I grew up in a very clean home. I also grew up in a toxic waste dump. My Mother was a clean freak the way some people hoard. As children our first walker was the vacuum cleaner. Yes, we were well trained in the school of germ and dirt free living from birth on. What I did not know until I left home, was why I grew up with chronic health issues and odd rashes. I learned that the cleaners my Mom so loved, were actually killing me. The toxic fumes, the constant contact with Lysol in every form, Purex and more, left me ill.
It was very freeing for me to be away from the toxic cleaners. This did not mean I went the other direction and stopped cleaning, but rather I learned how to clean without killing myself. I researched how my great grandmom made her own supplies and I made some life changes. In the mid 80's I learned from library books how to "green clean" without toxins. In a nut shell, I was green before green was popular.
I always knew green cleaning was less expensive, but I really didn't see how much until last week. I did my Mom's shopping for her, and bought the supplies on her list. I was shocked at the price of washing powder, and her long list of toxic cleaning supplies. I realized all this time I had actually cut out a big expense without even realizing it. In the honor of saving both money and the environment, I am posting a few tips.
Washing Powder:
1 cup of Borax, sold on the detergent isle.
1 cup of WASHING soda ( do not confuse with baking soda)
2 cups ground soap Zote or Fels_Naptha are made for clothing.
Most body bars are not pure soap and should not be used. However little known fact, Lux was used for years for washing clothing.
essential oils if you wish to add a smell like lavender, which I admit, I love. 10 -15 drops will usually do. Mix well and store in air tight container. I use about one heaping tablespoon for most loads.
I have bought an off brand powdered oxy product at Dollar tree and added into this mix, about half a cup.
Also if you want a disinfecting form of powder, add a few drops of tea tree oil and shake well. Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant and is the key in the Melaleuca brand of cleaners.
Fabric softener is not necessary if you line dry. An inexpensive alternative to fabric softener is baking soda. Just add 1/2 a cup during the rinse cycle.
I line dry. This drives my Mother crazy. The cost of a dryer when the sun is free drives me nuts. The one thing I love the most is the smell of line dried clothing. That smell drifts through my clean house on laundry day and nothing, nothing bottled can come close. It is to my family, the smell of home, and I am thankful my husband appreciates that fresh line dried smell.
What else do I use in my home? I keep a gallon of white vinegar on hand for cleaning and germ killing. Yes it stinks, but the smells goes when it dries. It shines counters, mirrors, stainless steel very well. Can be added to wash to kill germs, wipe down furniture, doors and floors when sickness is in the house.
That brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, I keep several on hand, in the laundry, the bath and so on. This will clean and disinfect without a smell and cost only pennies. Great on blood stains too. Do be careful about spilling on color fast surfaces, it can bleach. This makes it idea to add to a load of whites, a cup at a time for extra cleaning. I keep some in a spray bottle and spray little tight area I cannot reach to bubble out dirt. Does a good job on the toilet!
Need scouring power? Use baking soda on a wet sponge. Mix up a paste of baking soda and washing soda and borax for sinks, stoves, ect.
I know, you use sprays to make the house smell clean. Try boiling some cinnamon on the stove for a nice welcome home smell. White vinegar on a rag and swing it in the air will remove smoke, pet odor and other unpleasant smells. Use baking soda on the carpet to remove smells, vacuum after about 30 minutes. This is a double help, the baking soda in the vacuum helps keep the cleaner smelling clean.
Do you know how to make your own cleaning supplies? If so share some of your tips. What do you like and can't live without? How to you save money on things you cannot live without.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Saving Myself into Debt
Yes, you read that correctly, saving myself into debt. Wanna know a bit more about what that means. Follow my day.
It's been a dark and stormy January day and I took the day to clean off my desk and clean out my email. I realized at the end of the day, my logic may have caused me more harm than savings. It started with a stack of mail on my desk. Letters and offers that I had put aside thinking I would take time to study them later. Today was later, so I first opened an offer from Southern Living magazine. You know the ones, last chance, we want you back so bad we will make this almost free with a savings of 86 percent. Makes you wonder how print stays in business with such deals.
I had decided not to spend any money on magazines until I was debt free. Sadly our local library closed down the magazine and newspaper area this year, so I can no longer go read for free. I caved. Just one magazine subscription will not break the bank. I wrote a check for two years, the max I could buy at the super discounted price.
My next letter, from a clothing store I frequent, had a nice 20 percent off all I purchased, ending, oh joy, today. No time to think about it, I knew there was a 80 percent off rack in the store, so really at 80 percent off already and another 20 percent with my letter, isn't that FREE? I made a mad dash to check out the mark down rack. Funny how nothing on the 80 percent off was anything anyone I knew needed or could wear, but that other rack, that 60 percent off one, was loaded. I ask my son John to hold shirts as I looked for all the shirts in his size. Okay, let's understand this, John has grown up in second hand clothing, and now that he is grown and stays the same size, I have been getting him new and better quality clothing. I did buy a bag of clothing for a low price, but it was only as I was hanging the new shirts in his closet that it hit me, I had not planned to spend any money until after I paid the taxes....I had not even written the check for the property tax yet....
I went back to my desk and opened my emails. I told myself I would simply delete every offer that popped up. Well who knew, my Avon lady is no longer selling Avon so I got a new representative. With that came a 10 dollar discount and free shipping if I spent 30 dollars. Hello, savings time again. This time I had it figured out. I had used swag bucks to buy pay pal dollars, and I could use them to pay Avon. FREE stuff! Well, not quite, I was short 4.76 in pay pal so that came out of the checking account, but hey, that was stuff I would have bought anyway. No, not really. Because many of the products I purchase were highly discounted, it took me buying things I did not need, or know if I would even like to make the full 30 dollar request. I realized that after I closed the sale.
I sat at my desk and noticed one more letter. A notice from Kroger that if I took out a credit card, and used it in the store, I could get points that I could use to save on gas or turn into cash. I though about it, in fact, I even wrote my name on the application before sanity hit. Wait, we don't use credit cards anymore. But if I did take it out and if I did pay it off as soon as I got back home, it would balance, right? Looking at my morning track record so far, I would say, no, it would only help me save my way into debt. Why? because I had already bought things just to score savings. If I had that card in my hand, how wild would I become in shopping to save up points to turn into cash. In doing so, odds are I would over spend and try and justify my actions.
Late afternoon mail brought me a great offer from Discover Cards. Yes, I still have it tucked away for safe keeping, though I don't use the card anymore. I guess they really, really want me back, they offered me 75 dollars each month that I charged 500 for the next 6 months. I shredded the offer before I could sign up to participate. Some days you just know when you are headed for deep water, and today was one of those days.
I am proud to be a penny pincher. What I really need to make sure I am, is a wise penny pincher. I need to remember that stores study our shopping habits and entice us spend more even in the name of savings. So here is to new shirts for John, lipstick for me and two years worth of Southern Living magazines...and yes..I did sit down and write out the property checks..so here it to broke for the rest of the month!
It's been a dark and stormy January day and I took the day to clean off my desk and clean out my email. I realized at the end of the day, my logic may have caused me more harm than savings. It started with a stack of mail on my desk. Letters and offers that I had put aside thinking I would take time to study them later. Today was later, so I first opened an offer from Southern Living magazine. You know the ones, last chance, we want you back so bad we will make this almost free with a savings of 86 percent. Makes you wonder how print stays in business with such deals.
I had decided not to spend any money on magazines until I was debt free. Sadly our local library closed down the magazine and newspaper area this year, so I can no longer go read for free. I caved. Just one magazine subscription will not break the bank. I wrote a check for two years, the max I could buy at the super discounted price.
My next letter, from a clothing store I frequent, had a nice 20 percent off all I purchased, ending, oh joy, today. No time to think about it, I knew there was a 80 percent off rack in the store, so really at 80 percent off already and another 20 percent with my letter, isn't that FREE? I made a mad dash to check out the mark down rack. Funny how nothing on the 80 percent off was anything anyone I knew needed or could wear, but that other rack, that 60 percent off one, was loaded. I ask my son John to hold shirts as I looked for all the shirts in his size. Okay, let's understand this, John has grown up in second hand clothing, and now that he is grown and stays the same size, I have been getting him new and better quality clothing. I did buy a bag of clothing for a low price, but it was only as I was hanging the new shirts in his closet that it hit me, I had not planned to spend any money until after I paid the taxes....I had not even written the check for the property tax yet....
I went back to my desk and opened my emails. I told myself I would simply delete every offer that popped up. Well who knew, my Avon lady is no longer selling Avon so I got a new representative. With that came a 10 dollar discount and free shipping if I spent 30 dollars. Hello, savings time again. This time I had it figured out. I had used swag bucks to buy pay pal dollars, and I could use them to pay Avon. FREE stuff! Well, not quite, I was short 4.76 in pay pal so that came out of the checking account, but hey, that was stuff I would have bought anyway. No, not really. Because many of the products I purchase were highly discounted, it took me buying things I did not need, or know if I would even like to make the full 30 dollar request. I realized that after I closed the sale.
I sat at my desk and noticed one more letter. A notice from Kroger that if I took out a credit card, and used it in the store, I could get points that I could use to save on gas or turn into cash. I though about it, in fact, I even wrote my name on the application before sanity hit. Wait, we don't use credit cards anymore. But if I did take it out and if I did pay it off as soon as I got back home, it would balance, right? Looking at my morning track record so far, I would say, no, it would only help me save my way into debt. Why? because I had already bought things just to score savings. If I had that card in my hand, how wild would I become in shopping to save up points to turn into cash. In doing so, odds are I would over spend and try and justify my actions.
Late afternoon mail brought me a great offer from Discover Cards. Yes, I still have it tucked away for safe keeping, though I don't use the card anymore. I guess they really, really want me back, they offered me 75 dollars each month that I charged 500 for the next 6 months. I shredded the offer before I could sign up to participate. Some days you just know when you are headed for deep water, and today was one of those days.
I am proud to be a penny pincher. What I really need to make sure I am, is a wise penny pincher. I need to remember that stores study our shopping habits and entice us spend more even in the name of savings. So here is to new shirts for John, lipstick for me and two years worth of Southern Living magazines...and yes..I did sit down and write out the property checks..so here it to broke for the rest of the month!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Judge Not, Someone is Watching You Too
Last week a friend of mine on facebook posted photos she had taken last summer of her little daughter. Nothing unusual about the photos, until you read her caption of "a home we will miss." The home was not her's but was in her neighborhood. It was a place where her daughter played and learned to ride her bike. It was bulldozed down as had been the houses on either side of it. I still did not catch on until I read a few of the post below the photos talking about how some of the neighbors were sad to see it go and how they did not know what would replace it. Sound like some property that was swept up in residential gone commercial or maybe an owner who was foreclosed on? Nope the house belonged to Elin Nordegren, also known as Tiger Woods ex-wife. Now you are thinking...what a waste of 12 million dollars!
I read a link to Yahoo about the home that someone posted so we could all learn about the house. The news story only told of when she bought it, well I knew that from my friends post and it told it had been bulldozed down. What I really enjoyed reading were the comments posted below. Nobody understood how she could do something so wasteful. Some thought she should have given it to St. Jude to auction off. Others thought she could have turned it into a home for the homeless. Ideas abound with what she should have done with her home. Even I sat there and wondered if it had been stripped and recycled. The copper wiring alone was worth a fortune. If you too are sitting here fuming about the waste of a home, stop it.
Everything is relative. It is easy for us to look at a person who bulldozed down a multimillion dollar home and call her crazy. It is easy to say what we would do with the same amount of cash. It is so easy to look at the wealth of others and just know if we had what they have, we would have it made. Truth is, someone is looking at you too.
In the last year I have heard more than once, "If we had your income, we wouldn't have a worry." Trust me, we are not rolling in dough. In fact, we are lower, lower middle class people. Yet for friends who had suffered extreme cut backs and job loss, our little life style has looked impressive. Did you ever think that no matter how low your income may be, someone has less than you? Did you know that often these people look at what you have, and do with what you have, and horror of horror's judge what they would do if they had your life.
Not all cases are the ones watching you thinking if I had what you have. Sometimes they are in a position to help you with a better work position or other life style advancement. They are watching how you handle what you have already. Case in point a life lesson from the last Sam Walton.
The name Walton today makes people think of the world wide mega retail store Walmart. Sam Walton was the founder. My husband was at one time a Walmart store manager. Yes, a long, long time ago when Walmart had less than 400 stores and Mr. Sam was a lowly newly minted millionaire. Back then stores had end of the year meetings. Management met in a resort, but things like catered dinners and endless streaming food buffets did not exist. Rather you got up, went over to McDonalds or another fast food place, and got your breakfast.
My husband and about 10 other men were in McDonalds ordering breakfast. Mr. Sam was right in the middle. He got up to the counter and ordered simply an egg mcmuffin and glass of water. One of the other managers who had just ordered a large breakfast platter and coffee ask him, "Is that all you want to eat?" Mr. Sam looked at the man, looked at the high price food he bought and said, "This is all I need, it's filling and affordable. If you can't watch how you spend your money, how can I trust you with my money?" What a big lesson, Mr.Sam knew how you respected what you already have, will effect how well you respect the things you gain. In this case Mr. Sam was trusting his money to others to manage. Judging from the way Walmart took off, I say he had a very good eye and carefully judged people on how they managed what was given to them.
Next time you are tempted to judge what you would do if you had the riches of another, stop, and think what you need to do with the riches you all ready have. As for Elin Nordegren, that house she bulldozed down, was so infected with termites she was advised to cut her losses and just rebuild rather than try to repair. And now you know, even millionaires make bad deals and have bad days.....
I read a link to Yahoo about the home that someone posted so we could all learn about the house. The news story only told of when she bought it, well I knew that from my friends post and it told it had been bulldozed down. What I really enjoyed reading were the comments posted below. Nobody understood how she could do something so wasteful. Some thought she should have given it to St. Jude to auction off. Others thought she could have turned it into a home for the homeless. Ideas abound with what she should have done with her home. Even I sat there and wondered if it had been stripped and recycled. The copper wiring alone was worth a fortune. If you too are sitting here fuming about the waste of a home, stop it.
Everything is relative. It is easy for us to look at a person who bulldozed down a multimillion dollar home and call her crazy. It is easy to say what we would do with the same amount of cash. It is so easy to look at the wealth of others and just know if we had what they have, we would have it made. Truth is, someone is looking at you too.
In the last year I have heard more than once, "If we had your income, we wouldn't have a worry." Trust me, we are not rolling in dough. In fact, we are lower, lower middle class people. Yet for friends who had suffered extreme cut backs and job loss, our little life style has looked impressive. Did you ever think that no matter how low your income may be, someone has less than you? Did you know that often these people look at what you have, and do with what you have, and horror of horror's judge what they would do if they had your life.
Not all cases are the ones watching you thinking if I had what you have. Sometimes they are in a position to help you with a better work position or other life style advancement. They are watching how you handle what you have already. Case in point a life lesson from the last Sam Walton.
The name Walton today makes people think of the world wide mega retail store Walmart. Sam Walton was the founder. My husband was at one time a Walmart store manager. Yes, a long, long time ago when Walmart had less than 400 stores and Mr. Sam was a lowly newly minted millionaire. Back then stores had end of the year meetings. Management met in a resort, but things like catered dinners and endless streaming food buffets did not exist. Rather you got up, went over to McDonalds or another fast food place, and got your breakfast.
My husband and about 10 other men were in McDonalds ordering breakfast. Mr. Sam was right in the middle. He got up to the counter and ordered simply an egg mcmuffin and glass of water. One of the other managers who had just ordered a large breakfast platter and coffee ask him, "Is that all you want to eat?" Mr. Sam looked at the man, looked at the high price food he bought and said, "This is all I need, it's filling and affordable. If you can't watch how you spend your money, how can I trust you with my money?" What a big lesson, Mr.Sam knew how you respected what you already have, will effect how well you respect the things you gain. In this case Mr. Sam was trusting his money to others to manage. Judging from the way Walmart took off, I say he had a very good eye and carefully judged people on how they managed what was given to them.
Next time you are tempted to judge what you would do if you had the riches of another, stop, and think what you need to do with the riches you all ready have. As for Elin Nordegren, that house she bulldozed down, was so infected with termites she was advised to cut her losses and just rebuild rather than try to repair. And now you know, even millionaires make bad deals and have bad days.....
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Cardinal Rule Broken
When I started this blog I told my Friend Jenny, this was a hide out, a nothing about raising a special needs individuals blog. I am breaking that rule. It has come to my attention, that a part of all I do and all I am is because of my son John.
I spend money on and for my son. I shop for my son, I think for my son. And I am proud of my son John. I am very proud of who he is and what he means to our family. While I hope to keep the post about life from a different point of view few and far between, forgive me, I cannot write a blog and leave him out.
I hope, that we can help you see life in a very positive place even when the situations of life are hard. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. For tonight on the edge of New Years eve, I want to introduce my family to you and I hope in the next year, I'll learn a bit more about yours as well.
My oldest son Aaron. Now 26 and currently in training to be a flight attendant. He has been hired by an airline and will soon know where he will live. He is funny, does stand up comedy, and has a host of friends. Until one week ago he had sworn off marriage and children. After lighten struck him (kidding it didn't really) he has changed his mind and thinks someday he might want a child. He has a long way to go.
My younger son John is 19. He was born normal in a natural childbirth. He was above average for a time, then regressed greatly. Say what you will and swear off reading my blog if this offends you, but John was vaccine damaged from two vaccines, the DPT and MMR, which left him with late onset cerebral palsy and regressive full blown extreme autism and a seizure disorder. Our world turned upside down in 1994 and we have been rocking it from there on. Today John still has CP but not autism, and that folks is a huge, HUGE event. He is non-verbal with motor control issues. He as full understanding of everything and has a great sense of self. In a nut shell, he is down right vain.
My husband is a truck driver and gone 4 days a week. Years ago the stress of our life with a disabled child, mounting bills, and pure confusion forced us into a separation.He went off to truck driving school and I took over the boys. While we remained a solid unit raising the boys, I did not see him for months at a time. We did talk on the phone. We did still love each other. Somewhere in the last two years we had rekindled that love and were remarried, kinda, in a quite non-public way. Today we are more like honeymooners and it's fun. I am thankful we manged to pull it back together. Marriage is hard, it takes work, and sometimes we have to stand back and look at why we fell in love in the first place to get back to who we were. I'll share how we met one day..bet my story tops yours!
I also have a dog named Cindy. She is a rescue from an breeder mill. A saddle back beagle I call her my little girl, even though she is really middle aged. We have two cats, Gray and Kelso. They come to us when they need something or want to show us something, other than that, we are their pets, they are not ours.
I live in a small house on the side of a busy road. My dream home is a Texas Tiny House, if you don't know what that is, look them up. I doubt I'll ever have one, but a girl can dream. I am simple, plain and love life...and I need to go...John is running bath water...I can never sit and just write when duty calls.
Be blessed and have a wonderful new year~
I spend money on and for my son. I shop for my son, I think for my son. And I am proud of my son John. I am very proud of who he is and what he means to our family. While I hope to keep the post about life from a different point of view few and far between, forgive me, I cannot write a blog and leave him out.
I hope, that we can help you see life in a very positive place even when the situations of life are hard. It took me a long time to learn that lesson. For tonight on the edge of New Years eve, I want to introduce my family to you and I hope in the next year, I'll learn a bit more about yours as well.
My oldest son Aaron. Now 26 and currently in training to be a flight attendant. He has been hired by an airline and will soon know where he will live. He is funny, does stand up comedy, and has a host of friends. Until one week ago he had sworn off marriage and children. After lighten struck him (kidding it didn't really) he has changed his mind and thinks someday he might want a child. He has a long way to go.
My younger son John is 19. He was born normal in a natural childbirth. He was above average for a time, then regressed greatly. Say what you will and swear off reading my blog if this offends you, but John was vaccine damaged from two vaccines, the DPT and MMR, which left him with late onset cerebral palsy and regressive full blown extreme autism and a seizure disorder. Our world turned upside down in 1994 and we have been rocking it from there on. Today John still has CP but not autism, and that folks is a huge, HUGE event. He is non-verbal with motor control issues. He as full understanding of everything and has a great sense of self. In a nut shell, he is down right vain.
My husband is a truck driver and gone 4 days a week. Years ago the stress of our life with a disabled child, mounting bills, and pure confusion forced us into a separation.He went off to truck driving school and I took over the boys. While we remained a solid unit raising the boys, I did not see him for months at a time. We did talk on the phone. We did still love each other. Somewhere in the last two years we had rekindled that love and were remarried, kinda, in a quite non-public way. Today we are more like honeymooners and it's fun. I am thankful we manged to pull it back together. Marriage is hard, it takes work, and sometimes we have to stand back and look at why we fell in love in the first place to get back to who we were. I'll share how we met one day..bet my story tops yours!
I also have a dog named Cindy. She is a rescue from an breeder mill. A saddle back beagle I call her my little girl, even though she is really middle aged. We have two cats, Gray and Kelso. They come to us when they need something or want to show us something, other than that, we are their pets, they are not ours.
I live in a small house on the side of a busy road. My dream home is a Texas Tiny House, if you don't know what that is, look them up. I doubt I'll ever have one, but a girl can dream. I am simple, plain and love life...and I need to go...John is running bath water...I can never sit and just write when duty calls.
Be blessed and have a wonderful new year~
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Making Silky Soft Liquid Soap
I see red when I see someone wasting resources. No, I am not the greenest person out there, wish I was, but I do like to live by the mantra "Use is it up, wear it out. Make do, do without." It was one of the things my spouse learned about me in that first month of marriage. He adjusted to some of my rules, agreeing to cloth napkins, we did get a nice supply as gifts anyway. He didn't fully understand reusing aluminum foil, but he got over it and learned that it is possible. One place we differed, was on soap.
My new husband loved bar soap. The problem was, he loved new bars, not old ones. He had a thing for using only about half of the soap before he opened a new bar. I couldn't use up the rest of his soap due to an allergy to the soap he chose. I got creative and tried to reglue three bars together to make a new bar. I would soak them and make them soft, then squish them into one new bar. Nope, he didn't like that idea either. To stop me from trying to save the used bars of soap, he would flush them quickly before I knew they were gone. This broke me to tears. That did it, we had to come to an agreement. We did, he agreed to place the used soap into a bucket in the bathroom, and I was allowed to do whatever I wanted with it, as long as I didn't try to remake it into a bar of soap for him.
What I learned to do, was make liquid soap! Now we have an endless supply of liquid soap for all kinds of uses. While I do not recommend using body soap in soap making for laundry, it can be used for other kinds of cleaning. One of my main uses when my children were small, was using the soap to wash their toys. I have been known to use liquid soap in a bucket of water to wash outside areas like sidewalks or the window screens.
Making a supply of soap is easy. Save your scraps or use up that stash of hotel soap most all of us are guilty of holding on to. I also like to buy soap at the dollar store, in scents that I like, just for me. I can take one bar of lavender soap and make eight cups of liquid soap! Sure stretches my budget.
Make sure the soap is hard. If you save soap scraps, let the dry for several weeks to be dry and firm. Using a fine grater, a cheese grater is idea, grate the soap into a container. Make sure you store any unused grated soap in an air tight container in a cool dry place. When you are ready to make soap, take four cups of hot water and place in a container. Sprinkle two cups of the shredded soap over the hot water. Soap will start to sink. Let it set for a few minutes before you stir in the soap. Liquid soap can be made as thick or thin as you wish. This recipe is the thickness I like. For thicker, just add soap in half a cup until you get the consistency you like. For thinner, add small amounts of hot water and stir well. Place the ready to use soap in pump containers. It's a good idea to just recycle ones you already have, or purchase new pump style bottles at dollar stores or thrift stores.
Keep in mind that different soaps have different ingredients. Deodorant soaps may be an issue for some people. If that is the case in your home, you might consider making only deodorant liquid soap and placing in a container for body wash. Yes, my husband was willing to give this a try and you know what, he loved it.
Do you have a favorite use for bar soap? If so, share your tips!
My new husband loved bar soap. The problem was, he loved new bars, not old ones. He had a thing for using only about half of the soap before he opened a new bar. I couldn't use up the rest of his soap due to an allergy to the soap he chose. I got creative and tried to reglue three bars together to make a new bar. I would soak them and make them soft, then squish them into one new bar. Nope, he didn't like that idea either. To stop me from trying to save the used bars of soap, he would flush them quickly before I knew they were gone. This broke me to tears. That did it, we had to come to an agreement. We did, he agreed to place the used soap into a bucket in the bathroom, and I was allowed to do whatever I wanted with it, as long as I didn't try to remake it into a bar of soap for him.
What I learned to do, was make liquid soap! Now we have an endless supply of liquid soap for all kinds of uses. While I do not recommend using body soap in soap making for laundry, it can be used for other kinds of cleaning. One of my main uses when my children were small, was using the soap to wash their toys. I have been known to use liquid soap in a bucket of water to wash outside areas like sidewalks or the window screens.
Making a supply of soap is easy. Save your scraps or use up that stash of hotel soap most all of us are guilty of holding on to. I also like to buy soap at the dollar store, in scents that I like, just for me. I can take one bar of lavender soap and make eight cups of liquid soap! Sure stretches my budget.
Make sure the soap is hard. If you save soap scraps, let the dry for several weeks to be dry and firm. Using a fine grater, a cheese grater is idea, grate the soap into a container. Make sure you store any unused grated soap in an air tight container in a cool dry place. When you are ready to make soap, take four cups of hot water and place in a container. Sprinkle two cups of the shredded soap over the hot water. Soap will start to sink. Let it set for a few minutes before you stir in the soap. Liquid soap can be made as thick or thin as you wish. This recipe is the thickness I like. For thicker, just add soap in half a cup until you get the consistency you like. For thinner, add small amounts of hot water and stir well. Place the ready to use soap in pump containers. It's a good idea to just recycle ones you already have, or purchase new pump style bottles at dollar stores or thrift stores.
Keep in mind that different soaps have different ingredients. Deodorant soaps may be an issue for some people. If that is the case in your home, you might consider making only deodorant liquid soap and placing in a container for body wash. Yes, my husband was willing to give this a try and you know what, he loved it.
Do you have a favorite use for bar soap? If so, share your tips!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Cutting the Fat
If you read the first blog, you know seeing red refers to debt and green is well, that cash we often can't seem to have enough of. Today Fat is a double meaning both body and the excess spending. I encourage you to post tips for others, on ways to cut both. Many thanks and happy reading~
My favorite consignment shop ran the last of the summer clothing on sale for two dollars and less this weekend. I was there soon after the doors opened Saturday morning. I went right to the dress rack. I am for the most part a jeans girl, but when summer comes, I love dresses. Not skirts and shirts, dresses. I quickly began to scan the rack, not looking at sizes, but pulling off name brands. I have always shopped sales this way, grab all the name brands I like, and then take them aside and look at the sizes. After I cleared the rack of my finds, I stood at the end pulling out any size I thought might work. I know brands and sizes, like Jessica Howard, hand me a size 6 and yes, it will fit. Another lady stood by me asking for all size 10's in my hand. We had fun together, two strangers bonded over a sale rack of used clothing.
In the dressing room I hung my find, a total of 6 dresses. My heart beat fast holding up a beautiful handmade size unknown knit dress in lime green with yellow swirls. Someone had taken great care to make that dress and I wanted to give it a new home. But it was not to be. Size unknown did not fit me anywhere. I moved on to dress number two. A hot pink number that fit like a glove, a glove that was a size too tight. What's going on I wondered, as I slipped on my reading glasses to double check the size. HUM. No the size was rights. I took down a red linen dress by Ann Taylor. It was very me. Straight, simple, with a side pleat and simple nautical detailing at the top of the pleat. I wanted that dress so bad. I slipped it on. The top half looked perfect on me, now to zip it. I struggled to zip the dress, sucked in my breath and closed my eyes as the zipper slid up that last little few inches.
Yes, the top half was perfect. The neck line was beautiful, the cut of this sleeveless shift, perfect, and then, I looked at the bottom half. What was going on? It pulled and puckered in a very unflattering way. I stood there wanting that dress to fit perfectly. I sucked in my breath hard, yes, do that and it fit. Breath, and no it did not. I laughed at myself wanting this dress so much. How many red dresses does a woman need anyway I asked myself as I counted off the red dresses I already owned. Still, this was a classic, a pretty number made to wear at a nice summer party or just to make me feel better after a bad week. I slipped the dress off and moved on to a denim jumper I knew would fit.
At the register I thought about the red dress in my hands. It did not fit as of right now. I was spending two dollars on the hope I would shape up a bit between now and summer and wear it. What if I don't? I spend two dollars for nothing.
The more I though about the dress, the more I though about fat. Not just body fat, but spending fat. When money is tight, a budget is strained, two dollars can make a big difference. I thought about the cost of a coke and candy bar, about two dollars as well. There ya go, I told myself, where to cut the fat. By walking past the temptation of buying a coke and candy bar, I save not only two dollars but a few hundred calories! I can take that two dollars I save, put it toward debt, and the calories I don't eat, well, I can put that toward wearing that new Ann Taylor linen dress without all the bumps and lumps it was struggling to cover.
Yes, I did buy the dress, and several things for my family as well. Later that afternoon I was walking down town with my family. My husband stopped at a local hamburger stand and ask if I wanted a burger and some fries. I fingered the five dollar bill in my pocket, thought about all the things I could do with five dollars. I then though about the calories of a simple burger and fries. "No thank you, I'll pass." I told him as I walked on.
"Hey me neither, I don't need it at all, let's just get John something and save our money and the calories we would just have to walk off."
Summer red dress, I hope you are the only red I see this summer.
My favorite consignment shop ran the last of the summer clothing on sale for two dollars and less this weekend. I was there soon after the doors opened Saturday morning. I went right to the dress rack. I am for the most part a jeans girl, but when summer comes, I love dresses. Not skirts and shirts, dresses. I quickly began to scan the rack, not looking at sizes, but pulling off name brands. I have always shopped sales this way, grab all the name brands I like, and then take them aside and look at the sizes. After I cleared the rack of my finds, I stood at the end pulling out any size I thought might work. I know brands and sizes, like Jessica Howard, hand me a size 6 and yes, it will fit. Another lady stood by me asking for all size 10's in my hand. We had fun together, two strangers bonded over a sale rack of used clothing.
In the dressing room I hung my find, a total of 6 dresses. My heart beat fast holding up a beautiful handmade size unknown knit dress in lime green with yellow swirls. Someone had taken great care to make that dress and I wanted to give it a new home. But it was not to be. Size unknown did not fit me anywhere. I moved on to dress number two. A hot pink number that fit like a glove, a glove that was a size too tight. What's going on I wondered, as I slipped on my reading glasses to double check the size. HUM. No the size was rights. I took down a red linen dress by Ann Taylor. It was very me. Straight, simple, with a side pleat and simple nautical detailing at the top of the pleat. I wanted that dress so bad. I slipped it on. The top half looked perfect on me, now to zip it. I struggled to zip the dress, sucked in my breath and closed my eyes as the zipper slid up that last little few inches.
Yes, the top half was perfect. The neck line was beautiful, the cut of this sleeveless shift, perfect, and then, I looked at the bottom half. What was going on? It pulled and puckered in a very unflattering way. I stood there wanting that dress to fit perfectly. I sucked in my breath hard, yes, do that and it fit. Breath, and no it did not. I laughed at myself wanting this dress so much. How many red dresses does a woman need anyway I asked myself as I counted off the red dresses I already owned. Still, this was a classic, a pretty number made to wear at a nice summer party or just to make me feel better after a bad week. I slipped the dress off and moved on to a denim jumper I knew would fit.
At the register I thought about the red dress in my hands. It did not fit as of right now. I was spending two dollars on the hope I would shape up a bit between now and summer and wear it. What if I don't? I spend two dollars for nothing.
The more I though about the dress, the more I though about fat. Not just body fat, but spending fat. When money is tight, a budget is strained, two dollars can make a big difference. I thought about the cost of a coke and candy bar, about two dollars as well. There ya go, I told myself, where to cut the fat. By walking past the temptation of buying a coke and candy bar, I save not only two dollars but a few hundred calories! I can take that two dollars I save, put it toward debt, and the calories I don't eat, well, I can put that toward wearing that new Ann Taylor linen dress without all the bumps and lumps it was struggling to cover.
Yes, I did buy the dress, and several things for my family as well. Later that afternoon I was walking down town with my family. My husband stopped at a local hamburger stand and ask if I wanted a burger and some fries. I fingered the five dollar bill in my pocket, thought about all the things I could do with five dollars. I then though about the calories of a simple burger and fries. "No thank you, I'll pass." I told him as I walked on.
"Hey me neither, I don't need it at all, let's just get John something and save our money and the calories we would just have to walk off."
Summer red dress, I hope you are the only red I see this summer.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Yes, There is a Reason for the Rain
I whined a bit over the week about the cold rain. On Monday the house was so dark, if I did not have a light turned on, I couldn't see very well. The corners, nooks and crannies were dark. Dust and toys hid there. I am not a person who likes dark days. Rather than dwell on the dark, I thought of a very light sensitive friend of mine who lives for dark rainy days. I sent him a quick note that I was thinking of him hoped his day was dark and gloomy. I heard back that it was and he and his wife were able to take a walk and enjoy the dark. Thinking about the joy such days bring to his family, the way bright days do to me, helped me cope.
Yesterday the sun came out full and bright. I took John and our dog Cindy for a walk, the ground wet with standing puddles. As John and I dodged the puddles I though about the nourishing rain that had fallen in our area for days, and how blessed we were to have a nice supply of water. John and I stood on the bridge near our home and watched water flow in the full ravine. I was thankful for the rain. In all honesty I was even more thankful for the sun.
Just after midnight last night, I was awakened by bright lights and firetrucks. Outside my door I watched as flames shot high into the black sky. The woods, the place were John and I walk each day, was in danger of burning. I stood in the dark cold field across from my home trying to see exactly what was burning. A police office stopped, rolled down his window and said, "Where is John, is he sleeping?" I am never seen without John.
"No, but he didn't want to come out in the cold, he is looking out the window, how is it down there?"
"It's okay, nobody hurt, it's the house that was being gutted and worked on. Nobody living in it yet, and thanks to the rain, the fire did not have time to jump to the woods. Had this been last summer....well...you know...I can't say we would have been as blessed." He spoke in little puffs of breath as he looked back at the woods. "You go back in, you are safe, the rain saved us."
I walked back home and John met me at the door. I hung up my coat and told him we could go back to bed. the fire would soon be out.
This morning I got up and walked down to look at the burned out house. Amazingly little had been destroyed. The house sits way back off the road and in the middle of a group of tall trees. Pine trees burst into flames very easy in dry weather. I had been in the area only a few weeks ago picking up pine cones and gathering pine straw for my flower beds. The morning sun was bright and golden, making the cold morning seem not so cold.
I though about how dry our summer had been and how we had a burn band in place way into the fall. Had it not rained so much lately, the ground and trees would not have been soaking wet, this morning may have been so different if that were the case.
When negative times come into our lives, it's hard to see how they are a part of a bigger and better plan. When we seem to be wandering in the dark cold of bad news, setbacks and disappointments, there is a reason. The job you did not get, perhaps that is so when a better job comes along, you will be in a position to take the better job. One of the hardest things we do as humans, is understand disappointments. Yet if everything in life was positive, how would we be able to be thankful for the things we have.
I didn't like the rain that fell all week. This morning, I was so thankful for the dripping wet trees and soaked wet ground. Next time a set back comes my way or your way, remember, without the rain and dark, we couldn't appreciate the warmth of the sun as fully as we do.
Yesterday the sun came out full and bright. I took John and our dog Cindy for a walk, the ground wet with standing puddles. As John and I dodged the puddles I though about the nourishing rain that had fallen in our area for days, and how blessed we were to have a nice supply of water. John and I stood on the bridge near our home and watched water flow in the full ravine. I was thankful for the rain. In all honesty I was even more thankful for the sun.
Just after midnight last night, I was awakened by bright lights and firetrucks. Outside my door I watched as flames shot high into the black sky. The woods, the place were John and I walk each day, was in danger of burning. I stood in the dark cold field across from my home trying to see exactly what was burning. A police office stopped, rolled down his window and said, "Where is John, is he sleeping?" I am never seen without John.
"No, but he didn't want to come out in the cold, he is looking out the window, how is it down there?"
"It's okay, nobody hurt, it's the house that was being gutted and worked on. Nobody living in it yet, and thanks to the rain, the fire did not have time to jump to the woods. Had this been last summer....well...you know...I can't say we would have been as blessed." He spoke in little puffs of breath as he looked back at the woods. "You go back in, you are safe, the rain saved us."
I walked back home and John met me at the door. I hung up my coat and told him we could go back to bed. the fire would soon be out.
This morning I got up and walked down to look at the burned out house. Amazingly little had been destroyed. The house sits way back off the road and in the middle of a group of tall trees. Pine trees burst into flames very easy in dry weather. I had been in the area only a few weeks ago picking up pine cones and gathering pine straw for my flower beds. The morning sun was bright and golden, making the cold morning seem not so cold.
I though about how dry our summer had been and how we had a burn band in place way into the fall. Had it not rained so much lately, the ground and trees would not have been soaking wet, this morning may have been so different if that were the case.
When negative times come into our lives, it's hard to see how they are a part of a bigger and better plan. When we seem to be wandering in the dark cold of bad news, setbacks and disappointments, there is a reason. The job you did not get, perhaps that is so when a better job comes along, you will be in a position to take the better job. One of the hardest things we do as humans, is understand disappointments. Yet if everything in life was positive, how would we be able to be thankful for the things we have.
I didn't like the rain that fell all week. This morning, I was so thankful for the dripping wet trees and soaked wet ground. Next time a set back comes my way or your way, remember, without the rain and dark, we couldn't appreciate the warmth of the sun as fully as we do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)