30 Day Challenge - Day 3

For Day 3 of my challenge, I chose Laundry.

It's something we all have to deal with.  Depending on the number of people in your house and the size of your wardrobe, you may have to do more or less than I do.  With 5 of us in the house, and one being pint-sized, we're doing laundry at least 3 times per week.  If it's not done at least that often it gets overwhelming.

A few years ago our washer died.  It was one we had gotten for free just for my hubby helping get it out of someone's basement.  We also scored a dryer for only $50 because it needed a new cord.  My hubby is so handy that he was able to replace the cord himself.   Instead of shopping for a nice used washer, he decided we needed a new set.  When they were delivered, the delivery people even hauled away our old ones for no charge.

This set was not overly expensive, and is also designed to save money.  The washer has a load sensor so we don't use too much water.  It also has the option to use "Tap Cold" water - no heating or cooling the water.  The dryer also has a dampness sensor so laundry doesn't get over-dried unless you set it to "More Dry."

I needed to do myself one better.  Especially since our yard is finally starting to come around.  The last 2 years it has been quite the mess in our yard from the construction.  I didn't like going in the back yard, let alone hanging my clothes back there. I was actually worried about my clothes getting dirty just from hanging there.

But this year I'm set on hanging them out!  Which means I only do laundry on days that it is not raining.  Tonight when we got home from baseball it was sprinkling, so Beau got all the clothes off the line while I was making supper (it was after 8 pm already.) I know some people hang clothes in their basements when it's wet or cold out, but I don't think I could do that because 1) the cat boxes are by the laundry and 2) our basement floor gets wet with large amounts of rain, so any clothes drying down there would smell musty.  With the clothesline I have, I can hang out 3 large loads of laundry at once.  I don't do much more than that on laundry days.

Chubbers loves helping Mommy when he's riding in his Moby!

Then there is the question of towels.  They always come out so stiff and scratchy, right?  I did a little bit of research into this.  I used to throw them in the dryer for a few minutes after taking them off the line, but that doesn't  always do it.  That defeats the purpose of not using the dryer in the first place anyway!

The one method I've tried so far that seems to be working is to use vinegar.  I put half a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser.  The towels do NOT smell like vinegar when they come out, and the towels are not so stiff they are able to stand on their own!

I have also been using homemade laundry soap for a couple years now.  The old recipe I used would take up a lot of space in my laundry area.  A friend turned me on to a more concentrated version.  It's the same recipe, just less water, and therefore less soap per washing.  A single batch makes 128 loads, so it lasts quite a while.  I have not had any reactions to it and I have sensitive skin.  It's also been fine for my kids' clothes including Chubbers.  It doesn't take long to make it, and it's very inexpensive.

Making Progress - and trying my hand at frugality (one piece at a time!)

It's been a busy - but productive - week here!!  The kids have been keeping me running (as usual) and I've been keeping myself running!  I've also been doing great with sticking to my resolutions!!!

At my weigh-in on Thursday at TOPS, I was down a full 3 1/2 pounds!!!!  That is about half of what I had gained in the previous 2 months!!!  Honestly, there have been no gimmicks or fad diets or anything like that.  I have a couple of friends who are also on the weight loss journey, but are doing it by taking a lot of medications.  They are losing weight, but I worry about how they will do when they stop taking the medications.

What has been working for me?  Two things, really:

1) I have been writing everything I have to eat and drink (other than water) down.  I'm not tracking quantities or calories or anything like that.  But I think just being aware of what I'm eating helps.

2) Exercise.  I've been doing something almost ever day.  I went walking with my Opa a few times.  Otherwise I have been doing my Wii Fit Step again, for at least a half an hour.  Usually while watching some show of choice, like Grey's Anatomy or something else.

I have been trying to find ways to save money for our family still.  I will be posting various things that I have been doing and how it has helped with our family.  My current projects include:

1) Finding a recipe and making homemade bread that my family likes (after some experimentation, I found my husband likes the recipe for white bread in the Betty Crocker cookbook.  I use my bread machine to make the dough, but bake it in the oven.  He didn't understand why I do that until I explained how the machine leaves a hole in the bottom.  Awesome news on the bread machine - scored it BRAND NEW a the Salvation Army for only $10!!)

2) I have been making homemade laundry soap for over a year now.  (I actually made 2 batches so I always would have some ready.  The recipe I use takes 24 hours until it's ready.  When one bucket is empty, I use the other bucket until it's about half empty, then make another batch in the empty bucket.  I like the leeway it gives me.)  I figure for each 65-load batch I make, I'm saving about $11.20 over buying scent-free, dye-free Tide and getting just as good results, if not better.  If I have a particularly soiled load of laundry, I just set my washer to "heavy duty" and that takes care of it! 

3) Finding more low cost/free entertainment for the kids.  Home Depot offers a free kids' workshop on the first Saturday of each month.  Last Saturday, Beau had to go to make a bird house for Girl Scouts, so I figured why not take Scrappy?  It was free, would teach them skills about using tools and following directions, and would keep them happily occupied for a while. I don't know why we didn't do this earlier!!  But we didn't paint them until today, and they did that at home.... (I had a bit of a headache when we were at HD, and it only got worse with all the pounding!)

She was getting a little frustrated cuz a few nails were bending.

He was so proud - all Mommy did was hold the boards and he pounded
the nails himself(and my fingers a few times!)

They like a LOT of color!

We also got a free night of BINGO last night.  Beau's school had a family night event of Burger BINGO.  

My boys at BINGO

Each person in a family gets a card to play, and each family gets one raffle ticket to start.  For your first BINGO, a family wins a complete meal (hamburgers, buns, ketchup, jello mix, apple slices, 5# bag of potatoes, can of pork and beans, and a half dozen mini Hershey's bars).  After that, a family wins additional raffle tickets.  At the end of the night, they draw for various MOA tickets and for Tiger (school) shirts.  We only won the meal, but that's just fine since they only gave out 100 of them!! (I was the mean mom who told my kids we weren't paying $1 for each slice of pizza and ice cream because we had leftovers at home.  But honestly, our family eats out waaay too much).

4) Starting a price book.  Heather highly recommends it on her site, and has proven over and over again how useful they can be. (Per her recommendation, I checked out and am enjoying a money-savings book also.  I had to get it through inter-library loan, so I have been trying to track down my own.  I found a copy online today in good shape, and should hopefully have it in about a week or so!! I will post more on the book later!)

5) I've successfully learned how to can meat and stock!!!  Found out what I was missing too - it can ONLY be done safely with a pressure cooker.  I managed it - with the help of my Opa!

Meat and stock before sealing.

I'm also keeping a list of all the books I'm reading too.  If someone were to take a look at my Kindle, they would probably laugh.  I admit, I'm a self-help-book junkie!  I'm always reading on ways to help with time management or organization or weight loss or almost anything else you could think of.  I will periodically post my take on the books I'm reading, especially if they are something I find useful!!

Revamping and Redoing

I've been a SAHM mom for one year and 5 months, and I still have no idea what I'm doing.  No one tells you how hard it really is to be home with your kids.  Or if they do tell you, very seldom do you believe them.  I mean really, how hard can it be???

Well, believe me, it's a lot harder than it looks!!  Between the running and doctor's appointments and cleaning and laundry, it seems like nothing is EVER done!!  Factor in a child with a medical condition, and that amplifies it.

I must admit that now that school has started for my oldest, some of the chaos and craziness has died down.  The end of summer means no more baseball until next summer.  But it brings with it a whole new array of appointments.  Now it's back to Girl Scouts, church and Sunday school, and homework.  The scheduling for all the running had to be peared down so that I can make it home in time to pick Beau up from school.  Every now and then, I do have to find someone else to pick her up or drop her off, but most often it's just me.

I tried making a schedule to follow for basics during the day.  Turns out I can't keep to a schedule.  Either can the little man.  He doesn't nap when I schedule him to.  He doesn't play quietly during his 'scheduled' time either.  I guess with a 3 year old, trying to maintain a set schedule is just not in the cards.  Yeah, I have my list of "to-do"s, but I think that's going to be the best I can do.

Today's list of to-dos??

Scrappy is working a little harder on potty training right now, so he's ACTUALLY wearing underpants - which is really big for him.  So obviously, I have to have some laundry going so I can wash up his accidents.  I'm almost out of laundry soap so I'm going to try making some homemade from a recipe I got from a friend.  I'm about 2 meals behind on dishes, so I have those to do.  Clothes to put away.  Vacuum.  Cooked down my chicken yesterday, so today I have to sort it all out and strain it and clean the meat and hopefully can it.  I'm really hoping the weather doesn't get as hot as predicted.  (Supposed to be 90 today, but I think I'd prefer the 70's.)  And, at some point, I need to get some reading done - I have a paper due Wednesday for school....