5 Tips You Can Use If You Want To Become A Frugal Natural

When I first started my journey to natural I was so excited and became a product junkie quickly. For one, I wasn’t sure which products worked best for my hair. Before I knew it I was spending $100s on hair products!

The crazy part is that you can become a product junkie at any point in your journey because products are always improving and trying new things is always always awesome. With that said if you want to become a frugal natural there are a few things you can add to your life to save money on your journey like I did.

1. Coupon

The myth about couponing just being for stay-at-home moms is faded. The use of coupons while I shop has drastically reduced my out of pocket expenses and every little bit counts! You can often find Shea Moisture* coupons for $2 off a product in your newspaper inserts.

Also products that you wouldn’t typically think to use for African American hair works as well. Take Pantene hair gel for example. You can find coupons for Pantene both in paper inserts as well as online.

Harris Teeter is one of my favorite grocery stores because they double coupons. Every now and then they’ll do a Super Doubles event were they will double the coupon face value up to $2, meaning if you have a $2 off a Pantene hair product it will double for $4. Often the sale price for these products are $3.99 therefore you would get this item for free! I racked up on tons of these gels and I just add a little argan oil* to it and it works great! Non drying and no flaking.

2. Make your own products

Sometimes it’s best to just get in your kitchen and make your own products! This way you know exactly what is in it. One of my favorites to make is my own protein treatments. I combine 1 egg, mayo, honey*, conditioner, olive oil*, argan oil*, jojoba oil* and Jamaican black castor oil*.

3. Subscription Services

As a newly natural you may not have determined your staples so you feel like you have no choice but to experiment. Here is where subscription services such as Curlbox can come into play.

Curlbox is a monthly subscription service where for only $25/month you will get a box of full size products to try. I subscribed to Curlbox for 6months and had an opportunity to try tons of products I would have never thought to pick up in the store which have actually become my faves. You can cancel at any time and it’s a good way to limit your spending on hair products because you know you will get a box of new ones each month.

4. Shop clearance and sales

Every time I’m in Target I always make it a habit to go by the clearance end cap of all of the sections but especially the health and beauty section. I can almost guarantee that every time you look you will find some kind of hair product marked down.

Anything from Shea Moisture* to Cantu. Browse these sections and see if some of your faves are on clearance. Also CVS and Walgreens often have BOGO sales for Shea Moisture* where you can buy one product and get one free. Pair this with a coupon and you have a pretty good deal!

5. Sample before you buy

One of the biggest mistakes we often make is that we will see a product on the shelf and be so quick to pick it up and buy without knowing if it will actually work for our hair.

I’m guilty of this! Hence, how I spent soo much money in the beginning. One of the biggest tips I can offer is don’t think that just because a hair product works for someone else that it will work for you! Every Beauty World or Beauty Supply Store has a section of sample packs and most of them are natural hair products!

Although these usually aren’t free they are around $1 and you can try to see if you want to make that commitment. For example Miss Jessie’s is a popular natural hair care line but the products are pretty pricey (~$30/item). I’d rather buy a $2 sample of it to try before I spend $30 and risk it not working for me! Just do a basic google search and you’ll be sure to find some freebies.

So there you have it. My top 5 tips. Applying these will definitely make you save money! One bonus tip is to Recycle and reuse! I often use old grocery bags instead of shower caps* for my deep conditions and protein treatments. I’m just going to throw it away when I’m done anyway! Being natural does not have to be expensive. By incorporating these money saving tips I now have more money in pockets to spend on others things such as traveling!

What are some of the things you do to save money on products?

This post first appeared on : www.VanessaMichele.com