Lifestyle ~ Saving Money

Laundry

One of the best, surefire ways to save money is on laundry soap! You can make your own for a fraction of the cost of all those big name brands and it is simple. Before we talk about how, lets talk savings!

I love Fels Naptha. Fels Naptha has been around for over a hundred years and is now distributed by the Dial Soap Company. Normally, you can find Fels Naptha for about $1.50 to $1.75 a bar, but right now Soaps Gone Buy has it on sale for $.99! One bar will make a five gallon bucket of laundry soap. I use approximately 2/3 cup per load and doing laundry for my dirty bunch, the soap I make from one bar last anywhere from 2 to 3 months!

Some recipes call for adding washing soda and or Borax. I rarely add these, but you can if you want. The recipes only call for 1 cup each of the two, so all total it doesn’t add much to the cost. I find using the Fels Naptha alone cleans well, not only that, it is the only laundry soap I have found that takes the diesel smell out of clothes (when dh is working on equipment).

Here is another thing we have discovered. I have two kids with sensitive skin. In the years since we have used Fels Naptha we have seen a huge decrease in problems with skin irritations. Like I said, this is an old recipe and it does not have many of the chemicals found in today’s laundry detergents.

Besides being great as a laundry soap, Fels has a number of other uses. You can find all of these listed on the Soaps Gone Buy website along with the more popular recipes for using Fels.

But here is my recipe. I place the bar in a one gallon pitcher (that has a lid) (I DO NOT GRATE the BAR). Add boiling water until the pitcher is about 2/3 full, then finish filling with hot tap water. Stir this and allow to cool. It will thicken or it should, but if it doesn’t, don’t worry, it will still do the job. I use out of this pitcher. When it begins to get low, repeat the boiling water process. The bar will still be in the bottom of the pitcher. And it last and last. Honestly, that is all there is to it and we have been doing it this way for over 7 years! My husband even thinks this is the coolest thing.

With my crew, I figure at today’s prices I would be spending about $15.00 to $20.00 a month on laundry soap if I were buying from the local big box store. However, with the Fels I am spending less than a $1.00, plus we aren’t suffering from skin irritations.

I calculate, I save at least $14.00 a month and that adds up to $168.00 for the year! Plus, I love the fact that we have less chemicals coming in contact with out skin. *I’m really pushing this skin irritation/chemical thing, huh? But it is because I want you and your family healthy, too!*


Mean while back at the ranch....er, homestead ~

No more babies, yet! We are just waiting, waiting. The little orphan chile (kid) is doing great ~ only, dh and the boys talked me in to letting her sleep in the house (in a huge RubberMaid type tub), because the nights are still so cold. Well, she can get out of that huge tub now! So, I am here to tell you, it better warm up! About 5:00 a.m. she expects breakfast and if it doesn't show up pretty soon, she is out of that tub and looking for food!

May this Thursday find you blessed!

Lifestyle ~ Saving Money

Before we start today’s post, here are two giveaways. The first is a “sure thing’ for the first 50 people!!! You can find all the information at Katie’s Dishin’ and Dishes.

The second giveaway you’ll find here near the bottom of a post from last Friday.

Hey ~ And thank you, to all who have signed up as followers! I am working on a giveaway where only those who are “Followers” will be qualified to enter. We have another giveaway starting in March, so the giveaway for “Followers” will start near the end of April. Hugs!



I was thinking about this post ~ let me rephrase that ~ Thoughts were jumping in and out of my brain, while I was going about my everyday doings and it occurred to me, many of the things I was considering writing about not only concerned saving money, but could also fall into other categories like saving time or developing a healthier lifestyle.

There isn’t time today, to explain how I learned the things I am going to share. For now, let’s just say, this all comes from my frame of reference. You have your own frame from which to work and on which you can hang your own conclusions. So, take these and choose those that may work for you and your family. Just toss the others, I have more.

As a matter of fact, I have so many more, I am going to continue to add to this topic and hopefully organize it under it’s own tab. (I have to get smarter and more creative first, or strong-arm #1 son. There is a reason you have kids. Some grow up to become doctors, lawyers or in this case, computer programmers.) I still have to figure out what to call this section. Ideas, anyone?

And remember, “every journey starts with a single step.” That’s true especially when you are talking about lifestyle changes, such as those that affect your health, your home and your finances.

Groceries and Other Necessities

The first two rules are 1) make a list and 2) do NOT go to the grocery store hungry!

My oldest daughter called the other night. They were at the grocery store and she said, “David (sil) hasn’t eaten all day and you cannot imagine what all is in my grocery cart!”

Oh yeah, I can. Been there, done that. And most of us have.

If you go to the store hungry, everything looks good, especially those things that are already semi-prepared and are more expensive. Face it, a bag of beans doesn’t look too great, even if you love beans, mainly because your stomach knows if you start cooking them right now they aren’t going to be ready for 4 or 5 hours!

I make a list. Often I forget the list, but having made the list helps me to remember most of those items we need to restock.

The fewer trips you make to the grocery store each month, the more savings! How many times have you gone for milk and bread and ended up spending more like $45.00? Every trip means less money in your pocket. And that doesn’t include the gas you will save, by limiting your trips.

Buy those things you have to have, when they are on sale. If the brand of dish soap you use is on sale, buy an extra (at least one). Dish soap is a necessity and it won’t go to waste. (Just put the bag of chips back on the shelf and you can probably buy two extra! This isn’t going to hurt as bad as you think.) You can do this with a number of items and before long you will have a well stocked pantry!

Meal Planning

Proverbs says, speaking of the Proverbial wife (the one with the excellent report) that she smiles at the future! Today, I think more of us look at the future with “dread”. Especially if we don’t know what we are cooking for dinner! Spend a few minutes planning your menus for the next few days. This will really help, if you work outside the home.

If your family is having oatmeal, toast and juice for breakfast, make sure the juice is prepared the night before. If you are planning on having Mexican food on Monday night, why not cook a pot of beans over the weekend? Organize your meals, even if it is just in your head. I know my day goes smoother if I know what I am having for dinner at ten in the morning rather than waiting until five in the afternoon.

I try to have certain days I cook certain things, but at the same time I try to be flexible ~ after all, I have a house full of kids and sometimes they eat what you had planned to have for the next meal!

Still, I try to cook (a pot of) beans on Thursday. 1) I know without wondering, what day those beans in the fridge were cooked, 2) company usually shows up over the weekend and beans can help stretch a number of meals (and they aren’t expensive).


Don’t Pour That Broth Out!

If you boil chicken for chicken salad or whatever, save the broth. That’s right. Just pour it up and freeze. You can pull it out later to use as a base for soups, add to rice, or a number of other things.

I also keep a half gallon container in the freezer for leftover vegetables. If you have 2 or 3 tablespoons of some kind of vegetable you would normally use in soup, add it to the “soup container” in the freezer. Before long, you will have the makings for a pot of vegetables soup ~ a meal that is practically free! You can also add leftover roast gravy, chopped or sliced raw vegetables such as onions (leftover from hamburgers) or green bell peppers. (Don’t throw the tops of bell pepper away, trim around the top and add to your “soup container.”

Sometimes, I freeze leftover onion slices separate in a freezer bag. They can then be added to dishes like stir fry. You could do this with any leftover fresh vegetable (without blanching, providing you are going to use the vegetables in a short time).

Whatchya Drinking?

Often, when people think they are hungry, they are actually thirsty. Make water your “best friend.” It will aid in wait loss, wash toxins out of your system, save you money, keep you hydrated, help to get rid of those nagging headaches ~ the list of positives is endless. And don’t buy bottled water. Most bottled water comes right out of someone else’s faucet. If you are on a municipal water supply, by a water filtering system. In the long run it will save you money.

Stay tuned!