HOMEMADE SAVINGS

   The costs of keeping a house in working order.. much less looking decent is unbelievable. We have been fortunate in the lawn department, my father helped us buy a riding lawnmower 10 years ago, and I think the little fella has seen his last summer. There is always the cost of gas when you use a riding mower, not to mention oil, spark plugs, new blades, belts, tires....and we were just about to have to replace the lot of them.

   I am sure you have noticed in your own adventures in paying down debt or saving, that as soon as you make the decision to do it, things start falling apart so I wasn't completely shocked when it happened with the mower. But I did at least do my best to be conscious of the costs both up front and in the future.



   We have a little under a half acre lot and in places it is sloped about 45 degrees- this has always prevented me from being willing to ride the lawn mower as I saw myself going over the edge in a blur of grass clippings and flying blades. So the chore was left to my husband who works pretty hard all week long. The things we needed to replace or repair on the mower would have cost about 200.00 dollars (Tires, oil, spark plug, blades, belt)

   So I started looking for some way to keep the yard looking good and spending less money.. man if only baking soda and vinegar could cut the grass.

   I remembered one very long week when I was 10 years old and I cut grass to earn enough money to buy a hamster. Of course my parents weren't going to let a 10 year old use a gas mower, my dad bought a mid evil looking contraption that rolled and as the wheels turned the blades cut the grass.

   Come to find out they still make those jewels, so I went to Lowe's and after a bit of sticker shock ( I mean really.. its like a stroller with blades on it) I spent the $99.00 because at least it was less than $200.00 and went home excited to get my shoes dirty.












   So, as it turns out I am not in as good of shape as I was when I was 10 years old, so it has been quite a chore, but I needed the exercise- no really, and my kids were happy to be out in the sunshine and laugh at me while I struggled up the hills pushing what we now call "The Beast".












   I believe I made the right choice not only financially because it cost less not only to purchase but to maintain and use as well, no gas to buy is a good thing these days. I also am happy that I am able to take some of the work load from my husband it feels good to help him out and I know that I am getting a good workout

The cons of this method of lawn maintenance are; sticks and acorns really gum the works, they get caught in the blade and everything shuts down. Onion grass because it has already grown so high just gets pushed over flat and not chopped to smithereens but I think not allowing it to get so high will resolve this issue. You are going to get your heart rate up, this isn't a con but if you have health issues that restrict your activity this may not be a great idea for you. Lastly, you are still going to have to get out the weed eater if you have sidewalks because the tires on the mower prevent you from going all the way to the edge.









 


Now to estimate my savings, well I estimate that we are saving about 5 dollars a week in gas and roughly 50 dollars a summer in upkeep, not to mention I am giving my husband more free time after work, and that is really priceless.

I bought a second, smaller jiffy greenhouse for some lettuces, onions, beans and honestly I can't remember what all we put in there.... call it salad surprise.



Thisis day 3 on these seeds.

I can almost taste 'em!

   We planted tomato seeds about 3 days ago. I peeked beneath the greenhouse cover this morning to check the water level and was surprised by a bunch of little tomato shoots.

   Looks like the jiffy tomato greenhouse works.

 If you are looking for a super simple cleaner that kills germs and doesn't leave a lingering smell you can make it with 2 ingredients, one that is free and the other is likely in your pantry.

1 cup White Distilled Vinegar
1 cup warm water

mix in spray bottle.

Cost is 12 cents and it is a great deodorizer and bacteria killer due to the acid content.  If you are serious about killing germs you can also use straight vinegar in a spray bottle.

   I use this cleaner for most of the household cleaning.  It does a great job with the everyday stuff. I have omitted the lemon juice a couple of times and it still cleaned very well. This homemade cleaner costs 14 cents for a 16 ounce spray bottle with the lemon juice and about 2 cents without.If I buy Formula 409 at Dollar General it is $2.00 and needs to be replaced weekly so I save $96.72   a year with lemon juice and $102.96 a year without lemon juice.


2 tsp borax
1 tsp washing soda
4 TBS lemon juice

In a pint spray bottle, combine ingredients. Add 2 cup very hot water and shake to dissolve. Store indefinitely.

   I love strawberries and will often spend a pretty penny for them. This year I have decided to grow a garden to cut down on grocery costs as well as teach my children the lost art of "Eat What You Grow".

   I planted tomatoes in an indoor greenhouse a few days ago and I am anxiously awaiting a nice fresh tomato sandwich. While waiting for that I am continuing on with the planting. Today I planted 3 strawberry plants 2 of them were a gift from my sweet momma.

   Strawberries seem to come in only one form a dirty messy ball of dirt and roots. I searched high and low for strawberry seeds, no luck. Strawberries seem to be pretty fail proof (watch mine not grow now) you just put the root thingy in some dirt and let her go.

   All I really have to work with is red clay here in the south, but I read that strawberries aren't picky about soil, so I just went with it.

• add dirt to pot
• make hole
• put root ball in root side down, if there is a plant visible leave it above ground level
• cover all but plant with dirt
• water
• wait for strawberries.

invested $2.00 per pot and the strawberry roots were $3.00 each. The pretty red dirt was dug from our yard by my daughter= free.  Total invested $15.00 or same cost as 4 packages of strawberries at grocery store. Will see how much I save when it is time to pick them.

   I love to get out of the house. I work from home & homeschool the kids so I don't really go anywhere except to church or the store. I used to shop nearly everyday, if there was money in the bank or in my pocket.. I was looking for a place to spend it. Since starting Dave Ramseys Total Money Make Over I save all of my shopping, library & bank trips for once a week, sometimes once every 2 weeks. This saves me about a tank of gas a month and with the price of gas going nowhere but up I believe I will continue to save more money by planning my shopping trips. For this month 1 tank of gas equals $56.00 or $672.00 a year.

•  go to grocery store one a week
• go to bank once a week, use the teller instead of ATM to avoid fees
• go to library once a week, or even once a month if yours allows you that long to read the books
• pay bills online or over the phone instead of in store- save gas and stamps
• call ahead to stores if you are looking for something, instead of going to every store in town
• know the traffic patterns of your town and go when the traffic is light like school hours avoid lunch rush

   This one should have been a no brainer, but it took me a long time to learn it. I love to read, I can easily get through a 400 page novel in a day. I spent between 8 and 19 dollars for each book I bought. As you can imagine this is a pretty expensive hobby costing more than cable t.v. with all the bells and whistles. In a normal week I would read 4 books, if they were all older ones they would cost me $8.96 each at Walmart. That is $37.99 including tax every week. Which adds up to $1975.48 a year!!! Are you kidding me????

   Borrow books from friends, check them out at the library, my library allows me to check out 20 books at a time. So I can go once a month and read for FREE! If you absolutely have to buy a book, don't pay full price, you can buy new and used books for great discounts at online stores like half.com and ebay.com

  

   This glass cleaner really works it smells like windex when yuo use it but as soon as the alcohol evaporates the odor is gone. I use it on my oven and microwave doors as well as mirrors and glass. Windex costs about $3.00 and I can make glass cleaner for 26 cents.


Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
1 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar

   Porcelain sinks and tubs, Stainless steel kitchen sink, this stuff is great!

I mix mine in an empty ketchup/mustard squirt bottle that has been cleaned out really good.I haven't bought this stuff in a pretty long time, I will check my numbers next time I go to the store but I found it online for $2.00 for a 12 oz bottle.  I can make a 12 oz bottle for about the same price at home and not have to worry about the harsh smell or chemicals. I am working on another recipe that will not use castile soap and should be well under $1.00

2/3 cup water
1/4 cup castille soap  I have Dr Bronners brand
1 2/3 cup baking soda
2 tblspoons vinegar

Now we all know what happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda, be ready for it, put those 2 things in first and make sure the container is large enough for the foam up that WILL  happen.

   I cannot believe how easy and effective this recipe is. My wood is beautiful and dust free.

Mix in a sprayer bottle:

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Add to spray bottle and shake well before each use.
 


Pledge 16 oz costs about $4.00 per bottle and because it is an aerosol I think it gets used much quicker than a regular squirt spray bottle does.  16 oz of homemade furniture polish costs about $1.50 and lasts at least twice as long in my house.

• Borax 76 ounce box (9.5 cups)  $4.79  152 loads of laundry or dishwasher loads
• Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda)55 ounce box (6.875 cups)  $3.79 110 loads of laundry or dishwasher loads
• 1 Lemon (4-5 TBS juice) $1.00- the better deal is to buy bottled lemon juice 1 bottle of cleaner
• White Distilled Vinegar 1 gallon (16 cups)  $1.99 32 months of dishwasher rinse agent or  10.67 bottles of fabric softener
• baking soda 16 oz (2 cups) $1.00 32 dishwasher loads
• Fels Naptha Soap 1 bar 5.5 oz (1.33 cups) $1.99 36-42 loads of laundry
• Ivory soap 10 pack , each bar 3.1 oz (1 cup per bar of soap) $3.75 320 loads of laundry
• Olive oil 17 oz bottle(2 cups) $2.00 2 bottles of homemade pledge furniture polish
• Lemon Juice 32 oz bottle (4 cups) $1.99 4 bottles of pledge homemade furniture polish or 16 bottles of cleaner and disinfectant.
• Hydrogen Peroxide 32 oz bottle (4+ cups) $1.00
• Rubbing Alcohol 32 oz bottle (4+ cups) $1.00
• Water FREE!
• Dr Bonners Castile Soap (4+ cups) $14.99 I use very little of this to make shampoo, some dish soap, and soft scrub it lasts a really long time. 

Spray bottles and squeeze bottles- reusable you can also recycle those that you have bought with cleaners in them. $1.00 each for empty bottles.

  I love this one Jetdry costs 4-5 dollars and needs to be refilled on a monthly basis for homes that do about 1 load of dishes a day, I had to fill mine once every week or two. So I averaged between 8 and 20 dollars on jetdry.

   For arguments sake we will say I only spent the 4 dollars a month on jet dry. The homemade version only costs 12 cents per month and leaves the dishes clean fresh and spot free. This saves me $3.78 cents a month or $45.36 a year



1 cup of white distilled vinegar (added to jetdry dispenser) 1.99 per gallon at Save-A-Lot

  When you have a 7 person household, 6 of which are home all day it can generate a lot of dishes. I do not exaggerate when I say we do at least 2 full dishwasher loads a day, sometimes as many as 4. I used to buy Electrasol, now called Finish, or Cascade because I felt they did a better job of cleaning than the store brands. Electrasol costs 19 cents per load of dishes if you did not add to the prewash dispenser. Cascade costs 24 cents per load if you did not add to the prewash. The homemade detergent costs 2 cents per load of dishes. I save up to 88 cents a day or $321.20 a year.




1 Cup borax costs 4.79 for 76 oz box
1 Cup baking soda costs 45 cents/box
Add 1 tablespoon to washing compartment. 

   No one likes to get shocked while trying to pull their socks off of the towels. I am also sure that no one likes paying the price of fabric softener. Here is a recipe for homemade fabric softener that really works great.

1 part baking soda-added to laundry soap (I do not add this when I use my homemade detergent which is half baking soda)
1 part white vinegar- added to fabric softener ball or dispenser
2 parts water- added to fabric softener ball or dispenser
drop of essential oil

  If you are like me and do not want to have to mix this concoction up for every load it is easy to make in bulk and stores well. 

  I use an empty fabric softener bottle (44 ounces) and add
3 cups of water
1.5 cups of white distilled vinegar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of essential oil (optional for fragrance only) I really like vanilla for the laundry

Add 1/2 cap full to fabric softener ball  or fabric softener dispenser.



































I bought this gallon of vinegar at Dollar General for about $2.50 I have since found it for less at Save-A-Lot grocery stores for $1.99 a gallon. The water is basically free and the empty softener bottle we will count at free. The only other cost is optional. I bought my fragrance oils at Walmart they were about 5 dollars a bottle but since you are using 1/4 tsp at a time I think they may actually last forever.

  Fabric softener (cheap brands) on average costs about $3.65 for a 52 load bottle. The cost of the homemade version is 19 cents or a penny more if you use the fragrance oil. I normally purchased 2 bottles of fabric softener a month so I saved at least $75.84 cents a year in fabric softener.

   Laundry detergent- it is a money pit. We bought a front loading washer last year ( we go through a washing machine about every year... 5 kids = a lot of laundry) So I had started buying the high efficiency detergent and it was killing my cleaning budget. Even the off brands are pricey and I figured about 25 cents a load if your kids or husband didn't put in a whole cap full instead of a third of a cap like the instructions clearly state!!!!

So I normally got about 50 cents per load. I found a "recipe" for making home made detergent, it is completely safe for front loaders, and is also safe for sensitive skin types.

1 cup Fels Naptha or Ivory soap (grated finely) less than 2 dollars/ bar or 10 bars of Ivory for 3.75 at Dollar General
1/2 cup washing soda  3.79 per box ACE hardware
1/2 cup borax  4.79 per box ACE hardware

   I actually prefer to use the Ivory soap, the Fels has a strong smell, not in a bad way but my husband has pretty sensitive allergies. That said, I have also made it with 3 parts Ivory and 1 part Fels or even half and half and it did make a difference in how strong it smelled.

Estimated cost: $1 for 32 TBS or 3-6 cents per load (depending if you add 1 or 2 tbs to the washer). Or cheaper if you get any items on sale or use mostly Ivory soap as it is cheaper than the Fels. 

Use the super fine end to grate the soap so that it will dissolve properly

   You can never have enough tomatoes. We cook with them, eat them on burgers, sandwiches, we have even been known to slice them and serve them with a meal in place of a vegetable. The problem with tomatoes is they cost too much. It is not uncommon for tomatoes to run between two and three dollars a pound.

   This year I invested 3 dollars in Tomato seeds, and 12 dollars on a jiffy tomato greenhouse to start the seeds inside the house because being March there is still a danger of frost on my area. The greenhouse came with 36 seed starter pod/disk things, but I decided to start out just using 16 of them. Tomato plants can run anywhere form 2-4 dollars depending on size, so at 15 dollars investment so far the same number of plants would have cost at least $32.00.

Yes i realize this looks like turds in a sock

   I will Add more information as I have it including what the garden costs and saves me.

   I haven't planted anything in years with the idea that I may eat it. Times being as they are I decided it was not only healthier but more economical to grow what we can in out little half acre lot. This is my first time attempting any sort of garden without guidance so I am doing research online for the best times to plant what, the best crops for my zone etc.

   Here are some helpful links

Find out your gardening zone

Food garden guide

Buy Seeds Online