23 Simple Tips for Saving Money in the Fall

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Every time of the year is a good time to save money! Here are some simple Fall Money Saving Tips that you should do this year if you are looking to save money during this season.

Every time of the year is a good time to save money! Here are some tips for saving money in the fall. #savingmoney #fall #autumn #savemoney #fallsavings

Simple Tips for Saving Money in the Fall

Fall is such a beautiful time of year. Although I’m always sad to say goodbye to the fresh garden produce, I do enjoy the break that winter brings in the harvesting and preserving season.

There are many ways to save money with the changes into the fall season. Each season brings new ways that you can save even more of your valuable money and I’m excited to share those with you today so that you can make the most of your fall!

Hoop House

Extend Your Garden Season

This year we’ve finally begun to use cold frame hoop houses over our garden and I can’t believe we haven’t done this before! A cold frame of any kind can help to extend your garden growing season by weeks or even months. You may not be able to continue to the garden through the winter if you live in a very cold area like we do, but you can still extend your season past the frost.

We constructed a simple hoop frame over the top of our new raised beds with some pvc pipe and 4 mil clear plastic. I’m using rocks and clamps to hold it down in the wind and it seems to hold up well. In the spring we did have some 60 mph wind gusts that tore the frame off but thankfully it seems to hold up well with anything below that.

— Another way to extend your growing season is by making one of these Frugal Mini Greenhouses.

Stock Up On School Supplies for the Entire Year

Don’t skimp when it comes to school supply sales. Now is the best time of the year to stock up on whatever you can get a good price on and will use. During these sales, pick up what you think you can use within the next year until they will go on sale again. Even if you don’t think you need school supplies, go shopping for office supplies!

— Here are more tips on Back to School Shopping.

house entryway

Prepare Your Home For Winter

Now is the time to begin getting your home ready for winter. If you want to save money on those upcoming expensive heating bills, take the time to ensure that your home is efficient and well insulated.

Be sure that any cracks around your home are sealed as well as they are able to be. Check for drafts around your windows and doors. Switch your fans around to move in a clockwise direction to force warm air down.

–Get more tips on Preparing Your Home for Winter here. I’ve also got a Winter Preparedness Checklist here.

Don’t forget that if you are unable to afford to winterize your home, there is assistance available.

Get Out Winter Clothes

The change in seasons means it’s time for a change in your closets as well. As you are cleaning out clothing around your home, consider holding a clothing swap to exchange sizes that you no longer need for sizes that you do need. There are no better clothes than free clothes!

If you are unable to find enough families to do a clothing swap with, there are plenty of good resources for Buying Used Clothing Online since the rummage sale season is over and it can be hard to find a deal other than the thrift stores. Other resources for used clothing to check is ThredUp (<—get $10 off your first purchase when you click here) and eBay.

Looking for tips specifically on kids winter clothes? Listen to my Kids Winter Clothes Podcast here!

fall quotes

Check Your Subscriptions

With the turn of each season, it’s a good idea to check what subscriptions you are currently paying for and if you want to continue with the monthly fees. Things like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming services can add up in a hurry if you forget that you are paying for them.

If you do want to keep a subscription but want to see if you can get it for less, ask the company if they have any discounts or coupons that you could use to save, even if it’s just for a few months. This may not work for set subscriptions like Prime, but you might be able to get special discounts for things like your gym membership if you have one.

Start Your Holiday Shopping Early

If you haven’t already, now is the perfect time to start shopping for Christmas and the other winter holidays. Look for items on clearance or greatly discounted so that you can take advantage of the savings before retailers know that you will be shopping for gifts for the holiday season.

You also might want to make a list or the big shopping holidays like Black Friday so you can be prepared to take advantage of the deals on things that you might buy anyway.

Shopping early will help with any impulse buys for gifts that you might be tempted to grab later on when you are in a time crunch.

meal plan table

Get Back Into Meal Planning

I’ve written quite a few articles on meal planning and how it can save money. If you’d like to go into detail on those check out my page about Meal Planning here or my ebook called Meal Planning Made Simple.

Save Every Extra Penny

Coins can really add up in a hurry. This fall start saving your extra change in a jar when you use cash to pay for things. Use this as your mini savings account and when the jar is full, cash it in and use the money towards Christmas gifts or other holiday purchases or you could even use it to build your emergency fund if you are currently working on that.

ghost house

Review Your Insurance

After a busy summer, something you should do is review all of your insurance policies when you have a little time. Make sure you have the correct coverage for car insurance, life insurance, and anything you might have on your home or mortgage.

This can help with your financial planning and it can also help make sure that you don’t have too much or too little coverage and that you are paying the amount that you need to.

Skip Expensive Decor

If you love to decorate for the change in the seasons and in particular, consider doing to DIY decor this year. Find beautiful things outdoors that you can use to decorate your home such as branches, colorful leaves, pinecones, or other things that are essential parts of the fall season.

If you do choose to buy a few things, watch for sales at places like Hobby Lobby which often has seasonal decor for a reasonable price.

sponges and a plant

Make Your Own Cleaners

Fall is a great time to give your home a big cleaning before winter starts. You can make very basic cleaners that work very well only using simple ingredients like baking soda and vinegar.

Check out my full post with a printable checklist for Fall Cleaning and this post as well on How to Make Homemade Cleaners.

You also may want to take a little time while you are doing your fall cleaning and inspect your appliances. Cover up your air conditioning for the season (if you have one) and check to make sure that your furnace, water heater, and other essential appliances are in good working order before winter. It would be better to have to call someone now to do repairs on them (or to DIY the repairs now) than to wait until the busy season when you may not be able to get things fixed right away.

Save on Your Electric Bill

I have quite a few tips on Saving Money on Electric in the Winter so definitely check out that blog post as well. But the best tip to follow during the fall months is to just try and leave that thermostat alone and attempt to not turn on the heat until you really need it.

Until late in October, our family can usually get by with only turning on a bit of supplemental heat to take off the morning chill and that’s all we will need all day. You can increase the energy efficiency in your home during this time by taking advantage of the afternoon sun and letting it in the windows to warm the house, and by keeping the doors and windows closed in the mornings to keep out the coolest air.

fall tree

A while back I also asked the Little House Living readers on Facebook  to share some of their best tips for saving money in the fall. Check out all of the simple savings tips suggested below to really get inspired this fall and join my Simple and Frugal Living group on Facebook to get great tips like this every day!

Even More Best Tips For Saving Money in the Fall…

While the apples are in season I love making my own apple butter and apple sauce. I can make batches of it in my crockpot and can it. I don’t use processed sugar so if I need to add sweetener I can add some raw honey. It is so much cheaper and healthier than buying store-bought. I also make my own pumpkin puree. I can get organic pie pumpkins and make homemade puree cheaper than canned puree. I can get double the amount of puree out of a pumpkin for half the price of store-bought. – Amber B.

We harvest elderberries in the late fall. I freeze them and make Elderberry syrup with honey in small batches all winter to combat colds and such. Buying elderberry syrup is expensive and not as good for you as canning overcooks and kills and destroys the good vitamins and enzymes in the berries and honey. – Jen S.

Instead of paying for pumpkin spice flavored coffee, I get the premixed spice from Trader Joe’s for $1.99 and brew it in my coffee at home. Just add 1 tablespoon into your coffee maker with your coffee grounds before brewing and enjoy your favorite pumpkin spice flavor in all of your coffee- Gee M.

Fall is harvest time and that is the best time to buy vegetables. It’s also the time for snatching up overstocks on squash, apples or fruit, hay for animals and pumpkins. – Jo Dee B.

When buying back to school supplies, buy extra for stocking stuffers. New crayons and markers make great additions to stockings and can be found cheap. – Jessy R.

I like trading what I can grow, sew, etc. for what friends make, grow, etc. I usually have most of my canning done in fall so I have a friend I trade canned goods for organically raised chicken. I have traded for veggies I don’t grow. Things like that. – Renee M.

— Want to learn more about bartering? Check out this post on  Learning How to Barter Successfully

In the Fall we: chop, stack wood. Make sure blankets, throws, and winter wear are all mended, cleaned or purchased if need be. Finish dehydrating/drying herbs. Make a big batch of cocoa mix, spiced tea (Yummy on cold winter nights). Make dipped wax pinecones for firestarters (use leftover candle wax for the dip). Check (and restock if needed) flashlight batteries, matches, generators, etc. – Linda T.Saving Money in the Fall

When I was a kid we used to go to an orchard and pick bushels of apples. It was many days of processing, but it was cheap. We also used to get corn on the cob from a neighbor, cut it off the cob and freeze. – Tabitha H.

I go to second-hand shops to get items to restyle for school clothes for my kids. – Karen C.

Go through everyone’s clothes, shoes, coats to see what needs to be replaced. Then I watch for sales for those items. – Melissa M.

We homeschool, so maybe this is a little easier for us, but I don’t go crazy with new everything for back to school. Even with the curriculum I buy used or borrow as much as possible. I have my kids reuse their binders or folders if they’re still in decent shape. But if you do need stuff, this is a great time of year to check out all the back to school sales and stock up on really cheap supplies for the year. – Jessica P.

div lineLittle House Living Book

Looking for more money saving ideas? You may really enjoy my book, Little House Living: The Make Your Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life
div lineHere are some Fall Cleaning Tips that will also help you make the most of this season.

What are your best tips for saving money in the fall?

Merissa Bio

This post on Saving Money in the Fall originally appeared on Little House Living in September 2018. It has been updated as of September 2022.

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14 Comments

  1. Hi Merissa,

    These are some great ideas! Thank you for sharing. Although sad to see summer end, I really do like the Fall and all it has to offer. I love the shift in mindset, too!

    Kristen Gill
    Travel Writer

  2. We can year round–but Fall is a great time for taking advantage of great prices and peak flavor / nutrition. We can lots of soups, too– great meals!

    Lisa

  3. Great collection of tips! I’m having a garage sale this weekend to clear out some old stuff! Plus, making apple butter is seriously one of my favorite things to do in Fall – so tasty! Thanks for sharing this!

  4. I can’t believe it’s fall already — summer just started, didnt it?

    One of my favorite tips (we do this year round) is to keep a bowl in our freezer for veggie scraps, and then I make homemade veggie broth in my 2qt slow cooker. Frozen veggie scraps, water, and that’s it! Cook on low for 4-6 hours, remove veggie scraps via scooping or straining, and then store broth in a jar in the fridge. It usually keeps for up to 2 weeks but it never lasts that long for us! No salt, no additions at all so I can add whatever spices I need to it whenever I am cooking! It’s an absolute MUST for soup starters in the colder months for us, and it is cheaper than anything store-bought since all it costs is time!!

    We also buy most of our clothing secondhand (we buy socks/underthings new), and buy shoes/boots secondhand when possible. I also am a huge fan of shopping the dollar stores for staples/basics over the major grocery chains, and when we DO need meat/produce/dairy, we tend to stick to Aldi or Save A Lot over the fancier stores.

    Oh, and one more VERY important tip — if you’re the sort of person who makes homemade/handmade holiday gifts, start now! That way you’re not overwhelmed when the busy holiday season arrives, plus there are lots of opportunities to take advantage of sales on supplies like crafting or baking needs!!

  5. Money-saving tip:
    Hold a family meeting where you discuss needs vs wants. Identifying true needs is revelatory, and kids like helping with this.

  6. Thank you so much for the tips! We recently had some tenants move out and they made a mess of our wood floors. Luckily, we found a hardwood floor resurfacing service, but a home update is always a pricey affair. Your tips are definitely going to help us save money before Christmas and make this fall our most budget-friendly one yet! Thanks for sharing.

  7. Not sure if I saw the tip on your site somewhere, but hydrogen peroxide was great for removing carpet stains to avoid buying new carpet. Looks good after 23 years of marriage, wood heat, and one child.