Just thought you would all like to know about some of the changes that have been made/are making in our house.
1) Becoming a Woman who builds her house. (Prov. 14:1 - A wise woman builds her house...) I stumbled on this blog.... http://todayshousewife.blogspot.com ... which made me stop and think about who I wanted to become and what I needed to do to get there. All the things below are baby steps.
2) Cutting the weekly grocery budget to $40 a week. No, I'm not kidding. With the encouragement of my sister-in-law, Rachelle, and the help of several websites listed below, it's actually working! :)
www.moneysavingmom.com
www.hip2save.com
... and many others that are linked from those two.
3) Homemade laundry detergent. I was reminded today on Lisa's blog (Ogles-blog linked on left) about this. Rachelle had done it a few months ago, but Brian had just bought a HUGE container of detergent that I figured I should use up before starting something new. I'm not going to list the whole recipe here, but if you're interested, Lisa posted it on her blog. I'm way excited, btw!
4) A clean house. I know, this sounds simple, but until our house went on the market it was ALWAYS a disaster. Even when we thought it was clean.... it wasn't. I didn't think I had it in me to maintain it with2 small kids and a part-time job. Well, I was forced to and it was the best thing that could have happened to me. Seriously. Even if it doesn't sell, it's not because it's not clean. It's no longer cluttered and mostly always sparkly. I may have gone a bit OCD on keeping it clean, but the benefits are wonderful!
5) Canning. I tried and failed on my first attempt. Blackberry Jam, but I forgot the lemon juice. Oops. :) It makes lovely waffle/pancake/ice cream toppings, though! My next attempt will be tomatoes - for spaghetti sauce and whatnot, and apples - for applesauce, apple butter, etc. I can't wait! Grams will be proud.
and for the "next on my list" steps for life change
1) Minimizing chemicals in the house. It's not really about going "green" that is the motivation here... it's the fact that I have kids and I've become more aware about what I'm putting in their mouths, on their skin, in the laundry, etc., and with all the cleaning we've been doing the chemicals are everywhere. So any time I can save money AND reduce chemicals, it's a win-win for me. Lisa (mentioned above) just talked about the multiple purposes of vinegar for cleaning... I think I will.
2) Freezer Feastings. I stole that phrase from my friend Amanda's blog (Freezer Feastings - linked on left.) Let's face it. I can cook just about anything that involves the oven. That's why baked goods are my forte. So if I can pull it from the oven and bake it, I'm sure to be a success. :) Additionally - and more importantly - it saves money to make big batches of things and freeze some for later. So I will. I even bought the Glad Oven containers that go straight from the freezer to the oven. They were 1/2 off one day at Kroger, so I stocked up. But so far they are still in their packaging in the pantry.
I have more, but this post is getting lengthy. That's all for tonight. :)
4 comments:
that's awesome! tell me more about how you do the 40 bucks a week...i need to be like you! and way to go on the clean house, i need to do that, too. you are right-having a house on the market is such good training. i said when we moved here we would pretend like every day was "market day". uh, not so much happening. thanks for the inspiring post! :)
definitely inspiring courtney...i feel like it is so easy to slack and fall behind on keeping up with my house, etc...and lose sight of the fact that being a "wise woman" who builds my household is my job...definitely looking forward to hearing what some of the things you implement are. i have several friends who have gone to making their own cleaning supplies and detergent to be more concious of chemicals, etc...and i have thought about it many times...just need to get motivated and do it!
Good for you for your baby steps! I have been taking some lately as well, though I seem to go in some spurts. One thing that I was able to cut out was paper napkins--had a whole stash of cloth ones that I used just for decorating....no more! It is nice to also cut one more item from my grocery list! I will investigate the vinegar thing...I love my Gain, though! :) Thanks for sharing what you are doing--inspiring!
What great steps you are taking! Don't get discouraged. Every little thing you do can have big results! Thanks for reading Today's Housewife!
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