Healthy Changes- The Practical Side

When we decided to change our diet by eliminating meat and dairy and eating healthy, plant based foods, my first thought was, "This is going to blow our budget and take FOREVER to learn how to cook this way!"  (Click here to read more about our diet change.) However, I am so glad to say that I was wrong. Shopping for our meals and learning to cook with beans and veggies was challenging at first, but it didn't take long at all to find many foods that we love and that I can easily prepare.

Thrifty Tip #3 - Vinegar - Super Cleaner!

   Continuing with the, "Thrifty Theme," I wanted to share with you my very favorite homemade cleaning supply, White Vinegar!
 There are so many reasons that I enjoy using natural cleaners like vinegar... one of them being, of course, it saves money and time by using ingredients that are simple, affordable and easy to find in the grocery store!

Thrifty Tip # 2 - Homade Fabric Softener

   Are you ready to cut back on your expenses a little more today? As I shared in my last post on making homemade laundry soap, I have been learning how to save money through making my own household cleaning products. There are a LOT of really neat ideas out there, some are revolutionary and some.... I  could live without. For example, there was the time I tried washing my hair with only vinegar and baking soda for a week... OUCH! My dry skin was burning and my long hair always faintly smelled of vinegar. I was willing to try something new, but good shampoo is one thing I will be spending a little more money on in the future. However, I've tested many other homemade concoctions on my unsuspecting family and loved most of them! I promise to only share the best with you!
   My favorite thrifty tip for today is: homemade fabric softener. I found this idea at the Frugal Girls web page and really loved it! This fabric softener requires only three ingredients, smells good, costs very little to make, is gentle on your clothes and does a great job eliminating static! Ready to try it out?

Thrifty Tip # 2- Homemade Fabric Softener

What you will need:

• 6 cups of HOT water

• 3 cups of White Vinegar

• 2 cups or one 15 oz. bottle of Suave Conditioner (whatever scent you love)

• An empty container for storage. Mine was an old fabric softener container.

• A funnel to easily poor the fabric softener into a container.

                  First: Heat six cups of water in a pot until boiling

                  Second: Add the conditioner and vinegar to the hot water.

                   Third: Stir until the conditioner is completely dissolved.

                                  Fourth: Funnel into a container with a lid.

Last but not least, use two tablespoons of fabric softener per load of laundry and enjoy!
   As I said before, this project couldn't be any easier and the best part is that it works just as well as any name brand fabric softener but costs so much less!
Blessings!
Joy

Thrifty Tip #1 - Homemade Laundry Soap

Do you want to save money? Are you open to exploring possibilities that are a little out of the ordinary but lead to a simple, thrifty lifestyle? I am! My husband is a full time seminary student and I am a stay at home mom, so it has become necessary for my family to implement a  tight budget and try to find ways to cut costs. I'm finding that saving money doesn't  necessarily mean that I'm putting half of our income into a savings account every month or investing in stocks and bonds, it can be as simple as buying off brand products verses name brand. Cutting back in simple things like cost of groceries, toiletries and cleaning supplies can greatly reduce your monthly expenses. Through Internet research and  valuable friends that also are trying to cut down on their living expenses, I'm finding that I can save quite a bit of money by making products that I would normally buy or finding a way to live without overpriced "household essentials." Discovering a new way of doing things in a simpler, more cost effective way has become an exciting challenge for me. There are countless ways to shave a little off your monthly budget, I'm just beginning to learn all their is to living thrifty! Over the next few months I will take some time to share some of my personal, "Thrifty Tips," with you. Hopefully you will find something that works for your family and helps you to save as well! I will begin by sharing how to make homemade cleaning products such as: laundry soap, fabric softener, soft scrub, 409 cleaner, kitchen cleaner...etc.

Homemade Laundry Soap

    Today I thought I would share how I make the most popular of homemade cleaning products, laundry soap. I love making homemade laundry soap because it's easy to make, smells great, works well,  lasts forever and costs next to nothing to make! Because it is also a gentle soap I was able to use it on my son's clothes when he was a new born and saved money by not buying the expensive laundry soap for babies. A two gallon batch of laundry soap will last my family of three about three months and the ingredients, one box of Borax and Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, lasted me TWO YEARS! In case you were wondering... Yes, I do wash my clothes on a regular basis, it just doesn't take much soap to do a load of laundry so it lasts a long time! Ready to learn how to make my favorite laundry soap? Here we go!

What you will need:

1. 1/2 Cup of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda-(cost is around $2.50 per box)

2. 1/2 Cup of Borax- (cost is around $4.00 a box)

3. 1/2 Cup of Fels-Naptha- (cost is around $.90 per bar)

4. 2 one gallon containers for storage. (I use two large gallon water jugs that  I found at Wal-Mart for $2.00 each.)

5. Two gallons of boiling water. 

6. A funnel

Ingredients needed for laundry soap

 First: Bring two gallons of water to a boil. Be sure to turn the heat down to medium when you add the soap or it will boil over.

 Second: Grate or chop up the bar of Fels-Naptha. I chopped my bar of soap because my grater doesn't do a very good job with this soap.

This is what the soap looked like when I was done, but I would recommend chopping it finer than this so that It doesn't take too long to melt in the hot water.

 

Third: Pour 1/4 cup of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda, 1/4 cup of Borax and 1/4 cup of Fels-Naptha into each once gallon pot of water. On medium heat, allow the mixture to melt until it is completely liquefied. 

 Fourth: Funnel your cooled off laundry soap into each one gallon container.

The finished product!

Fifth: Use 1/2 cup of soap per load of laundry.

Note: As the soap sits it may separate a little, as you can see in this picture. This is perfectly fine and happens if a little too much Fels-Naptha is added. All you have to do is shake the jug before you use the soap. It might look a little funny, but it will still work great.

Voila! Now it's time for you to try! I hope you have fun discovering thrifty tips to save money for your home!
God bless!
Joy

Deciding to Learn

Recently I have discovered that I love to learn! No, I'm not talking about math and science (I highly doubt that I will ever develop a love for math. This girl and math will always be at odds). What I am excited about are things that I can learn that would be useful to my life as a mom and as a wife. Ideas that I stumble upon that help me become more organized, thrifty, creative or healthy are just a few things that are on my list to learn and accomplish. I've decided to intentionally learn and to improve upon what I already know. My goal with this blog is to pass on what I find so that you can also learn from my successes and, more likely, my many mistakes.

For now, this is all. I will be back soon with a new discovery to share!

God bless!

Joy