Tea and Sweatpants...

It's paying off!

Finances are a taboo subject, and rightly so, but it is my duty to report the goodness of God and a bit of our journey that we are on. Also, I can hardly hold it in:)

We've been living in the "cheap" category for the full (almost 5 years) of our young marriage and young family. Honestly I think most young marrieds, especially if they have kids, live on a strict budget or beyond their means. For the first few years of marriage we floundered our way through our finances. We stumbled through some financial classes and learned how to be responsible and to talk to each other about money without yelling. We acquired some minor debt with the purchase of our car, the move to Portland, and some other things. This was all manageable (yet irresponsible) until about 18 months ago. We hit a rough patch financially, the boys moved in, I became full time mom and our journey to extreme frugality began in order for us to stay above water. Now, also in the last 18 months we've found ways to aquire some more income and to receive some financial support from other avenues.

The combination of frugal living, financial blessings from God, and a bit of creativity has given us this day debt free! We still owe an arm and leg to our private Nazarene schools but other than that the car is ours and every penny of loose debt is gone!!! Yesterday we paid off the last few pieces of that and are praising God for this financial journey we've been on. In a few months we'll be buying a van (yup, family of 5 with 3 car seats don't fit in a small car) in 100% cash! Our money from the sale of the Blazer will fill our emergency fund and we'll begin saving to buy a house.

What a huge relief, a huge burden lifted!

Anyway, with the exception of a few things I've still been striving to be eco friendly about our home and body products. Not only is this good for all our growth and living but also for our budget. I can't even tell you how much we have saved on our "household" budget by taking a few minutes to make these products.

Two more ways to save:
1. Face Wash: I have been using honey as face wash. I put some in one of those plastic travel shampoo containers to keep in the shower, it works as well as any other cleanser and is very gentile on my face.
2. Eye Makeup Remover: I put a small dot of the boy's tear free baby shampoo on a tissue and it wipes all eye makeup right off.
3. Hand lotion: It's really dry these days in the NW so instead of stocking up on travel size lotions (they are overpriced) I buy a travel container and fill it with my favorite body lotion and keep that in the car/purse. This is MUCH cheaper.
4. Reed diffusers: Our reed diffusers get all nasty after a while from getting flipped so much. We bought a bulk size bottle of scent and we fill a small container with it. I found that wooden bamboo secures (that you use for kabobs and such) work great. I'm sure wooden chopsticks ("gifted" from your favorite take out) would work as diffusers as well.

Alright, I've had some time to perfect this one and I'm pretty pleased with the results. The recipes can be found HERE.

Some lessons learned:

1. I like having liquid soap to help with stains. When spots need a bit of extra help I dab the liquid soap directly onto the spot and it helps in a big way going through the wash load.

2. The liquid soap recipe requires a large bucket and a place to store that.

3. The sugested Fels-Naptha soap is a MUST for good cleaning.

4. For hard water (like we have here) add 1/2 c. of baking soda to any of the recipes.

5. My FAVORITE recipe is #4 from the link above with an added 1/2 c. of baking soda. This one was the easiest and worked the best for me. Also, it only takes up a tiny bit of space in the laundry room because it's super concentrated.

Now that I've found a perfect recipe that is super quick and easy I'll never go back:)

The disinfectant wipes are still going strong!

I made dish soap: http://www.diylife.com/2009/08/03/how-to-make-your-own-dish-soap/ Using method 3

Another frugal switch I've made is using bar soap instead of liquid. You get the exact same foam on the luffa that you do with liquid and if everyone is using luffas and wash cloths you don't have to think about where the bar has been! It is MUCH cheaper to use bar soap.

I've decided that for all my cleaning supplies that require a bar of soap it is a MUST to use a different scent than what's in the shower. I don't like washing pots and pans and smelling the Dove soap I just bathed in:O)

Nick and I have been cleaning the garage in preparation for finishing it and we found MOUNTAINS of napkins! This makes me proud because it is evidence of our use of the cloth napkins.

The only thing that's been difficult is the comfort and familiarity of the smells of the store bought cleaners. I know the evidence shows that the cleaning power is the same but my nose makes me doubt. Several times I consider running to dollar tree and getting a small thing of laundry soap just so I can have a few loads smell like the old days. Then, I remember my little boys and how I'm protecting them.

Anyway, that's the update!

This is one that I have been using for about as long as the laundry soap. The results aren't outstanding but it does the job. Instead of the costly powder soap for the dishwasher I use a mix of 1 cup borax and 1 cup baking soda. If I completely fill the dishwasher compartment it comes out cloudy so better to use just a few tablespoons. Also, I keep vinegar or jet dry stuff in the rinse dispenser to help keep it shiny.

This entails a bit more effort but saves SO much money. I have been doing this for almost a year now and have been pleased with the results.

Here is the recipe I use:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/109349/do-it-yourself-laundry-detergent

This has been my favorite switch of all! I love passing out and using the cloth napkins I made and am so excited to make more. I use them with pride knowing I'm saving our garbage bill, trees and our budget. All I did was take an old sheet, cut it into squares, fold the edge and sew. I recommend this one to EVERYONE. If you aren't a seamstress at all I bet you could do some great deal hunting for end of season discounts, garage sales, Goodwill, and antique stores.

As you know I have lately been exploring non-toxic ways to keep my home clean and fresh. I decided I would allow the toxic ones I currently own to run themselves out and as each ran out I would look for a non-toxic and cheap alternative. Yesterday I ran out of Clorox wipes. I am a huge fan of the convenience and ease at which I could grab one of these wipes for a mid week surface cleaning. I was sure there wasn't an alternative to this and I would have to get out the sponge and spray every time. Today I found and made the alternative and it works great!

I used the same container that the wipes were in and I filled it with the following disinfectant solution:
3.5 cups water
1/4 c. of Vinegar
1 t. of borax

I cut a paper towel roll in half (this was the hardest part of the whole thing) and unrolled (into another roll) until it would fit in the container. I put them in the container and allowed it to soak.

The true test will be to see how the roll holds up after hours and days of soaking. I am not convinced it will work but I guess I'm putting paper towels to the test! I'm sure there is a way to take this a step further and use cloth instead of paper towels. We shall see!

A few years ago I was curious about soy products. My research and learning propelled me into a quest of learning all about nutrition and healthy food. I became slightly obsessed with "hmm, I wonder what is actually in this."

Around the same time I was teaching an environmental unit to my 4th graders and was learning with them the effects of plastic bottles and garbage bags. This also propelled me into a learning adventure and another slight obsession with knowing how all that I throw away effects the environment.

A few weeks ago someone told me "you shouldn't use drier sheets, ever, they are extremely toxic." I wanted to cry...not my drier sheets! So I started researching the effects of using them and was seeking a cheap alternative. This lead to my new understanding of all the chemicals I use daily (lotion, shampoo, air freshener, dish soap, etc.) and I became concerned with the use of all of them and overwhelmed at finding alternatives that would be less toxic.

Here have been the results of all that I've learned about these three and my final reflections about all of them.

1. I believe it is impossible on our family budget to be completely organic and nitrate free with our food.

2. It seems near impossible to avoid plastic pop and water bottles at all cost. It is fairly easy to remember the shopping bag and avoid the plastic ones. It would be MUCH better for our family to use cloth diapers but I'm not about to be scraping poo from them and washing them...sorry just can't do it!

3. The toxins in our home are overwhelming. This is the one that I am most empowered to change. I already make our own laundry soap and dish soap but the rest of it is just going to have to wait a few years until we are debt free.

4. Our country as a whole is becoming more aware and educated in all of these areas so there are plenty of alternatives out there but generally for a cost.

I just get so passionate about changing these things because they are so within our control. It seems spiritually responsible to be more environmental friendly and conscious about what goes in and through our bodies. I often feel as if I have to be all about the change or ignore the need for the change but I've come to realize that the small attempts and efforts I make are worth it. Every time I come up with an alternative at the same cost I feel so proud of myself and the way I'm protecting my family. All of that to say, I'm proud to report that as of recent we've become more aware and careful as a family about the toxins in our home and ways to eliminate them.