Search Results for: blog frugal laundry make your own detergent

Homemade Oxygen Cleaner

With three children, laundry is always a challenge. First there is the hunting through the house for stray socks, finding wet towels wherever they land, and digging through the bottom of the hall closet for dusty jackets and sweatshirts that fell from the hangers. After the laundry is gathered and sorted, anything with a stain needs to be addressed, which probably accounts for at least a third of the children’s clothing in any given week. I have my arsenal of tools. The stain pre-treaters, the better powdered detergent I swear by, the utility sink for soaking. One tool that works … Continue reading →

End of Month Spending Check

Tomorrow is the last day of the month, and it is time to do an end-of-month spending check. In January, I have been focusing on groceries and food, keeping track of our spending in those areas and saving as much as I can. Writing down what I spend on each trip to the grocery store has helped. While I still don’t have a lot of coupon use, I’m paying more attention to the sales and not buying things that we don’t need, purchasing more fruit and less snacks for example. This has made a difference. I’ve also been more conscious … Continue reading →

More Laundry Tips

In my quest to simplify most household tasks I’ve gotten the laundry room organized and running smoothly. My last post was about sorting laundry and doing a load every day to cut down on the enormity of the task. Today I have some tips and tricks I’ve collected that help make laundry even easier. *Instead of sorting and mating socks, trying to figure out if those white socks are your husbands or your teenagers, give each person a mess delicates laundry bag. Collect the bags once a week, zip closed, toss in the washer and dryer and then return to … Continue reading →

Four Things I Cut in Half to Save Money

There are many things in our home that we cut in half in order to save money. When we make those cuts, we never notice a difference. Using the recommended amount or the size something comes in isn’t necessarily the best idea, especially when something will work the same way, or sometimes works even better when it is cut in half. Your products will last twice as long! Laundry detergent I always use about half of what is recommended on those cap fill lines or the powder scoops. Why? I find that with a good detergent, the clothes get just … Continue reading →

Make Your Own Fabric Softener

For years, I jut skipped the fabric softener in my home, since I viewed it as an unnecessary expense. Then one day, I got two bottles of fabric softener for practically nothing. Now I’m hooked. I love the softness and the smell of the laundry when I use fabric softener, and apparently so does everyone else in my family. There was a noticeable difference. Unfortunately, finding a lifetime supply of free fabric softener is probably an impossible task, unless someone invites me to go on the Extreme Couponing show. So now, when I can get the fabric softener cheaply, I … Continue reading →

The Money Saving Mom’s Budget

When it comes to frugal living, fresh inspiration is often hard to find. Oh sure, we do what we can, from attempting a budget to washing out baggies in order to save money. Often, the problem, though, is that we aren’t armed with a solid start to finish plan. Crystal Paine’s book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget gives you that plan, and explains the importance behind each step. I haven’t seen anything this good since Amy Dacyczyn’s The Tightwad Gazette, a book on frugal living that has now pretty much obtained cult status. Paine’s book, however, is updated with more … Continue reading →

The January Fast

Do you need to put your budget on a diet after the extravagance of the holidays? Here are some simple ways to get back on track quickly. You don’t want to have to still be paying those bills in March. Cook from the Pantry Skip a grocery shopping trip or two or three. Just purchase the essential perishable stuff, such as milk and eggs. If you challenge yourself to cook only from your pantry, you’ll be able to save money quickly. Take that money and apply it directly to your bills. It can add up quickly over a couple of … Continue reading →

Chemical Laden Cleaners- I Miss You

I have a confession to make… I miss unhealthy, non green cleaning. I really do. Today I found myself in the cleanser aisle at the grocery store coveting all those wonderful, good smelling products. That nifty little disposable toilet wand, I want to try it, it looks like so much fun and the picture on the package shows a sparkling toilet. Wait, a disposable toilet brush? More junk for the land fill. All those lovely cleaning products calling to me with their pretty labels and intoxicating scents. I want my house to smell like a pine forest after I scrub … Continue reading →

Cleaning up at the Dollar Store

Keeping your house clean can get expensive. Every time I go to the grocery store I’m amazed at how expensive cleaners can be. Everything from window cleaner to laundry detergent just seems to keep getting more and more expensive. In this economy who can afford to spend money on something they are going to wash down the drain? I prefer to use natural things to clean my home. I don’t want all of those chemicals in the air and on the surfaces my family touches. However, not everyone is a fan of using vinegar and baking soda. Commercials have done … Continue reading →

Trying To Catch Up

Ever feel like if you could just get one more hour in the day you might be able to get it all done? I feel that way most days and it’s usually the housework that is the biggest time sucker. I try to be organized, I try to have a routine for everything but sometimes that routine gets thrown off. This past weekend my niece got married. It was a beautiful wedding. It also sucked up most of my weekend. We had the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, and then when I got home I had three different kinds of … Continue reading →