Cleaning on a budget

I had a nice request from a reader who wanted more information on cleaning supplies that can be made at a lower cost than store bought items. There are many different recipes that I use around the house but here are a few you might find useful.

Windows- I use a recycled spray bottle and fill with equal parts white vinegar and water. I normally use either newspaper of a cotton cloth to clean. No need to waste paper towels for this job.

General Cleaning- You can mix 2 tbsp ammonia, a shot of dish liquid, and water. I put mine in a larger spray bottle.

Tile- I mix baking soda and bleach to make a paste and scrub with a toothbrush.

Toilets-The best toilet cleaner I have found is also the most inexpensive. It is called The Works. I can get it on sale at my local Wal-Mart for around a dollar. I know it store bought but it's the best I've found, especially for hard water and iron stains.

A stinky room- After you have removed the problem causing the stink, take a cotton ball and go into your kitchen cabinet and find what ever extract you have and put it on the cotton ball. Then go put the cotton ball in a spot where it can't be seen. Instant room refresher!

If you love Febreeze, which I do, save yourself some money and buy a large bottle of off brand fabric softener. Take the Febreeze bottle, add equal parts fabric softener and water. No one will be the wiser.

Shower- I clean the glass door with vinegar and throw the liner in the washer with 3/4 cup of bleach. The bleach gets rid of the mildew. Before you do this though always have a new one ready because sometimes they don't make it through the wash. I can normally wash mine around 5 times before it rips.

Blinds- I hang in the shower and give a good wash. Let drip dry and hang back in the window.

Floors- I use vinegar, dish soap, and water.

That's all I can think of at the moment but I'll add more to the list later when my brain is in better working order.

Working Together

I have posted before about my belief in gardening. My family lives very close so we basically do community gardening. We have one large garden that everyone works. Yesterday afternoon, we worked on corn. We have rows and rows of corn so my Dad and my brother went and picked it. Then we all shucked and silked it. Then my Mom and I cooked and froze lots on the cob and we cut of and made creamed corn out of the rest. We only picked three rows and we had about thirty bags (with 6-8 ears in each bag) of corn on the cob and about twenty quart bags of creamed corn. There are still about 6 rows that need picked.

I know that sounds like a ton of corn but we have several freezers and with three households it will go faster than you would expect. So far our tomatoes aren't doing that great but we have canned about twenty quarts of tomato juice. Great for soups and sauces!

I wonder how much $ we saved? But it's more than money. we all worked together. It's like family therapy! And believe my family could use a little of that.

Little Changes Reap Large Rewards

One huge part of saving money in a household is simply by enlisting the help of the whole family. If everyone is involved it can become a great bonding experience for the family unit. My family loves to go bargain hunting. My six year old can spot a yard sale sign from a half mile away. A great Saturday outing is going thrift store shopping. Even my teen daughter loves a bargain. She is thrilled by going to the Goodwill and finding a whole cart full of clothing for what her friends pay for one outfit at the mall. We do enjoy the mall but only for the people watching. LOL

We also try to recycle. I think that is a natural part of saving money. Why buy trash can liners for those small bathroom cans when you get tons of them every time you go grocery shopping? We also normally use cloths for cleaning instead of buying disposable anything. We use natural cleaning products such as vinegar for most cleaning jobs. Why poison the environment and waste money on toxic chemicals when vinegar, baking soda, and a little elbow grease will handle most cleaning jobs equally as well?

The value of a vegatable garden

Vegetable gardens are an invaluable resource when considering how to live within a budget. Now I understand that not everyone is blessed to have acreage on which to plant a large garden but even if you have just a balcony with a few pots you are saving money.

One of the easiest plants to grow is a simple tomato plant. The grow great in a garden or in a pot. You can put up stakes so that the plant will grow up and thus it will take up minimal space. Other plants to consider are cucumbers, squash, zucchini, all types of beans and peas, melons, and herbs.

Seeds are so inexpensive that I believe anyone watching pennies should consider a garden. It is a wonderful treat to be able to go over to your freezer in the dead of Winter and pull out a ziplock of freshly grown goodness. OF course my all time favorite is home made vegetable soup with canned tomato juice and tons of home grown veggies. Super inexpensive and good for you to boot.