Making laundry soap?

I started trying to save money a while ago. I started visiting those sites that talk about being frugal. Some of the ideas are just gross or scary. I will NOT go without deodorant to save a buck. I WILL wash my hair every time I take a shower! Some suggestions are just gross. But I have learned some useful things. Like how to make my own laundry detergent. Z has psoriasis so could only use the expensive free and clear, hypoallergenic laundry detergent. As if that stuff isn't expensive enough they charge extra to leave stuff out! It was killing me. So I learned how to make my own. It is easy and cheap. I spend on average about a little more than $20 a YEAR to make detergent. I make a powder because the liquid is just a pain to make and maintain. The powder only takes about two minutes to make. I was making large batches at once but quickly learned that humidity is the enemy. I live in Florida and my laundry soap was getting clumpy. I didn't like it. So small batches but, like I said, only about two minutes to make. This stuff has no effect on anyone's skin and I have been using it in my high efficiency machine for a long time. BTW, high efficiency detergent simply has less of the sudsing agent in the soap. Since my soap doesn't sud I can use it my machine. I totally asked when we were buying the machine. I would have chosen a different machine if I had to buy special expensive soap for it. Here is the recipe:
1 cup borax
1 cup sodium carbonate
1/2 cup laundry booster

Mix and store in air tight container. Use 1 tablespoon per load. 2 if it is really dirty.

See....easy peasy! Borax can be found in the laundry aisle. It has a mule on the box. DO NOT mistake sodium carbonate for sodium BIcarbonate (baking soda). They are not the same thing!! Sodium carbonate can sometimes be found in the laundry aisle called Washing Soda. If your local store doesn't have that....go to the pool supplies. It is called Ph Plus there. Just make sure the container says 100% sodium carbonate. Laundry booster is something like Oxy Clean. Though I use the Sun brand because it has no scents in it. And besides...why does laundry soap need scent? We just use fabric softner to make it smell good anyway. LOL... You can also use vinegar in place of fabric softner. It does the same job but won't smell as great. I also use vinegar to clean my machine once a month. If you have a front loader, you are supposed to use a product called Afresh (?) to clean the machine. I use about a cup of vinegar. It does the same thing for a fraction of the cost!

I am going to walk it off!

Turning 30 wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 31, however, smacked me in the face. I realized I was getting older. I was out of shape, smoking, couldn't run, not really eating healthy, the list goes on. I came to the realization that I needed to start doing something NOW. Time won't wait for me to get off my tush so I had to get started. My first goal was to quit smoking. I did that on January 13, 2007. Three years smoke free! GO ME!! Then I decided that I drank entirely too much Pepsi. So I switched to Coke. LOL...doesn't sound like much but it really worked. I am down to 1, maybe 2, sodas a day now. I drink water. Can you believe it? Not out of the tap. The tap water here is gross so we bought a Brita filter. It takes the nasty out of the water. Then, I started eating healthier. I started my journey of weight loss last year. I was doing great right up until I found out I was pregnant. I then decided that losing weight while pregnant was a bad idea so I gained it instead. LOL...I didn't gain much and actually weigh less now than when I got pregnant. But I still have all that 'I quit smoking and Boyfriend is a great cook' weight on me. So I need to lose about 20 pounds. That will get me to a healthy BMI according to my Wii Fit. Exercising is very challenging when you have a baby that likes to be held. But she slept in a bowling alley yesterday. I had Boyfriend move the treadmill to the living room so I can use it when she naps. I googled the distance from my house to the resort I am staying at in Walt Disney World next May. It is 457 miles from my driveway to the resort. So I will be walking the weight off and 457 miles is my goal. So far, I have a half mile down! Only 456.5 miles left to go. This should be interesting. Here's hoping I can stay motivated. If you are trying to lose weight, what keeps you motivated?

Disappearing Egg Shell Experiment

We homeschool Z for a few reasons, one of which is the schools in our area. One of the middle schools has a NO FAIL policy! So if you are in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade you don't actually have to do anything. They will pass you no matter what. So since Boyfriend's job is here and I am not working right now, we are thinking of possibly homeschooling O when she is old enough for school. I scour the internet for free resources. There are tons out there. You just have to weed through a lot to get the good stuff. I have started collecting things for when O will be old enough. I grab anything I think I might be able to use in the future. Here is a science experiment that could be fun for anyone! Remember when you were a kid and you made the chicken bone rubbery? Same thing only with a boiled egg.
Disappearing Egg Shell
What you will need:
1 hard boiled egg
1 jar with lid
white vinegar
Directions:
1. place the hard boiled egg into the jar
2. fill the jar with white vinegar
3. screw the lid on and let the egg sit for 3 days.
4. after 3 days the eggshell will be gone leaving a thin white membrane. The egg will look and feel like rubber!

A Crib for Olivia

Last April, on April Fool's Day, we got the shock of our lives. Boyfriend had been told he would never have children. HA! Olivia is now two and half months old. We had no plans for anymore children. Z is 13. Yep, you read that right. A teenager and a newborn! I am pretty sure at this point I might have a few sanity issues. That being said, I had to buy all new baby gear. We chose a crib at Sears. We got the Dorel Crib/Changing Table combo in Cherry. The cost was around $250. Now, I never thought I would need a changing table. I didn't have one with Z and he survived. But I have to say I love having one! This crib will convert into a toddler/day bed and then a headboard and foot board later down the road. The changing table detaches! Most of the combo models we looked at did not detach. This was a selling point for me. The front has three drawers and the back side has three shelves. They are holding diaper changing supplies right now but will turn into book shelves as she grows! I fell in love with this crib and was super excited when Boyfriends mom bought it for us! I also fell in love with another crib that was super cute but was over $600 ON SALE!!! Are you kidding me? I instantly fell out of love when I saw that price tag. LOL But I do love the Dorel. The only downside, and I knew about it before we bought it, is that the changing table is an odd size. It is VERY hard to find a changing table pad to fit it. So, buyer beware. Now that is not too hard to solve! I am cheap. I am ok with it and admit it. Here is what we did. Boyfriends mom and I went to Walmart. They sell these foam pads in the craft section. We bought some, measured it out. We glued a total of four sections together. It was the way it was shaped and cut but there are two layers of padding to make sure she had plenty of padding. We used a fabric glue that you can wash. We then bought some fabric and made a cover for the foam. She also made a colorful cover that matches the room/bedding. That changing pad cost us less than $10 to make.