....and never in a million years you'd ever think you would be doing it?



hard times call for resourcefulness and just like my mom who lived through the end of the depression and into the war years, her motto is waste nothing.


i, for the first time, have been reusing tin foil when i can and i make my own windex, cleaning products and this weekend will attempt the laundry detergent.


when i read the tightwad gazette about the woman making a roll of tin foil last a year i thought she was nuts. well now, i see how wasteful i am with it and how easy (sometimes) it is to clean with warm, soapy water.

so anyone else??

I do make my own laundry soap. I use the recipe from ww.thefamilyhomestead.com. I altered it a littel. I use 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup of washing soda compared to the 1/4 cup of each called for in the recipe. It works fine. Make sure you get the WASHING SODA and not just baking soda. I know my Publix carries it, but walmart only carries the baking soda in the laundry isle. That won't work. I also hang my clothes to dry when possible. This year I am using a clean, covered trashcan for a rain barrel for my garden. One year I would put 5 gallon buckets around my house during a rain shower, and as they filled I would lug them into the laundry room and use them to fill my washer. I estimated I used 75 gallons of water that day. I think that was one of my craziest things.

I never thought I would be making my own laundry soap. I have been making it for about 2 months. I really love coming up with new effient ways to make money stretch further. I have also gotten several books either at the library or through amazon to help me learn to make my money stretch. I am having fun counting up my savings.

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during the summer i also catch rain water and use it in my washer! I seriously never thought i would do that

We have chickens! We also bought a share of a cow, so we can buy the raw milk from the farmer. We also have a Big vegetable garden and I am looking for a pressure canner this summer at yard sales, so I can start canning! Who knew? But I love it all, and we have never eaten better.....

I started making my own cleaning products, laundry soap, dishwashing detergent and hand soap, dog food, and dog treats. I've also eliminate all paper products EXCEPT toilet paper! LOL!

Last year I began raising laying hens. I also have started seperating my garbage...I've always recycled but now now I'm going beyond that. I'm using most food wastes by giving appropriate waste to my chickens (they LOVE the scraps!), the dog (he loves the scraps too!), and I am starting a compost bin for the garden! I have lots of scraps as I do daycare...10 kids not eatting everything on their plate creates lots of garbage. "Recycling" my scraps has saved me tons in my garbage bill as well as food costs for the animals!

I use to roll my eyes at my mother for washing and reusing plastic sandwich bags now I do it too! (I'd use washable containers but my husband and daughter somehow lose these...usually in the back seat of car for long enough time to collect lots of mold).

I wish I had the room to do this!

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Determined to increase my savings even if it means buying less shoes!

I agree with what am couple other people have said.

I've been making my own cleaners for six months now and have finally started making laundry soap. I never thought I'd be doing it, but now I can't imagine going back!

I've started keeping the lights completely off during the day using sunlight from the windows as much as possible. I'm amazed how little I really need any lighting in the home.

Our biggest 'extremes' :

Raising our own meats: pork, beef, chicken, etc. I have always had laying hens, but had never 'eaten' any of my own animals until just a few years ago.

MAMA CLOTH. This is a big one. I didn't even know there was such a thing before I started using cloth diapers on DD.

Cloth Diapers (but DD is potty training, so not much longer).

Line Drying. I hated hanging clothes to dry when I was living at home. I vowed that I would not be doing that when I got older. LOL. Here I am, hanging my clothes and LOVING it. LOL. Boy how times change.

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