Putting my money where my mouth is

HA! That sounds awful. We ran out of dish soap yesterday, finally, and I made my own. No bubbles is kinda wierd and takes some getting used to. So here’s what I did. I mixed Borax and baking soda in a container. We won’t be letting the dishes pile up (yeah right) as much. I put a basin in the sink for soaking instead of my huge tub sink. The actual soap is a mixture in a lg Ajax recycled bottle. 1/2 c Dr. Bronners liquid Castille Soap (because it’s what I have), 2 TB liquid glycern, 3 drops tee tree EO, 1 cup vinegar, then fill the bottle with hot water. They say 1/2 cup to wash dishes including pots and pans for a family of 4’s use – sounds about right. So this morning, I made dog treats. You know the 1lb rolls of turkey meat? My bowl was a greasy mess when I finished. I soaked the bowl in borax and soda with a squirt of dw soap. Let sit for a few minutes and washed. No grease left over! I am totally pleased!

I used it to wash my eye glasses and had to rinse in a few drops of vinegar – the EO I guess seemed to smear the glasses a titch.

I got online and found a recipe for homemade fabric softner too! Now this is just too cool. With our appliance situation, we are juggling stuff to the point that everything is stiff and rough. The top part of the washer’s agitator is broken. It doesn’t spin out the water correctly, so while we have a limping dryer, we have to still hang clothes till they are mostly dry. It’s barely working but better than nothing. Steve and I were discussing the possibility of fabric softner but we have to be careful because we are both extremely sensitive to fragrances. I found a recipe this morning I’m going to try.

Fabric Softener Sheets:
3- 4 cups water
1 cup vinegar
1 cup of hair conditioner (the cheaper the better)
A plastic bottle to mix the ingredients in and a second plastic container – anything that has a lid (I’m thinking one of those containers you buy with lunch meat in it)
Combine all ingredients in your large bottle and shake well. Use old wash cloths, (if they are badly frayed, trim and hem them) or cut and hem an old towel. Cut the towel or wash clothes or rags to fit into the square plastic container. Layer 3 to 5 clothes
and pour enough softener to get the bottom rag wet. Seal the container. To use a
fabric softener sheet, flip the stack of rags and get the wet one. Wring it out
into the container. After your clothes are dry, put the used cloth back on top.
Next time turn the stack over to get another wet one. Just keep rotating through the
rags and add more fabric softener to the container as needed. (Think of all the different scents of conditioner – coconut, kiwi-lime, strawberry, ocean breeze, blackberry and green tea – something will be just right I’m sure) Vinegar is a natural rinsing agent and will not leave a smell but helps make your clothes soft. Also, you can almost always find VO5 or Suave conditioners for under $1.00 a bottle so this is very economical. Buying big gallon jugs of vinegar also makes it even cheaper.

We’ve been using the lemon washing powder I made for 2 weeks now and Steve’s happy. He does the laundry. Hopefully the fabric softner sheets will make him even happier! He did kinda draw back at the first wiff – the conditioner I have on hand is REAL light on scent and the vinegar got him! lol There are moments I wish we had on video! He just called down, “wring it out? I hope it doesn’t cause any spots!” We shall see and I’ll let you know.

There’s not a lot happening besides adjustments at the moment. It feels like I’m wringing EVERYTHING out. Cutting more pennies here and there. I try not to let myself think it’s not enough – but it’s hard to block those thoughts. Fall is here. Today, my family is intact. G told me if we ever move from GA he wants to go to LA or AR. He’s so funny.

It’s the 22nd of the month and I still have $212 to make it to the 11th of Oct. I’ve actually set a goal to have some Food Stamps left over. I really feel if you get a benefit, you should value it and not waste any part of it. Since the other part of my goal was to only shop twice for groceries in a month, I think we’re doing pretty good. When you make fairly big runs, the trick is to keep your fresh items from going bad. Like the cucumbers and the lettuce and spinach. I shopped hungry – it couldn’t be helped – and the next day I made batches of stuff – like the spinach noodles and potato salad and Steve wanted BLT’s and I didn’t let him cook the whole pk of bacon. so today, I cooked the last 8 slices and we’ll do BLT’s again. Now that leaves the spinach noodles to use again. I worried about letting them rest in the fridge too long. If I hadn’t used spinach in them, they would of kept better.  We’ve been buying manager’s special bread and making bread pudding – lasts most of the week. I’m making yogurt today. I have some peach syrup I put up last year that will flavor it wonderfully. It really is a balancing act.

My youngest daughter called a bit ago and asked me to help her figure out what to do with $5. She’s home and hungry. She has ingredients for corn bread. She has butter. She needs milk. I suggested a can of tuna, some milk (wish I could get some powdered milk to her) and a $1’s worth of vegetables. Green vege’s would be best. With milk she could make white sauce. She needs to buy corn starch too next time she can. I’m going to make her a list of basics. She’s learning.

Anyway. I imagine if anyone read this far they deserve a medal. I don’t mean to bore anyone, I’m just trying to work things out OUT LOUD.

AND for the people who think my dog shouldn’t get dog treats when we are so broke – piss on em. (except Kayla who was sick when she said it and my other kids who only think it). That dog is the only thing that keeps us sane. We walk him as often as we get to leave the house. He loves us and pushes us to play and laugh and love him back. I think spending $1 for a roll of ground turkey or chicken that is mixed with 30 yr old ground flour, 30 yr old powdered eggs, and 30 yr old powdered milk is not too much to do for him. I wasn’t kidding when I said that survival stash was gonna save my pet’s lives for as long as possible. Until I’m on the street, my cats are NOT expendable. Even IF I live on the street, neither is my dog.  This is not their fault and I do not believe in killing them when we can still manage to feed them. I don’t want to hear ANY opinions on my animals that is negative.

Anyway. Enough for today. Be blessed and please change your way of thinking. Start striving to save every penny you can, not spend them because some advertiser reels you in with images and the word SALE. Pennies are fucking precious. That soda you get with your lunch and pay almost $3 for, is TWO 2-liter bottles of the same soda – it’s enough money to make a difference to someone who’s hungry or homeless. It’s enough money to help a child not go to bet with hunger pains. I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty – but if people with their needs met could just skrimp for 2 days a month – what a difference could be made right here in America. Use it to buy tampons for some woman in a shelter or some small item of hygene that food stamps won’t cover and hand it to someone who is going through this crap. more than 1 in 10 are suffering. We all know somebody we could make a difference to if we just stop trying NOT to notice.

Ah…for someone making her own soap I sure stand on the box enough. Sorry. I’m going back to my knitting corner now. Peace and love – REALLY.