The nickel and dime project....

When I first set out on this little money saving adventure I had plans to break everything down to the penny and then write a blog about how much money my do-it-myself projects were saving my family.  But then I realized that I would just be one of 100 mega bazillion people blogging about the same thing; and since I'm not one to beat a dead horse........

I will say this about making my own cleaning supplies; I truly enjoy doing it and, unlike cooking - at which I unfortunately suck, it's easy to do.

Without getting into the money part of it, here is what I have done so far:


1. http://www.womenio.com/2663/natural-solutions-7-easy-and-affordable-homemade-dishwasher-detergents

I learned how to mix dishwasher detergent through this site.  So far, the only one that I have tried off of this site is the powdered dishwasher detergent and, I have to admit, the jury is still out on this one.

The first time I made the detergent it worked splendidly.....Well, as long as I remembered to put vinegar in the rinse compartment.  Forget to do that and all of my glasses come out cloudy.

However, the second batch I made molded into one semi-hard clump.  I don't know what happened....Humidity, maybe?  Whatever the culprit, it took a mortar and pestle to grind out enough detergent to put in the dishwasher.  Once in the washer the detergent didn't break down as well as it did the first time and afterwards I ended up washing a lot of the dishes by hand.

So with the third batch, to keep it from clumping up, I have placed the detergent in what I hope to be an air tight container.  Wait and see.....

I may have to go with a plan B on this one....As soon as I figure out what plan B is.


2.  http://www.budget101.com/myo-household-items/whipped-cream-super-laundry-soap-3993.html

I really, REALLY like this stuff.  It's been over four months and I've only made this laundry soap up twice.  Once you make it, it lasts for a long, long time.

The nice thing about this laundry soap is that it works well in HE (high efficiency) washers.  I never realized that you couldn't buy just any laundry soap when using HE washers.  I didn't make that connection until I took over dirty underwear duty.
(**Note from Karla: "This laundry soap rocks!**)


3. http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/11/make-your-own-endless-supply-of-swiffer-refills.html

Sometimes you come across an idea that makes you kick yourself and wonder, "Now why in the Hell didn't I think of that?"

I haven't bought Swiffer refills since I invested in a cheap pair of chenille socks.  Ugly socks, but they clean your floor really well.


4.  http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/todds-friends/citrus-vinegar-cleaner.html

Now you don't have to get too fancy with your citrus cleaner.  All I have ever used so far is just orange peels  and vinegar, and it works just fine.  Well, unless you ask Toby, who absolutely detests the smell of vinegar.

But I use this knowledge to my advantage.  If Toby forgets something, oh, like his football girdle, I just give it a few liberal sprays of citrus vinegar before I run it to the school.  I consider it payment/punishment for inconveniencing me. It's been a quite a while since Toby has forgotten anything.

I've also told him if he ever gets in trouble, he will be wiping down his room with my wonderful concoction.....He hasn't gotten in trouble yet.  Life is good.  :)

As far as the smell goes, it lasts a short while.  I promise, your house won't "reek" (Toby's word) of vinegar after you've finished cleaning with it.


Here is another vinegar link for you to check out:

http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

Vinegar, quite simply, is freaking awesome.  I would say that, hands down, I use this temporarily smelly, fermented liquid more than any other cleaning supply I have.  I have also found out that it's great for killing weeds and keeping ants out of the house.  (Apparently, Toby and ants have something in common.)


There are still some things on my list that I haven't tried yet:

1.  Homemade dryer sheets
2.  Homemade lysol wipes
3.  Carpet cleaner for the throw rug at the front door that the dogs like to lay/scratch their butts on.
4.  Dusting spray and wood polish....which has vodka in it......Oh, boy!!!!  I now have an excuse.....  :)

As I scribbled at the beginning of this blog; I was really going to nickel and dime all of this just to show/justify that it was worth going through all the trouble of making your own cleaning supplies.

But, in the end, it's not the money I save that gives me any kind of satisfaction at all.  It's the thought that I'm doing something different, something unique that not a lot of people do.  That I am, in some small way, doing something that's just a little bit more environmentally friendly.

Yeah, it makes me feel good.

Now if I could just cook......dammit.