Essential oils can be expensive. In fact, if you look at the cost of many 15ml bottles of essential oils you may suffer some sticker shock and think there is no way to use essential oils on a budget. However, it is very possible. You can use essential oils for pennies a day and avoid breaking the bank. If you want to know how, then keep reading as I share how to use essential oils on a budget successfully.
- Remember that a little goes a long way. You only need 1-2 drops of essential oil in most cases to make it work for you. If you figure that the average 15ml bottle has 250 drops and the average cost is about $25 then the average cost per drop is only a penny. Yes some essential oils are more expensive than that and some are cheaper. If you compare the cost per dose of most over the counter and other drugs and even other supplements, then in most cases essential oils are actually cheaper. In summary, my first tip for using essential oils on a budget, is to avoid using too much. In fact, the highest amount of essential oils that anyone should consume safely in one day is no more than 25 drops. So that is an average of .25. I can guarantee you that most people spend more than that today on other health care solutions.
2. Dilute with carrier oil- This is one of the best ways to avoid using too much of any one essential oil. It also helps the essential oil to work better, and makes it safer especially when it comes to hot oils such as clove, cinnamon bark and oregano. It doesn’t really matter which carrier oil, although a fractionated coconut oil, or almond oil are my favorites. Read this post about how to avoid essential oil disasters to learn more.
3. Dilute with water in a spray bottle. This is another great way to use essential oils to spread them around and make them last. This is also one of my hacks for using essential oils without a diffuser. This is also a great way to clean with essential oils. You can also mix them with baking soda, or white vinegar to make them even more powerful.
4. Try the less expensive oils first. While this may seem obvious, sometimes there can be a tendency to want to try the more expensive oils such as rose or frankincense. While I love both of these oils, they are significantly more costly. There are situations in which you really do need these oils, if you are trying to use essential oils on a budget, then it is a good idea to try less expensive oils first. Examples of less expensive oils include: citrus oils such as lemon, lime, and wild orange, as well as lavender, peppermint, lemongrass, eucalyptus and melaleuca or tea tree. If these less expensive oils don’t work for your health challenge, then it is a good idea to try the more expensive oils. Also if you keep in mind the cost per dose, even an oil like frankincense only costs about 4-5 cents per dose.
5. Know why you are using a particular essential oil and make sure you have a real need for it. This may seem obvious but when you first start to use essential oils, it is exciting and there is a tendency for many people to want to smell and try all the oils regardless of whether or not there is a real need for that particular essential oil. I have a post I wrote about the best essential oil books and I recommend using one of them to help you use only those oils you really need. Also I offer a free essential oil book and comprehensive training when you enroll with a wholesale membership with me. I also find it helpful to focus on one health issue at a time rather than trying to use essential oils for all your health issues at once. Another tip is to focus on and learn as much as you can about one essential oil at a time and then move on to another one. I recommend focusing first on learning all you can about the top 20-30 essential oils and then you can move on to some of the less used/rarer essential oils.
6. Take advantage of BOGO promotions and LRP to make sure you are paying the lowest price possible. These are programs offered exclusively by Doterra. The BOGO promotions happen 3-4 times per year and are open to everyone but you get better deals and automatic email notifications if you are a wholesale member. These are when there are 5 products- usually essential oils that have 1-2 free products you can get when you buy that product. For example, buy Peppermint get lavender, or buy Serenity, get Balance. These promotions only last for a short time, usually one day or there is a box with all of the BOGO products you can get for up to 1 week. I use these to get most of my essential oils and then my monthly orders I order the supplements that are never offered on a BOGO.
LRP is Doterra’s monthly program where you get points for free products based on how long you have been enrolled in the program. It’s also known as the authorship program. You can still be a wholesale member without doing autoship but if you want to save the most money, it’s a good idea to take advantage of it. If you are buying essential oils from a different company other than Doterra (I don’t recommend it) but you can of course also keep an eye on any promotions they may be offering as a way to lower your costs.
7. Focus on diffusing. This can be a great way to spread the oil around without using a lot. An essential oil diffuser that you fill with water and then add 2-3 drops of essential oil to will run for usually 4-12 hours. This is a great way to get a lot of bang for your buck with essential oils literally.
In short, there are a lot of ways to use essential oils for a pennies a day. While you will have to make an initial investment of usually a hundred dollars or so, these oils will last you at least a few months and overall, they cost less than most if not all other healthcare solutions.
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