I added up my cleaning product spending one month. Twenty-seven dollars on various sprays, solutions, and wipes that are basically just water, vinegar, and baking soda in different colored bottles with different scents. I was paying for packaging and marketing, not for cleaning power.

I switched to three homemade solutions. My monthly cleaning supply cost dropped to under two dollars. The house is just as clean. Here are the recipes.

All-Purpose Cleaner: Vinegar + Water + Citrus

Fill a spray bottle with equal parts white vinegar and water. Drop in citrus peels—lemon, orange, grapefruit—and let them steep for a week before using. The citrus oils cut the vinegar smell and add natural degreasing power. This cleans countertops, sinks, windows, mirrors, and bathroom surfaces. Total cost per bottle: about thirty cents.

Scrub Paste: Baking Soda + Dish Soap

Mix baking soda with a small squirt of dish soap until it forms a paste the consistency of toothpaste. This cuts through soap scum, sink grime, and stovetop grease better than any commercial scrub I have used. Apply with a damp sponge, scrub in circles, rinse. The baking soda provides gentle abrasion without scratching, and the dish soap handles the grease.

Glass Cleaner: Vinegar + Cornstarch

This one sounds weird but works brilliantly. Mix two cups of water, a quarter cup of vinegar, and one tablespoon of cornstarch. Shake well before each use. The cornstarch acts as a micro-abrasive that lifts grime without leaving streaks. I was skeptical until I cleaned a window half with Windex and half with this. Could not tell the difference except one cost about a nickel.

The only commercial cleaning product I still buy is toilet bowl cleaner. Everything else comes from my pantry. The twenty-seven dollar monthly bill is now under two bucks. That is three hundred dollars a year for about fifteen minutes of mixing.