Hard to type with a bandaid....mental note, no knives in the dishwasher pointy side up! OUCH!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Things I do to save money-2
Well today I decided to take a shorter shower. So I try to save water this way.
Also I turn the water off when I brush my teeth. Daniel and I brush our teeth together so we use less water.
I try not to dry my hair everyday. While it does not look as good as it should, it saves my hair, some hair products (as I don't use as much when I don't go out), and electricity with using the hairdryer. I'm thinking about looking into a new hairdryer that may dry my hair in less time. More energy efficient.
I also use a round metal barrel brush, so I don't have to use the curling iron. This saves me time and electricity.
We saved some of our McDonald ice coffee cups so we can make our own iced coffee at home. At first I was brewing coffee, then cooling it, then icing it later. Then when I was at my mom's house, I did not have a coffee pot for a week. So I went and bought some NesCafe' Classico Instant Coffee (Mexican Blend), stevia, and some vanilla. I take the cup and measure it up to the Iced Coffee Mark on the cup (funny how it worked out that way) and fill it up with ice and water to that mark. Then I add 6 tsp of instant coffee, a dash of Himalayan sea salt, a tsp of vanilla, and 4 tbsp of Stevia in the Raw (probably too much, but I like my coffee sweet, working on that too). Then I fill up with a cup of unsweetened Almond Milk. Mix and drink! YUM!
I also make our own coffee at home as much as possible. Saves a ton of money. Since Marcus gets coffee for 'free' at work, he doesn't consume as much here, so that helps us too.
I also do not use fabric softener much anymore. I use vinegar and a dryer sheet. I use about a 1/4 cup of vinegar in our fabric softener ball in the washer. Vinegar is a natural fabric softener and odor neutralizer. I use the dryer sheet for static cling and 'some' nice smell (I think our water smells a little), but Melissa D'Arabian from Food Network made a comment on cutting your dryer sheets in half. They do the same job. I tried it and it works. If I have a very heavy load or something like sheets that will be stored for a while, I may throw two halves in. But this makes the box double for me.
I make my own Taco Mix. I searched the internet for a make your own taco mix. I make it right into the pan with my own ingredients and no salt. I don't like cooking with salt unless it is a necessary ingredient (for baking) or if it will actually help the ingredients mesh together (in my coffee or hot chocolate-just a quick zhush from the salt grinder).
Another thing I've been doing is measuring more. For some things it is not necessary. However, I found that if I measure certain things, I get more bang out of my buck.
For instance, my son likes his 'juice', which is water with some lime juice and a little stevia in the raw added. I drink this mainly because our water doesn't taste as good. But it seemed like we were going through a lot of juice. So I decided to measure it out to 1 tsp for 8 oz of water of both lime juice and stevia in the raw. I seem to get more out of the bottle now.
Same with my coffee. I got lazy and was not measuring and some days the coffee just wasn't tasting right. So I got my recipes down and now I'm going through less ingredients and stuff tastes the same. This saves me money this way and it tastes better.
I don't drink milk anymore. Mainly because I have a milk allergy and I can't. However, after my research I learned that milk is made with lots of hormones injected into cows that ate corn. Plus we are the only animal on the planet that 'naturally' drinks other animal's milk. We are only meant to get milk from our breastfeeding mothers until a certain age and that is it. So I'm off drinking milk from a cow. However, I need to work on my cheese and ice cream consumption. I'm working on going Paleo and using that sort of diet because it is rich in fruits, veggies and meat and no processed grain, beans, and simple sugars. All of which I feel is harmful to me and the environment. I believe I have a wheat gut, so I want to get off pasta and rice and bread next year. I will have to come up with some recipes so Marcus won't feel deprived and I can eat stuff that is good for Daniel and I too.
I buy and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I'm not organic yet, but that is a goal. Pesticides are so bad for you. I find I can eat cheaply because I can fill up on the good bounty that the earth gives us from the ground instead of eating and filling up on processed crap that ends up costing me more. I
I also look for ways I can make stuff from scratch instead of buying it (i.e. my Taco Meat Mix) premade. I have invested in some cookbooks and good cooking equipment over time and that way I always have my tried and true stuff at my fingertips. I go to the grocery store and it amazed me all of the prepared stuff that one could make at home. I mean when I saw the Smucker's Uncrustables, I thought, "How lazy someone can't just make a pb&j on their own. Sure they look 'fun' but what about the additives you already get, plus you have these now. Microwavable soup? What a waste. Then I found I could make a pretty good veggie broth using scraps of veggies that I've previously cut and frozen for pennies instead of buying veggie broth. It's basically 'free' if you think about that way. Now I just have to make the soup.
Almond milk is something I drink, I did try making it, but as much milk as we were consuming between Daniel and I, it got to be a lot and cheaper to just buy it. I don't like that we have all of the additives and stabilizers, but for now, until I can get Daniel off drinking so much, we will just buy it. I drink a cup myself. One cup of almonds usually yields about 3 cups of milk. At $5.99 a pound for raw almonds, and me being unemployed, I figure that this is as good as it gets for now.
I buy at farmers markets when I can. I do not have a ton of money right now because I am unemployed as of this writing and we are still not sure if I will have a job at the end of this month. I can't afford to do a CSA drop right now (community supported agriculture). The last one I saw was $250. Maybe next year we will be able to at least do one if I save up for it. So for now when the farmer's markets are open, I buy what I can afford. It's usually in season and with local farmers and I feel better that I can buy locally. My money stays in the community.
I buy local honey. Local honey is great for many reasons, I can't list them here because I have nothing to reference. However, it is great for people like me who have allergies to outside items. I also love putting it in my tea.
Which brings me to another thing. We grow our own mint tea. My mother-in-law, Bertha, grows mint for us and dries it for us for tea. I grew some this year in a pot, and it has overgrown the pot. It's basically just the cost of the plant. It gives us tea for 'free' and the cost outweighs me having to buy it at the store (though I still do). If I want some tea, we will drink a lot of mint tea. We love it!
Convenience foods are a big issue for me and I try hard to not use them.
I will close this out until another day.
I type this so I remember what I'm doing for future reference and someday my son will see what I did to help his world be a better place.
Grammar, proper punctuation, and spelling are not my concerns in this blog. This is my musings, my ramblings and getting things out of my head so I quit thinking about them and I feel better.
Also I turn the water off when I brush my teeth. Daniel and I brush our teeth together so we use less water.
I try not to dry my hair everyday. While it does not look as good as it should, it saves my hair, some hair products (as I don't use as much when I don't go out), and electricity with using the hairdryer. I'm thinking about looking into a new hairdryer that may dry my hair in less time. More energy efficient.
I also use a round metal barrel brush, so I don't have to use the curling iron. This saves me time and electricity.
We saved some of our McDonald ice coffee cups so we can make our own iced coffee at home. At first I was brewing coffee, then cooling it, then icing it later. Then when I was at my mom's house, I did not have a coffee pot for a week. So I went and bought some NesCafe' Classico Instant Coffee (Mexican Blend), stevia, and some vanilla. I take the cup and measure it up to the Iced Coffee Mark on the cup (funny how it worked out that way) and fill it up with ice and water to that mark. Then I add 6 tsp of instant coffee, a dash of Himalayan sea salt, a tsp of vanilla, and 4 tbsp of Stevia in the Raw (probably too much, but I like my coffee sweet, working on that too). Then I fill up with a cup of unsweetened Almond Milk. Mix and drink! YUM!
I also make our own coffee at home as much as possible. Saves a ton of money. Since Marcus gets coffee for 'free' at work, he doesn't consume as much here, so that helps us too.
I also do not use fabric softener much anymore. I use vinegar and a dryer sheet. I use about a 1/4 cup of vinegar in our fabric softener ball in the washer. Vinegar is a natural fabric softener and odor neutralizer. I use the dryer sheet for static cling and 'some' nice smell (I think our water smells a little), but Melissa D'Arabian from Food Network made a comment on cutting your dryer sheets in half. They do the same job. I tried it and it works. If I have a very heavy load or something like sheets that will be stored for a while, I may throw two halves in. But this makes the box double for me.
I make my own Taco Mix. I searched the internet for a make your own taco mix. I make it right into the pan with my own ingredients and no salt. I don't like cooking with salt unless it is a necessary ingredient (for baking) or if it will actually help the ingredients mesh together (in my coffee or hot chocolate-just a quick zhush from the salt grinder).
Another thing I've been doing is measuring more. For some things it is not necessary. However, I found that if I measure certain things, I get more bang out of my buck.
For instance, my son likes his 'juice', which is water with some lime juice and a little stevia in the raw added. I drink this mainly because our water doesn't taste as good. But it seemed like we were going through a lot of juice. So I decided to measure it out to 1 tsp for 8 oz of water of both lime juice and stevia in the raw. I seem to get more out of the bottle now.
Same with my coffee. I got lazy and was not measuring and some days the coffee just wasn't tasting right. So I got my recipes down and now I'm going through less ingredients and stuff tastes the same. This saves me money this way and it tastes better.
I don't drink milk anymore. Mainly because I have a milk allergy and I can't. However, after my research I learned that milk is made with lots of hormones injected into cows that ate corn. Plus we are the only animal on the planet that 'naturally' drinks other animal's milk. We are only meant to get milk from our breastfeeding mothers until a certain age and that is it. So I'm off drinking milk from a cow. However, I need to work on my cheese and ice cream consumption. I'm working on going Paleo and using that sort of diet because it is rich in fruits, veggies and meat and no processed grain, beans, and simple sugars. All of which I feel is harmful to me and the environment. I believe I have a wheat gut, so I want to get off pasta and rice and bread next year. I will have to come up with some recipes so Marcus won't feel deprived and I can eat stuff that is good for Daniel and I too.
I buy and eat lots of fruits and veggies. I'm not organic yet, but that is a goal. Pesticides are so bad for you. I find I can eat cheaply because I can fill up on the good bounty that the earth gives us from the ground instead of eating and filling up on processed crap that ends up costing me more. I
I also look for ways I can make stuff from scratch instead of buying it (i.e. my Taco Meat Mix) premade. I have invested in some cookbooks and good cooking equipment over time and that way I always have my tried and true stuff at my fingertips. I go to the grocery store and it amazed me all of the prepared stuff that one could make at home. I mean when I saw the Smucker's Uncrustables, I thought, "How lazy someone can't just make a pb&j on their own. Sure they look 'fun' but what about the additives you already get, plus you have these now. Microwavable soup? What a waste. Then I found I could make a pretty good veggie broth using scraps of veggies that I've previously cut and frozen for pennies instead of buying veggie broth. It's basically 'free' if you think about that way. Now I just have to make the soup.
Almond milk is something I drink, I did try making it, but as much milk as we were consuming between Daniel and I, it got to be a lot and cheaper to just buy it. I don't like that we have all of the additives and stabilizers, but for now, until I can get Daniel off drinking so much, we will just buy it. I drink a cup myself. One cup of almonds usually yields about 3 cups of milk. At $5.99 a pound for raw almonds, and me being unemployed, I figure that this is as good as it gets for now.
I buy at farmers markets when I can. I do not have a ton of money right now because I am unemployed as of this writing and we are still not sure if I will have a job at the end of this month. I can't afford to do a CSA drop right now (community supported agriculture). The last one I saw was $250. Maybe next year we will be able to at least do one if I save up for it. So for now when the farmer's markets are open, I buy what I can afford. It's usually in season and with local farmers and I feel better that I can buy locally. My money stays in the community.
I buy local honey. Local honey is great for many reasons, I can't list them here because I have nothing to reference. However, it is great for people like me who have allergies to outside items. I also love putting it in my tea.
Which brings me to another thing. We grow our own mint tea. My mother-in-law, Bertha, grows mint for us and dries it for us for tea. I grew some this year in a pot, and it has overgrown the pot. It's basically just the cost of the plant. It gives us tea for 'free' and the cost outweighs me having to buy it at the store (though I still do). If I want some tea, we will drink a lot of mint tea. We love it!
Convenience foods are a big issue for me and I try hard to not use them.
I will close this out until another day.
I type this so I remember what I'm doing for future reference and someday my son will see what I did to help his world be a better place.
Grammar, proper punctuation, and spelling are not my concerns in this blog. This is my musings, my ramblings and getting things out of my head so I quit thinking about them and I feel better.
Down 1.5 pounds!!
Down to 165.5
1.5 down towards goal of 17.0 lost by end of Feb
17.0-1.5=15.5 pounds! Yipee!!!
Yesterday I hit the treadmill (I believe it was in my last blog).
Today I did the treadmill right after Marcus left for work and walked at 2.5 mph for 2.0 miles at around 48 minutes. I stopped b/c I needed a shower and I figured I did not want to overdo it.
So far today I got up and showered and worked out and made my coffee.
I did pretty good with my diet yesterday and the only big carb I remember eating was the chips on the taco salad. I bought a large coffee and got 5 cream/5 sugar.
1.5 down towards goal of 17.0 lost by end of Feb
17.0-1.5=15.5 pounds! Yipee!!!
Yesterday I hit the treadmill (I believe it was in my last blog).
Today I did the treadmill right after Marcus left for work and walked at 2.5 mph for 2.0 miles at around 48 minutes. I stopped b/c I needed a shower and I figured I did not want to overdo it.
So far today I got up and showered and worked out and made my coffee.
I did pretty good with my diet yesterday and the only big carb I remember eating was the chips on the taco salad. I bought a large coffee and got 5 cream/5 sugar.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Back on the Treadmill again.
Treadmill today at 6:15 a.m. for 30 minutes. Marcus woke me up so I could at least walk. More posts later to follow. 2.5 mph = 1.25 miles this a.m.
Monday, December 17, 2012
17 pounds - I can do it!
I dropped weight this year, but I'm back up to 167, which is where I am not wanting to be. The standard height-weight charts, based on the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tables, suggest a woman between the ages of 25 and 59 who is 5 feet tall should weigh between 104 and 137 lbs. This range is broken down further into weight ranges based on frame size: small, 104 to 115 lbs.; medium, 113 to 126 lbs.; and large, 122 to 137 lbs.
From Ehow.com
This is where I should be 113-126.
So 167-126= 41 lbs.
10% of my weight should be 167.0-17.0=150 pounds
17/2= 8 1/2 weeks
February 11 is 8 weeks from now.
I will give myself until end of February to drop 17 pounds.
That sounds like a good goal. It is a while from now. It starts today.
The photo in front of Dunkard Church in MD is in September 2012. I need to do more toning exercises.
My Cousin Delaney's Wedding in August 2012 with Marcus. Thank GOD for spandex! HAHA!
I need to work on more toning exercises. The closeup photo is me in May 2012.
From Ehow.com
This is where I should be 113-126.
So 167-126= 41 lbs.
10% of my weight should be 167.0-17.0=150 pounds
17/2= 8 1/2 weeks
February 11 is 8 weeks from now.
I will give myself until end of February to drop 17 pounds.
That sounds like a good goal. It is a while from now. It starts today.
The photo in front of Dunkard Church in MD is in September 2012. I need to do more toning exercises.
My Cousin Delaney's Wedding in August 2012 with Marcus. Thank GOD for spandex! HAHA!
I need to work on more toning exercises. The closeup photo is me in May 2012.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Homestead Survival: Nice article on 72 hour kits
Homestead Survival: Nice article on 72 hour kits: Shows how she has them all organized and together along with emegency binders. Very nice job. http://endlesscrafting.blogspot.com/2011/01/...
Things I do to help myself save the world and a little money too!
Saving the world involves lots of different things, but here are a few musings of my own. I like to think that I can save a little money for my family while in the meantime I can also help out the earth by using less resources.
1) From my cousin Tracey Search (Szyurley): I use microfiber towels instead of paper towels to wash up messes of Daniels and to dry the countertops in the kitchen. Kind of a 'duh' for me because my mom always uses washcloths to clean up messes and washes them and not use paper towels as much. It never really occurred to me mainly b/c mom never really gets rid of old towels and dishcloths, so it kind of grosses me out. I wash with a sponge when I hand wash my dishes.
2) I recycle. I recycle anything the county disposer will accept (and probably then some).
3) I coupon. I try to save tons of money by couponing. Though lately, I've not done as well, but I am getting better about this. Hopefully will have time to do this more now that Daniel is taking regular naps.
4) I exercise. Trying to keep my body in shape so I don't have to use so many meds in the future as well as resources of doctor bills!!!!
More musings tomorrow or later.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
