Getting Rid of Fleas, the Cheap and Green Way.

Fleas.  I hate 'em. 

It's been a tremendously bad year for bugs here.  We have two boxers that are in and out the back door, so now they have fleas.  I should say WE have fleas.  What I really hate is that my dogs have fleas...uh.. on their rear ends.  In some research, a vet referred to them as "asshole" fleas.  That pretty much says it all.

Alrighty, then.  First thing I did was fill up an empty shaker bottle (it used to have cinnamon in it) with some DE (diatomaceous earth).  It was an easy way to powder my dog's butts and undercarriage.  Yes.  And under the tail-ish.  I'd sprinkle it in my hand and just pat away.  The dogs ended up loving this extra attention.  I ended up wishing I had a brain scrubber.  We had the male dog neutered when we adopted him, but you know......  Try to keep the dust down and be careful if you're going close to their face.

I powdered dog butts two or three times a day for about a week before our dogs totally quit trying to scratch (they couldn't reach the area!).  Remember that it takes a bit of time for the flea to die, plus most likely, there are fleas in various cycles. 

That's step one.  Next is to attack the yard!  It doesn't do any good to treat Fido if you aren't going to deal with the area where he's getting the fleas to begin with.  Get a couple boxes of Borax from the laundry aisle of your local store.  Sprinkle that all over the yard where Fido runs.  Do it again the next day.  Water it in a bit if you want to.  It will stay effective for all kinds of bugs for two to three years.  DE won't work after it's wet, but Borax will.

Back to the house.  Dogs powdered, yard treated.  Now wash their bedding and vacuum, vacuum.  You can sprinkle some Borax or DE in the vacuum bag to take care of any fleas that end up in there.  If you have a bagless unit, don't just empty the cannister in the kitchen trash or you'll have recycled fleas.  You have to be vigilant with vacuuming.  Every day.  Every crack (not dog crack, though).  Plan on doing this for a few days.

It took about a week or so for our dogs to quit scratching.  Initially they stopped scratching after a few days, then started again for a couple days.  I'm guessing it was the last batch of flea eggs that hatched and we're done with them.

One of the best pages I have read about fleas is Paul's: http://www.richsoil.com/flea-control.jsp
He doesn't like Borax, but since I'm not using tons of it that often, I'm not afraid of it.  People have added it to their laundry wash for generations.  You decide what you're going to use.  :o)

Frugal living or not - two sides of the coin

I came across a website the other day that challenged everyone to eat on $1.50 per day for five days - http://livebelowtheline.com/ . 

So I gave it a shot.  You can see how I did on a thread at the Simple Living Forum - http://www.simplelivingforum.net/showthread.php?2731-My-personal-Live-Below-The-Line-Challenge

Kara (Treehugger on the Simple Living forum) commented on that thread that she budgets $100 a month for both her and her husband.  Wow.  That's $1.66 each per day.  Every day!  She doesn't have chickens, and it sounded like she didn't get much from the garden this year. She explains how she does it on the thread. And I thought I was doing pretty good by staying under $250 a month for the two of us, with a goal of $200 a month. I think she's my new hero.

You might think that $1.66 per person, per day is easily attainable.  What surprised me in the $1.50 challenge was how much all the extras added to the total - things like butter, sugar, seasonings, even tea, coffee or a glass of milk.  It wouldn't be much different in the $100 a month budget, either.

Now then, the flip side.  Some people we know dropped by the other day.  She's definitely not into the frugal living/make-it-from-scratch lifestyle.  Look in her refrigerator and you'll see a wave of take out containers AKA doggy bags, most of them with food that's not exactly edible.  Once in a while she throws it all away and starts over.  I always thought it was kind of comical and I'd tease her about it.

So the conversation was about the guy applying for a better paying job.  I said that my goal was to live well on less than $1000 a month. (A moment of silence - then lots of laughing and 'good luck with that' with some 'you poor dear' insinuated.)  They said that they need $7500 a month to live!  I didn't know my jaw could drop that far.  They don't live in a McMansion and have talked about financial problems in the past, so I know they have a boatload of debt.  What's scary is that they're 65-ish, so time isn't on their side any more.

So she's sitting there eating some of my homemade yogurt, almost yelling in her best 'holier than thou' tone:
I WANT to take my credit card to the store to buy what I want,
I WANT to use my credit card when ever I want, etc.

Me: *blink blink* (thanks, OFG).  I didn't say much but I was thinking that I kinda didn't like her any more.

It's all about choices.  Personally, I'd rather not have the pressure and I don't want Bill to have to work forever.  So my choice is to stay on the frugal side of life, challenge myself to lower the grocery bill each month without having to buy Beano (can I get it to $50 per person??) and pay off debt.  And of course - to enjoy the journey along the way!

Links for frugal recipes AKA eating on the cheap

“The remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served us nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~Calvin Trillin  (Copied from another site, but I forgot where I saw it!)

______________________________________________

http://www.leftoverchef.com/  Wonderful site that lets you type in what ingredients you have around the house, then gives you recipes of what you could make with them.

http://busycooks.about.com/  Tons of info and recipes here.  One of my favorite sites to get the recipes to make your own convenience foods and so much more.

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?folderId=13&listMode=13&nav=messages&webtag=ab-frugalliving  This is a thread in a forum that has a lot of frugal recipes.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/  Lots of recipes and information for the frugal minded.

http://www.miserlymoms.com/frugalrecipes_updated.html

http://www.allthingsfrugal.com/recipes.htm

These links should keep you busy for a while.  I'll post more as I come across them.  Let me know if you have some that are favorites of yours!

How much am I actually saving?

A while back a friend asked how much money I was actually saving by doing all the ‘weird things’ that are so typical in my life now. He has stressed a few times that even though I make things from scratch, I still have to buy something. He’s right to a certain extent. My usual answer is ‘that’s not the point’. Here’s my take on it:

Saving money at the grocery store - Usually making something from scratch is a lot cheaper than buying convenience foods, but not always. I could buy a cheap brownie mix for $1.07, but the homemade recipe I use is so much better although it probably costs as much or more to make. If I used a more generic recipe, it’d be cheaper.
Bread is another thing that I don’t feel guilty about buying, especially in the warm months. We like several types of ‘bird seed bread’, like 12 grain, etc. I don’t want to buy a bunch of different grains to make that. But during the winter we also have homemade white, whole wheat, oatmeal, skillet bread, etc.

Keeping as much plastic and other packaging out of the waste and recycle stream - Plastic can be recycled only so many times before it becomes toxic. I switched to real butter sticks instead of plastic tubs of margarine, make grape jelly (one aluminum can from shelf stable grape juice vs. three plastic jars to recycle), etc.

Not having to drive into town as often to get groceries - It’s a full gallon of gas round trip. Need I say more? I can make tons of things with just staples I keep on the shelf so there’s no running to the store to pick up a couple of things.

The ability to make pretty much whatever I want or need from the staples I keep on hand. - Now this is where the ‘make it from scratch’ really shines. I hate the taste of powdered milk, but it’s great for cooking and mixes. I use it in cream of chicken (or mushroom or celery) soup mix, flavored coffee creamers, all kinds of substitutions like sweetened condensed milk sub, on and on. The cream of whatever soup mix is stored in a smallish glass jar, and makes the equivalent of 9 cans of condensed soup. You’re just making your own convenience foods. It really doesn’t take that long to make the mixes and most use just simple ingredients.

So how much am I actually saving by doing all my ‘weird things‘? I tried to figure it out about 6 months ago. Although the numbers would vary month to month, it was $197 for that month.

The Cost of Using Your Coffee Maker

According to the propaganda, I mean newsletter from the local electricity company, the average annual cost of using your coffee maker is $80. Too bad it doesn’t say if the cost was figured from just brewing, or how long the warming burner was on. Since a lot of coffee makers have a two hour auto shut off, maybe that time was factored into the cost. I drink a lot of coffee, especially when the weather is cold, so my coffee maker gets a workout. In an effort to get a more accurate read on my coffee maker, I went to Mr. Electricity - http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html

He has a nifty table that you can plug in your own numbers, electric rate and hours to get your 'real' numbers.  Holy Mama!!  My coffee maker annual cost is almost $200 a year for the amount of time that I usually have it on. $16.44 a month.  Wow.  Can't be.  Now I'm sure that there's more power consumed during the brew stage, but hey, I want coffee without having to build a fire outside.  I originally set the energy calculator for 5 hours daily usage, but like I said, I'm sure the 900 watts (which is the most it will use) is for the brew cycle and nothing is mentioned for the warming element.  BUT, by setting the calculator to just 5 minutes (brew time only), it brings my monthly cost down to $0.28.   I'm not sure that's right, either.

According to the smart people at http://www.nppd.com/My_Home/Product_Brochures/Additional_Files/electric_usage.asp , using the brew cycle on my coffee maker once a day is costing me $1.17 a month.  My electric rates are higher than their list, so I busted out the calculator.  But this sounds reasonable.

I bought a Thermos brand carafe for $13 and pour the freshly brewed coffee into that.  The coffee maker gets clicked off right away.  Besides less electricity used, my coffee maker may last longer and the best thing is better tasting coffee later.  Worth every cent and short payback period.

*Note - this brand does not hold an entire pot like my previous Wal-Mart el cheapo carafe that I hated.  It was a battle to get the lid screwed on correctly every time I used it.  I was glad when it bit the dust.  The new Thermos brand carafe is definitely better.

Even MORE ways to save money and end up with money

Put your debit card away.  It's pretty easy to grab that thing and use it, huh.  You're less likely to buy impulse items if you have to dig out the check book or use cash.  Vow to never get cash from the ATM that charges you a fee.  If your bank charges you fees for checking, look for another bank.

Now that you have the checkbook in your possession again, there are some things you can do.  First, start a coin can.

Write the check at the grocery store to the next highest dollar so you get some change back.  When you get home, put the coins in your new 'savings' can.  Every time you have a few coins in your pocket, add them to the can.  A lot of people save $300 a year doing this simple thing.

Use coupons?  Rebates? Put that money in your coin can when you get home.

Talk yourself out of buying something extra at the store?  Put that money in the coin can.

Got an expensive habit, like tobacco or alcohol?  Try to cut it in half.  You're already used to the money leaving your pocket, so put the 'saved' money in the coin can.

If you usually have cash in your wallet, can you add a dollar a day to the can? Or even just a dollar a week?

Now that you have your own little stash at home, use it to your advantage. Do the debt snowballing thing to stop paying interest.  If you saved up $30 in your coin can this month, take it to the bank and then pay an extra $30 on your credit card payment, car payment, etc. You can get a good idea of how much your loan is costing you (and how much you'll save by paying a little extra each month!) by using an online 'what's missing' calculator like this one - http://www.hughchou.org/calc/missing.cgi  .  Hugh has a ton of different calculators to help you.

Round up to the next dollar when you subtract the check amount in the register. Write a check for $39.03?  Subtract $40.  By the end of the year, you could have another $300.

You can also write 'saved' amounts on a calendar. This comes in handy when you get back from the store and only used $2.15 worth of coupons, or decided not to buy that bottle of water from the convenience store.  Put that amount on your calendar.  At the end of the month (or sooner!), make an extra online payment on  your credit card.  Seems like another bill going out, doesn't it.  But it's money that you would have spent in your previous lifestyle.  If it's just a few dollars at the end of the month, add it to your usual payment.

Need to buy a car?  Buy a used one instead of the new hybrid you really want.  The money you'll save over all by lower cost, insurance and taxes will more than offset what you'd save in gasoline costs.  I hate this one, but it's true.

Sometimes you have to look at quality over cost.  We could save $500 by buying a used riding lawn mower, but by spending the extra, we'll get a three year warranty and know that we aren't buying someone else's problem. We'll take good care of it, so it should last us for as long as we're here or will need one.

Rent a movie instead of going to the movies.  More popcorn, whatever drinks you want and as much as what you want, plus you won't miss part of it if you need to make a pit stop halfway through.  Write down what you normally would have spent on the calendar.

Try more private label stuff at the grocery store.  Some of it is lousy, but many items are just as good as the name brands. Jot down the price difference, then add it up when you get home.  Put the difference in the can, or write it on the calendar.

Every two years, check around for insurance rates.  Insurance companies have a way of sneaking the rates up.  Look for an insurance broker that doesn't represent just one company or look online.

Ideally, come April 15th, you don't want to have to send a check, but you also don't want to use the IRS for a savings account, either.  But some people qualify for money back that they didn't send to them to begin with.  Don't go buy that new computer!  Pay off your debt or put it in a savings account.

Just got a raise at work?  Lucky you!  Use that extra money to pay off debt or save.

More ways to save money

And hopefully the list will keep going on and on, right?

Instead of buying those cedar blocks to hang in your closets, pick up a cedar fence board at the lumberyard.  First, sand the rough parts off the board. Then count all your closets, cut the board to that many pieces and drill a hole in the top of each one.  Sand off any rough edges.  Hang a chunk of the board on each closet rod with heavy wire (fashioned like the top of a clothes hanger), loose wire tie (zip tie), heavy string or cord, etc.  Every few years, hit it with some coarse grit sandpaper to bring the scent back again.

Use vinegar in the Jet Dry do-hicky of your auto dishwasher instead of Jet Dry.  There's a rinse or two after it's dispensed, so you won't smell any vinegar at all.  The dishes come out sparkly-clean and it keeps any soap crud out of the dishwasher plumbing parts.  Don't buy that auto dishwasher cleaner as the vinegar will take care of any funky odors that suddenly appeared and hard water deposits.

Now that you're using vinegar in the dishwasher, set the timer so you know when to beat a path to the kitchen and open the dishwasher door.  My newer dishwasher's heated dry cycle wouldn't come on unless there was something in the Jet Dry do-hicky.  Twice I tried to listen for when it sounded like it was finished washing, and twice I missed it.  I timed it this morning and it took a whopping 1 hour and 15 minutes!!  Back to hand washing, I think.  I think you have to use the dishwasher once in a while to keep the seals wet and working right.  Otherwise, you end up with an expensive dish drainer.

Love those flavored coffee creamers?  You can make your own powdered flavored creamers at your convenience with just a few basic items -
1 cup instant dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup (about half the package) of instant pudding mix, your choice of flavor.  I like French Vanilla the best.
Blend it all together and put it in a resealable container.  I put the dry milk and sugar in my Magic Bullet (blender thing) to make it really fine, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Use 1 to 2 TBSP per cup of coffee, or to taste.  Agh, and here I told myself that this wasn't going to be a blog of recipes!

Got a neighbor that recycles, too?  You might be able to strike a deal with them to share the cost of the trash service, then take turns going to the recycle center.

If you know you're going to have to repaint a room sometime in the future, start looking at the markdown paint area at your local home improvement store.  I got most of the paint for an entire house for $5 a gallon, but lately I don't see it that cheap anymore (usually $10 a gallon).  There's probably 40 different shades of white, but if you mix three different shades in a big 5 gallon bucket, you still have white.  Mixing colors comes pretty easily to me, so I have a hard time trying to explain it to someone who struggles with that.  The best thing to do would be to stick to basic colors that you like.  Then if you don't think you'll have enough paint, add a can of white to it for a lighter shade.  Of course, if you're mixing paint like this, you have to make sure that you have enough to do your entire project.

Need a 5 gallon bucket?  Ask at the deli in your grocery store.  Most of the time they are getting something in 5 gallon food grade buckets that have lids.  Perfect for storing food and for mixing up paint!  You just can't use it for food after you mix your paint in there, ya know?

Get to thinking about creative leftovers.  Repeat after me, "there is no such thing as food going into the trash".  Any leftover corn, green beans or peas can go into a container in the freezer.  Pour the juice in there as well.  Then when you make a pot of soup, use those veggies.  I love leftover spaghetti sauce in beef or hamburger soups.  I'm not too sure that leftover cooked broccoli would make the cut in this area, so eat it up.  Or make chicken Alfredo the next night and put the chopped up broccoli in it right before you eat.  You get the drift.

Defrost or thaw frozen food in the refrigerator instead of on the counter.  Takes longer, but it's probably safer (not that I ever poisoned anyone, but ya never know) and it might help keep your frig a bit colder so it doesn't kick on as often.

Don't compare yourself to others.  There will always be people that have more money, a bigger house, the latest fashions, the newest computer, etc.  Focus on your own goals, your own situation and look for ways for improvement.

Grow some of your own food.  You don't have to live in the country to do some gardening.  Did I mention this before?  Anyway, container gardening can be cheap if you scrounge for containers like 5 gallon buckets from the deli or bakery, etc.

Buy smaller trees or bushes instead of the bigger ones and be willing to wait a year or so longer for them to get full size.  Cheaper yet would be if you could get a start from another gardener or grow something from seed.  I have three peach trees in my yard now that were grown from seed.  Will they have wonderful peaches?  I don't know.  I think the peaches that they came from were grown on a tree started from seed, so I'll probably have the same results.  But I was after shade more than I wanted peaches.  They're a bonus.

Buy seeds over plants for your garden.  I'm always surprised to hear that people will pay $2 for a couple little cucumber plants.  I could get a packet of cucumber seeds for $0.15 for a lot of years.  Now that I'm buying strictly Non GMO seed, that packet ran me close to $2.  The difference is that this year I'm planting a realistic number of seeds instead of the plethora that I planted a couple years ago.  Looked like a jungle of cucumber vines...sigh.  Picking 70 cucumbers in one day was, well...tiring.  The hens even got tired of them.  So this year, it's four hills and the rest of the cucumber seeds are stored in a zipper bag in the freezer for next year.  This year I'm going to try to save seed that can grow chow next year, too.  And they'll be free.

If you left your clothes in the dryer and now they're all wrinkled, you don't have to crank on the dryer again or buy that wrinkle release stuff.  Hang up the shirts and give them a spritz of water from a spray bottle and let them air dry.  Jeans will usually smooth out on their own after you put them on. When I was traveling, I'd hang my dress in the bathroom while I showered, then move it outside of the bathroom while I did makeup, hair, etc.  Usually it was dry and wrinkle free by the time I put it on.

When you buy socks, get the same brand, color and style.  Then there's no sorting socks on laundry day.  If one ends up in the rag bag, you still have a mate for it unless you go through all of them in between wash days.  I just stack them up instead of pairing them.

Whenever possible, use what Nature gives you.  We had to cut down several elm trees that were severely storm damaged.  With some work, we got some lousy firewood that will do fine in our wood burning stove when it's not freezing cold, but we still need some heat.  The smaller branches were hauled to the back to be used as kindling when it's time to burn.  Instead of buying shredded bark, we used the bark from the trees.  They're big pieces now, but they will break down in time.  Some of the sawdust was raked into deep depressions made by falling logs.  It too, will break down and support plant growth.  At our place, it's whatever wild grass seed blows into it.

Right now, vow to never throw leftover food away!  Well, unless it's really crappy or burned.  If you aren't going to eat it in a couple of days, make little entrees or tv dinners, label and pop into the freezer.  That half a cup of green beans can go in the freezer.  Add more veggies to it when ever there's leftovers you won't eat.  Later, make a pot of soup.  Even the soup can be frozen if you have a couple servings left over.  I don't know how many times you can keep cooking and freezing this stuff before you have some major quality control issues, so plan on eating it, k?

Clean the dust bunnies from anything that has a fan.  That includes your blow dryer, refrigerator, freezer, furnace, computer equipment, etc.

Learn new skills.  About any skill.  It's either DIY or PAY.  If you're reading this, you have a computer.  Get to typing in the search bar.  There are some things that shouldn't be messed with other than by someone who really knows what they're doing, but there are many things that YOU can do if you take the time to search online for instructions, tips, trouble shooting, hints.  We have friends that paid someone $80 to come out and change the battery backup in their CO2 monitor.  He wasn't happy about it, either.  Had he taken the time to get on the computer, he probably would have read what the beeping was all about.

It's all about Attitude - in Life and Retirement

As Bill and I get older, I find myself Googling retirement stuff.  Holy shit!  The bulk of it is people freaking out because they don't have the millions of bucks they have been told they need to live after chucking their jobs.  Right now, I'm feeling rather good about life in general, so I'll be brave and say 'boo hoo'.  You can live quite happily with just a little. I'm glad that I have the brains to know that all the money in the world isn't going to magically make me happy.  I know that we also have choices and options, right this minute and also ten years in the future.  Some of them might end up being ... well, not pleasant, but hey, that's life.  You can still be happy in between plan B and plan C.  You might end up really liking plan C after you get to that step, too.  Some of the happiest people I have ever known have been the ones living in what a lot of us would consider dire straits most of their lives.

Some of the goofball retiree comments I have heard:
I have worked too hard all my life to do with less than what I have now - So you've been miserable for 40 years, working the job you didn't like, but have the big house, two cars, eat out, drive around because you're bored, watch the tube...and stay miserable counting your nickels trying to maintain that lifestyle. 
I'm retired now so I have time to bitch - First of all, courtesy is cheap, so acquire some.  The first step in resolving any problem is communication, not bitching.  The poorly paid person you are bitching at didn't create your problem/issue.  Remind yourself to "be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle".
I can't afford a hobby - Finding something you enjoy doesn't have to be expensive.  And you don't have to succeed at it, either.  Try something different!  Try a lot of different things!  Here's a few options:
     1. Don't think you would like to garden?  Then try a tomato plant or an herb in a pot on your porch.  You might discover that you actually do have a green thumb.  Most gardeners will happily share plant starts or extra seeds.  If you don't have a big flower pot, you can probably get a 5 gallon bucket from the deli section at the grocery store or the local fast food restaurants and poke some holes in the bottom and lower sides for drainage.  You can also make your own natural bug spray.
     2. Take up walking - get to know your neighbors.
     3. Do some volunteer work without expecting anything in return - Meals on Wheels, help someone weed their garden, paint their house, repair their fence, give them a lift to their doctor appointment.  The best way to feel good about yourself is to help someone else.
     4. Read a book.  Not the same news in different newspapers, a book.  That's something in print meant to be enjoyed.  If you're reading this, you have access to a computer.  There's gobs and gobs of stuff to read on the web.
     5. If you can afford it, adopt a pet.  As pet owners everywhere know, there's no such thing as a free cat, dog, chicken, lizard, whatever.  But having some living creature to care for will give you hours of joy...and frustration at times.  Definitely not free, but for a lot of us, it's still worth it.

Some things are not hobbies!  If you're doing any of the below on a daily basis, you need a hobby. See above.  For example:

Constantly checking the expiration dates on your food.  Once in a while is good, put the older stuff in front.
When people casually ask 'how are you', you tell them...in great detail.
Holding the store clerk hostage with your lengthy story about your gall bladder surgery.
Calling companies daily and complaining about their product, like the M&M's are smaller now, etc.

You get the drift.  All the complaining in the world isn't going to make you happy. The hobbies may bring you some happiness, but if you start every idea with 'I don't think I'll like this', then you may be doomed.

If you want some changes in your life, you have to be willing to make some changes.

Now then, some options if you're retiring semi broke:
Be willing to live in a smaller place.  Sell your house, rent a smaller place, buy an RV or boat and go experience life while you still are healthy enough to do it.  Go through your stuff, keep what you need and actually use, sell or donate everything else.
ASK for what you need and choose 'used' over new  - Most areas have Freecycle, Craigslist, DAV, Goodwill, etc.  But tell people that you're in the market for a good used ____.  You might get exactly what you need for cheap or nothing.
Need more to eat?  Check the web for groups that forage in your area, local Food Banks, churches usually have some info on where you could get emergency food. Quit buying convenience foods, paper and cleaning products, etc, so you can make your food dollars go further.  Yes, you really can use rags instead of TP if you need to.  Read up on square foot gardening and container gardening.  Tons of forums and blogs about those things.  Yes, you really can produce some of your own food.
Get your vitamins from food, not pills.  My usual diet is so crappy that I need to take a couple vitamins, but overall, I'd rather eat a banana than take a potassium pill.  Do some research online to see what you can eat to get the vitamins you need.  Overall, a more vegetarian lifestyle is cheaper and healthier.  (I'm getting better at that...) 

And while you're checking that out online, check into the free online herbalism courses.  You'll probably still need some big Pharma drugs sometimes, but if you can make some 'food' type medicines, what do you have to lose?  Millions of people have done it throughout the generations, and it's still very common in other cultures.  Maybe not on your block, but it's still practiced.  And a lot of it works.  Just my opinion, as I'm no doctor.  One thing that I do when I have loose stools is drink some cornstarch water.  Yep.  Just a spoonful of cornstarch in a half cup of water, chug it down.  Hold your nose, it doesn't taste the best.  Then drink some water to get the taste out of your mouth.  You need the extra fluid anyway if you got the poops.  Repeat if necessary. That's what they used to use before Kaopectate and Imodium hit the shelves. 

Google everything.  How to make _______.  Frugal living forums.  Cheap living.  Tightwad living.  The full time RV'ing websites have some interesting information, even if you aren't going to do the RV thing. They have some pretty nifty ideas for storage in dinky spaces.  We have friends doing it now, and it sounds like a great community of rich and not so rich.  You can live in an RV for $500 a month, or of course, way more than that.  Again, Google everything.  Then you can make some informed choices of what's going to work in your situation.

Just One Step

Our daughter made a comment the other day that when you really get into the eco-friendly lifestyle, you're more aware of how wasteful other people are.  Isn't that the truth.  Some of them just don't know there are alternatives, some have limited time and others just don't give a rat's ass.

Recently when Bill and I were at the grocery store, a woman was in the aisle, clutching a handful of coupons, staring at the 'Mr. Clean ' eraser things.  She commented that she couldn't make up her mind if she should buy the name brand with the coupon or the store brand, which would still be cheaper.  She asked which one I would buy.  I was polite when I told her that I was probably the wrong one to ask, as I would use baking soda to clean anything that needed the eraser thing, so I wouldn't buy either one.  As she was explaining in great detail all the money she saved by using coupons, I was looking at what she had in her cart.  There must have been at least 10 different cleaning products in there.  Sure, she saved $4 because of coupons, but she spent $20 or more when she probably had everything at home to make alternatives that would work just as well.  I have to admit that I was a little saddened because of all the plastic bottles, too.  I hope she recycled, but so many people don't.

I don't want this to be some kind of rant, so I'm putting out a challenge:  Can you take ONE STEP, just ONE STEP each month towards a better world for the future?  Even something as simple as taking your lunch to work one day a week, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead of a hamburger, is making a difference.  Another easy step is to unplug things that you aren't using.  Or using a Brita filter pitcher instead of buying bottled water.  Or drinking one less soda pop a day.  Or using your slow cooker more often.  You get the drift, these aren't difficult or truly lifestyle changing, but it all adds up.

I am more extreme than ever since I watched 'No Impact Man', but I'm still looking for ways to be more eco friendly yet not too labor intensive.  And there's a comfort level that I want, too.

My latest change is the cat litter. Over the course of a couple of years, I went from purchased, silicone kitty litter to Feline Pine to making my own w/ recycled newspaper and baking soda to now scooping up straw bits and leaf crumbles from the garden into a 5 gallon bucket to store by litter boxes.  I have a coffee canister with some pine sawdust to sprinkle over the top after I scoop out the poops AKA composting toilet for kitties.  I have five cats inside, but I don't want my house to smell like I have five cats inside, you know?  Oh, I also scooped up a trash can full of straw/leaf crumbles and put that in the shop so it wouldn't freeze solid in the winter. It's easy to go out, dip up a bucketful and bring it into the house.  A lot easier than hauling 20 lb. bags back from the store, I'm telling ya.  Edited 3/9/11:  Well, that didn't last too long as the cats tracked it all over the place.  I think I didn't have enough dirt type stuff in it.  I also quit making the newspaper litter as I had to keep a batch going constantly since I have too many cats.  So, it's back to Feline Pine.  But I did read that some people use chicken scratch grains, so I might try that next.  Or a bale of pine shavings used for bedding.
Another edit 5/1/11:  Well, the pine shavings worked as far as odor control, but man, that stuff can travel when it's clinging to a long haired cat!   We even found a piece on our bed!  So, back to the Feline Pine.
Now, I admit that most people wouldn't go that far, or don't have a garden, etc, but how about makng the switch to a litter that is more eco-friendly like Feline Pine, Yesterday's News or another recycled litter?  No huge life changing step there, but it does make a difference.

Just one step - can you find some little thing to change each month?  Heck, you'll feel so good about yourself after a bit, the next steps will be easy!

When saving hot water is NOT a good idea

Have you ever been somewhere, turned on the tap and smelled that faint (or stronger) odor from the water faucet?  Maybe at your own house?  That's bacterial crud growing in your pipes. 

Years ago, I did the realtor gig for a while.  I always knew which houses had the water heater turned way down and that they didn't use the hot water tap in that sink often enough.  Yummy, mold stench...and someone is rinsing their mouth with that water??

We had the same problem here, but we plumbed our house with a Pex Manifold system, so we were able to disconnect each pipe, run a bit of bleach water into it and turn the faucet on to a dribble for a while to disinfect the pipes.  After that, the water heater went back up a notch and I started using the hot water tap more often.

If you don't have a way to clean those water pipes, you might want to consider different ways to save power.  Perhaps a timer on the water heater, insulating blanket if it's electric, pipe insulation over exposed pipes, or 'on demand' type water heaters in the bathroom and kitchen.  Beats mold in the pipes.

Going 'Poo-less?

I bet that caught your attention, but I'm talking about shampoo.

My initial reaction to the idea of going without shampoo was EEUUUUWWW.  I had visions of yukky, smelly hair, and put that idea into the mental file labeled 'too extreme for me'.

I guess I just needed a while to wrap my mind around the concept.  So I decided to take the plunge after watching the film, 'No Impact Man'.  I looked at a bunch of different recipes online and then started to look for traditional ingredients: Castille soap, glycerin, nice smelling essential oil.

We're rural, so had to do some searching for these things.  Here's what I found:
Castile: $14.99 plus shipping - couldn't find it within a 30 mile radius.
Glycerin: $9.99
Lavendar EO: $22.99 (gasp)

Besides not digging the idea of ordering something that had to be shipped, the thought of spending $48 for experimental shampoo just didn't sit just right, ya know?

Back to the drawing board.  I found another site that suggested Borax (yep, honest!) and vinegar for the primary ingredients  for shampoo and conditioner replacements.  I had both on hand already, so I was ready to go!
Shampoo replacement:  1 TBSP Borax mixed in 1 cup of hot water, stir to disolve, then allow to cool.  One cup Borax to one gallon of water if you want to make a jug of it.
Conditioner replacement: 1 part apple cider vinegar to 4 or 5 parts water - I didn't measure.

The verdict:  It worked!!  I was shocked. 

I put each in one of those little ketchup squeeze bottles.  Since I was in the shower, my hair was wet when I got started.  I just squeezed some of the now cold Borax/water around on my scalp and worked it into the rest of my hair... the whole time thinking that this isn't doing anything.  No suds, no cleaning, right?  Or so I thought.  When I rinsed that out, I was surprised that my hair felt softer than what it usually did after using regular shampoo.  It also kind of squeaked, you  know, when you rub something really clean and it squeaks?

Now the vinegar/water conditioner - I did the same thing, just squeezed some on my scalp and rubbed it in the rest of my hair and rinsed.  It didn't smell as bad as I thought it was going to.

After I dried my hair, it looked clean and smelled clean with no vinegar odor. The best things were no tangles, more volume and shiny hair.  I also had an itchy bump that had been there for a while, and now it's smaller and doesn't itch.  I think I like this stuff.

It's weird, washing your hair with something that is watery and non-lathering.  I'll probably keep using it, but I'm not taking the regular shampoo and conditioner to the other bathroom yet.  I might decide to lather up once in a while.  Even if I just use the alternative every other time, I'll still be cutting my 'poo and conditioner consumerism plus the plastic bottles in half.

Later:  I now have used it twice, and honestly, I do like it.  It rinses out so much faster than gobs of suds, and seems to dry faster.  My naturally wavy hair seems a little curlier, too.  The purchased shampoo and conditioner probably won't be in my shower much longer.

Passing through the Paper Aisle in the Store

I keep asking myself what people did before we had all these modern convenience things that we take for granted.   I also ask myself what I would do if this was the very last time I would ever have ____.  How would I use it?

The first product in this aisle that I stopped buying was paper towel.  Actually, it was pretty easy and painless.  Most of my 'rags' weren't even decent enough to keep around as rags.  So, into the trash they went and out came the scissors to make new rags of varying sizes out of Bill's old T shirts (shhhhhh) and some ratty old towels.  I keep them in a kitchen drawer, handy to grab whenever I need to clean up a mess.  Give it a rinse, and into the laundry room, no problem.

Napkins?  Well, I don't use many, and I can live without them.  I have some designated washcloths in the kitchen drawer that I'm comfortable using as napkins.  Bill?  Not so comfortable with that system.  Most of our friends and family?  Really not okay with that system.  What's the big deal here, people?  Granted, I don't expect you to carry washcloths or cloth napkins so you can wipe special sauce off your chin at the local burger place during your lunch hour, but is it so bad to use cloth instead of paper at my house or (gasp) at your own house?

Plastic wrap - I have a roll that has lasted several years.  Most of the leftovers go into refrigerator dishes that have lids.  If it's staying in the serving bowl, often times a plate will fit as a lid.  I haven't decided if I'm going to buy those reusable plastic things with the elastic yet.  For some reason, they remind me of my mother's shower cap.  I remember her using them when I was a kid, though...and I hated washing them.

Aluminum foil - I now buy the recycled foil, and I recycle it, too.  I use it as many times as I can before it heads to the recycle bin.  I still try not to use it though.

Freezer bags - When I have to buy them, I usually buy freezer bags. They are thicker, and I can use them many times before they spring a leak.  I had some that were almost three years old before they ended up in the trash.  I wash them and put them in the empty dishwasher to air dry (with the door cracked), or hang them on the Indian clothesline.  If they have had raw meat in them, they go into the trash.  But I try not to use them for that.  I usually keep a few plastic bread wrappers around here for when I bake bread, so sometimes other things can go in them, too.

Paper plates, cups, bowls, plastic spoons, etc. - I don't buy them, won't buy them.

Toilet paper - Ehhhhhhh, this is one thing that I won't ration or go without.  If I had to, I could do something else, but you know?  As long as I don't have to use rags, or leaves and grass, I'll probably keep buying this.  Ditto with personal products.

Tissues - I don't have a stash of hankies.  Bill does have a stack of hankerchiefs, but we both use tissues.  Funny, now that I think about it, it's been a while since I saw a hankerchief in the laundry.  I had to ask him  about it just now.  He said that he still carries one in his pocket for emergencies when he's working.  Like when he feels a sneeze coming on or thinks he has a booger hanging.  Ahhh, that's my Bill, he's very tidy.

Trash bags - I almost forgot about those.  I use plastic grocery sacks in the bathrooms and laundry waste baskets.  We take our cloth bags when we get groceries, but still end up with some plastic bags.  We also have friends that refuse to recycle, so I can get a mountain of plastic bags from them if I need to.  I do buy cheap kitchen trash bags, but since I recycle and compost everything, it takes a while before it's full.  Often times, I can just empty the trash and use the bag again.  I'd like to use a waste basket in the kitchen, (and of course, the 'free' plastic bag) but Bill thought he was taking out the trash way too often.

Did I miss anything?

Paring Down the Grocery Bill

My goal is to stay at $200 a month for groceries for the two of us.  We have grown kids and friends that visit, so there are snacks, desserts, and extra portions included in that goal.  To me, it sounds like a lot of money.  I have read that other families have kept their food budget that low, but I have yet to reach it...and eat what we like to eat.  Our grocery bill usually runs $225 a month.  I do stock up when something is on sale, but on the flip side, I'm using from my pantry on a regular basis, too.  A friend, who is really struggling financially, recently told me that she spent almost $350 for groceries for just her last month.  I don't know who gasped louder.. me, when she told me that, or her, when I told her what I usually spend for two people. 

I tried the OAMC (once a month cooking) and it just wasn't for me.   I don't have a Sam's or Cosco a block away.  We live in a rural area, with a little grocery store about 15 miles from here.  Running to the store for just a couple things...how do I say this... just ain't gonna happen.  I can't remember what I needed but didn't have when I started searching 'make your own _____'.  Wow.  Wasn't I surprised!  There are decent substitutions for practically everything you would use in every day cooking. You really can save money AND eat well!

I buy almost no convience foods at all now.  I do buy some things that I could make, but don't want to, like tomato soup (my homemade was so-so at best) and cream of mushroom soup (I don't use enough to warrant trying to keep mushrooms in my frig or yard, either). But I make a pretty good cream of chicken and cream of celery soup.  Soooo simple, too!  Oh, I do buy various cereals and some breads. I don't want to try to make crackers, but I have made flour tortilla chips.  The bulk of my cooking is from scratch...really scratch.

The point here is that there are tons of recipes for making about any convience food that you would buy.  You don't have to do it all at once, either.  I started out with cream of chicken soup mix.  The batch of mix equals 9 cans of soup (and only cost $1.25), so I didn't have to make it again for a while.  When I make noodles, I make enough for several meals and pop them into the freezer. Ditto with soups.  Most of the time I plan for leftovers that I can put in the freezer.  Then I have easy meals for when I don't feel like cooking. Make sure you label everything that goes in the freezer.  Things, especially soups, have a way of looking alike after a while.  I have a cool, low tech labeling system - masking tape and a permanent marker.

I really watch pricing in the grocery store.  When they first started coming out with bulk foods and bigger packages, it was cheaper per ounce to buy.  Now -  ain't necessarily so.  A 2 lb. bag of brown sugar is the most commonly sold size.  Two 1 lb. boxes are cheaper than the 2 lb. bag now.  But, it's cheaper yet in the 4 lb. bag, and I use enough of it to warrant buying that size.  (Edited on 1-4-2011 - I don't even buy brown sugar now, I just make it when I need it, really cheap!)  White sugar is cheaper per pound to buy 4 lb bags where I live.

I also have a garden every year and in a perfect world, I'd can/freeze enough goodies to last an entire year.  I keep trying, but Nature has a way of keeping you humble.

If you haven't tried looking at everything you can make from scratch, get your mouse clicking and head over to http://busycooks.about.com/  for a starter course.  Just type 'make your own' into their search bar and you'll be on your way to pages of money saving ideas.

Green Cleaners in the Kitchen

Baking soda is my best cleaning friend in the kitchen.  I use it to clean stains, cooked on crud on my glass top stove, in the frig to absorb odors (when I remember to do it) and down the drain before I pour the hot vinegar from cleaning my coffee maker into the sink.

I used to make dishwasher detergent when I made laundry soap - equal parts of washing soda, borax and powdered automatic dishwasher detergent.  Everything gradually started getting cloudy.  'They' say to use less if that happened. (Who are 'they', anyway?)  So I used less.  But Bill is from the 'if some works, more works better' school, so the glassware was getting really cloudy.  Not that I'm going to complain about him doing dishes every so often, but I had to come up with a better plan.  So now I have switched to 1 part baking soda to 1 part automatic dishwasher detergent and everything is getting sparkly clean again.

Automatic dishwasher detergent is good stuff, too.  When the baking soda won't remove cooked on food on the stovetop, a little detergent with a hot, wet cloth on top will do the trick.  I left it on overnight before on a particularly bad one, but it all wiped right off the next day.  I have also soaked dishes in hot water and dishwasher detergent to remove baked on stains.  Great stuff.  But next time I'm going to try something 'greener'.

I keep my labeled sprayers of vinegar/water, bleach/water and Dawn/water under the kitchen sink.  Then they're handy when I need them. I spray the cutting board, sink and my hands with bleach/water after I have been cutting up chicken.  I use the vinegar/water to help remove hard water stains, and the Dawn/ water for cleaning anywhere.

I have a foaming pump dispenser in the kitchen, too.  (1 part Dawn or dish soap of your choice, and 4 parts water).  Besides using it to wash my hands, I also use it when I need just a little soap on the dishcloth to wash a big pot.

Simple stuff, but it works.

The Cost of Green Cleaners and the Bathroom

I love making green cleaners.  They are so easy to make and work well.  I also feel so virtuous, doing what's right for the earth, and hey!  The added bonus is that they're cheap to make!  In one calendar year, I spent about $25 to make a years supply of:

Laundry soap
Laundry pretreat or stain stick
Fabric softener
Dishwasher detergent
Bathroom cleaner
Daily shower spray
Hand soap in pump foam dispensers for kitchen and bathroom sinks
Eyeglass cleaner
General cleaning
Wasp spray
Non toxic bug spray for plants

What I bought:
Zote laundry bar
Washing soda
Borax
Bleach
Vinegar
Baking soda
Dawn dish soap (I'm a huge fan of this stuff)
Rubbing alcohol
Peroxide
Cheap brand of 'Jet Dry' type product


Now then, for the bathroom:

I have labeled spray bottles of the following that I use to clean the bathroom and general cleaning:
Dawn and water - tub, shower, sink and pot
Bleach and water - pot and to spray the shower pan and liner in between washings
Vinegar and water - ceramic tile floor

If there's something that needs a little extra attention, I have a designated box of baking soda for cleaning.  I usually keep some in the bathroom cupboard brush my teeth occasionally, too.

In a closet, I have several bars of bath soap unwrapped so they dry out.  I put them in a basket with a washcloth over them.  They gradually dry out and last longer when you use them.

Daily Shower Spray
The daily shower spray has been a big time saver!  I only have to actually clean the shower about once every 6 months if the spray is used faithfully.
Mix together one-half cup of hydrogen peroxide, one-half cup of rubbing alcohol, about six drops of Dawn, a capful of Jet Dry and twenty-four ounces of water. Using this on a daily basis will keep your shower and liner clean for a long time.

I'm experimenting now with just some Dawn water with alcohol in a spray bottle.  I still haven't decided if that works as well as the other formula.  You can use your regular cleaner that's diluted, too.

The easiest way for me to clean the shower?  Right before I get in it.  I spray the walls with Dawn/water mix, hit it w/ a wet cloth, then turn the shower on.  Undress, hop in to finish rinsing the walls and get to showering.  I wonder if Bill knows that I do that...  I wonder if I can get him to do that in the other shower...probably not.

Foaming Pump Dispenser Refill
Fill it 3/4 the way full with water and give it a good squirt of dish soap.   I like Dawn Green or 7th Generation, but use what you have.  My dispensers have the pump gadget inside the bottle, so I ended up overfilling it the first (two?) time I did this.  What didn't work for me was diluting the 'pearl' looking liquid hand soaps, or melting my own bars.  I put them in the blender and still ended up w/ pieces that would clog up the pump dispenser.  For a regular pump dispenser, the ratio is 4 parts water to 1 part liquid soap.

Eyeglass cleaner:
A safe formula no matter what type of eyeglasses or coatings you have on your lenses:
Fill a spray bottle (any size will do) with 3/4 rubbing alcohol and 1/4 water. Put in a few drops of dish soap.