My Best Use It Up Ideas

Extend the life of common household consumables, from laundry detergent to cleaning wipes with my best use it up ideas. You’ll save more, spend less and have fewer trips to the grocery store. Cleaning Wipes/Baby Wipes It is inevitable that once you use that last wipe up, you still have a nice little pile of cleaning solution left in the container. Take advantage of the extra cleaner to get another five or six wipes, more cleaning than you expected. Simply detach a few paper towels and put them in the solution where they will soak it up and be as … Continue reading

The Laundry Monster

At my house, laundry is a never ending job. Just as soon as I get the laundry room floor cleared, the piles start again. Sometimes it feels like before I’m even finished folding something it’s back in the hamper. Laundry is not difficult but it is time consuming and really, nothing shortens the cycle of the washer or dryer so you have to find other ways to make the job a little easier. I tried using homemade laundry detergent but just wasn’t happy with the results, I am going to try some other recipes but in the meantime I want … Continue reading

Finding Time For Work

One major challenge for home – based professionals who are also stay at home parents of young children is finding time to work. It is not always easy, but there are a few things that you can try to see if they work for your particular child or children and your unique family situation. Some of these are things that I have tried, and some are not. If you have other ways that you have found to secure additional work time for yourself, please feel free to share – I would love to hear about it. As a stay – … Continue reading

Self Cleaning Clothes

How would you feel if you never had to do laundry again? That sounds too good to be true, after all disposable clothes would put quite a strain on our landfills and our wallets. Fortunately it’s not disposable clothes. Recently two Chinese scientists developed cotton that washes itself in sunlight. They use a coating made of titanium dioxide, one of the most widely used chemicals in the world, which will also stay intact after washing and drying. This is not the first time self cleaning cotton has been made but in the past it required a lot of ultraviolet light … Continue reading

Stocking the Pantry on a Budget

Stocking your pantry with basic food can really pay off. Not only will it save you money, but it will leave you prepared in the case of some crisis that prevents you from purchasing food right away. Having a stockpile of food is always a good idea. We are currently in the process of trying to build our stockpile back up. We’ve had a number of things happen that have reduced our stockpile to very little, such as cooking from the pantry, losing storage space and giving away about half of our stash to a family that needed it more … Continue reading

Cleaning Schedules

Most people set aside one day a week to deep clean their home. When I was single I saved my big cleaning projects for Saturday morning. These days my schedule is less predictable, so I pencil in weekly cleanings on a day that I have the least amount of running around to do. I work well with lists, so when it came time to create a comprehensive cleaning schedule I grabbed a notebook and toured my home room by room to determine what tasks needed to be accomplished in each on a weekly basis. I divided my notebook pages into … Continue reading

Green Parenting Tips

Being green starts at home and if you are like many of us, you have children. But, you can adopt green parenting strategies that can help the environment. Here are a few green parenting tips: Swap Kid’s Clothes Most kids outgrow clothes before they can stain them or tear them up, so swapping your child’s clothes with family and friends is a great recycling idea. Unfortunately for me, most of my son’s friends are girls, but there are a few younger boys he knows that we give good condition hand-me-downs to. Another great recycling idea is, as your child ages … Continue reading

Tips for Drying Clothes Inside

Sometimes an outdoor clothesline isn’t practical or even allowed. Don’t worry, you can still save money by hanging your own laundry even if you don’t have an outdoor space for drying clothes. Here are some easy tips you can follow. And remember, skipping the dryer can save you anywhere from 40 to 70 cents per load on average. In the Bathroom The bathroom can be an obvious place to hand laundry. But at the same time, you don’t want a wet drippy mess that gets in the way of using the room. I tend to wash out delicate items early … Continue reading

Pile Up Your Laundry (And Save)

Do you need an excuse to let your laundry pile up until it is what is affectionately known in our house as Mount Washmore? If you would rather procrastinate until the last pair of underwear is worn and the favorite sweater hasn’t been seen for a month, then keep reading. I have a great reason for letting your laundry pile up to the ceiling. You’ll actually save money. Yes, I know that there are some of you out there who are shuddering right about now. After all, what would FlyLady say? What about those teams of certified organizers? Doing one … Continue reading

Excuses For Not Using Coupons

You’ve heard the excuses to keep spending more money than you need to. You know which excuses I’m talking about. The “I don’t have time to clip coupons” excuse. (It might interfere with watching tv). Then there’s the “coupons are no good anyway, the food is all processed and unhealthy” excuse. Apparently those folks have never heard of Mambo Sprouts, or the great deals you can get in store on meat, produce and dairy when you shop carefully. There’s the “you can’t really save money because those products are always more expensive” excuse. The “I only see coupons for things … Continue reading