Hi girls!
Cori wanted the publicity members to start posting on the blog, so I've been thinking all week of a good topic to blog about. After talking with Missy at the meeting today, it appears that I was overthinking it :) So, for my first entry, I'm going to share a few things I learned recently.
To give you some background on myself, I've been clipping coupons, etc. as a hobby for the last two years. Don't get me wrong - my family certainly needs to stay on a budget if I want to continue being a stay at home mom. However, I've found that budgeting and seeing how much I can get for my money is a fun challenge for me, as well as helping my family save money. My family calls me the "crazy spreadsheet lady", and I'm proud of it, as my spreadsheet has told me how much I've saved in coupons this year ($400)! I will now stop the spreadsheet talk and step away from my control freak ESFP "Happy Together" mothering profile that I discovered today to tell you...
I've been subscribing to some recently discovered mom-blogs (frugal living and crafty ones) just for the tips other moms have shared. I've also been trying to make a lot of our foods/cleaning supplies, etc. at home which combines my two blog interests. As a result, I found out about a few things that you moms might like to know.
1. Clorox Anywhere Spray. It's almost $3.50 a bottle in some places, and here's the recipe: 1.5 teaspoons of bleach, 22 oz. of water. THAT'S IT!! Can you believe it? My parents have about 6 half used bottles around the house for various dog accidents, etc. I should make it for them, and sell it for half price!
2. Fruit Wash spray. Not sure how many brands there are, but the ingredients on the one I have state "surfactant, water, citric acid". According to the dictionary (and my chemical engineer husband), the definition of surfactant is 'a chemical agent capable of reducing the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved'. Basically, this is soap. As for the citric acid, this acts as a rinsing agent. So, keep your fruit wash bottle, pump a few squirts into it, and dilute with water and a teaspoon or so of lemon juice. I do recommend using scent-free soap, the flowery palmolive I just tried makes the grapes smell weird :)
3. Along the same lines, Bath and Body Works (B&BW) is making a killing on their foaming hand wash. Foaming soap is WAY easier for the little ones to use, so I keep it in their bathrooms for easy, quick hand washing. We ran out of our B&BW brand soap the other night, so I added 10 pumps of Dial liquid hand soap into the bottle, carefully topped it off with water (so as not to foam it up too much), swirled lightly, and voila! Foaming hand wash! Can you imagine how many B&BW bottles I can refill with my liquid Dial?? I must say that I am quite fond of the B&BW pump. It seems to keep working for a long time. No sticking like the other pump bottles (including Dial's version). So, I will continue to buy an expensive bottle of B&BW soap at least once a year, just for the bottle.
There! I've saved you $15!!! :)
To wrap up, I had a great time visiting with some new ladies today, and I'm hoping to get to know more of you soon. So far, I'm really enjoying this great group of women! I just hope that my kids stop clinging to my leg when I leave them in Moppets so I can relax while I'm with you :) See you in a couple of weeks!
ey everyone! I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself, so you get an idea of the person behind these posts.
