Water...

Water is a necessity for life, for people, animals and plants. We wash in it, drink it, use it in pretty much every aspect of our lives. How do we be more attuned to how we are using it and be frugal too.

DRINKING: The average person is recommended to drink 8x8 oz cups of water at minimum per day. That's 64 oz a day x 7 days a week. How we get our water can come in so many different ways. We can drink bottled water, sparkling water, flavored water, filtered water, and purchased water. The list contains great sources of drinking, but what are ways to be both frugal and healthy?

The most frugal way to drink water is with a home filter, whether it's a whole house water filter or a single container are a couple options to keep things frugal.  You can filter at home and bottle your own in containers. It takes more work but it's probably the most cost effective and healthiest for you too.

Bottled water is probably the most convenient but with plastic and BPA a concern it may not always be the healthiest. Even using your own containers you have to account for the plastic you may be using to store and travel with. Heating plastic in a sitting vehicle raises the toxins released into your water. We have to consider this with our bottled water too. Has the prepackaged water been in a hot shipping container leaching toxins into that spring water? How far has it traveled? Does your bottled water sit for months before consuming? So many things to consider.

Adding flavor is a great way to drink water daily but pure water is always the best choice. Some flavor additives have chemicals that are not good for our digestive system, especially if it's artificial sweeteners which now have studies saying they could cause disease in some people. It's always a good idea to read labels even on water. Some pure water contains salt additives. Know if your body needs these or if you should look for non additive water. With whatever you choose make sure it's good for you when you get those 64 oz a day.

Drink up,
Mrs Green Jeans

Diapers: Disposable vs. Cloth

With babies comes diapers and with diapers come high cost of waste! Yuck. Who wants to throw away money on diapers. With some studies off the internet I'm going to list the general costs of using both vs. convenience. Hopefully this will help you decide what is best for your baby, family and wallet.

DISPOSABLE DIAPERS: Let's start with disposables. They cost roughly $1000 a year to use in many differnet brands and styles. So if your child is in diapers for an average of 3 years, that's a $3000 investment in diapers. Yikes! That's a lot of poop! Disposables are easy to use and convenient too. You can buy them pretty much everywhere but stores other than big box stores will cost you more. As long as you plan ahead: 6-8 changes a day and don't run out in the middle of the night having to wrap your baby's bum in a tee shirt or blanket just hoping they don't leak out until you can run to the store when they open is a risk but most families don't run into this as long as they check their supply.

What happens to all that plastic? I'm no tree hugger by any means and enjoy convenience like the average family, but let me just give you a quick statistic. It's takes about 500 years for one diaper to decompose. This is 5 generations until that diaper is made back into dirt! Wow that's a lot of landfills! With that in mind, I did some research on cloth diapers just to compare.

CLOTH DIAPERS: In the 80's I have family who used cloth diapers with the safety pin closure and plastic cover. I was always scared of poking the baby or the pins coming undone. Also the way to wash diapers was just gross. You had to soak them, then rise them, then disinfect them in the wash. It was a lot of work for 6-8 changes a day.

Things have changed in the 20th century to make cloth diapering so much easier and more convenient. They now have cloth snap and velcro closure diapers which grow with your baby. There are several different styles, all in one, inserts, etc. Yes, so you only need to purchase one stash
of diapers for the 3 years your child will be wearing them. Let's talk about cost quickly. So based on 6-8 changes a day x3 days (doing laundry every other day) you would need a stash to start with of about 24 diapers to rotate. These last from 1-3 years depending on how you care for them (there are instructions all over the internet for this). Each pack of 6 costs about $20-60. That's around a $200 investment for 3 years.

Now that we see that you can save $2800 over 3 years let's figure out how to deal with the gross! They have water sprayers you can hook up to your toilet to spray off the solids. Most companies recommend a diaper bucket soak/rinse before washing. Once you are ready to wash your diapers you throw them in the washing machine on hot and hang directly in the sun to dry for longer durability. Every few months you will need to strip your diapers which takes a few washes in stronger disinfectants (again there are instructions on the internet for this step). But that's about it. Pretty simple if you have a washing machine.

WIPES: Families who do cloth still opt for disposable wipes. But again there are cloth options if you are already doing cloth diapers. This can be additional work or more savings. Also to consider is the waste factor and how you feel about filling land fills. People have been doing disposables for centuries I know, but it makes you wonder if a little change can make a big difference, even if it's just one child. For the working mom it's going to probably be a bigger stash investment to keep up with the diapers if she has to time and energy to do this. But with the added day care costs is it worth the savings possibly? Each family has to decide. I'm not for one or the other as far as choices go, but I do love the though of saving money and also helping the environment if I can. Let me know your thoughts now that you know the options in the comments.

Happy Changing,
Mrs. Green Jeans

Save $117 a year making Laundry Soap

Once a year a make a 5gal bucket of liquid laundry soap for $3. The $3 is after the investment of the purchase of a $5 5 gal bucket and the initial purchase of the soap products. Initially I spent about $15 on 4 items that will last me about 5-10 years! Each year I purchase a new bar of soap for less than a dollar and divide my initial investment of  $20 by 10 to get $3. Make sense?

Normally laundry soap costs around $12 for 30 pods, or the same for regular soap (not pods) 60 washes. Depending on what you buy you can save $117 or more in a year on soap alone to put towards another expense. Over the course of 10 years I'll be saving nearly $1000 on detergent. Is it worth it? It think so :)

Most people think they don't have time to make soap. If you have 15 min to spare then you have time because that is literally all the time it takes to mix, melt and make soap. I like liquid soap but there are solid recipes too for about the same cost and simplicity to make. I found putting a soup ladle in my bucket to scoop out soap into a smaller glass jar works great. Then I scoop with my 1/4 or 5/8 cup right into the washer from my smaller glass jar.

Let me know in the comments if you try this money saving tip and if you found creative ways to change the recipe. It's fun to learn new tips :)

Happy Washing,
Mrs. Green Jeans

*if you are using cloth diapers, do NOT add the fels Naptha soap in your recipe as this will deteriorate the waterproof protection of the diapers. I make a separate smaller dry jar just for my diapers and label it clearly*

Here's the recipe I use (credits go to the Dugger family recipe):

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap

(Front or top load machine-best value)

Ingredients: 

4  Cups - hot tap water
1  Fels-Naptha soap bar*
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda**
½ Cup Borax

Directions: 

-Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

How to Thrift Shop your wardrobe

Everyone needs to spend money on necessary things to live by like clothes. But there are creative ways to save on clothes for the whole family and I'm going to give you the simple ways to save and yes even get discounts on being frugal. Here we go!

SEASONS: Every season needs a wardrobe but do you need a wardrobe for every season? What I mean is do you have to have different clothes for each season just because the weather changes? Probably not. A way to save on seasonal clothes is to purchase LAYERS that will update your wardrobe for seasons. Now I know it's nice to have choices, including colors, but you really can wear white after Labor Day :)

ACCESSORIZE: A great way to add color is with accessories. You can add a pretty necklace or scarf to outfits to give it a new season feel. You can purchase jackets and button down sweaters to update for cooler months in fall and winter colors. These can easily be paired with a white blouse...see it's okay to wear white after Labor Day. When you are thrift shopping keep a list of accessories you want to add because I've found them for literally pennies 2nd hand. I have a thrift store that is my go to just for accessories and they often have 1/2 off which makes it even better.

SALES: Ways to save money on clothes is to buy second hand. Did you know that thrift stores even have sales and discount days? I'm not kidding. We have some awesome stores that do 1/2 off, $1 days, or a bag for $5. They key to shopping thrift stores is to make a list and then be flexible. It's hard to find just the perfect shade of color, but if you opt for neutrals it's pretty simple to get what you want. Also, buy off season when they are trying to clear out.

CLEANING: If buying 2nd hand sounds gross or smelly, know the key is to only buy clothes you can wash in hot and throw them all in the machine right when you get home. Check for holes, stains, and even strong smells like BO, musty mold smells, and even perfumes. Pass on these and keep looking. I've been thrifting for about 5 years solely for clothes and some shoes. Shoes are a bit harder because you have to be able to disinfect the inside either with a wash in hot water or a good germ killer to avoid foot crud. Newer and even new shoes can be found at a fraction of the price if you keep looking.

QUANTITY: So how much do you need and how do you add more? A good rule of thumb is not to buy more than you will wear in a week: 7 shirts, 5 pants, 2 skirts/dresses, 2 jackets/sweaters, 3 pairs of shoes: sandals, casual, nicer. When you buy something new get rid of something. Once you have a nice wardrobe of neutrals and maybe a favorite color, it will be easy to know what needs to be replaced or rotated as styles change or they get warn out. When you decide to get rid of something you can either sell it back, consign, or upcycle it so recoup your money when you add something new.

CREATIVITY: They key to thrift shopping is to take cash so you don't overspend and can stay on budget, shop often when you are wanting something new, make a list, keep an open mind, be flexible and most of all have fun. Try on things you normally wouldn't like crazy jackets and shirts and snap pictures. Oh and don't forget that you can always alter something to fit better if you are handy at a sewing machine. I often shorten pants, take in wide legs to make into skinny pants (the current trend), even taking in blouses, jackets and sweaters can add a beautiful silhouette to a feminine figure.

Good luck and happy Thrifting!
Mrs. Green Jeans