For those of us who get the “spring fever”  and feel the need to scrub our entire house with a toothbrush to make it sparkle, you know how manufacturing companies have created “needs”, things we supposedly absolutely have to have or our dwellings are not clean. Obviously, this is a myth. It does not take $100 worth of products and “stuff” to make our houses sparkle. I do a major cleaning twice a year, towards the end of spring and the beginning of winter. Never have I spent more than $15.00 on cleaning products  to clean my home. New items like the Swiffer products are not necessary, convenient and time saving, yes; but not necessary. The chemicals in the cleaning solution on the swiffer and like items can actually be harmful, while the pads take up landfill space. These are all the items and cleaners that you need to spring clean your home.

Broom, dustpan, mop, bucket, rubbing alcohol, baking soda, all purpose cleaner or a bucket of mild soap and water, rags, and yes: a toothbrush.

Use the bucket of soap and water and the toothbrush to get into any cracks or small areas of furniture to clean away winters grime and dust. Rinse tootbrush with clean water and wipe any soap out of crevices. Use a rag to dry.

Clean all windows, glass, and mirrors with rubbing alcohol and a rag. They will really sparkle. If you worry about lint on these surfaces, use newspaper(black and white print only).

Use a bucket of mild soap and water and a rag or scrub brush to clean walls, base boards, floors, etc. For grungy looking wood furniture you can scrub the wood with mild soap OR my personal favorite, Murphy’s wood oil soap. Rinse with a clean, wet rag then use an oil like olive oil or linseed oil to make the wood shine again!

Use a paste of baking soda and water for “soft scrub”. Use on sinks, tub, and tile.

Don’t buy expensive smelly powders for your carpet. Just sprinkle your carpets with baking soda, let sit for 15 to 30 minutes and vacuum as usual.

Wash all washable rugs, curtains and table cloths in the washing machine. Curtains can actually be hung back up wet and let them air dry. The smell from the soap will make your rooms smell wonderful.

Sweep and mop all washable floors. Apply any floor wax treatments if you choose to do so.

Open your windows and let the entire house air out. Bacteria, dust, possibly mold, and other allergens build up in enclosed houses over the winter. Let them all out!

Following these steps will make your entire home smell and look wonderful! Don’t forget to declutter also! Most often we let mail, magazines, newspapers, old clothing build up over the winter. Recycle and donate whenever possible!

Thanks to all!

The Domestic Goddess

Hello All!

As I look at everyone around me, very few people are “doing well” in this terrible economy. Many people are out of work and looking everywhere for a job to support themselves and their families. Unemployment claims have gone up, people going to our local food bank have increased in numbers, more people are shopping at thrift stores and other discount stores. Many people however, have not re-evaluated their lifestyles, several are still living the lifestyles they have become accustomed to, without thought to their shrinking bank accounts and wallets and their needs in the future. So, I wanted to address this issue.

Desperate times sometimes need desperate measures. People cannot go along spending money as they did before their job losses, or whatever it is that has changed their financial lives. For example, my boyfriend recently lost his job and I currently only work part time. Both of us have been applying at places that are both hiring and not in the hopes that he gets a job and/or I get a better one. Just to pay the rent and other bills we have had to cut expenses down to the bare minimum. I do mean bare minimum. My back porch, which was my “Zen Spot”, where I went to read my books, do homework or just relax, is now strung with clothes lines. I wash my clothes at the laundromat or in the sink myself then hang them up to dry. We have not eaten out in 3 months, we do not buy anything but the necessities of life. We both are smokers and are working on quitting. In the meantime, we now roll our own cigarettes, as a result we smoke less and hope to quit very soon. I am a Diet Coke junkie, however, it is not a necessity so I have been drinking “sun tea”, iced tea brewed in the sun in the jug. This is a very cheap beverage. I cannot have much sugar so I drink  it unsweetened but you can sweeten it with sugar if you like. I make real lemonade from lemon juice (one cup lemon juice, one cup sugar in a 2 qt pitcher) It is very tasty. I bake our “treats”, cookies, cake, brownies, pies, from scratch here at home. I love to bake and am good at it, my family likes my homemade items much better than any store bought treat.

I only drive to the store, work, or to put in applications at businesses, and to take my son to and from school. I combine trips to save gas. I do not leave my car running, this wastes gas. My son’s birthday is in July, we had a huge party planned that cost a lot of money. We have changed plans and are now having it in a beautiful local park ( no rental fee). My family will all be making some of the food to help defray some of my costs. 

We have to keep internet services, as my boyfriend is going to school online and I have my website to run. However, if we could get away with it, I would happily have it shut off. We still have cable, but I did contact our cable company and am having our services reduced to save money. We turn the lights off and unplug appliances when not in use. My mother struck an agreement with the 0wner of her apartment complex, she now cleans and shows the apartments for rent and gets a significant amount of money off of her rent.

There are all kinds of measures one can take when financially strapped. Think outside the box. Do you have more than one vehicle, do you need both? Maybe you could sell one? Write letters instead of making long distance phone calls. Buy inexpensive foods instead of pricier versions.

I hope this gets people thinking about things they can do to decrease their spending. Thanks to all for reading, and check out my “Recommendations” page for inexpensivly priced books you can buy on all kinds of ways to save money!

The Domestic Goddess

We all know that paring down expenses is usually not much fun. It is up to you to keep a positive attitude and try to make it fun. See how far you can stretch your dollar. Find new places you can buy the items you need to have at a cheaper price.

If you are new to this frugality business, explore stores you have never been in before. The “dollar stores” that are all over the country actually have a lot of very good, useful products you can use right in your own home. In my area we have Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree stores. I frequent these stores on a regular basis. Remember to compare prices at all the stores you shop in, never assume one store has the best price.

Rent movies and video games instead of buying them.

Use your local library! Most libraries rent not just books but movies and cd’s if not for free, then extremely cheaply. One library not far away from me rents them for 25 cents each and you keep them for 7 days. Libraries have a much larger selection now compared to a few years ago.

Shop at rummage sales. I find this great fun. You never know what you will find. Remember: buy something because you need it, not because you want it.

When my family has get togethers, we make them pot luck. We all bring a dish to pass and the person who is hosting provides the main dish. You get a much larger variety of food, one person does not have to do all the work and everyone saves money.

Combine all your errands into one trip and make a route that enables you to go everywhere you need to without wasting gas by going back and forth across town. This will save you gas money, wear and tear on your car, reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the air causing pollution and will save you time. Who couldn’t use a little more time and money?

It’s worth it to buy the more expensive energy efficient light bulbs. If money is short buy one or two every couple of weeks, or one or two a month and start replacing the lightbulbs that you use most frequently. These will save up to 30% on your power and light bill. I have made the switch and the energy efficient bulbs cast light just like the old ones.

Look for free or cheap entertainment. One thing we do in my household is rent movies from the library, pop some popcorn ( I do it the “old fashioned” way on the stove. Pour enough oil in bottom of pan just to cover, power in a cup of popcorn-the kind sold by the bag, not microwave. Cover with a lid and turn the heat up to medium/high. Listen for the pops to slow down to a few seconds between each pop and turn burner off. You don’t want to burn the popcorn. Salt to taste. I put a couple of tablespoons of butter right in with the oil for a buttery flavor), and hang out with the family. We play cards and board games. Go to the park and play games with the kids. Go for a walk in nature. There are tons of nature trails or even some parks have hiking trails. Check out your local newspaper for upcoming events.

Message me with your tips and hints on how you save money in the comments section on the front page!

As we all face job losses, higher taxes and rising fuel costs for vehicle and home, most of us are looking for ways to cut expenses. We all have to pay for power and light usage, however there are ways to save in this area of our budget. 

Warm weather is here! Before you turn on your a/c try these tips. Maybe you will have more days a/c free, which will not only lower your energy bill, but reduce your carbon footprint, i.e. the impact you personally have on our fragile and failing environment

Some money saving ideas:

- During the summer keep your shades/blinds at least halfway closed during the hottest part of the day, usually between 10 am and 7 pm in most areas of the country. I like to keep  mine about 3/4ths closed with the windows open to allow the breeze to come into the house. At night keep as  many windows open as possible to allow the cool night air inside. If you have ground floor windows that have easy access for break-ins take that into consideration, of course. I would not want anyone to be unsafe. If you have 2 floors to your home, you could close the downstairs windows and leave the upstairs windows open, for example.

- Use fans in your home instead of the air conditioner or central air. This will not only cool your home but also uses much less electricity (saving money on your bill) and does not emit any gasses or use chemicals that damage our ozone layer.

- I discovered this trick last summer and was surprised to find it actually worked in my apartment. Fill a medium sized container, say a reused coffee can ( plastic or metal will work) and put in the freezer. When frozen set it in front of your fan. If you can find a way to elevate the frozen container to about the middle of the fan it will work best. If you are worried about the condensation on the outside of the container set on a plate or a towel. The air passes around the frozen container, reducing the air temperature and cooling that room more. It worked in my upstairs apartment. The rooms I used this idea in felt 5 degrees cooler.

- Keep lights off and as many appliances as possible OFF during the day. Lights and anything turned on, i.e. computers, coffee pots, televisions, etc, create heat. This heat is dispursed into your home which raises temperatures and makes you more uncomfortable.

- Don’t run your oven during the day in warm weather if you don’t have to. My crock pot is my best kitchen friend in warm weather. A practice that has been followed by all members of my family since my great-grandmother is to do any necessary baking either in the early morning or at night after the sun goes down. I usually do mine first thing in the morning ( before 7 am central time) or at night ( after 8 pm). This also goes for the stove top. Between my crock pot, microwave and bread machine (the microwave was given to me and the bread machine was a gift), I rarely use my stove at all in the summer. Using a grill is also an option for your main meals. I am also exploring the concept of a solar oven. I will do a piece on that sometime in the future.

- Go outside and sit in the shade. Bring a book, toys for the kids, plenty of fluids and enjoy the outdoors! In my state of Wisconsin in the summertime, inside is much hotter than outside.

- Take a cool shower before bed. This will lower your body temperature. The cool shower and a fan blowing around your bedroom ( with the window open if possible) is usually condusive to a good night’s sleep.

I encourage anyone to email me a tip or idea on saving money on energy costs. I welcome the knowledge! I will post your idea here along with your name. If you prefer to remain anonymous, just put anonymous at the end of your tip or idea.