy.

• Am I interested in the process? For me, a DIY often makes the most sense when it’s just something I want to try. When I balance my money and labor time against what it takes to process my own maple syrup, it doesn’t really make sense. But I love tapping the maples on my property and it’s worth the extra time/expense.

5. Be unabashed about not wanting to spend

Somehow I’ve lost the part of me that feels embarrassed when I tell others I can’t or don’t want to spend money. Lots of people seem to have this — and I certainly have lots of embarrassment around other things! — but I’ve avoided it. Embrace that vibe if you can and dig into buying less.

Arm yourself with fun, low-impact activities (AKA get outside!) instead of spending money you don’t have on food or things created from a long, unsustainable global supply chain.

6. Cut down on driving — a lot

Yes, yes, the rest of the world can start making indignant noises about how they don’t have cars. But us folks in the US — and a lot of Canada — know that cars are often an unfortunate necessity of the system we live in.

That doesn’t mean you need to buy in completely.

Cut short the random errands that get you driving for one singular reason. Batch your errands so you’re only using the car once a day — ideally way less if you don’t need a car for your commute. Your carbon footprint will thank you alongside reducing gas costs and vehicle wear & tear.

7. No eating out, like, ever

I’m going to sound like a grandma shaking her fist and yelling into the wind, but it is absolutely unbelievable to me how much people eat out! First, I actually can’t understand the finances of spending $20+ on a single meal for a couple people with any frequency. Second, I’d hazard a guess and say a lot of you — like me — don’t have easy access to restaurants who are utilizing a majority locally- or even ethically-sourced foods.

I understand the convenience/price factor for some folks with extremely limited incomes and several jobs to juggle, but the honest truth is that so many of the people reading this site are simply not in this situation. You are like me: a middle class person who’s so tired by all the bullshit you’ve fallen into convenience to the detriment of the planet and your wallet.

And I’m not saying I’m better than you: I’d probably eat out more if I had the budget (and the better health) to do it. We simply can’t afford to eat out. There are very few restaurants worth spending the $50 for two folks to eat at (AKA the equivalent of almost 25% of our monthly grocery budget!).

Instead of worrying about bringing your own container to the restaurant to avoid plastic, avoid it altogether and source good quality food that you learn how to prepare quickly…

8. Radically reduce the types of food you buy

Really pare down on what you buy at the store; not the amount, but the variety. My biggest grocery bills come when we start to toss in random add-ons we don’t have a plan for.

We stick to a list of food we know we’ll use and that can store well. Dried beans, rice, and corn for staples. Chicken for my partner, eggs for me. Carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and apples for produce. Sure, we change it up through the seasons but those are our (budget-friendly!) go-to products. We know how to cook with all that in a million ways so it’s very easy to play with them using different spices, herbs, and fun add-ons.

I still love a fun bit of variety here and there but it helps reduce food waste, make meal planning easier, and keep grocery bills consistent through the season when you’re buying on repeat.

On that note…

9. Eat seasonally & locally

We all know eating in-season food is the cheapest option. When an item is more plentiful and easy to grow, it gets cheaper. In that way, you’re already winning, budget-wise.

As I ramp up my garden again, I’m definitely going to talk more about the budget aspect of seasonal and local food but here are a few tips for it:

• Seek out small sellers. While I love a farmers market, there is some serious up-charging going on. I hardly visited my farmers market at all this year, instead shopping at a local stand where prices were 1/3-1/2 cheaper than the market.

• Ask for seconds. Not, like, more but the less-desirable pieces of produce that are fine but a little smooshy, bruised or otherwise imperfect. They’re called seconds (or may be denoted by #2, like these pears from Azure) and are a great way to get bulk quantities for cheap. Ask around at your local orchards, farmers markets, etc.

• Get growing. We can’t grow it all, but we can grow some. High-ticket items like herbs are always good to replace in the grocery budget and accessible regardless of space. With more space, consider growing cool varieties of fruits & veggies you can’t get in the sotre.

• Forage! Get out into the world and see what there is to eat already growing around you. (We harvest tons of black walnuts for the whole year!) Learn from experienced folks, though, and be safe!

• Know you’re going to pay more. Some people want me to show them a way to eat local food for the same price as a Walmart bargain bin. Y’all. Ethical and sustainable products COST MORE. Wiggle your budget to make it a priority unless you truly have no wiggle room. (And a lot of you do even if you bemoan that you don’t.) ????

And for what you can’t source locally, or eat a lot of…

10. Save up to buy bulk

I’m not talking about the zero waste idea of bulk (ie. bulk bins), but actually buying bulk amounts of food. Because you know (most of) those bulk bins are just filled from 25-50 lb packages, right? That “zero waste” score still definitely has packaging waste, it’s just in the back of the store, not in your trash can.

I’m talking about buying large quantities of food/supplies at a time. It saves money over time, but it can be hard to justify the larger price tag all at once. Still, you can start snowballing it.

Save a little bit of your grocery budget every week until you have enough money to buy a 25-pound bag of beans. Now, depending on how often you eat beans, you won’t need to re-buy beans for several months. That frees up a couple more bucks in your grocery budget… save that to buy a 25-pound box of apples at discount which you freeze/dehydrate/make into apple sauce. You’ll get on a rotation where your grocery bill will be smaller, allowing you to save up for bigger purchases when needed!

I shop from Azure Standard for organic options, but you could even replicate this in the average grocery store by buying a 20 lb bag of beans or rice instead of a smaller one. Less plastic waste overall and a teeny bit of savings that starts to add up over time.

11. Remind yourself less income means less impact

Whenever I’m feeling down about how much I earn, I also like to remind myself that the less money I earn, the less taxes I pay into the US war-machine. I also have less purchasing power to buy unnecessary junk, purchase plane tickets multiple times a year, or afford a larger house with a massive footprint. So, yay?

That said, there’s an immense amount of pressure for folks to perform capitalism well. There are lots of (so-called) rewards for those who earn more, but fewer who choose a quieter life.

And I don’t want to sound callous in a time where everyone is feeling the pinch of tighter times, but there’s a lot of freedom in letting go of a lot. Particularly when framing all of this discussion around the fact that almost all of us reading this are wildly wealthy in a global context.

I don’t really have a conclusion to all of this, I just wanted to share some thoughts around living sustainably on a budget in a way that’s slightly more nuanced than the usual silly platitudes but still recognizes what a wild amount of privilege we truly have.

I’d love to keep the discussion going in the comments — what’s coming up for you after reading this?

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