Daily Chores

If you are like me, then you usually can only get to the necessities each day when it comes to chore; things like dishes, a load of laundry, and putting on a new roll of toilet paper. I used to save all of the cleaning for one or two days, and I would be exhausted in a stiff position on the sofa by the time I was done. My feet and back would hurt, and anyone who dare enter my home with shoes on would get a whooping. But then I found Motivated Moms. This site offers a downloadable chore list for every day (or in a weekly format) that makes getting little tasks done that much easier. Instead of worrying, "Should I wash the mirrors today or turn the mattress, oh wait I forgot to dust the picture frames and Shoot! did I take the meat out?" I just do a little bit each day.

What I love about the planner is that it contains tasks for an entire year, so daily things like TAKE OUT THE TRASH are included as well as CLEAN BOTTOM SHELF OF REFRIGERATOR. It also accounts for gift giving and self-pampering. The site does charge a small fee for the planner, and some people might think that they could make one of these on the own. I thought about that too, until I realized that I would let my assign 189 tasks for each day. Sometimes, it is better to let someone (or something) else run the show!

Becoming a 9-5 Family

So we are half way through Week 2 of our new lifestyle, and boy has it been a rollercoaster ride. We are still adjusting to this new schedule that we have never experienced before. Like I said in my earlier post, hubby is home EVERY DAY now. This means we can actually start buying fruit that won't go to waste, and that a whole loaf of bread (sometimes two!) gets eaten without wasting any. It means getting to eat at home every day and packing lunches. Very, very new to me. It seems as if things are getting more expensive right at the time that Murphy is visiting our house. After taking a long, hard look at the bank accounts today, I was slapped with reality and my frugal genes (yes, I have more than one!) kicked into TURBO POWER! or was it TURTLE POWER! ....anyway...

A few posts ago I showed off my 99 cent organic loot. In that lot was a bunch of flour, so I decided that I am done with buying ready-made bread. I actually made a list today and baking bread was on it. I had success thanks to a candy thermometer and the Good Housekeeping Cookbook from the 70s. That thing has never failed me, and if my Mom thinks she is getting it back, well she's just nutty. And because the job market here has been reduced to only two columns of non-nursing jobs, I will be baking all of our bread.

Another thing that I have been doing more of lately is hanging laundry in the house. Thanks to the crazy Arctic air sweeping the nation, I haven't really wanted to be outside handling cold wet clothes. I've been hanging them in open closets and the shower. My Mom started doing this when I was a teenager; we lived in an apartment and running the dryer meant skipping a meal.

I sometimes run the little heater in the bathroom to get things started. I usually leave the clothes overnight and fluff them in the morning.

Sometimes I kick myself for not doing these things all the time, thinking "Just imagine how much we could have saved!", but I've been trying to stay sane about it. I've realized that the ultimate way to be frugal would be living in an eco-village off of the grid somewhere peeing on our plants (I'm not knocking those that do). The rest of us are just doing our best with the mental capacity God gave us that allows for multitasking. Everyday I am trying to do better and realize my own strength,

and that's all I can do, is try. It's all any of us can do.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Homemade laundry detergent is one of the easiest and cost effective things you can do to "frugalize" your home. Not only is it cheap, it is eco-friendly, easy to make, and sufficient for high efficiency (front-loading) washing machines. Combined with the use of vinegar as a softener, your clothes will be cleaner with less residue and a better smell!

There are three ingredients needed to make a basic powdered laundry detergent: washing soda, borax, and bar soap.



Washing soda and borax (all-natural!) can be found in the laundry care aisle of most stores, usually on the top or bottom shelf. For the bar soap, the milder the better. I sometimes use organic lavender soap from the health food store because it is very soft and has a mild scent. Sometimes I use plain old Ivory. It is up to you. Try not to use moisturizing bars such as Dove because these are more creamy and don't rinse out as well.

The recipe:

1/2 cup washing soda

1/2 borax

1 cup grated soap flakes

Grate soap flakes using a box grater, or dice into small chunks and put in a food processor. It should look like this.



Combine soap with soda and borax in a sealed container. Shake it up! Use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I keep mine in a large plastic coffee container and use a tablespoon-sized measuring spoon. (I made a triple batch of detergent, that is why my container looks very full.)



On the front of this container, I used a label maker to print up the recipe so it is always there.
I also recommend using vinegar as a fabric softener in the rinse cycle. It is cost effective at less than $1.50 per gallon, and it removes most soap residue. It is especially helpful if you hang dry your laundry, because vinegar will help achieve that sunshine smell. And your clothes won't smell like vinegar I promise.

This detergent can be used in front-loading washing machines because it does not sud. It actually suds less than HE laundry detergent.