This is me!

I am a house wife. A stay-at-home mom. A home maker. I stay at home because we (Zach and I) made that decision a long time ago. It was not a decision we made lightly. We thought long and hard about it. There were many nights spent talking about it into the wee hours of the morning. There still are. We knew that by making this choice we would never own a brand new car or house. We knew we wouldn't be able to buy things just because we wanted them. But we don't want that either. We have to think about making our purchases. We have to save up. We have to pinch pennies. But we find those things fun, challenging, exciting even.

I do not feel I need to justify my not having a job. I do things here and there to bring in a little extra money on occasion but not because I feel I should but because I want to. Not because I have to but because I choose to. My husband is able to support us. Would a second income be helpful, sure! But it is not necessary. We don't need it, nor do we want it. We would much rather I be here. Taking care of our home, our children, and ourselves. And I do work. I work hard. I do not sit on the couch watching soap operas all day eating bon bons while filing my nails. I cook, plan meals, grocery shop, clean, do dishes, do laundry, play with my girl, garden (veggies), and make as much as I can from scratch (pie dough, pizza, bread, yogurt, casseroles, granola, baking mix, cream of chicken soup, gravy, chicken broth, pasta, desserts, pie filling, laundry soap). Could I buy most of those things from a store, sure! But I save us a lot of money by making them from scratch and they are much healthier. Could I do those things and still have a job, sure but maybe not as well or with as much attention to detail.

Have we chosen the hard life? In some peoples eyes, sure. But not in ours. We live a simple existence. We don't go out to eat for our birthdays and anniversary. Instead I make a favortie meal and dessert. We don't go out to the movies. Instead we head the the library and borrow a movie for free. We don't buy new clothes. Instead we shop at Goodwill, consignment shops, thrift stores, and yard sales. We don't go to high dollar salons. Instead I cut my husbands hair and I get mine cut at a beauty college for about $5. We don't buy pricey diapers. Instead we cloth diaper and use store brand disposables. We don't go on big vacations. Instead we go camping or to local parks and historical sites and maybe once every 5 years or so take a bigger trip. Still costing us no more than $500 or so.We live a reusable life instead of a disposable one. We use rags instead of Swifer dusters, sponges, paper towels. We use cloth napkins, cloth diapers, and towels. I am looking into using handkerchiefs this winter instead of tissues. Heck, I even use cloth "female products." Sorry guys!

Are we happy? For the most part, yes. Do we want more? Sure! Who doesn't? We want a home of our own. Land. A place to raise our children. In the country. A place for goats, chickens, maybe even a couple sheep. A place to grow, run, learn, live, breath! But we are willing to wait for that to happen. To slowly build up our savings. Are we planning to buy a quarter of a million dollar home? NO! Not by any means. An old farm house with a couple out buildings and a couple few acres would be fine with us.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not knocking those that do work! Both those that choose to and have to. I am not saying that it makes you a lesser wife, mother, father, husband, person! Not by any means. I am just stating our decision and why and how we make this decision possible. I can not count the number of times I have been looked down on because I choose to stay home. How many people have told my husband that I should get off my lazy good for nothing butt and get a job. And it hurts me. That people cannot accept the decision we have made.

We both sacrifice to make this choice possible for us. Zach works hard! He works a hard, physical job and comes home tired every morning. He works third shift so he can earn an extra dollar an hour. And this means that he is on a different sleep schedule as "L" and I. He gets home from work at 7am and goes to bed. We get up at 8am. He then gets up at 1 or 1:30 pm (after only 6 or so hours of sleep) to spend time with us. He then leaves for work at 5pm. We don't even eat a meal together the days that he works.

And how do I sacrifice? I miss my husband! I see him a matter of 3-4 hours a day on the days he works. And those hours he is tired and half out of it. I don't always get to buy the things that I want or "need". I am tired. Mentally, physically and often times emotionally.

But we are happy. So why can't people just be happy for us? Because we don't want the same things you do? Because we don't want the same things you want? I am sorry if our life style offends you. But maybe yours offends me. But it is not my place to tell you how to live it.

Frugal Tip Friday: Rags

Since I was a child, I remember my Mom cutting up old shirts and using them as dust rags. She'd use old wash rags and towels, in too bad a shape to wash dishes or bodies, to wash cars. My Grandma even used her and my Grandpa's old undies. And I have heard of lots of people using their now adult children's old cloth diapers.

Today we have Swiffer, disposable sponges, and Pledge wipes. All that get used and then tossed after just one, sometimes a few more, uses. We live in a "disposable" world. But these cost money and load our landfills with even more trash. While the old shirts, undies, towels and diapers cost nothing.

So the next time you have a old t-shirt that has gotten stained or have a wash rag with just one too many holes in it, cut up that shirt, don't toss that rag. Give them a second life! Use them, wash them and reuse them! I bet you'll find they work just as well as those expensive "replacements."

Quick Tip Tuesday: Washer Wipe Down

I don't know how, but in my weekly cleaning I always seem to miss getting the washer and dryer wiped off. I have figured out a way to remember to do it now though. I keep my dust rags on a rack above the washer and dryer along with the laundry soap, gallon of vinegar, stain remover, etc. So now whenever I have a load of towels that needs washing, I pull out a dust rag and get it wet in the water flowing into the washer and use it to wipe down my washer and dryer. Then all I have to do it toss it into the wash along with all the other dirty towels. Quick and simple and I know that the washer is getting wiped down about once a week!

Frugal Tip Friday: Dish rinse water re-use

I have given up on the dishwasher! I have banned it's use in my house. It is more eco-friendly and frugal to use the dishwasher because it uses less water than hand washing, but the darn thing just doesn't work! I have tried everything I can think of and nothing is working, so, I give up! I will just hand wash from now on. And that is fine with me. But what to do with all that "wasted" water?

Well, my solution is to save my rinse water and reuse it. I wash my dishes in the sink but then use a dish pan to rinse them in. I then reuse that rinse water to water my outdoor plants. After I have done the dishes, I allow the water to cool to room temperature. Then that evening, I water my garden with it. It doesn't get all the plants but it gets about half of ours. The little bits of food in the water act at compost/fertilizer and the small amount of dish soap acts as a pest detergent. So not only is it frugal and eco-friendly but reusing something that you would otherwise have just run down the drain, but it is also beneficial to your plants!

Quick Tip Tuesday: Hand Soap Plus

Do you ever have greasy hands from cooking that your regular hand soap just doesn't have enough umph to get clean but you don't want to loose the softness and nice smell that it gives you in exchange for using your dish soap to get them clean? Well, there is a solution!

In my regular hand soap pump, I keep a mix of 1/2 hand soap and 1/2 dish soap for scrubbing my dirty kitchen hands. You get the power and grease fighting of the dish soap and the smell and softness of the hand soap all in one! Just pour about equal parts of each into the soap bottle, replace the pump and shake for a minute or so.

This mix also works great on my husband's hands after he has been working on the cars!

Homemade Laundry Soap

Making your own laundry soap can be a great way to save your family money while still getting your clothes wonderfully clean. We have used homemade laundry soap (this recipe) for about 2 years now. It works great! Even on my husbands inky, stinky work clothes and on my daughters cloth diapers and clothes, with no allergic reaction. And she has sensitive skin! So here goes...

Ingredients:
2 cups bar soap (Ivory-what we use, Fels Naptha, or Zote. You can't use just any soap. It has to be one of these as they are low-foaming)
2 cups borax (found in the laundry section of your local big box store)
2 cups washing soda (do not confuse this with baking soda, they are not the same thing. You can find this in the laundry section of many grocery stores or on-line)
Step 1: Grate the soap. You can use a cheese grater or a knife and cutting board. Just make sure you shave it into very small pieces! This is the most difficult and longest process of the whole deal and it only takes about 10 minutes! :o) Place the soap shavings in a 1 gallon ice cream bucket. Mine happens to be 5 quart, doesn't really matter much. Place the bucket in your kitchen sink.

Step 2: On the stove, heat 1 quart of water to a rolling boil. Pour into the bucket with the soap shavings and stir with a whisk till all the soap is melted. If there are a few small pieces floating, it's alright, they will eventually dissolve.

Step 3: Add in the borax and washing soda. Again, stir with the whisk till they are totally dissolved. At this point, it will look like slightly thinned icing. Note the picture below of it dribbling off the whisk. Looks good enough to lick off the whisk, but by all means, restrain yourself from doing so! It will only bring back bad memories of the first time you back talked your Grandmother! :-P

Step 4: (And this is why we put it in the sink) add in cold water till your bucket is full. Stir lightly with your whisk. You will get some bubbles but try to keep them to a minimum.

Mmm. Frothy goodness.

Step 5: Put on the lid and allow to sit for at least 24 hours. After that 24 hours, stir well again with the whisk. Make sure you label well!

Step 6: Mark on the back of the bucket three lines of equal portions. I did this with a ruler.

To use: Stir well and dip out 1/3 of the mix. Pour into a 1 gallon container. You can use another ice cream bucket, a glass pickle jar or an old laundry soap container (this is that I use.) Add in another gallon or so of water, what ever it takes to fill up the container. Every time you use it, give it a little shake or stir.

Use 1/4 cup per regular load. For high efficiency washers you can use even less.

Like I stated before, this works great! And it is cheap too! Less than $2.00 for the pre-mix which makes three containers full once diluted. I would guess that at about 100 loads or so. You can also add some drops of essential oils.

Tea tree- natural antiseptic

Lavender- for smell

Or any other scents you like.

Enjoy!

Frugal Tip Friday: Dish washer Soap

I have always gotten liquid dishwasher detergent because it works so well. Then I heard a great tip that can save you a good bit of money in the long run while still getting your dishes clean.

Most powdered dish washing soaps are cheaper than their liquid cousins. The biggest problem with them is that they tend to leave soap scum and a white film on all your dishes. Well, there is a solution to this!

First, get out an old (but clean) ice cream bucket. I use these for everything by the way! Measure out 4 cups of the powdered dishwasher detergent and pour into the bucket. Next, measure out 4 cups of baking soda and pour into the bucket. Get out an old spoon (I use a metal one that has been bent a few too many times from dipping out hard ice cream). Stir the two powders together, not too quickly or you will send a fine dust into the air that will make you sneeze! :o) Put the lid on the bucket and store under your sink like normal. (Make sure you label the bucket!)

Next time you do a load of dishes, use the spoon to dip out what you need into the two soap cups in the door of the dishwasher like normal. Then, and this is the secret to not having the soap scum, pour about 1/2 cup of white vinegar into the bottom to the dishwasher. At this point, I just eye ball the vinegar.

The vinegar will react with the baking soda (just like in your 3 grade science fair volcano project) and will rinse your dishes clean.

The baking soda will make the washing detergent last twice as long, for half the cost, and still get your dishes clean!

You can buy large boxes of baking soda in the laundry detergent aisle. You can also buy 1 gallon jugs of vinegar in your favorite super store (you know which one I am talking about). It is in with the regular vinegar, just look down. :o) Oh and it's super cheap! Like less that $2.00!

Quick Tip Tuesday: A clean shower every time

This is an easy tip that can save you a good bit of time. Keep a sponge and your shower cleaner in the bathroom. When it comes time to take a shower, pull out the cleaning supplies and take them in with you. While your shampoo or conditioner is "setting" give the shower a good scrub! Do this about once a week and you will always have a nice, clean shower!

Frugal Tip Friday: Zip Top Baggies

Drying baggies. (Note the pumpkin draining in the back ground.)

How many zip top baggies would you say you go through in the average week? 2, 3, 10? I would guess that we (there are 2 adults and one baby in our household), go though probably 5 to 10 per week. Mostly in sending Zach's lunch to work with him and in storing leftovers in the fridge or freezer.

One fairly simple way you can cut down on your trash and on your budget is to reuse your zip top baggies. I know this tip isn't going to be for everyone. Some will say "Ewww!" Others will exclaim "Way too time consuming for something so cheap!" I am not saying you will save your family a ton of money.

But lets just say the average family of 4 uses 10 zip top baggies a week. At 52 weeks in the year that is 520 baggies. You can buy them for about $3.00 a box (50 count). That's about 10 1/2 boxes a year. So, 10.5 boxes times $3.00 per box equals $31.50 per year.

I know, not a whole lot. But in today's economy, every penny counts.

So anyway, what I choose to do is to wash most of my used zip top baggies and reuse them. It is actually pretty easy. I just add them to my hand washed things. Dip some dish water up into the baggie, put your wash rag in it, slosh it around till it is clean, dump, rinse and shake open and turn it up side down to dry. As you can see in the pictures, I have quite a few drying. A lot of times I will let them pile up and wash quite a few at once.


I do have a few "Rules." I don't wash and reuse baggies that have contained raw meat. If the baggie is really messy, I don't mess with it. If it is going to take me more than a few seconds to wash, it isn't really worth it to me.

I especially like to reuse the baggies that have labels for certain things. Like when I make mini pizzas for snacks and meals (I usually make a few dozen at a time). I label the baggies with either cheese, pepperoni, or pepper, depending on the type of pizza in it. Then I can reuse the baggies for the same thing.

Anyway, it saves money and on the landfills. Maybe not too much of a time saver, if it was it would be in the Quick Tip Tuesdays, not Frugal Tip Friday. :o)

Quick Tip Tuesday: 15 minute Power Clean

Ever have a big pile of clutter in one room that belongs in another room?

Or maybe you are like me and your coffee table is a jumbled of odds and ins.

This is where the 15 minute power clean comes in handy.

Get out your trusty laundry basket, go into the living room and pick up all the items that don't belong there. Next, go into the kitchen, take out all the items that are in the basket that belong in the kitchen and put those up. Then pick up any items that are in the kitchen that don't belong there. Continue this patter through the house, till everything has been put in it's proper room. I swear, this only takes me maybe 15 mintues! And it is actually a little fun! Hurrying through the house, spotting items, digging through the basket to make sure you found everything. Kinda like a Mommy scavenger hunt. :o) Ok, so maybe all the cleaning supply fumes and vinegar is getting to me, but hey, I'll take fun where I can get it!

One Hour Cleaning Days

"Arg! I am so sick of this house being a mess! Why can't I keep it clean? I hate wasting half of my Saturday cleaning!"

Yes, I have said these words a thousand times. And I am guessing they ring true for some of you as well. Well, there is an easier way! There is hope! :o)

I use what I call "One Hour Cleaning Days." Everyday I have a different room that I clean. Just one room a day. And just one hour a day. Shhh, some times it is less. Here is my list of days and what I clean on that day...

Monday: Kitchen

Tuesday: Bathroom(s)

Wednesday: Spare bedroom(s)

Thursday: Master Bedroom

Friday: Living Room

Saturday: General picking up, sweep and mop the floors, special projects

This is the list, as it is, right off my refrigerator.

On the day that I clean the bedroom, I know to also strip the sheets and blankets off the bed and wash them. The bathroom day, I know to switch out the towels and wash rags. This way I know that they are getting washed at least once a week. Kitchen is general cleaning. Living room is dusting, picking up (please, never look at my coffee table!) and putting away what doesn't belong there. Saturday I sweep and mop all the floors. I also work on special cleaning or organizing jobs that need done. Ie: switching over winter/summer clothes in storage, cleaning the refrigerator out, or scrubbing the floors.

Mind you, these days do get forgotten or looked over or changed sometimes. Live is not perfect! If it was, there wouldn't be a mess in the first place!

Some rooms don't take me a full hour. Other rooms can take me more but usually don't. You can also choose to do it in less time. Maybe half hour. Or maybe you want to do a half hour in the morning and then again in the evening. Whatever works for you!

I also have 15 minute power cleans that I do daily, but I will tell you more about that tomorrow.... :o)