How to Make the Best Beauty Products at Home, Less $ --from Grocery Store Staples!

At the ripe age of 30, I came to the harsh realization that I wasn't getting any younger and neither was my skin. Things only got worse from there; I didn't have an unlimited budget for facials, threading, microdermabrasion or chemical peels --and Botox was out of the question. When I looked at the extreme prices of anti-aging kits, serums and solutions, I just about had a 30-year-old stroke... The cost was outrageous; and me over here with the turned out pockets simply couldn't justify the expense.

To the Internet!

Without Google, I would have the skin of a 50-year-old Floridian Gardner. Thankfully, I don't live in that parallel universe. I found that many of the ingredients in all of these high priced anti-aging solutions were identical to the solutions and benefits received by improving my nutrition and using vitamin supplements.

When I looked at a $6 bottle of vitamin B6, compared to a $60 jar of six ounce eye cream....I had a clear winner. I employ a regimen of a daily woman's mult- vitamin, supplement with an additional 500 mg of vitamin C, and 500 mg each of vitamins B-6 and B-12. Of course, I also wash this down with approximately 90 ounces of water per day. Remember girls, beautiful skin starts on the inside.

Of course, you have to shellac the exterior, too.

I hope you didn't think that the beauty on a budget routine didn't just start and stop here. Did you know that you could take the natural, vitamin route and apply it to your exterior, too?

I found that using vitamin E capsules on my face in the evening, was just as effective as the high-priced night time serums...at 1/8 the price. Use one Vitamin E capsule before bed, open it by snipping the tip with a pair of scissors or puncture a small hole in one side; apply on your hands, and smooth all over your face and get a good night's rest. The next morning (and every morning thereafter), you'll wake up with healthy, glowing and well-moisturized skin.

Cheap, unnatural products that I still save a bundle on.

I am not going to go so far into the "natural" skincare bubble to tell you to go outside, plant a herb garden or advise you to buy only things claiming to be "organic." I don't have time for all of that, and I doubt you do, either.

Instead of all that, I'd rather tell you how I save a bundle on skincare products that work just as well as their more expensive counterparts. So, please, hold your applause until later.

I could make all of this very easy and tell you that I hop in the car, run to my local Wal-Mart with a handful of coupons and make my skincare purchases, leaving with the cheapest things in stock. Or, I could make it even more unvarnished and tell you the truth. I think, for today, I will go with option number two.

I use E-bates and Fat Wallet religiously. I log on to my free account, seek out what I want on a popular merchant partner website and earn 3 to 14 percent cash back on everything I buy. For example, on a skin cleanser that is $3.99, I am actually only shelling out $1.98 after my rebates and debit card rewards kick in.

I did say beauty on a budget, right?

Everyone girl has to wash her face -- cleanliness is next to godliness or something. I have found that the Saint Ives Apricot facial scrub gives any high-priced scrub or even microdermabrasion treatment a run for its money. I buy mine by logging onto Ebates, then going to Drugstore.com and earn 8 percent cash back from Ebates, on top of the 4 percent I earn from my debit rewards card. Not too shabby.

And then there was AVON

I confess: I am an Avon junkie. However, that does not mean I have to break my bank or my budget when I buy beauty supplies. I found some incredible budget solutions from Avon and their line of skin care products that you genuinely can't beat. Of course, your weapon of choice could be any skin care line, as long as they are linked to E-bates or Fat Wallet; my system works identically for any of them. I just happened to find the most budget-friendly solutions that work for me, on Avon.

Since my nighttime solution is covered with homemade vitamin E serum, that eliminates my need to buy fancy schmancy night creams, and stick to the daytime stuff. I purchase a basic moisturizer with SPF-15 and shop for all of my makeup on the clearance section of the website. I save over 60 percent compared to the average purchaser, just by using online coupons, cash back websites and a debit rewards card; I save a bundle in comparison to many other folks out there and now you can too.