Little of This. Little of That

Let me start by making it crystal clear that I am NOT one of those "super moms" that want you to think their world is perfect. (see title of blog) If you still aren't convinced see pic below. Yes, I will give my child sugary cereal, chicken nuggets, or frozen pizza in a heartbeat if it means keeping the peace.(yes I'm aware that the date and time are not right on my pics. Told ya I'm not a super mom)

If it makes life easier then I'm all for it. Which leads me to the post. I've had a few people ask about some of the homemade things I've started doing thanks to my sister. She's created a monster by the way. I posted the laundry detergent on an earlier post. I'll warn you that I wont be taking the time to post all these recipes today. I do have 3 kids and tons to do today. But, I will give you a few tips. I have come to the conclusion that if you have these things (below) that you can make or clean anything!

(and bleach of course. b/c sometimes you just need bleach) So far I've made laundry detergent, what I call ghetto febreeze, dish detergent, and baby wipes. My next project (as soon as my essential oils arrive) will be to make healthier plug ins. I have swelling in my nerve pathways, which is basically a constant state of migraine.(don't panic. I'm managing it) If you have migraines, even occasionally, you should consider removing those poisonous plug-ins. My neurologist pointed out that when those chemicals heat up the have all kinds of "stuff" released in the air that trigger migraines. (just a lil tip) I've also jumped on the mass cooking/freezer/crock pot cooking ban waggon. I did my first batch that took about an hour and I got 10 meals from it. I spent almost $30. Keep in mind that I have (free) good old grass fed Moore family beef and (cheap) deer meat. I just had to buy the chicken.

I can't wait to throw some of these in the crock pot on the way out the door and enjoy after a long day at work and running these 3 kids here and there. The goal is to stock up enough to fill about 1/2 of our extra freezer. I've found most of this stuff on pinterest of course. (again thanks to my sister) If you haven't joined the masses and become addicted to pinterest I suggest you do asap! It's like the best of the web all in one place. You're thinking why not use google, right? Simple. It's things created by real people. It's like a huge magazine. Needless to say I've saved $ by making all this stuff but I've also had fun letting the kids help with them and at least I know what's in it. Of course pinterest has cost me $ too. Lets face it, women love projects and spending $.Here are just a few.

I love my pots and the huge measuring tape. Will be adding vinyl for the kiddos measurements by yr. So join the masses, get on board, decide which recipes you like, and have fun! Once you get on there (or if you already are) you can follow me and steal all of mine. After all, that's what it's for. :) One last tip that has nothing to do with pinterest. It's just common since to me. I start scoping out the toy clearance isle in Walmart, Toys R us, and Target in January. Yep, January. Now, I only do this if I'm already at the store. Gas is too high to make special trips. That would defeat the purpose. I limit myself to $20 each time. I know how much I'm willing to spend on each of my children for their birthdays and christmas. I have a little black notebook that I keep track of it all in and a storage room where I keep it all stored. So far I have all 3 kids birthdays, and my nephew's birthday done.

(I think this was my first batch and I spent about $12)

Two rules set a limit and stick to it and ONLY buy from that clearance isle. If more people would put a little more effort into it we'd have a lot less credit card debt in this country. Cash is king at my house. (yes I'm a Dave Ramsey fan) To all the normal, stressed out moms that fed your kids store bought baby food, and have crayon marks on your walls ..... here's to a good glass of wine and a little (for me anyway) therapy. To each their own, but this stuff is therapy for me.

-Court

Why have I put this off so long?

Back in August my sister made homemade laundry detergent. I wasn't sure about how it would turn out at first. She loved it and I became curious when I did the math and figured out how much money I could save with under an hour of my time every 6 months. When we went down to her house for Thanksgiving she "bagged me up" what I would need for 10 gallons. (2 of the 3 ingredients) I just had to buy one ingredient and she also sent me with about a 1/2 gallon to try. We loved it and I have be "meaning to get around to it" since. I could shoot off excuses like "busy w/ life, kids, holidays...." blah blah. But the truth is that now that I've finally done it, there is NO excuse except pure laziness. Just think about it.... 1 hr every 5-6 months. How much time do we waste on FB or watching mindless tv? Besides, the kids had a great time helping too. ;)
I came across the "recipe" on Pinterest one night and had one of those "oh yeah. Been meaning to do that" moments. I had to go to Lowes and Wal Mart the next day and just decided to go ahead and get my supplies.
You'll need:
-1 bar of Fels-Naptha (less than $2)
-Arm and Hammer Washing Soda NOT baking soda ($3)
-Borax ($3)

I found all of these in the laundry isle at Wal Mart. Just look for it. It's usually towards the bottom and if you blink, you'll miss it. I already had the washing soda and borax form my sister, but figured I would need it eventually so I went ahead and grabbed a box of each.
-2 five gallon buckets w/ lids if you want (on sale for $3 @ Lowes) As you can see above, I used the drill and mixer attachment to make stiring everything a little easier.
Shave your bar down with a cheese grater, put in a pot with 4 cups of water on med heat,and let it melt. Took about 20 min. Not bad. Put the melted liquid in a bucket with 1 cup washing soda and 1/2 cup of borax and fill ONE of your buckets with HOT water and stir. Let it sit overnight, split it in 1/2, and fill again with hot water and stir again. That simple.

I have 10 gallons for under $15. You'll spend more than that on 2 store bought gallons. I'll only have to buy the Fels-Naptha next time, so I'll have $2 in the next 10 gallons.
If you're like me, you don't like to spend money on "boring", "everyday" stuff. I figure that I can use whatever savings I can find with 3 kiddos.
There really is no excuse for not doing this. It's so simple. I remember my grandmother using these same ingredients. When I picked the Fels-Naptha bar up it all came back to me. Walking down to her laundry room, that smell of fresh, and her rubbing that bar on the stains. How did we get away from simple? Marketing? Keeping up w/ whoever? IDK... If you look on the back of every laundry detergent in the store you'll see that they're nothing but these 3 ingredients, (they may have different names but just look it all up. It's the same thing) along with dyes, and perfumes.
You can keep it in the buckets or put it in whatever container you want.(mine's in milk and laundry bottles for now) I have found some clear containers I'm going to order online for $1 each and there are plenty of free downloadable lables online for all of you that are just as OCD as me.;) Hope I've helped some of you save some $! Have fun!

Until next time.... B+. :)