First off I need to find a why to organize my post because I am going to start talking about the changes I am making in my household to save cash and go green. I am hoping to make life simpler in the long run by making these changes.So if you do not want to read about how making my own cleaning supplies and laundry detergent has affect my family and my life I understand and you can skip over those post. But for now everything is going to be group together.
Now on to what is working and any effects I have seen so far. Well all I really have been doing is starting to make some of my own cleaning solution which for us is just a 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water, although I do plan to add a few drops of tea tree oil when I have some money to buy it for the additional disinfection properties it has. Now before you go thinking that my house now smells like pickles the vinegar smell goes away as soon as it dries. The one difference I have noticed is in my bathrooms no longer smell like urine from when the boys aim is off. The only other thing is it seems to loosen up the caked on crap on the stove after cooking if I let the solution sit for a couple of minutes.
My next experiment is making and using my own laundry soap. I bought all the supplies I need for less then $20.00 and am hoping that if the detergent works I will be able to cut the cost of washing laundry (which is never ending) down to $0.25 per load or less. If this works I will post a link to the formula I use.
My final hope is by doing all this that I am able to help lessen some of the effects that the chemicals have on my family and improve mini-man behaviour.
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Summer
So I got to thinking that I had not written anything all summer practically and maybe it was due to not feeling like there was anything to talk about and losing my computer due to being peed on. Well now I have a new one and the ability to write something, but I still feel like I have nothing to say.
I know things have happened and I could write about them and some one would eventually read them but right now I feel as if I would be going around in a circle again and I need to change course. My days are starting to run into one another and all of them are the same basic day - run, clean, breakfast, clean, plaground, lunch, clean, nap and miniman therapy, home dinner, playground/work, and bed time.
School starts in a week and I can not wait. I need some sort of break, I love my kids but I can not deal with them full time. I am going to start to ramble if I dont stop soon maybe I will try to write next week
I know things have happened and I could write about them and some one would eventually read them but right now I feel as if I would be going around in a circle again and I need to change course. My days are starting to run into one another and all of them are the same basic day - run, clean, breakfast, clean, plaground, lunch, clean, nap and miniman therapy, home dinner, playground/work, and bed time.
School starts in a week and I can not wait. I need some sort of break, I love my kids but I can not deal with them full time. I am going to start to ramble if I dont stop soon maybe I will try to write next week
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Food buget
Well it is Wednesday of the first week of the 80 dollar a week food challenge and we are at 74.76 and there is quite a few things I would like to be able to buy, mostly fresh food. As for the addition rules we have decided that money will not roll over. Other then that I don't have much to add, but needed to update my current weekly total.
Monday, 28 May 2012
Day 6 and 7 of Flats handwashing challenge Plus my next challenge
Today I am writing the last of my Flat diaper hand washing challenge, and to sum the experience up it is hard work. I have choose to combine the last two suggested writing topic due to time and having a sick child. My micro-man is really sick and has me worried, we have a Dr. appointment on Tuesday morning. I have learned a lot about myself in this challenge and found me to be more determined then I could have guessed, I also find myself to have a little more ingenuity the I know was possible.
I talked to my Mother-in-Law about her thoughts on cloth diapers and she did not like them due to the mess. I personally do not find them to be much messier then disposable really if I had a diaper sprayer I believe the mess that I do have would go away almost completely. What she did like about cloth was the cost saving and multiple uses other then as diapers.
I have been asking myself the question would I do this challenge again or for longer and the answer is yes I would. If I had to I would even do this as a lifestyle choice. I do not want to give up my washing machine and may have to find a new system to make hand washing work for everyday life.
I have found the different folds for the diapers to be fun to learn I may not be doing them right though and making my own folds. Of course it doesn't matter what fold you use as long as it keeps the baby dry and the poop in the diaper.
All in all this has been a learning experience and I feel like a better person for doing this.
Now for my next challenge, this one will be a lot longer term I am looking at making it last for the summer, I will be feeding my family of 4 on less then $80 a month. The rules of this challenge are not completely set yet but for now in addition to food and drink that $80 also has to cover smokes for my husband. This could be scary.
I will be using this blog to help keep track of my experiences. This week so far I have spent 66.60 and that includes all meat, most veggies and fruit and all of the sides.
Lastly I am going to ask for opinions on so of the rules we are debating 1) should any other items then food and drink be included in that budget? 2) If we have extra money in our pockets can we use that to buy things like smokes, pop, treats for the kids ect. with out including it in our final total? and 3) If there is extra money at the end of a week can we carry the extra to the next week or should we start fresh every week?
Any thoughts ideas opinions would be appreciated.
I talked to my Mother-in-Law about her thoughts on cloth diapers and she did not like them due to the mess. I personally do not find them to be much messier then disposable really if I had a diaper sprayer I believe the mess that I do have would go away almost completely. What she did like about cloth was the cost saving and multiple uses other then as diapers.
I have been asking myself the question would I do this challenge again or for longer and the answer is yes I would. If I had to I would even do this as a lifestyle choice. I do not want to give up my washing machine and may have to find a new system to make hand washing work for everyday life.
I have found the different folds for the diapers to be fun to learn I may not be doing them right though and making my own folds. Of course it doesn't matter what fold you use as long as it keeps the baby dry and the poop in the diaper.
All in all this has been a learning experience and I feel like a better person for doing this.
Now for my next challenge, this one will be a lot longer term I am looking at making it last for the summer, I will be feeding my family of 4 on less then $80 a month. The rules of this challenge are not completely set yet but for now in addition to food and drink that $80 also has to cover smokes for my husband. This could be scary.
I will be using this blog to help keep track of my experiences. This week so far I have spent 66.60 and that includes all meat, most veggies and fruit and all of the sides.
Lastly I am going to ask for opinions on so of the rules we are debating 1) should any other items then food and drink be included in that budget? 2) If we have extra money in our pockets can we use that to buy things like smokes, pop, treats for the kids ect. with out including it in our final total? and 3) If there is extra money at the end of a week can we carry the extra to the next week or should we start fresh every week?
Any thoughts ideas opinions would be appreciated.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Flats and Handwashing challenge Day 5
Day 5 and the topic is what have I learned, hmmm let me think.....HANDWASHING SUCKS!!!! Sorry but it does and I am all over it.
Now I got that out of my system what else have I learned, a far amount. First that if I ever needed to I can do this and survive. Now that is not to say that I would put myself in a situation where I would need to hand wash. well maybe camping.
Two I can understand why it seems better to use disposable instead of cloth when you have to wash them if you are busy or working,
Three I can take a day trip with cloth and live, I am not sure how I am going to wash them all in the morning but it will get done.
And finally if I ever thought of going back to disposable I will hate myself. When I have learned how often my children pee and how much and think about how often they get changed vs with disposable ones I feel guilty. When I have disposable diaper on they get changed only when they are soaked because I do not want to waste the diaper they cost too much. With a Flat I have to change every 2 hours or so. I think this may be good in determining if one is getting dehydrated,. by making when they pee more noticeable.
I do love my flats and they definitely have a place in my diaper rotation just not a constant all the time diaper
Now I got that out of my system what else have I learned, a far amount. First that if I ever needed to I can do this and survive. Now that is not to say that I would put myself in a situation where I would need to hand wash. well maybe camping.
Two I can understand why it seems better to use disposable instead of cloth when you have to wash them if you are busy or working,
Three I can take a day trip with cloth and live, I am not sure how I am going to wash them all in the morning but it will get done.
And finally if I ever thought of going back to disposable I will hate myself. When I have learned how often my children pee and how much and think about how often they get changed vs with disposable ones I feel guilty. When I have disposable diaper on they get changed only when they are soaked because I do not want to waste the diaper they cost too much. With a Flat I have to change every 2 hours or so. I think this may be good in determining if one is getting dehydrated,. by making when they pee more noticeable.
I do love my flats and they definitely have a place in my diaper rotation just not a constant all the time diaper
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Days 3 and 4 of Flats Challenge
Day 3 topic is what else do you use your flats for. For the people who do not know a flat diaper is a large square of cloth about 27 by 27 in that is very absorbant. I have found they have many uses, towels, rags, tissues, blankets, and clothes in a pinch or a toy. I personally have used my flat diapers for every thing but clothes.
Day 4 is more interesting, our washing routine. I did not make any special type of washing bucket or washboard. I am doing everything by hand in my bathroom sink limiting myself to only washing 3 diapers at a time. I am using Rocken Green detergent but I am thinking of trying seventh generation. I rinse in hot water fallowed by scrubbing for 5 min and rinsing the soap out of each indivdually. Then I hang them out on the line and bring them in when I take out the next load.
I am not really enjoying this whole process but I am going to finish out the week. Every time I do this I remember what it was like when my family was buying disposible due to several factors and was no washing machine. It was hard sometimes I had to choose some times between food, bills and diapers. I left my Mini-man in diapers longer then I should have to be able to afford every thing. I feel better being able to keep both my kids in diapers with out using a washing machine
Day 4 is more interesting, our washing routine. I did not make any special type of washing bucket or washboard. I am doing everything by hand in my bathroom sink limiting myself to only washing 3 diapers at a time. I am using Rocken Green detergent but I am thinking of trying seventh generation. I rinse in hot water fallowed by scrubbing for 5 min and rinsing the soap out of each indivdually. Then I hang them out on the line and bring them in when I take out the next load.
I am not really enjoying this whole process but I am going to finish out the week. Every time I do this I remember what it was like when my family was buying disposible due to several factors and was no washing machine. It was hard sometimes I had to choose some times between food, bills and diapers. I left my Mini-man in diapers longer then I should have to be able to afford every thing. I feel better being able to keep both my kids in diapers with out using a washing machine
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Flats Handwashing Challenge
Yesterday I started to use only flat (Large single cloth square) cloth diapers (when at home school and daycare will not use them) and hand wash them. I know this does not completely follow the rules set by the challenge issuer Dirty Diaper Laundry but her goal is to raise awareness of ways to cloth diaper on a small budget/low income families. She is also donating $1 to a diaper charity for every one who completes the challenge up to 200 and Kelly's Closet (a cloth diaper store) is adding $1 up to $200.. While this may not be a ton of money it is something and it helps.
DDL (dirty diaper laundry) is asking people to write about why they are doing this and what they are using. (She has a list of suggested topics for each day this is day one and twos topics)
My reasons for doing this are simple, I want to prove to myself I can and if I can do this at home I can do it while camping.
I am going simple for this challenge and using 12 Osocozy Flats and 6 Swaddlebees Flats. I have Snapi and Boingo fasteners. My covers are 2 Large Bummis covers, 2 econobuns, and 2 Grovia shells.
To wash I am using my bathroom sink and Rocken Green detergent and washing up to 4 diapers at a time.
So far the challenge is going OK and is easier then I thought it would be but it is only day two and today will be the second hardest day. Tomorrow I will have a better idea of how this will go for the rest of the week.
DDL (dirty diaper laundry) is asking people to write about why they are doing this and what they are using. (She has a list of suggested topics for each day this is day one and twos topics)
My reasons for doing this are simple, I want to prove to myself I can and if I can do this at home I can do it while camping.
I am going simple for this challenge and using 12 Osocozy Flats and 6 Swaddlebees Flats. I have Snapi and Boingo fasteners. My covers are 2 Large Bummis covers, 2 econobuns, and 2 Grovia shells.
To wash I am using my bathroom sink and Rocken Green detergent and washing up to 4 diapers at a time.
So far the challenge is going OK and is easier then I thought it would be but it is only day two and today will be the second hardest day. Tomorrow I will have a better idea of how this will go for the rest of the week.
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