This page may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Ever heard me talking about something on Instagram Stories a gift guide post, or in an email, but then couldn’t find the link again?
I’m compiling AAAALLLLLL the things here in one easy-access page so you can save time and money by finding exactly what you need quickly.
Just scroll down to the themed list that looks like it will have what you need!
We’ll be adding to this page in order to keep up with requests, so check back as often as you need!
Find the List!
If you’re looking for a particular list, just click on it here:
- Currently Reading
- Kitchen Gadgets for Minimalist Green Living
- Kitchen Appliances for a Budget-Friendly Kitchen
- Zulay Kitchen Favorites
- Health & Wellness
- Clothing & Beauty
- Gardening on a Budget
- Budget-Friendly Home Decor
- Easy-to-Grow House Plants
- Homeschooling
Currently Reading:
Kitchen Gadgets for Minimalist Green Living
These gadgets help our kitchen stay healthier (like homemade popsicles and meal prepping), a little more green (like cloth napkins), and cut down on excess clutter by using small, multi-purpose gadgets (like the julienne peeler for zoodles!).
Get our intentional, tested, curated list below:
- Y-blade vegetable peeler
- julienne peeler (for zoodles!)
- Reusable plastic wrap-style lids for tupperware and fruit (never buy plastic wrap again!)
- Lids & straws for mason jars
- Straw cleaner
- Plastic lids for mason jars
- Popsicle mold
- Homemade freezer pop bags
- Canning jar funnel (indispensable!)
- Meal prepping containers
- Mini prep bowls that are also liquid measuring cups
- Cloth napkins (not the brand I have but similar!)
- Pan scrapers (not the brand I have but similar!)
- Salad dressing bottles
- Stainless steel cups (plastic-free, unbreakable, and kid-friendly!)
Kitchen Appliances for a Budget-Friendly Kitchen
You don’t need ALLLLL the kitchen appliances to make budget-friendly, real food. These ones get a constant work-out in our kitchen and they help me save time and money every week!
- Food processor
- Nutribullet
- Instant Pot
- Toaster Oven
- Wondermill Grain Mill (for the BEST whole grain flour)
- Stick blender
- Electric skillet (great for camping too!)
- Kitchen aid mixer (great mixer, but not great at kneading whole-wheat bread)
- Bosche mixer (what I would buy instead for whole grain baking)
Zulay Kitchen Favorites
Want to support a family-owned small business?
Zulay Kitchen has a ton of affordable, quality kitchen gadgets and gifts. I use many of their products and I’ve gifted quite a few. They’re a small, family-run company and their customer service is fantastic.
Shop their collections here and use the code CHEAPSKATECOOK10 at checkout for 10% off!
Some of my favorite Zulay Kitchen products:
- Milk frother
- Herb scissors!
- Popcorn maker (a bowl you use in your microwave!)
- Knife sharpener
- Splatter screen
- Magnetic measuring spoons
Health & Wellness
- Aluminum-Free Mineral Deodorant
- Pixie Cup menstrual cup (LIFE CHANGING)
- Pixie Cup wash
- Hard water showerhead filter and replacement filters
- SmartyPants Womens’ Gummy Vitamins
- SmartyPants Mens’ Gummy Vitamins
- SmartyPants Kids’ Gummy Vitamins
- SmartyPants Gummy Probiotics (and prebiotic)
- Grassfed Collagen (I usually get the 2-pack)
- Natural Calm Magnesium Powder (this one is cheaper and more effective for me than gummies)
- Natural Calm Magnesium Gummies
- Vega Vanilla Protein Powder
- Orgain Organic Vanilla Protein Powder
- Just Hemp Protein Powder (unflavored protein powder) (I know less about this brand, but I have used it a lot, and it’s inexpensive. However, now I just toss hemp seeds in my smoothie if I want hemp protein.)
- Exercise bands
- Acne patches
- Womens’ facial hair dermaplaning tool
- Jade roller (does it actually work? I don’t know for sure, but it feels AMAZING)
- Tick Twister tick remover
- Arnicare gel (for bumps and bruises and swelling)
- Nature’s Sunshine Cranberry & Buchu (this is a great brand of supplements in general!)
- Kitsch Mega Hair Coils (these hold thick hair SO well)
- My favorite high-quality essential oils: Young Living
- My favorite mid-quality essential oils: Plant Therapy
Gardening on a Budget
You don’t have to have a huge space to grow your own food! I started when we had NO yard and NO balcony – just some sprout seeds in a mason jar.
- Sprouting seeds (alfalfa! My favorite)
- Sprout lids
- Sprout lids with built-in stand
- Alfalfa Sprouts
- Individual sprouts seeds
- Microgreens growing kit
- Microgreen grow pads
- Square-Foot Gardening (my FAVORITE practical gardening book, even if you don’t use this method – and I’ve read a lot)
- Seed starting trays
- Mini seed-starting trays
- Fabric Garden Pots (4-section)
- Fabric Garden Pots (individual) (black)
- Fabric Garden Pots (individual) (tan)
- Vertical Fabric Garden Pots
Building your own raised beds is so easy and budget-friendly, but if you need a pre-made kit, here are some options:
Vertical Gardening options. Our Earth Tower Garden is sadly sold out, but here are some alternatives:
- Mr Stacky Vertical Garden
- Pocket Hanging Garden (budget-friendly and might be perfect on a privacy fence!)
- Stacked Garden (terra cotta color)
- Rolling Stackable Garden
- DIY look-alike tutorial!
Clothing & Beauty
I don’t *love* clothes shopping, so these are the items I have LOVED getting from Amazon.
- Hard water showerhead filter and replacement filters (for healthier, bouncier hair!)
- Baggy wide-leg overalls (I have size medium)
- Squat-proof leggings
- 2-piece high-waisted swimsuit (bottoms are a little cheeky but good coverage elsewhere! Size S)
- High-neck swimsuit (the bottoms aren’t great, but I love this top! I wear it with some Target bottoms I like. Size S)
- Jean overall shorts (M)
- Jean cut-off shorts (pretty short, so I bought a size-up: M)
- Be Kind sleeveless shirt (size Small)
- Happy Camper t-shirt (Small)
- Support Wildlife, Raise Boys t-shirt (my tank top isn’t available anymore, but this one has good reviews and is cute!)
- Harem pants (perfect for no-real pants days) (Small)
- Racerback crop top (for under overalls, working out, or with Harem pants) (M)
- Racerback tank (not tight, but not super loose)
- Padded, comfy bras (the BEST and MOST COMFY BRAS – ideal for women with narrow shoulders and smaller chests, size Small)
- Mama Bear sweater
- Womens’ facial hair dermaplaning tool
- Kitsch Mega Hair Coils (these hold thick hair SO well)
- Kiss imPress press-on nails (my $3 manicure that lasts for a week)
- Silver or gold ear cuffs (not the exact ones I have but very similar and TONS of great reviews)
Budget-Friendly Home Decor
We love clean, tidy, decorated spaces. You don’t need a lot of money to make your space beautiful. Here are some of our favorite finds.
- Curtain rods (these increase din price recently, but they are still simple to install and look amazing without being really expensive)
- Thermal curtains
- White curtains with tree pattern
- Geometric hanging plant holder
- Hanging growth chart
- Guitar hooks
- Floor cushions (these frayed because our kids are feral; but they are great and I still love them! SO comfortable!)
- Nashville Skyline Black & White Canvas Prints (I couldn’t find Nashville again, but this brand makes lots of cities!)
- Color-changing smart light bulbs (these were expensive for lightbulbs, but they change color – daylight during the day and yellow gold at night – and they are LED so they last forever. We love them even though they are more of a luxury)
(Note: Our farmhouse is currently a big work in progress, so most of these items were for our townhouse, which had more of a modern-minimalist vibe. I’ll update this page as we furnish the farmhouse.)
See our Debt-free Home Tour here!
Easy-to-Grow House Plants
I don’t consider myself a great gardener, and I wouldn’t say I have a very green thumb. However, I do love plants. They help clean the air in your house naturally while adding stylish decor that feels life-giving and uncluttered.
It’s one of the easiest things you can do to make your home feel cleaner and more homey at the same time.
However, my plants have to be easy to take care of and hard to kill. Here are the plants that made that cut.
You can find some of these pretty inexpensively at your local garden center, but I added some shipped options here so you can at least look at them.
- Pothos (EASIEST – plant it in a bigger pot to make it grow even bigger more quickly!))
- ZZ plant (EASIEST – but poisonous if you eat it, so keep away from pets and young children)
- Chinese evergreen
- Aloe vera plant
- Snake plant
- Ferns (perfect for a shaded outdoor porch or patio)
Plants that didn’t make the cut: MOST SUCCULENTS. I live in the Southeast US, and these plants are happiest in dry, hot climates, like the Southwest. Regardless of how trendy they are, they were a waste of money for me.
Homeschooling
If you’re considering homeschooling – or just looking for some fun, educational ideas – here’s a list of games, curriculum, books, and videos we love.
I shared lots of free resources and you can find many of these at the library!
Books for Homeschool Teachers:
- A Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-To Manual, By Catherine Levison
- A Twaddle-Free Education: An Introduction to Charlotte Mason’s Timeless Educational Ideas, By Deborah Taylor-Hough
- How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way, By Tim Seldin
- Ambleside Online (curricululm)
- Easy-Peasy Homeschool (curriculum)
Preschool
- Before Five-in-a-Row (shows you how to take a read-aloud book and turn it into a week’s work of learning in all different subjects)
- Give Your Child the World (I applied the 5-in-a-Row concept to the books in here)
- Play outside! Seriously.
- Free Printables for tracing, letters, and numbers (tons of ideas here)
- Montessori Trays (tons of ideas here)
- Puzzles (first these then these when they’re ready)
- Channie’s Dry Erase Alphabet/Number Flash Cards (Channie’s is awesome!)
- Leapfrog Leaptop (we LOVE Leapfrog!)
- Busy Boxes
- The Bob Books (Reading)
- Kids Cook Real Food (Get a free download: 10 Snacks Your Preschooler Can Make, here!)
- Montessori Sandpaper Letters (plus how to use them)
- Melissa & Doug Letter Matching Game/Puzzle
- Pattern Blocks & Boards
- Melissa & Doug Lace & Trace
- Wooden Geoboard Mathematical Manipulative
- Magnetic Tiles Building Set
Early Elementary (K-2nd)
- Life of Fred (makes math concepts very fun and entertaining – we use it as a supplement to our Math curriculum and borrow them from the library)
- Math Lessons for a Living Education
- Workbooks (like Brain Quest!)
- Explode the Code (Phonics)
- Play outside! All the time.
- Free Printables for learning (tons of ideas here)
- Montessori Trays (tons of ideas here)
- The Bob Books (Reading)
- Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends (bought this at a thrift store on a whim – it’s been amazing for teaching my kids to read.)
- Learning games and printable unit studies (Science, Geography)
- Channie’s Quick & Neat Writing Pad, Practice Handwriting & Printing Workbook (game-changer for handwriting!)
- Busy Boxes
- Kids Cook Real Food (Get the best class for $7 here!)
- Five-in-a-Row (shows you how to take a read-aloud book and turn it into a week’s work of learning in all different subjects)
- Give Your Child the World (I applied the 5-in-a-Row concept to the books here)
- USA Puzzle with pieces the shape of States
- Scrabble Junior
- Monopoly Junior
- Boggle Junior
- Pattern Play
- Montessori Sandpaper Letters (plus how to use them)
- Melissa & Doug Letter Matching Game/Puzzle
- Pattern Blocks & Boards
- Melissa & Doug Lace & Trace
- Wooden Geoboard Mathematical Manipulative
- Magnetic Tiles Building Set
- Splash Learn (Online – free Math games!)
- ABCYa (Online – free games for multiple subjects!)
- Signing Time
- WhistleFritz Spanish Immersion (way cheaper on Prime Video!)
- Duolingo (free! But not always good for kids who are just going to click around for answers and won’t try to learn the language)
- Global Wonders (there’s a whole series! So good)
- What’s in the Bible
- Crash Course Kids (YouTube)
- Art for Kids Hub (YouTube)
Upper Elementary (3rd-5th)
- Life of Fred (makes math concepts very fun and entertaining – we use it as a supplement to our Math Curriculum and borrow them from the library)
- Math Lessons for Living Education
- Teaching Textbooks (we haven’t used this yet, but we’re planning to use it next year and my friends gave it rave reviews)
- Workbooks (like Brain Quest!)
- Bible Infographics for Kids (and the 2nd book!)
- Simply Grammar (Grammar)
- Visual Guide to Grammar & Punctuation (love this one!)
- Play outside!
- Growth Mindset Journal (Journal/Writing)
- Me: A Compendium (Journal/Writing)
- Spelling Power (Spelling)
- Free Printables for learning (tons of ideas here)
- Learning games and printable unit studies (Science, Geography)
- Channie’s Quick & Neat Writing Pad, Practice Handwriting & Printing Workbook (game-changer for handwriting!)
- Kids Cook Real Food (Get the best class for $7 here!)
- Five-in-a-Row (shows you how to take a read-aloud book and turn it into a week’s work of learning in all different subjects)
- Give Your Child the World (I applied the 5-in-a-Row concept to the books here)
- Story of the World (History)
- Scratch (Online – free Programming and logic!)
- Code Master (Programming and logic)
- SmartLab Toys Squishy Human Body (Science)
- Typing Club (Online – free Typing!)
- Splash Learn (Online – free Math games!)
- ABCYa (Online – free games for multiple subjects!)
- Signing Time
- WhistleFritz Spanish Immersion (for younger kids, but if they are just starting Spanish, the immersion is great!)
- Duolingo (free! But not always good for kids who are just going to click around for answers and won’t try to learn the language)
- Global Wonders (there’s a whole series! So good)
- What’s in the Bible
- The Action Bible
- Crash Course Kids (YouTube)
- Art for Kids Hub (YouTube)
- We use the Classical Conversations Memory Work App (I actually paid for this because it is SO good and easy).
- And the Classical Conversations Timeline & More album.
Read-Alouds
- Bible – right now we’re reading through the stories of Jesus
- The Dream Keeper, by Langston Hughes (we re-read these so the kids can memorize them)
- Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks (some stories might not be suitable for all ages – check it first!)
- Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli (some stories might not be suitable for all ages – check it first!)
- The Jesus Storybook Bible
- Beatrix Potter
- Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
- Tales from Shakespeare, by Charles and Mary Lamb
- Character First (gifted to us years ago – not my favorite, but it has some great concepts!)
- Anything from Five-in-a-Row
- Anything from Give Your Child the World
- Story of the World (History)
- The Book of Virtues