I’m Going Old School

Follow up post from yesterday’s Debby Downer post about everything breaking and going wrong in my world.

Recently, I’ve noticed that I’m using a lot of “Old School” gadgets around the house (some because things have broken and some because of choice) and instead of feeling like I’m missing out on newfangled, modern technologies, I’m LOVING it.  Let me show you some things I’m trying out.

Our vacuum cleaner broke the other day.  Luckily it was just a belt so it was fixable for about $12.  While I was complaining about my busted vacuum to my friend Beth, she mentioned that she uses a motor-less sweeper most of the time in her home.  I thought it might be a good thing for me to try, since it takes up very little space, makes no noise (Jack runs from the big vacuum), is super light, and doesn’t require the added step of plugging in a cord (then trying not to vacuum over it). 

This sweeper was only $30, and I have to say that I love it.  Jack loves to sweep with it, so we left off one of the handle pieces to make it short for him.  I’m really impressed with how well it picks up the dirt.  Even the dusty dirt is picked up.  I’ll still use my big sweeper every once in a while, but this is great for quick clean up jobs.

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Shortly before our microwave busted, we decided to get some cast iron to use.  I have one 8” (I think, maybe it’s 10”) skillet and it has become the ONLY skillet I use anymore.  I love the *mostly* even heat –I think it’d be more even if my burner was more evenly heating.  I also love that I can use ANY utensil on it and it won’t ruin it.   I reheat everything in it, and it always stays on my stovetop, because I know it’s going to be used every day.

This skillet was only $19 and it came pre seasoned, so it was ready to go.  The only part I had a problem with was the cleaning, and this was solved after a few searches on the WWW.  I found the best way to clean cast iron is to scrape it out under hot water, then sprinkle salt and oil in the pan, scrub it out with a sponge, then rinse with hot water.  It makes it amazingly clean.  I’ve actually heard about the oil cleansing method for skin, and after seeing how well it cleans my pan, I believe it would work well. 

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By now, I can assume you all know I use cloth diapers.  I LOVE them.  When my mother-in-law (via my sister-in-law) taught me about using cornstarch for diaper rash, I fell even more in love with cloth diapers.  They don’t leak  if used correctly, I can count the number of blowouts we’ve had in 2 and a half years on one hand, and they are so darn adorable.  Even the plain ones I use.  I was nervous when I started, but I’m so glad I did, and I won’t ever go back to disposable if I can help it.  I love the money we’ve saved.

We use mostly BumGenius 3.0 with a few 4.0’s thrown in for their cute patterns.  I also just recently added some Blueberry one size pockets to my stash thanks to a generous gift, and I love them. 

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Since we don’t have a microwave, I had to figure out a new way to make popcorn.  After looking up some recipes (yes, I looked up “how to cook popcorn” recipes online), I found out how easy it is to cook popcorn on your stovetop. And, of course, it’s super cheap!  I grew up with an electric popcorn popper, then we graduated to using the microwave, so I missed out on actually popping popcorn on the stove in our own pans.  Rick laughed at me when I told him I finally learned how to make popcorn ‘from scratch’. 

This is the best  popcorn recipe I’ve found because it gives some techniques on how to make a really great, slightly salty popcorn.  It works every time.  I have also been trying to perfect a kettlecorn recipe, but so far I’m ending up with burned, sugary popcorn and a burned arm.  I’ll get back to working on this later.  Don’t be fooled though, I’m totally enjoying the mistake batches.

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So, even though my world is breaking down around me, I’m enjoying some of the new “old school” ways of doing things these days.  For everything that breaks, there’s a new learning experience to be had.  See, I told you I’m a pretty optimistic person. 

I’m Crunchy (or) How I Save Money

I thought I’d put together a post about how I save money for my family.  It also happens to be a lot of ways I’m ‘crunchy’ or ‘green’.  I’ve gotten a few questions about how we’re able to live on one income, and I thought I’d share my techniques with you.  It’s not all amazing, and it’s not rocket science, but it’s what I do.  I shared some of these last year too.

When Rick and I got married 5 and a half years ago, he had a steady, well paying job,  and I had a steady, well paying job teaching and coaching.  We knew that when the time came to have babies, the plan was for me to quit my job and stay home to raise the kids.  I was all for it.  Though I loved my colleagues, coaching volleyball,  and the ‘light bulb’ moments that happened in the classroom and on the court, I didn’t especially love teaching anymore.  I was ready for a change.

Along came Jack, and I quit teaching and bringing home my paycheck.  We were now unable to save and spend as much as we used to.  So, how did we cut our budget to make one pay check go further?  Here are some of the things we do. 

*WARNING* some material may be unsuitable for men to read.  I’ll stick one of these (*) next to the items you may want to skip. 

No credit card debt. We paid off and closed every credit card we had.  All money now comes directly from our checking account.  

We paid off my van. Rick’s truck has been paid for since I met him almost 6 years ago.  So, not car payments for us.

No cable (no TV).  It was hard, but we got rid of the cable and bought converter boxes for both of our TVs.  Since then, one converter box has died and the other one may be dying as we speak.  The TV in the family room also died, so when we got rid of it, we didn’t replace it. *disclaimer: I did bring up a 13”, 20+year old TV from the basement to have something to play videos on for Jack.

*Breastfed for 15 months.  The whole time I was pregnant I prayed that I would be able to breastfeed.  After about 5 weeks of pain and torture, we did it!  No need to buy formula more than just one time in the first 2 weeks.

Cloth diapers.  We switched to cloth when Jack was 3 months.  I waited because I was nervous and it’s a lot of upfront money.  But, after spending less than $500 for a complete ‘system’, I haven’t had to put any more money toward diapering Jack for 2 years. *disclaimer: I go back and forth with using disposable wipes, and I did just buy 5 more diapers ($75) since first starting this post.

Cloth wipes (sometimes).  See previous disclaimer. Any time I do buy wipes, it’s in bulk at Costco.

Cloth napkins.  I made them myself – which isn’t saying much.  It was basically practice for how to sew a straight line.  They work much better than paper.  I tried to do no paper towels, but I lost that battle.  I missed them when making bacon and cleaning up yucky messes.

Made all my own baby food.  I just steamed and pureed all my veggies and fruit, then froze them and stored them in little ice cube size servings in the freezer.  It wasn’t much more work than cooking for my family.

Homemade food (i.e. pizza, bread, buns, pancake mix, taco seasoning, cakes and brownies, pasta, syrup, granola, granola bars, cheese crackers, graham crackers, fudge pops) Whatever I can make myself, I do.  I get an amazing sense of pride whenever I figure out how to make something that is usually in a package from the store.  *disclaimer: Cheese crackers and graham crackers are time consuming, so I don’t always make those myself.

Wool dryer balls/ no dryer sheets. It’s not that exciting, but I made wool dryer balls to help fluff my clothes and cut drying time down a bit.  I can’t use dryer sheets with diapers anyway, so I thought I’d cut them out for all our clothes.  Vinegar in the rinse cycle also makes clothes super soft.

*I use the Diva Cup.  Holy cow do I love this thing!  I’ve converted one friend so far, and if you have ever thought about it and want some questions answered, I’d be happy to share!  I LOVE it. 

Here are a few things I’d like to try:

No Poo – shampoo and condition with just water, baking soda and apple cider vinegar.  Sounds cheap, but there are mixed reviews out there.

Homemade detergent.  I have had success using my own detergent for the washing machine, but haven’t found a good detergent for the dishwasher.  Everything I try leaves behind a film.

Garden.  If we cut down some trees in our tiny back yard, we would have plenty of space to have a big garden (and nothing else –like room to play).  As it is now, we can plant some tomatoes and pepper in with our flowers and hope for the best.

*Mama Cloths.  I’d love to get some of these since I’m now using the Diva Cup and only need a pad a day as insurance for not leaking.  Since I already wash cloth diapers, I don’t think the laundering would be intimidating to me.  I just haven’t decided who to buy from and what I’m looking for.  But those combined with the Diva Cup will save So.Much.Money!

Whew!!!  That’s a lot!  I hope this helps some of you.  Maybe all you needed was one more idea to push you over the edge to becoming a SAHM, or maybe you got an idea for something you hadn’t already thought of doing. 

Let me know if there are other ways I can save money or if you have tried any or all of these ideas and how it’s going for you!

Becoming Thrifty

Since I’ve become a SAHM, and since we’ve gone from two really good incomes to one pretty good income, I’ve done a lot of things to try and save our family money.  It’s been a ‘baby-steps’ process for me, but it’s coming along, if I do say so myself.  I was inspired by this post by a woman who’s blog I’ve read for a year or so now.  She listed how her grocery list has become shorter (and therefore cheaper) because of all the food she’s making from scratch now.   Here are just a few things that I do to save us money.

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  We use cloth diapers.  I LOVE them, and I could go on and on about how adorable, easy, and practical they are,  but I’ll spare you my spiel.  After just a year, we’ve already saved money on diapers. 
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  I am starting to make my own bread now.  I have gone through spurts of making bread, but they never seem to last.  I usually get discouraged, because we eat the bread so quickly, that I end up making bread every other day. It seems the time I save from having to make it every other day is worth the cost of the healthy bread from the store.  But really it isn’t.  Bread without high fructose corn syrup is expensive!  Organic anything is expensive!  So, if I make it myself, we get the healthy bread for a fraction of the cost.  Hopefully I’ll stick with it this time.
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  I’ve finally figured out how to make yummy garlic bread on my own.  It may be a no-brainer, but it took me a bit of experimenting to figure it out.  I add a couple cloves of minced garlic and some Italian seasoning to melted butter, brush it on my bread, then broil it until toasted.  SO SIMPLE!  But I couldn’t get it figured out for a long time.  Garlic powder just doesn’t work the same.  I imagine it would be even better if I roasted my garlic, but who has the time for that?
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  My newest adventure is making my own pasta.  I’m not there yet.  I have only tried it once, and it needs some work.  But I can tell that this could become a good thing for us.  It’s fun to make it, super fast and easy, and I’m hoping worth the effort.  We’ll see.  I may have to get back to you on this one.
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  Rick has always made his own cocoa mix.  He uses cocoa powder and sugar.  Imagine that.  It really is simple, and he makes it by the glass, so I don’t have to worry about storing it.  It’s a small thing, but in the winter time, it saves us a bit of change.
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  I make my own pancake mix.  I’ve found a yummy Buttermilk Pancake recipe mix that I love.  I suppose it’s not all that healthy, but it’s homemade, so it saves us money.  I should make a whole wheat recipe, but that’s going to take a little time.  Saving money is my first priority, then eating healthy is the second. (at least when it comes to yummy pancakes!)
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  One big thing I try to do is not eat out at all.  Dinners are easy enough for me.  I meal plan and have a good dinner every night.  But lunches are another thing.  Jack and I go out almost every day, and it’s such a temptation for me to stop at a drive thru and get something quick to eat.  I take it one month at a time.  I don’t stop for anything for a month, reward myself with a fast food lunch, then do it again for another month.  I know, it’s a little corny, but it works for me.

This list seems simple enough, but I think it’s helping us in the long run.  Rick said we came in under budget for the month of January!  Now, I could go through another list, just as long of how I’m NOT saving us money –like every time I return something to Walmart I spend even more money on other things.  But let’s not focus on the negative, and stay proud of the positive. We may switch to cloth napkins someday and even stop (or cut WAY back on) using paper towels.  That’d save us money, right?

What else can I do to save us money?  Any suggestions?

If you read this entire post, you should be rewarded…so here are two pictures from Jack playing (really he just stood there) in the snow yesterday.