Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Stompeez giveaway at Being Frugal and Making it Work!
The wonderful site, http://www.beingfrugalandmakingitwork.com is reviewing and giving away a pair of stompeez! If you have a child anywhere from the age of 3 to 12, you have probably heard of these! My 6 year old daughter is "in desperate need of stompeez" or so she claims. As they walk, the ears or eyes (depending on the pair you choose) pop up and are just adorable!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Been awhile...
I am back and will try to update this despite not having very many followers. Regardless of whether anyone else reads this or not, it's a nice place to put all of my tips, hints, recipes and secrets so that when I forget, as I so often do, I can come back and look.
Today, I am making a Homemade Dust repellent out of water and fabric softner. Simply put, it is a mixture of 1 part fabric softner to 4 parts water. Apparently, you are supposed to use an old, gnarly towel and spray it directly on the towel, not the furniture being dusted. So far, it seems to be working well, although on some of my shinier wood, I have to rub a little harder to make sure there are no streaks. Other then that, I like it. It smells good and supposedly will keep dust gone longer then your typical dusting sprays because the fabric softner dispells the buildup of static electricity, which attracts the dust. I will let you know in a week if there is less dust then usual.
I am also told this spray can double as a fabric-refresher a la Febreeze. We all know how Thrift-O-Mom loves a double player! I currently have a bottle of Febreeze sitting on my counter (I know, shame shame!) so I will use that up before I test this spray for fabric refreshing.
And if 2 uses wasn't enough, you can also use this spray as a static-gaurd for your hair. Just spray lightly on your hands and run over the top of your hair... Viola, no more fly-aways!
Today, I am making a Homemade Dust repellent out of water and fabric softner. Simply put, it is a mixture of 1 part fabric softner to 4 parts water. Apparently, you are supposed to use an old, gnarly towel and spray it directly on the towel, not the furniture being dusted. So far, it seems to be working well, although on some of my shinier wood, I have to rub a little harder to make sure there are no streaks. Other then that, I like it. It smells good and supposedly will keep dust gone longer then your typical dusting sprays because the fabric softner dispells the buildup of static electricity, which attracts the dust. I will let you know in a week if there is less dust then usual.
I am also told this spray can double as a fabric-refresher a la Febreeze. We all know how Thrift-O-Mom loves a double player! I currently have a bottle of Febreeze sitting on my counter (I know, shame shame!) so I will use that up before I test this spray for fabric refreshing.
And if 2 uses wasn't enough, you can also use this spray as a static-gaurd for your hair. Just spray lightly on your hands and run over the top of your hair... Viola, no more fly-aways!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Today’s topic: Thrifty Tried and True Home cleaning recipes
First and foremost, as a Thrifty Homemade cleaner Mom, there are a few things you must always have on hand. They are; White Vinegar, Baking Soda, Peroxide, Lemons or lemon juice (I prefer the fresh but juice is usually fine too) and rubbing Alcohol. Some other things that are good to have on hand for these recipes are olive oil, non-suds ammonia, Tea tree oil, Essential oil (I, personally, like lavender), Vegetable glycerin, liquid castile soap, Ivory Soap Flakes and Borax. If you have ALL of these ingredients, you can clean your home with effective, non-toxic, economic cleaners. Make sure to visit the dollar store for lots of $1 spray bottles!
My favorite all-purpose cleaner is a simple mixture of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water. I use this cleaner for almost everything on a daily basis. I use it to clean our table after dinner, to wipe the counters in between “sanitizing” cleans, to wipe up spills made by my children, to wipe finger prints off of random things, to clean the refrigerator, to clean the faucets in the bathrooms and the kitchen, among hundreds of other daily uses. Put a couple tablespoons of lemon juice in for a better smelling cleaner.
Vinegar is the most commonly used cleaning supply I have. Check out http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7 for 1001 uses for vinegar. There are some wonderfully clever uses for my go-to cleaner!
A new cleaner I have just recently tried is a furniture polish made of olive oil and lemon juice. I’m told baby oil also works. We might try that next. Mix ½ cup olive oil with ½ cup lemon juice. Mix well. Apply to cloth and polish furniture. I’m also betting the essential oil (if you have it) would actually mix with the oil better. My wood looks wonderful after using this polish!
Here are a few other recipes we’ve used:
Every Day Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Spring Cleaning Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon clear, non-suds ammonia
Strong All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe
1 tablespoon clear, non-suds ammonia
1 tablespoon clear laundry detergent
2 cups water
Deodorizers
Use baking soda here, there, and everywhere -- down the drain, on baby spit-up, in diaper pails, refrigerators, cat litter and the kitchen sponge. It's easy and simple.
Toilet Cleaner
Make a paste of borax and lemon oil. Make sure paste is not too runny. Brush around rim of toilet bowl, let sit 2 hours. Scrub and Rinse.
This week we are trying a homemade dish detergent. This is normally one of my “only buy brand name” items… so if this works, it would save us a lot of money. If you are interested in trying it yourself before I review it, the recipe is as follows: 1 cup Borax, 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup kosher salt. Use one tbsp for pre-wash and wash, and use vinegar in the rinse dispenser.
Don’t use these cleaners with paper towels. Buy some cheap hand towels. I, personally, like the micro fleece towels in Walmart’s auto section. They work wonderfully and are pretty cheap. Just use and throw in the wash.
More tomorrow on household re-usable products.
First and foremost, as a Thrifty Homemade cleaner Mom, there are a few things you must always have on hand. They are; White Vinegar, Baking Soda, Peroxide, Lemons or lemon juice (I prefer the fresh but juice is usually fine too) and rubbing Alcohol. Some other things that are good to have on hand for these recipes are olive oil, non-suds ammonia, Tea tree oil, Essential oil (I, personally, like lavender), Vegetable glycerin, liquid castile soap, Ivory Soap Flakes and Borax. If you have ALL of these ingredients, you can clean your home with effective, non-toxic, economic cleaners. Make sure to visit the dollar store for lots of $1 spray bottles!
My favorite all-purpose cleaner is a simple mixture of 1 part vinegar and 1 part water. I use this cleaner for almost everything on a daily basis. I use it to clean our table after dinner, to wipe the counters in between “sanitizing” cleans, to wipe up spills made by my children, to wipe finger prints off of random things, to clean the refrigerator, to clean the faucets in the bathrooms and the kitchen, among hundreds of other daily uses. Put a couple tablespoons of lemon juice in for a better smelling cleaner.
Vinegar is the most commonly used cleaning supply I have. Check out http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7 for 1001 uses for vinegar. There are some wonderfully clever uses for my go-to cleaner!
A new cleaner I have just recently tried is a furniture polish made of olive oil and lemon juice. I’m told baby oil also works. We might try that next. Mix ½ cup olive oil with ½ cup lemon juice. Mix well. Apply to cloth and polish furniture. I’m also betting the essential oil (if you have it) would actually mix with the oil better. My wood looks wonderful after using this polish!
Here are a few other recipes we’ve used:
Every Day Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Spring Cleaning Glass Cleaner
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon clear, non-suds ammonia
Strong All-Purpose Cleaner Recipe
1 tablespoon clear, non-suds ammonia
1 tablespoon clear laundry detergent
2 cups water
Deodorizers
Use baking soda here, there, and everywhere -- down the drain, on baby spit-up, in diaper pails, refrigerators, cat litter and the kitchen sponge. It's easy and simple.
Toilet Cleaner
Make a paste of borax and lemon oil. Make sure paste is not too runny. Brush around rim of toilet bowl, let sit 2 hours. Scrub and Rinse.
This week we are trying a homemade dish detergent. This is normally one of my “only buy brand name” items… so if this works, it would save us a lot of money. If you are interested in trying it yourself before I review it, the recipe is as follows: 1 cup Borax, 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup kosher salt. Use one tbsp for pre-wash and wash, and use vinegar in the rinse dispenser.
Don’t use these cleaners with paper towels. Buy some cheap hand towels. I, personally, like the micro fleece towels in Walmart’s auto section. They work wonderfully and are pretty cheap. Just use and throw in the wash.
More tomorrow on household re-usable products.
Thrift-O Mom Introduction
So today I begin my wonderful thrift-o blog. First, let me tell you a little about me. I'm a 29 year old stay at home mother. I have 2 wonderful children and 2 great Step-kids. We'll call them Rainbow (14 year old girl), Speedy (12 year old boy), Spidey (6 year old boy) and Princess (3 year old girl) for safety reasons. My husband is a 35 year old lead quality control at a restaurant supply warehouse. I have become thrifty out of need. We pay a large amount of child support for Rainbow and Speedy and in order for me to stay home with Spidey and Princess, we have had to become very creative. I enjoy making my own cleaning supplies, household products and anything that is neccesary. I started out making my own cloth diapers for Spidey before he was even born. I moved on to papoose style baby carriers when he was a little older. When he began eating baby food, I made all of his baby foods as well. I was enjoying making things for him so I then decided to expand into the rest of the home needs. I started making my own cloth feminine products, cloth "paper" towels, and cleaning supplies. Then Princess came along and I began making the usual cloth diapers, baby carriers and baby food along with clothes, hair accessories and learned to knit in order to make blankets and booties which came with the added benefit of home decorations and winter accessories.
Although there are a few things I still insist on store-bought that I COULD make, there aren't many. When those things must be bought, they are shopped for with the utmost concentration on thrift. I use coupons and weekly ads for comparison shopping and sales. I always keep a running total of how much I expect to spend per trip and anything I have left over my budgeted amount always goes into our savings. $5-$10 here and there certainly add up quickly depending how often you go shopping. I try to do my large trips every other weekend and small trips in between weekends always keeping mind on when the sales for certain things are.
Some great deals can be found at dollar stores if you know what you are looking for. I have found some great deodarants, snacks, kids toys, seasonal items, birthday supplies and even kitchenware at these stores. The trick to finding great deals here are knowing how much you would spend at the larger chain stores and asking yourself if $1 would be cheaper then they have them there. For example if Walmart has something for 95 cents as opposed to The Dollar Tree's $1, get at Walmart. Those 5 cents here and there really can add up.
Buying generic really is cost efficient. The best generics I have found are from Kroger. If you have a kroger near you, I highly suggest looking into their generics. They have their regular Kroger brand and they have a lower end called "Great Value"... Pass up the Great Value, very rarely do I find they are as good name brand. Kroger brand is very close, if not, sometimes, better. I will, however, buy noodles, crackers and sometimes fruit in the Great Value because the quality doesn't seem to suffer in those products. The only things that I buy brand name are Toilet paper, Dishwasher Detergent, Laundry Detergent, Fabric Softner, Body wash, Shampoo, Toothpaste and Animal food. And while I buy these name brands, I always have coupons and hit when there are sales as to save the most amount of money possible. I find that these things are either hard to find in generic or the quality is not what I need it to be.
More on Generics and Homemade cleaning supplies tomorrow.
Although there are a few things I still insist on store-bought that I COULD make, there aren't many. When those things must be bought, they are shopped for with the utmost concentration on thrift. I use coupons and weekly ads for comparison shopping and sales. I always keep a running total of how much I expect to spend per trip and anything I have left over my budgeted amount always goes into our savings. $5-$10 here and there certainly add up quickly depending how often you go shopping. I try to do my large trips every other weekend and small trips in between weekends always keeping mind on when the sales for certain things are.
Some great deals can be found at dollar stores if you know what you are looking for. I have found some great deodarants, snacks, kids toys, seasonal items, birthday supplies and even kitchenware at these stores. The trick to finding great deals here are knowing how much you would spend at the larger chain stores and asking yourself if $1 would be cheaper then they have them there. For example if Walmart has something for 95 cents as opposed to The Dollar Tree's $1, get at Walmart. Those 5 cents here and there really can add up.
Buying generic really is cost efficient. The best generics I have found are from Kroger. If you have a kroger near you, I highly suggest looking into their generics. They have their regular Kroger brand and they have a lower end called "Great Value"... Pass up the Great Value, very rarely do I find they are as good name brand. Kroger brand is very close, if not, sometimes, better. I will, however, buy noodles, crackers and sometimes fruit in the Great Value because the quality doesn't seem to suffer in those products. The only things that I buy brand name are Toilet paper, Dishwasher Detergent, Laundry Detergent, Fabric Softner, Body wash, Shampoo, Toothpaste and Animal food. And while I buy these name brands, I always have coupons and hit when there are sales as to save the most amount of money possible. I find that these things are either hard to find in generic or the quality is not what I need it to be.
More on Generics and Homemade cleaning supplies tomorrow.
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