a new year, a new me!

Seriously! I have been on a rampage!
Let me back track a little...

Dec 26th I flooded our basement. As soon as my 6 yr old said " Mom, the floor is wet!" I knew, my "quick fix" on the sump pump went wrong, terribly wrong and we now had 3 inches of water in our basement. Carpet, furniture, boxes of papers and clothes, yep, everything! We had to remove EVERYTHING including the padding under the carpet. It was a very long day but our friends with a carpet cleaning company came to our rescue with industrial fans and dehumidifiers! Since everything had to be moved I figured I would organize...EVERYTHING! We have made MANY trips to Goodwill and the dumpster. Things I had been holding on to for YEARS I was now able to let go of (100 napkins from our wedding!!! We now use them daily!) Cleaning out the basement felt so good I started upstairs also. I have now cleaned out every drawer, closet, cabinet, pantry cubbie , box, shelf and corner in my house, including the attic full of LOTS of boxes of teaching materials. In the days to follow I will post pictures of some of my new found organization.

car cleaning

We are a "car family". We own lots of cars (with no debt!) and enjoying going to car shows and cruise in's. We went to the local Big Lots ( www.biglots.com ) the other day and my husband pick up some car cleaner. As we are checking out I'm thinking, "doesn't this defeat the purpose of making our own cleaning products? There has to be a better way."

After a little research I found that the glass cleaner recipe I posted yesterday can also be used as windshield washer fluid.

You can also get the salt off your car by using a solution of 1/3 cup white distilled vinegar and 2/3 cup of water.

For the good old car cleaner

Wash it off with a solution of one cup baking soda and a gallon of hot, soapy water. This solution will also help prevent rust. Pour undiluted vinegar onto decals, let soak for a few minutes then scrape off, repeating if necessary!

How awesome is that?
Now, the trick will be to get my hubby to return the car cleaner. I'll let you know how that conversation goes!

Green Cleaning

I made cleaning products today and took my stockpile of other cleaning products to the food pnatry at church. Which is kind of funny to me. It is like I am saying the products can hurt the environment and my family so I am going to give them to you to hurt the environment and your family...okay, moving along...

I had to go to 2 stores to find the ingredints and am still looking for the oils but here are my recipes I used (thanks to a friend and the internet)

Floor Cleaner (which I put in my Clorox ready Mop)
1 part Vinegar
4 parts Water
you can also add 15-20 drops of essential oil if you don't like the smell of vinegar

Window Cleaner
1 part rubbing alcohol
2 parts water
you can also add 15-20 drops of essential oil if you don't like the smell of vinegar

and All Purpose Cleaner
2 cups water
1/2 c vinegar
1tsp Castile Saop (get the kind with Tea Tree already in it!)
3/4 c hydrogen peroxide
1 tsp baking soda (not to much or it will foam over!)
10 drops tea tree oli
10 drops lemongrass oil (for smell only)

Good luck and have fun!

I'm starting a blog

I am really not interesting, clever, witty or anything a blogger should be. I just like to share what I learn and talk to others about their ideas. I decided to start a blog about "getting by". Everyone is feeling the crunch in some manner and we are too. We are self employed and in order to pay our staff, my husband cut his pay in half...yes HALF. It hurts and I try to adjust the budget every month but it never seems to add up. So, today, I will start to do things differently.

I went to a coupon class last night (yes, I am one of those obsessed with coupons!) I was actually a speaker about one of my other passions (we'll get to that later) but the one thing that I found so fascinating was making your own cleaning supplies! I knew it could be done but last night, Lori, (I'll see if she has a website later) told us how easy it was. So, today, I start things differently. I want to be one of those mom's that has a garden, cooks from scratch, and yes, makes her own cleaning supplies. I would even like to learn to sew and knit, since I forget how. I want to be THAT mom and wife!

So, this is my blog about living on half a paycheck and how we cut costs.

When the baby wakes up the family will head to the store to but vinegar, baking soda, rubbing alcohol and a few other things to make our own cleaning products. It is cheaper, safer for the kiddos and better for the environment. My stock pile of cleaning supplies is headed to the food pantry at church. I hope you find this slightly interesting and I hope I am not the only one reading this. But, if I am, I will have a record of how far my family has come.

This will be the year I have more than one pumpkin survive in the garden and my watermelon will be bigger than a baseball!