We have a ton of shampoo, conditioner, and lotion freebies from hotels and samples we've received via mail. Not only are they unsightly, taking up way too much space in our home, but it is a virtually free product (since many of the samples have come from business trips).
Instead of sighing with disgust next time my husband brings home three sets of shampoo and conditioner from his next business trip, I'm going to view it as an opportunity to put off our next purchase of shampoo.
I won't have to buy shampoo for a year!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Cutting Back on Disposable Products
When we were first married, I used to insist my husband and I purchase a toilet brush with a disposable head. I've come a long way since then. We now use normal toilet brushes.
We used to use paper towels for everything. However, once our little guy started eating, he was getting really messy. We used more paper towels than ever because the dishcloth from the kitchen sink seemed way too yucky to wipe his precious little face with! Then I decided to cut up the abundance of 'free t-shirts' my husband had hoarded for ages. He willingly gave them up to this worthy cause. Now we launder the t-shirt rags several times per week instead of using rolls of paper towels.
The next disposable item I am phasing out are Swiffer cloths. I can't believe I haven't considered cutting my own Swiffer-sized cloths out of fleece before now. They will pick up dust just as well and can be laundered with the other rags I use for cleaning. Not only will this be a one-time cost instead of every month or so, I won't have to store the large boxes of cloths. I had been buying the store brand instead of Swiffer brand, anyway, but so much money can be saved.
We used to use paper towels for everything. However, once our little guy started eating, he was getting really messy. We used more paper towels than ever because the dishcloth from the kitchen sink seemed way too yucky to wipe his precious little face with! Then I decided to cut up the abundance of 'free t-shirts' my husband had hoarded for ages. He willingly gave them up to this worthy cause. Now we launder the t-shirt rags several times per week instead of using rolls of paper towels.
The next disposable item I am phasing out are Swiffer cloths. I can't believe I haven't considered cutting my own Swiffer-sized cloths out of fleece before now. They will pick up dust just as well and can be laundered with the other rags I use for cleaning. Not only will this be a one-time cost instead of every month or so, I won't have to store the large boxes of cloths. I had been buying the store brand instead of Swiffer brand, anyway, but so much money can be saved.
DIY Frappaccuino
Did you know that you can make a Starbucks Frappaccuino at home? Save yourself the $4! Probably some calories, too. It's easy. You have to plan ahead a little bit and make some extra coffee and pour it into two ice cube trays. Freeze it.
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk
1 tsp vanilla
a few extra ice cubes (use approx. 4 cups of ice total with the coffee ice cubes)
My husband prefers to eat his with a spoon with various toppings, like (???) cereal (???):
So easy. This recipe will make about 3-4 small Frappaccuinos. I think this is probably healthier than Starbucks, too, because they tend to use artificial sweeteners in the syrups or flavorings. "Sugar-free" anything is almost always a bad idea. If you don't want sugar in your frappaccuino, you could use honey or molasses. We haven't tried that yet.
Then gather your other ingredients:
1 cup half and half1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk
1 tsp vanilla
a few extra ice cubes (use approx. 4 cups of ice total with the coffee ice cubes)
Add the ingredients to your blender and make sure you add the ice last. We have a Vita-Mix blender (it is a wedding gift we've used a lot!) 
Blend for about 30 seconds to 1 minute starting on low and switching to the high setting. You will need to 'tamp' or force the ice down toward the blades. If you blend too long, you'll have it too melted.
Then you just pour and enjoy!
Blend for about 30 seconds to 1 minute starting on low and switching to the high setting. You will need to 'tamp' or force the ice down toward the blades. If you blend too long, you'll have it too melted.Then you just pour and enjoy!
My husband prefers to eat his with a spoon with various toppings, like (???) cereal (???):
So easy. This recipe will make about 3-4 small Frappaccuinos. I think this is probably healthier than Starbucks, too, because they tend to use artificial sweeteners in the syrups or flavorings. "Sugar-free" anything is almost always a bad idea. If you don't want sugar in your frappaccuino, you could use honey or molasses. We haven't tried that yet.Saturday, April 17, 2010
Make a New Screen Door
Our front door's screen had a hole in it. For 2 years. When we were putting in our patio (a DIY project with the help of my DIY dad!) we managed to put a board through it.
We hadn't gotten around to replacing it. Good thing. Because if we had simply replaced it, we would've spend WAY too much money. We may have either purchased a whole new door or just a screen. Probably would've spend at least $80 or so. However, my hubby went to the hardware store and bought a re-screening kit for about $11.
In a few relatively easy steps and the time of under an hour (while the little guy took his afternoon nap!) we had a new screen for our door.
1) Remove the old screen. This is the fun & easy part. Screens are connected to the door with a piece of slightly compressible rubber cord shoved into a groove. Just remove the cord and the old screen pops right out of the door's frame.
2) Unfold the new screen over the door. It should be sized larger than you'll need. Lay the screen over the door frame (the grooved side of the door you removed the cord from should be facing up).
3) You'll need two people for this next part. One person takes this round tool that looks like a pizza cutter (ours was made of plastic, it isn't sharp). One end is concave. Starting in one corner, person #1 will use this end to force the compressible rubber cord into the frame's groove. The second person makes sure that the new screen is taught and flat as person #1 continues around the entire frame. This takes some patience and is the most time-consuming step. It also gave my wrist a workout.
4) Using a utility knife, cut off the extra screen all around the perimeter of the frame.
5) Clean up, put the door back together and you're done!
Cost: $11.
Glad we did it ourselves. Now you can, too!
We hadn't gotten around to replacing it. Good thing. Because if we had simply replaced it, we would've spend WAY too much money. We may have either purchased a whole new door or just a screen. Probably would've spend at least $80 or so. However, my hubby went to the hardware store and bought a re-screening kit for about $11.
In a few relatively easy steps and the time of under an hour (while the little guy took his afternoon nap!) we had a new screen for our door.
1) Remove the old screen. This is the fun & easy part. Screens are connected to the door with a piece of slightly compressible rubber cord shoved into a groove. Just remove the cord and the old screen pops right out of the door's frame.
2) Unfold the new screen over the door. It should be sized larger than you'll need. Lay the screen over the door frame (the grooved side of the door you removed the cord from should be facing up).
3) You'll need two people for this next part. One person takes this round tool that looks like a pizza cutter (ours was made of plastic, it isn't sharp). One end is concave. Starting in one corner, person #1 will use this end to force the compressible rubber cord into the frame's groove. The second person makes sure that the new screen is taught and flat as person #1 continues around the entire frame. This takes some patience and is the most time-consuming step. It also gave my wrist a workout.
4) Using a utility knife, cut off the extra screen all around the perimeter of the frame.
5) Clean up, put the door back together and you're done!
Cost: $11.
Glad we did it ourselves. Now you can, too!
Saving Money on Baby's Diapers
Diapers can be an enormous drain on a parent's bank account! We estimated a budget of $40 per month for diapers before having our little one last June. Some things we have done to help meet or reduce this $40/month cost:
1) Diaper samples! I got all the diapers below for free via online samples from Costco (you don't have to be a member to take advantage of samples!) and Walmart. I suggest Googling "diaper samples" or "free diapers" and some of the results will be to enter your name/address/email and they'll send you 2-4 diapers of a new brand or type to try. Sure, it may open you to spam, but my email has a pretty good filtering system. Free diapers are worth it to me.
2) Try Target's newer store brand (Up & Up). They cost quite a bit less than the name brands. Admittedly, we did not use them until size 3, so I can't swear that they'll work as well for a newborn. Beware, they aren't as soft as a name brand. However, they cost approximately $0.13 per diaper as compared to $0.24 for the name brand (size 3 pricing). We were using the Target brand during the day and the name brand at night. It worked for us.
3) We have a friend who works at a hospital. He offered to buy us the name brand diapers the hospital uses at a HUGE discount. We stocked up on the name brand newborn, size 1 and size 2 diapers for awhile and diapered our little one for a lot less. The cost per diaper was approximately $0.18 per diaper.
4) Then we got crazy. We bought some Cloth Diapers
. I NEVER thought I would be a cloth diaper person.
I researched them and at first was overwhelmed by the choices available for cloth diapering. Prefolds (think old-school) are still common. These are the white diapers held together with a "snappi", which replaces a diaper pin, and covered with plastic pants. Then there are "pocket diapers" which are what we're using. Shown below is the diaper:
It has a pocket on the inside where one places the liner:
If the diaper is wet, the liner is removed and thrown into the washable diaper pail liner. I made our diaper pail liners out of fleece (cost: approximately $9 for two bags). They could have been purchased for $12 apiece. If the diaper is soiled, it shakes out into the toilet and then diaper and liner are thrown into the diaper pail .
These diapers were not inexpensive. At about $18/diaper with 2 liners, they must be used about 75 times each before one breaks even on the investment. We have 12 diapers (which is enough for us). 75 x 12 = 900. After 900 changes (at approx. 6-7 changes per day) after 5 months of cloth diaper use, we'll break even.
The reason we went with the expensive diapers was because they actually change size. The legs and the waist have elastic that adjusts with buttons. This means as our child grows, they will still fit. The sizing chart says they would fit a newborn (7#) up to potty training (35#).
The washing isn't too strenuous. It would be much easier if our washer & dryer were not in the basement. We just empty the diaper pail liner into the washer, do a 'cold rinse' cycle with out any detergent. Then we do a 'hot wash' cycle with detergent. I hang them to dry on the rack in the basement to prolong their life. We'd like to use them on subsequent children to maximize our cost savings on disposable diapers.
Two caveats we've found:
~They aren't absorbent enough to be used overnight. We use a disposable diaper for overnight on our little one.
~Laundry detergent without any softeners must be used. The regular detergents found in the grocery store cause buildup with softeners and fragrances. I found a detergent without any additives at Trader Joe's (a wonderful grocery store) that isn't too expensive and appears to be working just fine. However, the 'recommended' detergents are only available online or from fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods. I may try one of these fancy detergents when I run out of my current TJ brand.
At this point, we've got cloth diapering down pretty well. I change our little guy 's cloth diapers 6-7x/day (plus one disposable diaper at night, assuming he sleeps all night!) For us, the cost savings will be worth it. We've been doing the cloth since February, so by July (5 months of cloth), we'll begin reaping our savings. If we cloth diaper a second child, we could be saving over $1,000 just not buying diapers. It all depends on when a child potty trains. Unpredictable at this point.
1) Diaper samples! I got all the diapers below for free via online samples from Costco (you don't have to be a member to take advantage of samples!) and Walmart. I suggest Googling "diaper samples" or "free diapers" and some of the results will be to enter your name/address/email and they'll send you 2-4 diapers of a new brand or type to try. Sure, it may open you to spam, but my email has a pretty good filtering system. Free diapers are worth it to me.
2) Try Target's newer store brand (Up & Up). They cost quite a bit less than the name brands. Admittedly, we did not use them until size 3, so I can't swear that they'll work as well for a newborn. Beware, they aren't as soft as a name brand. However, they cost approximately $0.13 per diaper as compared to $0.24 for the name brand (size 3 pricing). We were using the Target brand during the day and the name brand at night. It worked for us.3) We have a friend who works at a hospital. He offered to buy us the name brand diapers the hospital uses at a HUGE discount. We stocked up on the name brand newborn, size 1 and size 2 diapers for awhile and diapered our little one for a lot less. The cost per diaper was approximately $0.18 per diaper.
4) Then we got crazy. We bought some Cloth Diapers
. I NEVER thought I would be a cloth diaper person.
I researched them and at first was overwhelmed by the choices available for cloth diapering. Prefolds (think old-school) are still common. These are the white diapers held together with a "snappi", which replaces a diaper pin, and covered with plastic pants. Then there are "pocket diapers" which are what we're using. Shown below is the diaper:
It has a pocket on the inside where one places the liner:
If the diaper is wet, the liner is removed and thrown into the washable diaper pail liner. I made our diaper pail liners out of fleece (cost: approximately $9 for two bags). They could have been purchased for $12 apiece. If the diaper is soiled, it shakes out into the toilet and then diaper and liner are thrown into the diaper pail .These diapers were not inexpensive. At about $18/diaper with 2 liners, they must be used about 75 times each before one breaks even on the investment. We have 12 diapers (which is enough for us). 75 x 12 = 900. After 900 changes (at approx. 6-7 changes per day) after 5 months of cloth diaper use, we'll break even.
The reason we went with the expensive diapers was because they actually change size. The legs and the waist have elastic that adjusts with buttons. This means as our child grows, they will still fit. The sizing chart says they would fit a newborn (7#) up to potty training (35#).
The washing isn't too strenuous. It would be much easier if our washer & dryer were not in the basement. We just empty the diaper pail liner into the washer, do a 'cold rinse' cycle with out any detergent. Then we do a 'hot wash' cycle with detergent. I hang them to dry on the rack in the basement to prolong their life. We'd like to use them on subsequent children to maximize our cost savings on disposable diapers.
Two caveats we've found:
~They aren't absorbent enough to be used overnight. We use a disposable diaper for overnight on our little one.
~Laundry detergent without any softeners must be used. The regular detergents found in the grocery store cause buildup with softeners and fragrances. I found a detergent without any additives at Trader Joe's (a wonderful grocery store) that isn't too expensive and appears to be working just fine. However, the 'recommended' detergents are only available online or from fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods. I may try one of these fancy detergents when I run out of my current TJ brand.
At this point, we've got cloth diapering down pretty well. I change our little guy 's cloth diapers 6-7x/day (plus one disposable diaper at night, assuming he sleeps all night!) For us, the cost savings will be worth it. We've been doing the cloth since February, so by July (5 months of cloth), we'll begin reaping our savings. If we cloth diaper a second child, we could be saving over $1,000 just not buying diapers. It all depends on when a child potty trains. Unpredictable at this point.
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