More time than money

A few frugal activities from the past few weeks:

• Laundry detergent: We made our own laundry detergent. And it works. Click here for the "recipe." It doesn't smell as nice as regular laundry detergent, but it does clean the clothes. Jim commented that people probably don't think their clothes are clean unless the clothes come out heavily scented. I'll add an essential oil, like tea tree or lavender, to the next batch. Added bonus: Tea tree oil is a germicide.


• Microwave popcorn: Yep, a paper bag, a quarter cup of popcorn kernels, a teaspoon of oil and a stapler. Voila! Click here for instructions.


• Homemade gnocchi: 2 potatoes, 3/4 of cup of flour, 1 egg, about 45 pieces of gnocchi. Yum!


• Homemade baby food: 1 large organic sweet potato, $1.49, 1-16 oz bag of organic frozen green beans, $2.49. Cook veggies and puree - Voila! A week's worth of lunches or dinners. Compare that to .79 cents for a 3 to 4 ounce jar of organic baby food.


• Homemade baby cereal: Take dry brown rice, oatmeal or millet and grind it in a clean coffee grinder. Works great and it's a lot cheaper. Baby oatmeal at about a quarter an ounce, regular oatmeal ground in a coffee grinder, 6 cents an ounce. Duh.


• Eyebrow waxing alternative: Normally, an eyebrow wax costs me $12. Instead, I've started using maximum strength Orajel to numb my eyebrows before I tweeze. Orajel: $5.99.


• Homemade dishwashing detergent: Half borax, half washing soda mixed together in a mason jar. Put some lemon juice or vinegar in the rinse cycle for extra shine. It costs pennies. At Sam's, Cascade costs nearly $8 for about 80 ounces. I pay $3.29 for washing soda, $1.99 for borax and can make both dish and laundry detergent that will last quite a while.

As you can see, I have more time than money. Oh, and did I mention that it's kind of fun, too?