Comments on: Challenges and Goals – so far

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:04:44 +0000

Thank you for the book suggestion, the recipes and most of all, the encouraging words!

By: Her Peculiar Life

Her Peculiar Life — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:16:24 +0000

Just surfing around and found your site. May I suggest “The Naturally Clean Home” by Karyn Siegel-Maier? She has TERRIFIC recipes for all sorts of homemade cleaning products. My favorite, and simple, homemade laundry recipe follows:

1 c. washing soda
1 c. baking soda
1 c. grated soap (fells naptha, ivory, zote, etc)

Blend all ingredients and store in a heavy plastic container. Use 1/2 c. for an average laundry load.

For hard water:

1 c. grated soap
1 c. washing soda
1 c. borax

Blend and use as above.

Fabric Softener:

add 1/2 c. white vinegar to rinse cycle

I also use a clothes line to dry our clothes.

A word of encouragement – we worked very hard to get completely out of debt. We have remained debt free for the past 6 years. Believe me all the hard work and effort you all are putting into this is worth the effort. There’s no freedom like debt-free!!

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:29:38 +0000

Yes, I did get my Apple Cider Vinegar, and it has made a noticeable difference, however, my hair still smells like it needs to be washed.

By: cathy

cathy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:04:08 +0000

Sounds as though we’re on a similar journey! Merry meet!

However, my bulk order was out of apple cider vinegar so I didn’t get my gallon of that. Did you? And, if you did get it, did you notice a difference when you used it on your hair?

I haven’t gone no poo yet, but I’m working hard on the other cleaners. I’m doing what Nina wrote about — carefully using up existing stuff and being very careful about how I replace it.

Mostly, right now, my journey is with the store. What an energy and money suck that is! I don’t want to go to the store ever again. I want to use my pantry carefully and learn to plan meals and order things as I need them. What would my life be like if I did that?

Keep writing. It helps, I think, for you and for us who read.

By: Abbi

Abbi — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:20:46 +0000

It was interesting reading about the different things you are trying. I have also been trying the no’poo/ using baking soda. I have been doing it since the end of May. I have been using Vingager rinse as well. At first I had really pretty greasy hair but it has gotten much better. I use Baking soda and vinager 3 times a week and then I do take a shower with just rinseing my hair and then cleaning the rest of my body every other day too. My hair looks fine, I have gotten a lot of nice comments but I don’t think it is better than it was before, I am hoping that will come though.
I thought you might be interested in one of my recent posts about substituting stuff in cooking. It helps so that you can avoid extra trips to the grocery store. Here is the link: http://proverbs31living.blogspot.com/2008/07/something-that-has-been-very-helpful-to.html

I have made month long menus many times and really like that method. When I did that I would usually just do one big grocery trip a month and then often only one other time at the 2 week mark unless there was a sale that couldn’t be missed.

This summer I have also started making my own laundry detergent using Washing Soda, Borax and bar soap. It is working pretty well. It has been fun to save money in that area.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:23:27 +0000

in my effort to decrease the multiple grocery trips and coming home with extras, i’m going to do the ‘once a month cooking’ thing. my f-i-l has a cookbook for this with several options so i’m going to do a 2 week plan and i think with the left overs, that should last nearly a month. so here’s hoping for a MUCH lower grocery bill.

By: Maria

Maria — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:58:45 +0000

Part of learning is dealing with failure, I think, and since I love to learn, I suppose I ought to love the failures as well . Most of all, I’m learning to find a place where I feel that I’m simplifying my life, without jeopardizing a certain level of comfort that I’ve grown accustomed to. There’s a fine line when you balance being eco-conscious and living simply/frugally on the precipice of living well. No one will begrudge you your shampoo, Hope, I certainly don’t.

By: Hope

Hope — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:15:57 +0000

I love that you are writing about the failures as well as the successes. I was wondering how the shower and baking soda thing was going to work for you. I tried doing the no poo thing awhile back and it did not work for me at all. I decided that shampoo and conditioner were going to be two of my sacred cows of going green. Thanks for the tip about the electricity. I think I will start doing more baking and laundry at night now. Maybe even start checking emails at night instead of in the morning.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:36:13 +0000

yay about the electricity! now i will make sure to only do laundry and dishes at night. i am a night owl as is, so i usually do it at night anyway, but sometimes i do run a load or 2 during the day…

and i just found out about this documentary http://www.kilowattours.org/ playing at the baghdad theater on the 27th. thought of you.

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:14:25 +0000

It is true, what you say, about successes. Be they small, even miniscule, they are progress, nonetheless. I think I put too many expectations on myself this month – 4 habits to change? I’ve already learned that it’s best to change one habit at a time.

I still have some Melaleuca products that we use, which is probably why there’s no urgency for me to create new ones yet.

I generally tend to be rather obsessive with making lists – you’d think I’d be good at creating one for trips to the grocery store. I really need to work on being more organized.

Thanks for the comments!