Got No Dough - Saving Money in Slim Times

I like to choose projects that *look* easy and that’s probably my biggest mistake.  After making my own dishwasher detergent and failing, I decided to try to make disinfectant wipes.  The kind that you purchase at the store are expensive and I figured this is something that I could definitely use.

The instructions are pretty simple.  You’re supposed to get a roll of paper towels, take the cardboard out of the center, cut the roll in half and then put the roll into a plastic container of some sort.  Then you add the disinfectant of your choice and pull the towels from the center of the roll and it’s just like the containers from the store.

Ok, let’s break this process down so the world can see what went wrong every step of the way:

1. Take the cardboard roll out of the center of the roll.  I’ve yet to find instructions that mention that manufacturers GLUE the cardboard to the paper towels.  So, I expected the sucker would slide right out and it didn’t.  I ran a long thin knife down inside to pull it loose and it really chewed up the paper towels.  Nothing fatal though because I could just throw away the first few that I pulled out.  After performing major surgery, the cardboard roll came out.
2. Cut the roll in half.  Again, nobody mentions that you need a hack saw to cut this thing in half.  I tried a regular kitchen knife - didn’t cut.  Tried scissors - didn’t cut.  So I finally got out a bread knife which seriously resembles a hacksaw and it worked.  However, it also made confetti out of the paper towels as I cut and I was left with pile of paper towel dust when I was done.  Definitely not pretty, but it got the job done.
3. Put the half roll into a plastic container.  I looked at the store for a plastic container that would hold half a roll of paper towels but really couldn’t find anything.  I decided to use something I already had at home.  This was probably the best part of the whole project.  If you want to get REALLY fancy, you can even drill a hole in the lid so they dispense real pretty.  I opted not to do this and instead have to remove the lid every time.
4. Add the disinfectant of your choice.  I used 1 part Lysol kitchen cleaner to 2 parts water.  I think it’s breaking down the paper towels though because they feel weaker and weaker each time I use them.  I probably should have used more water…but then would they really disinfect?
5. Pull from the center and wipe.  The paper towels come out of the center and my husband was very amused that I was able to make something like this.  However, I feel like the wipes are getting thinner by the day and there is still some paper towel dust in there.

Will I Do It Again?

Nope.

A Better Alternative?

Buy a bottle of disinfectant, spray it on the surface and use a paper towel to wipe :)  Seriously though, I heard this on a show the other day and it is a great idea.  Bleach is one of the best and cheapest disinfectants there is.  Fill up your sink with bleach and water (read the instructions for the proper dilution).  While the water is in there, throw your sponge, scrub brush and anything else that needs disinfecting.  You can even use a white towel dipped in the water to wipe down your counters.   The smell is not the greatest and you’ll need to ventilate, but you can have peace of mind knowing that you’re kitchen is clean and that you’re saving some bucks in the process.

And you won’t have paper towel dust everywhere.

Dishwasher detergent was one of the first “make it yourself” projects that I took on. It was very simple to mix, the ingredients were easy to find, and it seemed like something that could save me money since I run my dishwasher every single day. I looked up the recipe on several sites just to see the different variations on it and they were basically all the same.

To Make Your Own Dishwasher Detergent

You’re going to need:

• Baking Soda
• Borax
• Container to store it in
• Scoop

You can make the batch up in any size you’d like, just mix equal parts baking soda and borax. Some other recipes call for Koolaid but I opted not to add it. Use 1-2 Tablespoons of your mixture (less for soft water, more for hard water). A very important consideration for this is to make sure you’re using a rinse aid. Again - do it yourself! You can fill up your rinse aid dispenser with vinegar or add a bit to the rinse cycle.

My Verdict on Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Indeed it was easy to make - it took a whopping minute to measure and mix. Definitely inexpensive - two positives so far. Now, here’s the killer! My dishes didn’t come out clean and they had this nasty powdery residue left on them. I even ran them through an additional rinse cycle and the gritty mess wouldn’t come off. Long story short, some of my dishes still had grit after several wash cycles so I had to wash them by hand. I investigated this on the internet and some people said that maybe I used too much detergent, so I cut back. Better, but still not acceptable. Some people say it was the rinse agent, so I added extra vinegar to the rinse cycle. Again, better, but there was still too much grit on them for my taste (no pun intended because you could actually TASTE the baking soda on the glasses!).

This little experiment probably cost me more than it saved me because I had to wash the dishes so many times. This is not something I recommend because for me it just did not work well no matter what I did to correct the problem.

So what do I recommend? I went out and bought the largest box of Cascade I could find. Why the name brand? Because the larger box was cheaper per ounce than the generic! And the results?? My dishes sparkle again and are super clean.

Now if you want to try to save a little more money just cut the amount of detergent you use in your cups. This is something you’ll have to experiment with based on what kind of water you have but I find that I can fill each one half way and it works fine. Some people are able to leave the prewash cup empty and fill the regular cup 1/4 full and it works for them. Just experiment and find out for yourself!

Ok, so I thought I was so smart by talking about the foaming hand soap dispenser.  Only $7.99 I spouted.   Oh the money I thought I was going to save.

Then, the very next day I was at Walmart and I had a huge DUH moment.  Instead of spending $7.99 on a fancy foaming hand soap dispenser, why not buy one that is already filled and just reuse it?

So, I bought one made by Dial because it was most appealing (completely clear) and spent $1.84.  Luckily I thought of this before I spent the $7.99 and now I’ve just saved myself an additional six bucks.

I think that’s the key to truly saving money is to think outside the box.  Find new uses for items, find items that can be reused, and find items that can stretch so that you can get more bang for your buck.

The other day while waiting for my husband to finish an appointment, I was walking around Target wasting time.  I like to go up and down the aisles just looking at stuff, especially around the home furnishings and organizing sections.   I came across something that I thought was neat and best of all, it can be used to save money.

Rubbermaid makes a foaming hand soap dispenser.  Big deal, you say?  Well, they have a little tag attached to it that explains that foaming hand soap uses 1 part soap to 2 parts WATER.  I personally love foaming hand soap, but am turned off by the price of it.  However, if I can use the same soap I’m already using and make it go much much further with something that costs nothing, then I’m all for it.

The cost of the dispenser is $7.99, so it would take a little while to recoup the costs, but  once you do, the savings will be great.  Now, if you don’t wash your hands much, this is probably pretty meaningless to you, but for me, it’s gold.  I change a gazillion diapers, cut up raw chicken for dinner and deal with croup a couple of times a year, so the need for saving money on my soap is high on my list.

Besides that, it’s cool!  And as a double bonus, I got a $10 gift card to Target for Christmas!

So now that we have learned to control our portion sizes and have quit eating out, we can move on to the next step in our quest to lose weight and save money which is to watch what we drink.  Here are some of the things we may be drinking and their downfalls:

1. Coffee - Whether brewed at home or bought outside the home, the price of coffee can put a dent in your wallet.  Add in the unnecessary calories and caffeine and it’s just all around a bad choice.
2. Soda - Here is where I’m going to be a hypocrite and tell you that you should drink soda while I continue to gulp it down.  Seriously though, it’s full of sugar, caffeine, empty calories and the stuff is expensive.  At .50¢ to $1 a pop (pardon the pun), one a day adds up to $182.50 - $365 a year.  I know some better things to spend that kind of money on!
3. Juice - Chant this mantra with me - everything in moderation, everything in moderation.  Yes, juice probably seems like a healthy choice, but it is PACKED with calories!  And again, the price is high so this becomes a bad choice.
4. Milk - Around my area, a gallon of milk costs more than a gallon of gas - need I say more?  Plus we won’t even discuss the amount of fat in milk which makes this choice doubly bad.  But don’t cut out milk altogether unless you have another source of calcium in your diet.

So what are some alternatives?  Here are two that will cost less and won’t affect your waistline.

1. Water - yep, good old H2O.  Buying bottles of it can get expensive, so if you don’t have good tap water, you may want to look into getting a reusable filter for your faucet.   Add a slice of lemon for even more flavor.
2. Tea - There are many different flavors and types of tea to choose from.  You can make a gallon of iced tea for less than a dollar and if you get a decaf variety, it’s even more beneficial.

I just wanted to make a quick update regarding my CFL Bulb post.  Almost two months ago we started changing our regular bulbs out for CFL bulbs to try to save electricity and therefore saving money on our electricity bill.  While there may be other factors affecting the decrease in our electric bill, I’m quite pleased with the results.

In November our electric bill was $59.31.  This probably seems low to some of you, but for us, this is rather high for the winter months.  Our last bill decreased to $42.75 and our current bill was the biggest shock of all - $32.62!  There aren’t any other significant changes we’ve made to our electricity habits, so I will contribute the majority of the $27 decrease to our use of the CFL bulbs.

Not bad for a $6 investment!

In Part 1, we talked about how watching your portion sizes can not only save you money, but it can also help you to lose weight.

In Part 2, we’ll talk about another way to save money and lose weight at the same time.  Although it is simple, it is rather difficult - quit eating out!

Fast food is tempting when you’re tired, unprepared for dinner and want something now.  However, a little preparation can allow you to create homemade meals without a lot of hassle.  Yesterday my kids fell asleep in the car on the way home, so instead of waking them up, I sat out in the car for about 20 minutes.  During that time I created a weeks worth of dinner menus and made my grocery list.  I also made sure to write how long each one took to cook.  Now I can base what we’re having for dinner on how much time I have at night.  For instance, last night I did my grocery shopping and I came home dead tired.  I had very little time to cook and although I was tempted to buy fast food, I was able to glance at my dinner list and see that I had a meal that only took 20 minutes to prepare.  Voila, a delicious homemade meal.

Not only is saving money an important factor, but this is also a tip to help save your health.  When is the last time you took a look at what is in your fast food meal?  My husband and I were eating at McDonald’s the other day and they had a tray liner with the nutritional data on it.   We were quite shocked to say the least that our meals had over 1000 calories EACH!  That’s over half of my daily calories in one sitting!  I won’t even talk about how much fat was in that meal.

So the next time you’re tempted to eat fast food, look in your cupboard instead.  Often times you can find something to throw together to save yourself some money.  If not, make a quick trip to the grocery store instead and grab some basic ingredients for a quick meal.

This year I had to get creative because one entire side of my family going through a really difficult financial hardship.  There was a lot of despair regarding there being a lack of Christmas and so I was determined to do something to raise everyone’s spirits.

I needed an idea that wouldn’t cost a lot, would bring us all together as a family and would perhaps even result in some Christmas gifts that they could give away.  Then the idea hit me - we would have a family baking party.

We plan on doing this tomorrow and have decided to bake Gingerbread Men, Christmas Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies and Lemon Cookies.   To ease the burden for everyone, each household will bring something simple like a bag of sugar or a bag of flour.  Each person will have a task in the mixing process, the baking process, the decorating process and the packaging process.  Along the way, we will share a great afternoon together as a family, which is a nice change from our business at our jobs and lives.  In the end, each person will have a sense of accomplishment and a gift to give to another family member or friend.

I encourage everyone to spend a little extra special time doing things with their families.  In the rush of our everyday lives, the ones closest to us are neglected along with our relationships.  Use this time to nurture each other and enjoy the time together.

When your income in low, the first things that get cut out of your life tend to be entertainment expenses such as newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Cutting expenses like this can really have an effect on you emotionally because you feel deprived. Instead of feeling this way, find alternatives.

Most local and major newspapers have an online version. Search for your local paper and see if they are included. My local paper has an RSS feed which keeps me updated of local breaking news throughout the day. No more waiting for the next day’s newspaper to find out about things that have happened.

If you’re only interested in national or world news, try a website like CNN.com, FoxNews.com or MSNBC. They all have RSS feeds also so you won’t have to visit the site multiple times a day to keep updated.

Magazines aren’t as easy to replace, but I have found a few solutions. I really enjoy reading about celebrity gossip, cooking, decorating, organizing, and beauty. My first step was to find online sources of reading. Here are some great sites I’ve found:

• Celebrity Gossip: The Superficial, PerezHilton, TMZ.com
• Cooking: Menus 4 Moms, Epicurious, Food Network
• Decorating: Real Life Decorating, HGTV, Home and Family Network
• Organizing: FlyLady, Menus 4 Moms, Organized Home
• Beauty: www.makeup-care.info, Lady’s Home Journal, Elle

If reading online just isn’t for you, you can find the magazines at little or no cost. How? Well, here are some ways that I do it:

• Friends & Family - Whenever I’m visiting and I see a magazine or newspaper, I take some time to flip through it. A great time to do this is after a meal when everyone is full and sleepy. My Mom & Grandma will even save their back issues for me so I can take them home and read them.
• Dollar Store - I was shocked the other day when I saw a magazine rack at my local dollar store. They only had like 2 or 3 magazines, but for a dollar, the value is great!
• Doctor/Dentist Office - Next time you’re waiting at an appointment, grab a magazine and start reading. Just be courteous and don’t take it home with you!
• Library - This is the greatest. The library carries a ton of magazines and newspapers! My old library would let you check out the old editions of magazines, but most libraries keep them in-house like a reference book. So take a couple of hours and spend an afternoon at the library to catch up on your favorite magazines and browse through the current newspaper.
• Thrift Store - I’ve been spending more and more time at thrift stores and have found some great magazines. Some of them are older, but those are the ones with the great recipes!

Cutting subscriptions out of your budget can save a lot of money, but doesn’t have to be hard on you. Try out some of these solutions and enjoy the savings!

I don’t know about you, but it seems like every time I turn around I hear about CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs. For a long time I paid no attention because I thought I wasn’t interested in them, especially when I saw how much they cost. Then, last week my husband came home with a box of them because the grocery store (of all places!) had a pack of four on sale for $2.99.

We put them into our most commonly used lamps: the boys’ bedroom, the living room, the bedroom and the porch light. I was so impressed that we got a second pack of them and added one in our walk in closet. Where the last three wind up remains to be seen, but I’m quite glad we got these because they are beneficial for many reasons.

CFL Bulbs Save Energy

They use up to 75 percent less energy than a regular bulb.

CFL Bulbs Save Money

If you’re like me, you may be turned off by the initial cost. However, they more than pay for themselves due to the fact that they last up to 10 times longer than a regular bulb. Secondly, they use up to 75% less energy than a regular bulb. A 75 watt CFL only uses 18-25 watts.

CFL Bulbs Save the Earth

CFL bulbs produce less greenhouse emissions which can help reduce global warming.

The Downside

One of the only downsides is that CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury which means you cannot dispose of them in the trash and you have to take special precautions if one of them breaks. EnergyStar has a great article on how to properly dispose of and clean up spills.