Pantyhose

I had a dress emergency yesterday, and that 'necessity' made me 'invent' something useful and wonderful.

I needed something to smooth out my tummy and thighs. So, here it is, 4 hours before I have to leave for a funeral, July, hot and I had too many kids to run out and get a satiny thing to help me.  So, I took an old pair of pantyhose and chopped them off at the knee.  This gave me smoothness from the waist to the knee (read as 'no chub-rub), and wasn't too hot.  Plus it was a lot cheaper than a Spanx and I didn't have to go anywhere to get it.

Don't toss holey pantyhose - you never know when you are going to need them.

A cup with lid in a pinch

Have you ever lost a child's straw cup?  I have hundreds of times, and now I am only down to a couple of them.  I did however, see an alternative tonight.  If you need a cup with a lid in a hurry, go to your fridge (or if you like me, go to your cabinet), and get out a sour cream container, or any plastic. round container with a lid that is taller rather than squattier - you know what I mean.  Clean it well, punch a straw hole in the top, put the drink in it and pop in the straw - presto.

Now, please do not think that this will be spill proof.  Let's face it, cups that say spill proof themselves are not spill proof.  We are talking not losing the entire drink on the floor or seat if it takes a tumble - don't be too picky.

Plastic Bread Tabs

You know those flat, hard plastic tags that come on bread, buns, bagels, etc.  I have 2 good uses for them:

1. Mini pan scrapers (just like the Pampered Chef ones, but free and smaller so you can toss them more frequently)
2. Tagging cords going into one of those strip plugs so you know what is what without unplugging the wrong thing, or without following the cord all the way back to the appliance.

Empty Milk Jugs

I enjoy having a little food storage around.  Nothing fancy, and not too detailed or whatnot.  But when I purchase things like rice, sugar, beans, etc., I want to be able to store them in smaller packs that are handy, and that you can see.  In comes the empty milk jug.  I clean it out with hot water, a little dawn and a little white vinegar, rinse it really well, then set it on it's side in a cabinet to dry out for about a week to make sure there is no moisture in it.  Then I fill it with whatever I'm wanting to store, label it with contents and date, cover the top with plastic wrap and a rubber band, then put the little plastic top back on it.  If I have silica gel packs from other household items I have purchased, I put one of those on top.  These are easy to work with and hold about 4lbs of dry items.  You can see through them somewhat, and they have a helpful handle.  Best of all, they are already around and every one that gets reused stays out of a landfill. 

Words to the wise.  Milk jugs are great for short term storage of lots of things, but I would not recommend them for long term storage.  they are not intended for use in the types of food storage that people don't use for 10 years.  I also would never put anything liquid or semi liquid in them.  Pretty much anything that has moisture, I would avoid.  Just dry stuff.  And if you don't want to use them for food, you can use them for your powdered items like laundry soap, dishwasher soap, kitty litter, epsom salts, beads, lego's, etc.

Use your imagination, and use your head.  Happy Storage!

Skip the soup, pass the hash

My family is not big into soups.  I like soups, but not too frequently.  My husband even less so.  Therefore, all of those 'cheap meals' cookbooks have huge sections I don't use.  However, I tried something last night that might be a new breakthrough for me.

My husband is a meat and potato man.  So, we eat a lot of meat and potatoes in various concoctions and contortions and whatever.  He also only likes leftovers once.  Well, okay - new challenge.  I know that soup is a cheap meal, and the idea of soup of leftovers is catchy among tightwads like me.  But if the family does not like soup, what do you do --make hash!

Easy Leftover Hash

Meat
Veggies (fresh and leftover cooked)
Diced Potatoes (about 1 cm so they cook quickly)

Put potatoes in skillet with a little olive oil and cook for about 10 minutes until they are almost tender, and any veggies (I like to add additional onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, etc - whatever I have that I don't want to spoil in the fridge), let those cook a couple of more minutes then dice up what ever meat you had leftover (yes, you can do this with meatloaf and meatballs, and even taco meat, just run a bit of hot water over them to rinse old sauce/seasoning off.).  Add the cooked meat and cooked leftover veggies toward the end.  Stir until all is hot and potatoes are completely done.

At this point, you can do several things:  1) serve as a dry hash, 2) make a little gravy in the pan with it ( or add some cream of whatever soup you want)  and serve it over old homemade bread (soaks up gravy), or 3) top it with cheese and serve.

There are a few things to keep in mind when doing this:
1) match your flavors well - leftover taco meat does better for a soutwestern style hash, so go with those flavors; same for meatballs and italian, meatloaf chunks (minus the tomato topping) do well in a swiss style hash, etc, etc.
2) experiment and write down what you did and how your family reacted
3)  this same concept can be applied to making it a hamburger/chicken helper style meal, your meat and veggies additives are just already done for you.

Let me know if you come up with any 'rock star' dishes

Shampoo Review

This shampoo formula needs a little work.  It did lather nicely after the second day, I guess the mix had to have time to sit and mix for a few hours.  The problem I'm having is not with the lathering or rinsing, and by the way, it rinses out really fast, but it leaves my hair a little dry.  Now, I have purposely not put any conditioners or creams on my hair after the shampoo so that I could get a good 3 days of use for an assessment, but I'm going to have to figure out a conditioner or rinse or some sort.  More digging to do, but this shampoo experiment was way better than the one from a few months ago.

I will figure this out!

The Eco and Bio Friendly Waves of Change at my House

That may have been the longest title for a blog post ever on this blog!

I have been on a quest in the past couple of months, I really want to go more eco-friendly and biologically friendly in my home and with my personal care items.  Why?  Well, several reasons, but I'll only divulge a few here, otherwise this whole post with be tremendously long -

1. We have well water in my home and the well is on my property, so I want the things that go down my drain to be eco/bio friendly and nontoxic
2. I have been reading up on what many of the crazy chemical ingredients in things do in our body, most of them are carcinogens, some of them are unknown (which may be a bit more scary), so I would like to get rid of them in my older body, but also prevent them from building up in my children's young bodies
3. It can actually be cheaper to go clean and green if you homemake your formulas versus buying the conventional synthetic cheap brands over the counter
4. My youngest son has problems with asthma sometimes, so I would like to decrease the pollutants and VOC's in my indoor air.

So that's enough.

I have a couple of books, one came from the library "Easy Green Living" by Renee Loux is a great reference tool about different products to go greener in your life.  The better book is "Better Basics for the Home" by Annie Berthold-Bond.  I got that one for free from some stuff my dad had.  Another interesting one I got from him was "1001 Chemicals in Everyday Products" by Grace Lewis.  Using these 3 together has really been an eye opener for what is in different household products, plus ways to make my own natural nontoxic alternatives.

So......

My first experiment is the basic shampoo formula:

• 10oz water (I have a reverse osmosis unit, so that's where mine comes from)
• 2 oz castille soap (I keep Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild on hand)
• 1 tsp glycerin

Mix and store in a jar or bottle, whatever suits your fancy

So, I used it tonight, and I will say it doesn't give your hair that slippery feel while you wash, which is different, but not a big deal.  It also doesn't get as bubbly as shampoo, which is fine with me because it also doesn't leave a residue.  I did not use conditioner (although the book gives a recipe for one) because I wanted to test the shampoo formula first.  So, I let my hair naturally dry, and as of right now, it feels about the same as it does after a shampoo with a little bottle conditioner or one of those shampoo/conditioner combos.  I wonder if it's because the natural stuff didn't strip my hair of all of it's natural protection.

I will use it without the conditioner for a few more days and come back with the results.

If you are considering go more natural formula in your home and body care, here is a short list of the most common ingredients in most of the formulas:

• castille soap
• glycerin
• white vinegar
• baking soda
• aloe vera gel
• alcohol (she calls for a lot of vodka in the book)
• essential oils (there are listed in the book as optional, but lavender and tea tree are the most common)
• borax

I actually already had most of this stuff anyway, I just purchased the glycerin (1.49 for a 4oz bottle at Harris Teeter)

I can't wait to see how the next formula I try works out!!!!

Baking Soda Deodorant

I was recently reading up on heavy metals (that our bodies do not need) in different everyday products and what alternatives are available.  One of the biggies for me was aluminum.  I learned that aluminum is linked to alzheimer's.  This is not a big deal to some, but my grandmother had alzheimers, and it is not pleasant at all.  So what is aluminum in anyway?

• Deodorant
• Baking Powder
• Some cosmetics
• Maalox
• Rolaids
• Canned foods (it's what the can is made of)
• Many cooking utensils, pans, etc.

My, my.  Well, a girl can't tackle everything at once, so I started with the ones I have the most contact with - deodorant and baking powder.  It's easy to find aluminum-free baking powder, and it's just as cheap as the other.  Check one off my list.  Two - deodorant.  Now that one is a little more tricky.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to stink! 

So, I was doing a little research, and I thought about the homemade deodorant recipe posted here by one of my comerades, but until I have the materials, I just wanted something easy.  I came across 2 things:  isopropyl alcohol and baking soda.  For the isopropyl alcohol, just simply fill a small spray bottle with it, then spritz your pits a couple of times a day.  The alcohol kills the bacteria since that's what causes BO anyway, but allows you to sweat, which is one of the ways the body detoxifies itself.  For the baking soda, the instructions said to put some in a small tupperware style container, take a large facial powder brush and treat the baking soda just as you would facial powder - dip, tap, brush on delicately.  Done.  So, this is the one I tried today.  It was not hot, so even though I perspired, I was not drenched.  However, I did run/walk intervals for about 2 miles today.  And you know what - NO STINK!  I was impressed. 

So, I will try this for a few days and just see if it holds up, and I'll let you know.  I may still try the alchol one too, or maybe some combination like a 'spritz, dry, powder' routine.  I'll get back to you on that one.

.15 notebooks

It's back on!!  The .15 notebooks are here again, please get some along with all of the other supplies you will not see this cheap again until next year.  Here's my own list of favorites:

• 1subject notebooks, college ruled, .15 each (I have purchased 46)
• 12 ct. crayola colored pencils, 1.00 (I purchased about 8)
• 11ct. WASHABLE magic markers, .70 (I purchased about 10)

You can use the notebooks for anything.  For instance:

• Journaling
• Phone message book
• Lesson Plans (1 or 2 days per page leaving lots of room to write and jot and tittle)
• Recipes
• Lists
• Kids doodle pads and drawing books (they don't care about the lines, so neither should you)
• Books just to have on hand to write your thoughts down

Think about it, the cute journals in the store go for an easy 3.50, give you kid one of these, and let him or her draw their own artwork on a piece of paper, or print something cute off of the computer, and paste it on, but don't pay a ton for a notebook

Just write on the front what it's for and who it's for and go with it.  Options:

• 'Mom's Thoughts'
• 'Bible Study Notes'
• 'Jacob's Kindergarten Lesson Plans'
• 'Booklist, Field Trips and other Enrichment Activities for Kindergarten 2010-2011'
• 'Recipes and attempted Concocktions'
• 'Money Saving Mommies best Ideas Ever'  (wink, wink)
• 'Shopping list'
• 'Blog ideas'
• 'Ideas to save more money around my home'
• the list goes on.......

If you have kids, get a  ton so they have their own, if you do not have kids, I would still get about 25 and have them ready to go anytime.  At .15, that's a bargain.

Magazine Articles

Do you ever read a great magazine article, then save the entire magazine only to want to read it again months later and not be able to find it?  I do it often.  So, my project for the past couple of days has been to offload some space-sucking magazines.  However, I do like some of the articles.  So, I have been thumbing through the magazines and tearing out the articles, and putting them in a binder in sheet protectors, then the rest of the magazine is either recycled or tossed or whatever you want to do with it.  Then you just label your binder "Magazine Articles" or something so you can remember it, then you have the articles you want and the space you need!

Fix your own car!

I'm trying to sell my car.  It has 94,000 miles and is wonderful.  But my husband wants us to have something a little newer with fewer miles, plus AWD or 4WD for our mountain trips.  So, I listed my car on craigslist and yesterday, my speed and tachometer stopped working.  I was a little disheartened thinking that something was seriously wrong.  Today I took the car by my favorite mechanic and he said he didn't know how to fix it.  He had seen it before, but didn't know what to do.  So this afternoon, I looked it up online, just to check and see if others had the same issue......lo and behold, others not only had the same issue, but there were instructions on how to correct it FOR FREE!!!!  AND THEY WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm sure it save me at least a couple of hundred bucks on mechanics fees and no telling what else.  So google the problems with your car, microwave, TV, etc, before you call the service person, you may just save yourself some serious dough!

Swiffer

I love the swiffer wet jet for many reasons, but two of those reasons are not the cost of the solution refills and the cost of the pad refills.  So I did some searching and this is what I have found to work

For the solution:  once the bottle is empty, bore a hole in the top big enough for a funnel to fit, then add your own solution and then just stick a cork in it.  If your cork is too big, just trim away on the cork or you can make your hole a little larger.  But I recommend manipulating the cork versus the bottle.  I personally like to use a white vinegar and water solution, but you can just use your favorite bottle cleanr and dilute to package directions.

For the pad:  You can go several ways with this, but something reusable seems to be the cheapest.  I use plain old bar mops for dishtowels, and after one gets too stained, it makes an excellent replacement pad, just clip the backside with clothespins, binder clips or whatever you have handy, and when you're done, toss it in the wash.  You can also use old washcloths, microfiber cloths, or even old cloth diapers.

Happy Swiffering the cheap way!

Compost

Great soil for gardening or flowers is hard to find, and when you do find it, it's expensive.  So make your own.  I know, the word compost conjures us memories of terrible odors and grossness.  But's here's the thing, you don't have to have a big smelly pile of rotting material in order to have compost.  And you don't have to buy a $200 dollar compost bin.

Did you know you can compost right in your flowerbed/garden.  I never knew this until a gentleman in my neighborhood did it.  The trick is that you spread it out instead of dumping it into one huge pile, and you use one of those 3 pronged fork things (looks like a small pitchfork) and you turn your soil frequently.  What I discovered is that doing this helps the material you are composting decompose faster, and at the same time, you are turning your soil often which helps aerate it, and because it's turning, water absorbs more quickly and weeds are easier to pull, plus there are fewer of them.  Now I don't turn all of my soil at once.  I have 3 distinct patches of garden, so if I turn one every day or 2, I can keep up with it.  I also don't have tons of stuff to compost.  Mostly peeling, eggshells and stems and seeds.  We don't generally have cooked veggie leftovers.  I did it with rotten tomatoes that fell off the vine last year and within a couple of weeks, the seeds had sprouted into new tomato plants!

If you are still a little fidgety about putting your compost all over your garden, then just pick a small corner and do it there, then you just have to turn that one small patch every couple of days.  It'll work the same without have a big ugly separate pile to have to maintain.  Just have little ones instead.

Sewing

I am new to sewing.  I have had a sewing machine now for about 3 years, but just never got into it.  However, this year is different.  I have already created 2 skirts and 1 hanbag completely lined, padded and has inner pockets and zips shut.  I'm so proud of myself.  I even took a few minutes this after noon to go to the Cotton Gin and scope out the latest Vera Bradley's to see if I can  duplicate something like it for myself -  Hmmmmm, if I can get that one done, I may even post pics!

Sewing can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.  I would suggest that when you are beginning, get some old fabric from your grandma's closet or a thrift shop so that you're not wasting 10.99 per yard fabric on a skirt that is not done well.  I personally have used some of my husband's pants that he wore only once then they shrunk on him - he could't wear them, so they became fodder for my play.  The skirts were made from new material, but the leftover bits became parts for bags, hair wraps, etc.  A small cosmetics bag can be made from just a few small bits of fabric.  These are good practice pieces!  Old T shirts can have a new life as reuseable shopping bags is torn apart just a bit and resewn.Sewing is also a practice of independance.  I no longer NEED a Vera, I can make my own duplicate to the dimensions and level of organization that work for me!

Razor Blades

Do what!!  Yes, it says razor blades, and let me now tell you why:

• Cost - about 1.50 for a pack of 10 single edge (which is what you want)
• Grout - after you scrub grout, there is usally this little bit of gunk you just can't get out, well, I get it out with virtually no effort with a razor blade
• Gas cooktop - you know what I mean, the little bit of dried oil, butter, food, etc that get burned, brown and stuck on right there under where the flame comes out, a razor blade takes them off easily, just be careful not to dig so you don't scratch your surface
• Nonstick cookware - **don't do this if you have any type of warranty because it will nullify it.  But if you have the cheaper kind, I personnally have used a razor blade to get stuck on pam spray off before.  My hubby is usually the only one to use the nonstick and clean it, and sometimes if little bits of the spray gets left on, it will burn on and it's hard to get off -
• Glass - get stray spray paint or other stuck on matter off of glass in a cinch - I personally love to do this on my toaster oven because it's hard to clean the door
• Small appliances - I have a kitchen aid stand mixer that I use almost daily.  I wipe it down after I use it, but sometimes I like to take if apart and just give it a good bath.  Well, since I make a lot of flour products, bits of flour dust get left behind when I wipe it down, and because it's not far from the stove, grease particles maket he flour stick, and sometimes you get gunk around the screws in the back of the machine, so when I give my mixer the spa treatment, I get the razor blade out and scrape gently around the joints and screws and my baby comes out clean as a whistle.
• I use a clean razor blade to slash bread tops before baking too, you can get pretty creative with the art this way because the slashes are so clean.

The razor blade is fast becoming one of my good friends, however there are a few instances when a razor blade should never be considered:

• On humans - do I really need to get into this, just don't use it on people
• On animals - can't think of  a good time to use it on critters either
• If you have a mentally unstable person living with you - then you may want to forego razor blades in the home at all

So, I like to use razor blades for certain jobs, but I keep them in a safe place and far away from where my kids could find them.  I also store the little case they come in inside of another container, to further hide them.  Used cautiously and responsibly though, they can be handy little suckers and save you a lot of cleaning time and headache.  Plus they are dirt cheap themselves.

**Please read disclaimer to the bottom right of this blog!

White Vinegar for Urine Odor

I have a 3 year old who is potty trained but still has accidents, and not all surfaces can be thrown in the washer.  Case in point - your car's seat cannot be put in the washer.  So, I have heard before that white vinegar added to your washload will get the urine scent out of clothes - and that is true, I have used it for about a couple of years now.  A couple of days ago however, I had to get the scent out of something - so here's what I did, I used clean towels to soak up as much as possible, then I took my White
Vinegar and Water Cleaning Solution and spray and medium mist (enough to dampen the surface - more than a light mist, but not a soaking either) and I just left it there.  It took a couple of hours to air dry but the urine scent was gone.  The area does not smell like vinegar either.  I mean if you stick your nose right up to the surface (I did just to check to make sure the urine odor was gone) you can get a faint vinegar smell.  But it's very very faint, and only if your nose is stuck right up on it.  Move 3 inches away, and you can't smell it at all.

I have used febreeze a lot for many household surfaces, and it works well, but urine and feces are tough odor and vinegar generally kills both odors well.  This is very important if you have small children :)


*** I generally use a 1:10 white vinegar:water ratio for my home all purpose cleaning, and this same stuff is what I sprayed on the area.  If you have pets it may take a higher concentration, or even straigt white vinegar spray.  Let me know if you try this.***

Cash for Groceries

Most people have heard of this 'cash only' system for buying groceries - I have wanted to do it, but keep getting back into the debit card rut.  We definitely do not use credit cards - for anything, but it is easy to lose track of extras when you're swiping the debit card.

Can I do it? Can I really go to a cash only?

My husband gets paid on Monday, and when I deposit his check on Tuesday morning I am going to keep out $75 for groceries, and try to do $75 weekly on the cash system and see if I make it - I'll let you know if I can pull it off or fall on my face!!

Leftover Bread

One of the pitfalls of making your own bread is that it goes stale pretty quickly - usually within about 2-3 days.  Alas!  My heart distresses over waste! (Yes, I'm embellishing a bit :)  Anyway, when my bread is going stale, I just go ahead a replace it with a fresh loaf and slice up whatever is left of the stale and put it in the freezer in a big (gallon or 2 gallon) size ziploc bag.  You see stale bread is perfect for french toast  or bread puddings or those casseroles that require stale bread.  I personally love to use my stale bread for french toast in order to create my favorite concoction ever - the Monte Cristo!  And with a sandwich like that, you need your bread to hold up a little :)

If you want to know what to do with the bread loaf heels - buzz them in the food processor and freeze them - you now no long have to purchase bread crumbs!!!

Stainless Steel Cleaner

I have a lot of stainless steel appliances, and they need to be cleaned A LOT!  Stainless steel cleaner is pricey - usally about $4 a pop, so I have been working with some things I alredy have in my home that are cheap, environmentally friendly and kid friendly.  Oh yeah, and I don't want it to streak - turns out white vingear in water (1:20) does a good job, and so far, no streaks.  Cheap, easy, and if the kids get into  it and drink some - no worries!

**Ooops - 1:10 on the vinegar and water, course you can go higher if you need it!!

Cosmetic Bags

If you don't already own one, please don't buy one - I was in wal-mart today and those things cost anywhere from $5-$25 depending on how fancy you want it to look.  Really?  $25?  For a glorified ziplock bag?

Okay, I personally vote for the ziplock, if something spills inside of it, it's contained, and you can just ditch the 3 cent bag and get another one.  If liquid spills in a cosmetic bag, it's going to leak out through the zipper or the corners and you need to toss the whole bag.

Still don't want to use the ziploc, need something a little sturdier - look around, many items you normally buy come with a sort of baggie - for instance, if you purchase clinique, about twice a year you get a free bag with it; chances are at least 2 of the men in your family have received one too many shaving kits in their lifetimes and never threw away the bag - use it, they are VERY sturdy; pencil holders are made of nylon or burlap, these are very sturdy also and may have more than one compartment; go to the dollar tree and get one, but my Lord, don't pay $25 for one!

What can you do with the saved $25:
1 - milk, eggs, flour, sugar, butter, coffee, half n half, cereal
2 - underwear
3 - socks for 3 people
4 - a movie
5 - a new book
6 - new makeup for your bag
7 - gas for the car
8 - a christmas present
9 - groceries for someone in need
10 - enough packs of seed to plant a full garden in the spring


See, that $25 can be used so much better than on a cosmetic bag