Are there just some cuts you aren't willing to make?

OK, before I get off on this topic, let me apologize for the lengthy delay in posts. We have been doing VBS at two different churches, painting, tending the garden and a variety of other summer projects. I was thinking the other day, IF I was perfect, every day I would have a Bible study, workout, fix three meals, clean up, keep the house neat, tend to the vegetable garden and still squeeze in teaching my kids. However, I am FAR from perfect and all those things don't happen. Every day, something falls through the cracks. There truly isn't enough time in a day for one person to do all that. I think the sooner we realize that and learn to let some things go, and not feel guilty about it, the better off we are. All that to say, the blog is one thing that just hasn't made the cut in a while. Now, back to my topic for today....

Are there just some costs you aren't willing to make? I know there are for me. We all draw that line at different places. One cut I am betting you aren't willing to make is deodorant. I know that I'm not! I don't want to go around all natural and earthy (-stinky!). However, (here it comes.....)

Several months ago, someone I know started using rubbing alcohol instead of deodorant. It wasn't a cost cutting measure. It was due to ongoing allergies to deodorant. She started trying this and has had great success. I did a little research. The odor we associate with armpits comes from bacteria. Alcohol kills this odor causing bacteria. It also has a drying effect which can help prevent excessive sweating. Deodorant has been rumored to cause a variety of diseases, from Alzheimer's to breast cancer. I can't attest to the validity of those claims, but I do believe that the less chemicals we introduce to bodies, the better.

Still, I just didn't think I was ready to give up my deodorant. I mean come on! That is where I draw the line! Curiosity finally got the better of me and I had to try it out. I used alcohol Friday morning. I ran a variety of errands that day, in and out of the heat. I carried my deodorant in my purse, just in case. However, I never needed it. I didn't shower Friday night and Saturday morning, we did hours of yard work. Mowing, weed eating, trimming plants. It is HOT where we are and we worked up a good sweat. I had not applied alcohol since Friday morning. However, post work, still no smell. I was surprised. 36 hours after showering and applying alcohol, there was still no odor.

I know most of you will read this and think what I thought, "There is no way I am going there. There are just some things I am not willing to give up. She has gone off the deep end!" I hear you. I felt the same way. It just stuck in the back of my mind until I finally had to give it a try. Of course, a few of you will tease me about this. I even debated writing about it. I decided to go out on a limb since it has duel benefits. Saving money is just a side benefit. The real plus is not having to put the mix of chemicals on my skin each day. I have been just swabbing it on with a cotton ball. One method you can try is putting it in a spray bottle and adding some essential oil to scent it. Then just spray on. This sounds more convenient, but I haven't been to the store to pick up a bottle yet. Post a comment if you decide to try this, or feel free to post a comment if you just want to heckle me. I can take it!

I fell off the bandwagon, but I am getting back on

I began to impliment many of the cost cutting measures discussed here at the beginning of April. When I hit the six week mark, I hit a wall. All the rain kept me from hanging out my clothes for about 3 weeks. I am guessing I won't have a $36 electric bill for May. We also have been on the road A LOT the last 3 weeks. That has resulted in us eating out more than we had been. Not just on the road, but even at home. I just haven't had time to plan and make meals like I had been. These two things combined have cost us financially.

I am getting back in the game. I am starting back where I left off. The sun is out and the clothes are out on the line. We will be home for a long stretch. I will be working on some menus this weekend and will be grocery shopping to get us back on track.

I just want to encourage you to stick with cost cutting measures. If you do backslide for a time period, just get back to it when you can. Life happens and you have to make adjustments when necessary. I read a really encouraging article on Yahoo! Finance the other day (see link below). It was about how to spend like a frugal millionaire. While my spending is not even close to theirs, the ideas are the same, and that is encouraging. They practice delayed gratification & time consumer purchases. For me this translates to not buying things until I can pay in cash. I do not want to incur debt. It also means waiting for what I want to go on sale. They don't like wasting anything. Here, it means not wasting electricity or water in order to lower my bill. Their sense of self-entitlement is highly minimized. This means telling myself no, lots of times. I don't have keep up with, or measure up to, anyone else. Self-entitlement gets a lot of people into a lot of financial trouble. There are some other tips and it is a short read is you are interested. (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Spend-Like-a-Frugal-usnews-15357371.html)

I don't think of a frugal lifestyle as being cheap or denying myself. I think of it as building habits that will move me towards being free of the bonds that finances place on us. I think of it as building habits & attitudes that millionaires have. So if you haven't started yet, or got to a slow start or started great, but haven't stuck with it, thats ok. You can always start again. Persevere towards your goals and don't let the little bumps in the road stop you.

Livin' Life Freegan style

I love that term, "Freegan." I have to credit a friend for turning me onto that. I haven't gone true freegan, nor do I plan to. If you aren't familiar with what that is, Google it for some entertaining reading. However, I will take what I can get discounted or free. Here are a few examples:

A friend recently told me about The Freecycle Network. You join your local group and give away things you don't need and receive things you do. You just put a posting on-line of anything you are willing to give to someone else (no money changes hands) or you post if there is something you are looking for that someone else may have collecting dust in their garage. The friend who told me about this got a free set of clothes line poles and installed them in her yard to hang her laundry. I guess the only way to beat free is if someone pays you to take it away. I know I have had a thing or two like that in my garage before!

Keep you eyes open for free or deeply discounted offers and take advantage of them. A great way to do this is to sign up on the e-mail lists of businesses you frequent. A toy store recently e-mailed customers asking them to complete an on-line survey of their business. In return for completeing the survey (which took me less than 3 minutes), they gave me a $10 gift card to their store. That is a great trade off! I am going today to use it on a Christmas or birthday gift I can put up for later. I also sign up on e-mail lists for restaurants. We have cut back on eating out, a lot, but still go occasionally. I often get e-mails for free appitizers or deserts. Sometimes even a buy one get one free meal. If I am going to eat out, I certainly welcome any discount I can get. Find the web sites for places you go and sign up. Obviously, this is an advertising tool directly to your inbox, but to me, it is worth it. If a company e-mails you to much or isn't sending you things of value, you can always unsubscribe. There is usually a link at the bottom of the e-mail that will help you do this.

My last freegan idea of the day is to utilize what is scrap to others. This is kind of like Freecycle, but you have to go directly to people to get what you need. Example? I have been wanting to build a new compost bin. I needed hay bales or some supporting structure to contain it. I had priced several products to build it, but didn't really want to spend a lot of $$. In my neighborhood, there is a house currently under construction. In the front yard, they had about 50 cinderblocks stacked up. I caught the builder at the site today and asked if they were scrap. He said they were and let me have them. Now I can build my compost bin for free (and it will be much sturdier than what I would have purchased). Love that!! Here is another example. A couple of years back, I was doing another building project and needed some smaller pieces of scrap lumber. I mentioned it in the company of a friend who builds cabinets and he said he had a giant pile of scrap outside his workshop that I was welcome to. This was just stuff that he burns periodically. While it didn't have everything I needed, it had a lot. It saved me a significant amount of money.

Just think creatively before making purchases. Many people are happy to give you things they don't need any longer. They are happy its gone and you have what you need for free. Don't hesitate to ask. If you have ideas on ways you have gone freegan, let me know!

Foaming hand soap

I don't know what it is about kids and foaming hand soap. I guess anything that involves bubbles is exciting - blowing bubbles, bubble gum, bubblebath. If I have foaming hand soap available, they will wash up enough to perform surgical procedures. This is a good thing. Kids hands get so dirty! Here is my tip on how to stretch & save on hand soap.

Purchase a foaming hand soap dispenser (emphasis on foaming) for each location you keep soap. Select a container that you will be happy with for a long time, because you will use it over and over as you refill it. Once you have used up the soap that came in it, the savings will begin.

Purchase a large (64oz) bottle of hand soap refill. Fill your empty dispenser halfway with soap and top it off with water. In my master bathroom, I had purchased a bottle that had light blue soap. When I prepared my refill, I added a drop of blue food coloring to create the same look. Shake the mixture well. It will separate some at first, but shake it a few times over a 24 hour period (just whenever you use it) and it will soon be mixed enough to stay in solution. It needs to be thin in consistency to work in the foaming dispenser.

We get a lot of life out of that large bottle of soap. It will last me at least a year. Because it is diluted, the kids can use as much as they want and I am still saving money. You have to make the upfront purchase of the foaming dispensers ($2-$5) if you don't already have them, but in the long run you save.

Always be thinking of ways to stretch what your are currently using to get a little more life out of it. These little things add up!

Dishwasher soap a bust?

On a previous post, I gave you the recipe for the dishwasher soap, giving it my seal of approval. I am going to rescind that statement. The first couple of loads I washed came out clean, but did seem to have a cloudy appearance to them. I thought maybe it was just me. However, the DH has commented on it as well. I have tried it a few more times and decided that I won't be using this in the future.

I have done some research on the dishwasher soap topic and there are opinions all over the map. There are people who swear by powder, some profess loyalty to liquids and there are the tablet users (your most expensive option per load). There is also a lot of brand loyalty. There are outside factors that influence the ability of your detergent to do it's job. Things such as the quality of your dishwasher, the type of water you have (soft/hard) and how much you pre-rinse your dishes before putting them in. Of course, this blog isn't about recommending a brand, it is about cutting cost, so here is your tip: Stick with what is working for you, but try to cut back on how much you use.

I use a name brand liquid that comes in a 45oz bottle. Two bottles will last me year and with my crew, we average 5 loads a week. I never fill the cup all the way. I typically use about a 2 tablespoons per load. I don't measure, I just estimate. Based on how much I am using a year, this is not a big expenditure for us as it is. For now, I am going to stick with what is working.

You can now comment on my posts!

I have spent a lot of time learning more about HTML coding than I ever thought I would. However, I have fixed the problem and you can now comment on my posts. If you have any great money saving ideas that are working for you, be sure and share!

Dishwasher soap & $36 electric bill

I couple of people have asked me about comments on this blog. I am trying to figure out how to get this on here. I have comments enabled, but it is not showing up at the bottom. I am sure some minor thing is off. Hopefully I will have this fixed soon.

I have tried out the homemade dishwasher soap. It works just as well as the laundry soap and will be a money saver. This will be a definite switch for me. It is easy to make and easy to use. If you are already making your own laundry soap, you should have all these ingredients on hand. Here is the recipe:

Mix equal parts Borax & baking powder (not washing soda, as used in the laundry soap). I started with 1/2 cup of each. If you like it, you can mix larger batches. Add enough vinegar to create a mixture slightly thinner than toothpaste. Store in a container with a lid. If the lid is not tight fitting, it will dry out. You can add more vinegar if this happens. Use 2 tablespoons in the dispenser of your dishwasher.

On a different note, I opened my electric bill for April and it was $36. I nearly fell over. What great returns for my efforts! Now, to explain how I did that, I will recap a few things. I think my big saver was hanging clothes out to dry. With all the rain, I haven't done that much the last two weeks, so I expect May's bill to be higher. We also didn't use the heat or air conditioner, with the exception of two days. We just didn't need it. We have opened windows a lot. I continue on my mission to keep things unplugged and lights turned off. I only turn the computer on twice a day, as opposed to leaving it running all day.

I have some new information coming soon about saving on your grocery bill. We have made some good cuts here and I will pass on what is working for us.

I am getting to a point where when I pay the bills, I have more left over. It brings me such great satisfaction to see a pay off for my efforts. I encourage you to hang in there and continue to make changes, little by little. It takes time and a cumulation of efforts to see a difference, but you will get there!

Homemade Laundry Soap is a Winner!!

I am so excited about this! It is a HUGE, HUGE, money saver, it works and it does not take long to make.

Oh my, did we ever put this stuff to the test! We went camping and it rained, a lot. Towels, bedding and clothing ranged from damp to soaking wet. Dirt stuck to everything. You can search "homemade laundry soap" on line and find this same recipe, and other people's reviews of it, but here is mine.

The test: I mixed the detergent in advance and had it waiting when we got home. I washed everything and have been pleased with the results. I wouldn't say it is any better or worse than what I buy at the store, but it is A LOT CHEAPER (love that!). I really evaluated this stuff for you. I sniffed things coming out of the washer that only a mother would sniff! Everything smells and appears clean. The soap, once mixed, smells like soap, but the clothes, once cleaned and dry, just smell clean. They don't have that laundry soap smell. Personally, I prefer that, but you can add essential oil (see recipe below), to create a particular smell. I am going to add some in the future and try it out.

The cost: THIS IS A HUGE MONEY SAVER! To create two gallons of this mixture, it cost me approximately $1.43 (I am still gasping at the savings!!!). I have done the math and will spare you the details. I spent $12.12 on the ingredients. This provided me with enough ingredients to last about a year, with the exception of the bar soap. I am estimating that I will be able to keep my laundry soap cost under $20 for the entire year. (HUGE savings!!! - sorry, I am getting carried away here)

Is it easy to make? Yes! It will take you about 15 minutes to make 2 gallons of soap. You could easily double it and not have to do it as often. There are some notes about the ingredients listed below. Be sure and take a look. It will help you find these things in your store. I came up with a great dispensing method that will avoid having a big bucket of this stuff sitting around. It is also detailed below.

So, here is the recipe: 1 bar of mild soap (Ivory, Kurt/Castille, Zote), 1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Borax, 1 Tbs essential oil

In large saucepan (it is OK to use a pan you cook in), grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater. Add 6 cups of water. Stir over medium heat until soap dissolves. Stir in washing soda, Borax & essential oil. Mix well. Pour mixture into 5 gallon bucket. Stir in 4 cups of hot water. Stir. Then add one gallon plus 6 cups of water to mixture and stir again. Mixture will be watery. Let it sit overnight to thicken. Use 1/2 cup per load. Stir before using!

Here are my side comments:
Ingredients: I found all these items at Kroger. These items aren't high demand items, so they may be on top or bottom shelves. You may have to ask. I tried Wal-Mart. They had the Borax, but not the washing soda. I did not look for the bar soap there. Do not confuse Arm & Hammer washing soda with A&H baking soda - same company, different products. A&H Washing Soda will be on the laundry soap aisle. Essential oil is a little harder to track down. Places like Whole Foods, Central Market or health food stores carry it. The price will vary, but may run $8-$12 per bottle. Remember, a little goes a long way. A bottle may last you 2 years or more. Scents you might try are lavender, lemon or geranium.

Mixing: This stuff is as thin as water when you first mix it. Even 24 hours later, mine was still pretty thin. After sitting a couple of days, it begins to thicken. I would describe the final product as a thin, lumpy gel. Plan on mixing it a couple of days before you will need it. I mixed it in a pot that I normally cook in & used my regular cheese grater. This won't hurt anything. Just wash & rinse well when you are done.

Dispensing: Storing it in a bucket in my laundry room isn't really ideal for me. I rinsed out the last bottle of laundry soap I had used. Using a funnel, I poured some of the mixture into this bottle, which is much easier to handle than the bucket. I shake the container each time before dispensing. I still use the lid on the bottle to measure my detergent. You want to use 1/2 cup per load, so measure on your lid and see where that is. I store the remaining liquid in the bucket, in the garage. Keep a tight lid on it so that a small child doesn't fall in head first. The lid that came with my bucket ($5 at Wal-Mart) is very difficult to remove. That is a good thing.

Front loader/Top loader: I am using this in my front loader. Due to the slightly lumpy consistency, I am pouring it directly on the clothes as opposed to using the dispenser. It has caused no discoloration or white film on my rubber seal (this can be a problem with some detergents not designed for use in a HE washer). Even though it is an HE washer, I am still using 1/2 cup. The person who shared this with me uses a top loader, so either way will work.

I definitely recommend this soap. It works well, is easy to make and saves you tons.

Coming soon, a recipe for homemade dishwasher soap. The dishwasher is running as I type. I will let you know how it turns out.

How to easily make money at home

Ok, that title is a bit misleading, but not completely. A temptation I frequently deal with is the desire to eat out. It is just so much easier than dragging everything out and having to clean it up. We have cut back drastically in this area and it has saved us lots of money. However, I have started paying myself for not eating out and find it much more rewarding. Let me explain....

Tonight, I didn't want to deal with the whole dinner hassle. However, I resisted and prepared a meal. We used up all the leftovers in the fridge and added some fruit, which is a great thing because throwing out leftovers is a big waste. When we were done eating, I got online and transferred the amount of money I would have spent on dinner from my checking account to my savings account. It seems like if I leave it in the checking account, it invariably gets spent on something else. Doing this a few times a month really adds up. Seeing my savings grow at a rapid pace is a reward for not eating out. Next time you resist an unnecessary purchase, reward yourself by saving. It makes telling yourself, "NO" a little easier.

On a different note, a friend gave me a recipe for homemade laundry soap. She swears it cleans better than what you buy in the store and is just a fraction of the cost. I have purchased the ingredients and will be testing it soon. The kids will be getting really dirty this weekend, so I will put it to the test early next week and let you know if it is worth it.

Electricity diet

If you are going on a diet, you spend a lot of time thinking about food. You analyze every choice. You train yourself to get by on less. Ultimately, you want to get to a point where these choices are merely habits. Reducing your electricity usage is the same mental process. We are accustomed to doing things a certain way and when you make a change, you initially have to think about it, a lot. Over time, it becomes habit - like turning out lights. Here are some other new habits I have developed that are reducing my electricity bill.

Unplug electronics that are not in use. Appliances use electricity even when they are not turned on. Some things I leave plugged in, like the alarm clock in the bedroom. It is used so frequently that it just doesn't make sense to reset it continually. However, there are many items with limited use that I keep unplugged. Here are some examples: the bedside lamp, the coffee pot, the TV upstairs (rarely used), nightlights, phone chargers, battery chargers and many others. These things we plug in only when we use them.

A big one for me is the computer. In the past, I left it running all day. I would periodically check for e-mails or check on the news. Now, I turn it on twice a day, take care of what is needed and shut it computer down completely and turn off the power strip. It actually has been a benefit. I am not sitting down for a quick check and getting tied up answering e-mails and chatting on facebook. I am getting more done around the house. This is one of those lifestyle choices. This works for me based on my lifestyle. This wouldn't work in all situations.

For me, the jury is still out on another item - the TV. The power strip has the TV, a game system, the DVR and the DVD player plugged in to it. Even when none of these items are on, the whole cabinet is glowing. This is not a good thing! However, it is a bit of a hassle to reset things if I unplug the strip. I definitely do it if I am not going to be home for more than 24 hours. I don't do it evernight, although I probably should. This is one of those habits I am still working on.

Ok, you are going to read this next sentence and want to skip to the bottom of the post - STICK WITH ME! Running a clothes dryer is a big energy consumer. The more you can hang to dry, the more money you will save. This didn't go over well with the family initially, but they have adjusted. Here is what I do. For a clothes line, I strung a piece of green plastic coated electrical wire (left at the house from the previous owner - thus no cost to me - yeah!) from two trees in my backyard. Unless there are clothes on it, the green line blends in the surroundings and is camoflouged. The two trees, oh so conviently, also have several eye level horizontal branches that hangers will hang on easily. I put ALL shirts on hangers - this maximizes space. Other items I hang with regular clothespins. If the weather is nice, a load drys in about 4-6 hours. I do not hang out underwear or socks. I dry these items in the dryer and they are done in 10-15 minutes. My husband doesn't like the stiff feel of line dried clothing, especially for work clothes. If you hang them in the house, they dry slower (about 24 hours), but they don't have that stiff feel. I put his things on hangers and hang them from the door frames or the shower rod. Honestly, it is a bit of a hassle to haul everything outside, hang it up and then have to haul it back in later. However, I am expecting big returns from this practice. I have only been doing this about 3 weeks. I will let you know when I have some actual numbers to back this up. There are still times I have to use the dryer, like when it rains or when I discover at 10pm that no one has clean jeans to wear in the morning.

As I have said before, each of these things alone won't make that much difference. However, all combined, I am saving money in this area. I don't think about these things much anymore. They have just become new habits.

Coming soon!

I have so many cost saving ideas to share with you! It took time, at first, but my efforts to save are beginning to pay off. I see it as a challenge to myself: just how much can I reduce my cost of living without reducing my quality of life? When I save money, I have more money to spend as I see fit. I have explored and tested many ideas and I am ready to share them with you. Always remember, any one idea alone won't save you lots. You have to find many small ways, that work with your lifestyle, to see significant savings. So keep checking back to discover new ideas you can implement into your routine that will put more of your money back in your pocket.

God gave us light. Use it.

We are so accustomed to having lights on all the time, in so many parts of the house. Walking into a closet to grab a pair of shoes - flip on the light. Headed to the bathroom - flip on the light. Any room we walk into, we flip on the light - out of habit. It is not necessary, just a repetitive motion. If you are headed to the closet to pick out an outfit, you need the light. If you are just grabbing shoes, you probably don't (unless your closet is so large & deep, it would be impossible, in which case you most likely aren't reading this anyway). I am not suggesting you use the bathroom in the dark, but during the day, most homes provide ample light from windows. Turn the light on for grooming, but during the day, don't turn it on for a quick sit. I can shower in the morning with sunlight that comes in from the window. I have taken over 10,000 showers in my lifetime. I don't need much light to do it anymore. I certainly don't need much light for a bathroom activity that has taken place several times a day, all my life. I can do that in the pitch dark if I had to.



Turn lights off when you leave the room. Don't buy into an old myth that says it takes more electricity to turn the light on than to just leave in on. Generally speaking, this is not the case. If you are leaving a room for more than a minute or two, turn off the light.



THIS IS THE KEY: You have to get into the habit of asking yourself, every time you flip a switch, "Do I really need this light to do the activity I am doing?" Learn to use natural light when you can. Open your blinds and let the sun shine in. (Of course, this will be for another posting, but keep blinds closed on west facing windows in the heat of the afternoon.)



Seems like a small thing doesn't it? Remember, this is just a small step. It takes several electricity reducing measures to begin to see a noticable reduction in your bill. Every little bit helps, so turn out the light.