One of the biggest concerns I hear from people is essential oils are expensive. I get it. When I first heard about Young Living, I was a single parent with a modest income. I owned my home and had many expenses including student loan debt. My sister had told me about essential oils because she was learning how much they were benefiting friends and really thought they would help my household. The initial investment was $150, and I did not immediately take the leap. My sister shared her oils with me and it was about 4 months before I decided the $150 would be an investment in my family, not an expense. And an investment it was. Essential oils and Young Living have been life changing for my family, and it could be for yours, too. If you have felt concerned about cost, this list is for you. Here are the top 7 ways to afford Young Living.
1. Biggest Bang for Your Buck
There are a couple ways to order Young Living. You can be a retail customer, pay retail prices, and order as much or as little as you’d like anytime you’d like. You can also be a member, pay wholesale prices (24% off retail), and order as much or as little as you’d like anytime you’d like. Unlike many other companies, Young Living does not charge you an annual fee to be member. (Learn more about Member and Retail accounts here.) You have two options to become a member: order a Basic Starter Kit or a Premium Starter Kit*. The Basic Starter Kit includes informational materials, samples of product, and a 5ml bottle of their signature Stress Away essential oil blend and costs $45. The Premium Starter Kit (PSK) includes a diffuser, 12 5ml bottles of popular essential oils, samples of other favorite products, and informational materials, and costs between $165 and $265 depending on the diffuser you select. Diffusers alone cost around $80+ retail, and the essential oils in the PSK range from $8-$45+ retail each. All things in the PSK would end up totaling over $300. And remember the wholesale pricing you get on all future orders just because you ordered a PSK? The PSK definitely makes using Young Living products more affordable.
2. Dilute
Each 5ml bottle of essential oil contains around 85 drops and each 15ml contains around 255 drops. Essential oils are highly potent, so you only need a small amount to experience the benefit, and one drop truly does go a long way. Diluting is the process of adding a carrier oil to your essential oils. It can minimize or eliminate skin sensitivity to your oil, ensures even application, and extends the life of your oil. Popular methods for diluting include making homemade creams, sugar scrubs, roller bottles, massage oils, and serums. And of course, you can simply add a small amount of carrier oil to the palm of your hand and a drop of essential, mix with your finger, and apply where desired. Young Living does offer their own carrier oil blend called V-6, and you can also use oils you have around the house like coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil.
When you make things like I mentioned above, you typically only need a few drops of your essential oil and your homemade products will last for weeks, if not months. As you can see, using 5 drops of your 85 drops for one product will help your bottle of oil last much longer. Since we’re on the topic, let’s go to the next affordability tip on the list, and dig a little deeper.
3. DIY
I know I know. I never thought I would be a DIYer. I’m just not that talented. But having essential oils in my life over the last 5 years, I realize how much I don’t want toxic chemicals in my home and just how easy it is to make my own things. I recently made an amazing toilet bomb recipe with natural ingredients and Citrus Fresh and Thieves essential oil blends. Let’s be real, toilets need a good cleaning, but I just don’t want that blue gel crap in my home. I made 15 toilet bombs – enough to clean my 3 toilets for 5 weeks. It cost me a little over $3 and about 3 minutes of my time. They work fantastic, and they are toxic-free.
Do you know how much perfume and cologne cost? People make their own signature “fragrances” with essential oils and a carrier oil that cost a fraction of typical fragrance. And again, it doesn’t have the toxic chemicals, either. How about room spray? Mix equal parts distilled water and witch hazel with a few drops of your favorite essential oil in a glass spray bottle for a low-cost, poison-free air freshener. I’ve made my own creams, flea and tick spray for our dog, and household products for a fraction of what these items would cost if I bought at the store. It’s almost like how can you not afford to use essential oils?
4. Switch Stores
Did you know Young Living has over 600 products for your family, dozens of which you are already purchasing somewhere else? When you start shopping with Young Living, you can gradually switch out things you typically buy at the store and purchase from Young Living instead. Why would you want to do this? If you can’t yet tell, I’m kind of a toxic-free junkie. Many of the products we buy and love for our homes at the store are full of harsh chemicals, and they can really wreak havoc on the health and well-being of our families. It’s just not worth it for me to buy those things for my family now that I’m aware products without the toxic crap can be effective, too.
When we were moving, I couldn’t find my Thieves Household Cleaner (THC) anywhere and broke down and bought a bottle of Pine-Sol at Wal-Mart. Feeling guilty after I got home, I decided to check a few more boxes and found my beloved THC. Thankfully I hadn’t opened the Pine-Sol, and I immediately returned it and got my $3 back. Phew! That was a close one.
Young Living has everything from essential oils to household products to baby care to personal care to animal care to cosmetics to nutritional support to weight management support. Shopping with Young Living doesn’t mean you have to be buying more or spending extra; it’s about buying the things you already use just from a different store. Trust me. You will be able to easily switch those purchases over to Young Living products and love them.
5. Essential Rewards
Remember when I said as a Young Living member you are able to buy Young Living products as much or as little as you’d like anytime you’d like at wholesale prices? It’s true!! And for people who really like to get the most bang for the buck, they take it a step further and enroll in Essential Rewards (ER).
ER is Young Living’s program that honors their faithful shoppers with points toward free product, loyalty gifts, exclusive monthly promos, and exclusive access to some products. The only requirement is ER members must place an order of 50PV (that’s personal volume and is typically dollar for dollar) each month. Remember how we just talked about switching stores? How much do you think you spend a month for household products, personal care items like soap and shampoo, dental hygiene, make-up, caffeinated beverages, etc.? You can buy these products from Young Living.
You choose your shipping date and can change your order as often as you like before it processes. So maybe one month is when you get your laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent, the next your Thieves Household Cleaner and Purification essential oil blend, the next your NingXia Red and NingXia Zyng, the next your Life 9 probiotic and Super B vitamin blend…you get the point. Then while you’re getting these products you love, you’re earning points to be used to get free product on a separate order. Oh, and along the way, they are sending you free gifts at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. And then let’s say you go above your 50PV, they have exclusive freebies that change each month just for ER members when you hit 100PV, 190PV, 300PV, and sometimes even 400PV.
I regularly order at least 100PV a month, however, if you are struggling to hit 50PV one month, you can see if any of your friends or family have something they would like to try, and you can add it to your order for them. And you know those PV promos? Maybe there’s something you just have to have at that 190PV level, but only need 150PV of product. Again, let people know you’re putting in an order, and see if they would like to add anything. One more thing before we go to the next tip…let’s compare some other rewards programs. One of America’s favorite big box stores offers 5% off every time you use your store credit card to make a purchase. My grocery store also rewards me with $1 for gas every time I spend $100 on groceries (that'd be 1%). Young Living gives its members 24% off retail prices and gives its ER members 10-25% (increases the longer you’re on ER) points back to be used toward free product. For people who like saving money (and free things), ER makes perfect cents, er, sense!
6. YL Go
If you’ve made it this far, you can see affording Young Living is easier than you may have thought. Young Living is so committed to their motto of wellness, purpose, and abundance that they continually strive for ways to take great care of their members: enter YL Go. This recently-launched program is a no-brainer for anyone on Essential Rewards as it is designed to save you money on shipping and even decrease delivery time for your order. You pay an annual fee upfront and then when you later place your orders, you are not charged for shipping, and that means no shipping tax either.
Can I tell you how thrilling it is when I see the cost of my order that it does not include shipping (also I’m in Montana so it doesn’t include any sales tax, which gets me all excited, too). My order ends up costing me…just what I ordered! They have two options suitable for the monthly shopper and the shopper that orders more frequently. YL Go saves people three times or more on shipping annually, and YL Go+ saves ten times or more annually on shipping. I’m a big fan of saving money, so getting cheaper shipping on products I’m going to order anyway is the better choice.
7. Share with Others
Many people worry that buying the Premium Starter Kit will obligate them to “do the business side”. That is not the case. No one ever has to do the business side, however, if you really would like to use the products and have determined the only way you can is if you have extra money, there are a few things I have to share with you.
Remember how a Premium Starter Kit costs $165? Every time a new member orders a Premium Starter Kit and uses your member ID as the sponsor and enroller, you are eligible to receive a $50+ bonus. You must have an order of 50PV in the same month that the new member ordered their Premium Starter Kit to receive the bonus. Let’s say you get your kit (which gives you 100PV), you love it, and are telling everyone how much you love it (it does happen, many people accidentally started their YL business just by sharing their love of these products), and 3 of your friends decide to get theirs, too. You give them your link, they order their kits the same month you got your kit, and bam, you have just earned $150 in bonuses, and now you’ve almost recouped your investment in your kit.
Should you decide to continue sharing about Young Living and growing your business, it is possible to earn monthly commissions. According to Young Living’s 2016 income disclosure statement, distributors ranked from beginning rank of Star to middle rank of Gold had an average monthly income of $77-$6,067, respectively. Many people elect to do the business side because they love the products so much they want everyone to experience them, desire to “get their oils paid for”, earn an additional source of income, or eventually secure a sole source of income.
Just like any business, your Young Living business will require your time and attention. The exciting part is you are in charge, so you get to choose just how much time and attention you are willing to give. Check out this video series by Royal Crown Diamond Monique McLean for a more detailed description of the compensation plan. A business that is well-tended to can have the potential to make your Young Living purchases much more affordable.
Now You Know
I have to be honest. When I began this post I had 5 tips, and then I realized there was another way to afford Young Living, and even another one yet. Young Living’s products are all intended to provide natural solutions for the whole world to experience wellness, purpose, and abundance. Now you know several ways you, too, can experience the benefit of Young Living in a way that is affordable for you. Whether you have yet to begin your Young Living journey, are currently a retail customer, or a current member, may these tips help you afford these amazing products with ease.
*There are 4 options for Premium Starter Kits: (1) Premium Starter Kit with Essential Oils, (2) Premium Starter Kit with Thieves, (3) Premium Starter Kit with NingXia, and (4) Premium Starter Kit with Savvy Minerals.
(1) The Premium Starter Kit with Essential Oils, as described above, comes with 4 different diffuser options.
(2) The Premium Starter Kit with Thieves is perfect for the household looking to eliminate products traditionally filled with toxins from your home.
(3) The Premium Starter Kit with NingXia features Young Living’s nutrient-rich wolfberry-infused products.
(4) The Premium Starter Kit with Savvy Minerals is perfect for enjoying mineral-based makeup without toxins commonly found in traditional makeup and comes with options for Dark, Cool, and Warm skin tones.
About the Author: Serena James is a holistic healer and natural wellness enthusiast. She offers a variety of energy healing services and natural wellness solutions to help individuals experience a life of love, abundance, and wellness as they were meant to.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. Any action you take as a result of this information is self-prescribed and
your right to do so.
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