Today's 365 frugality tips, as part of my Year of Renewed Frugality (or YRF), focuses on how I figured out how to make my own DIY homemade tinted moisturizer and saved myself big bucks.
Today's 365 frugality tips, as part of my Year of Renewed Frugality (or YRF), focuses on how I figured out how to make my own DIY homemade tinted moisturizer and saved myself big bucks.
If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, then you know that I love to find multiple uses for any products I might purchase or own. Just consider how I turned plastic mesh bags that Baby Bell cheese and produce come in into a great scrubbing tool for cleaning pots. Or the fact that I’ll use a box of borax to make DIY laundry detergent and homemade dishwasher detergent, or to kill ants. (I’m not sure I ever blogged about that third use for borax but, trust me, it works.) When it comes to drugstore beauty products, I try...
It’s been months since I last handed out a Suddenly Frugal Seal of Approval, possibly because I haven’t come across a product or service that was deserving of my kudos. Now I have. You’ll recall that last month I posted my recipe for DIY homemade dishwasher detergent. It was a combination of ingredients that I had played around with a bit in the past, after successfully making my own DIY homemade laundry detergent (which I’m still using and loving. Note to users: if you have a front loader, put the powder in the drum and in the detergent drawer....
Four years ago, or about one year into our suddenly frugal lifestyle, I wrote a blog post giving Borax a Suddenly Frugal Seal of Approval. At that time I was impressed with how well Borax was at removing stains. Here’s what I wrote at that time: Since then I’ve tried borax on nearly any stain my kids can create these days–my husband, too. Blood, dirt and chocolate don’t stand a chance now that I’m armed with borax. That first box is long gone, and now borax has become a must-buy for keeping my family’s clothes clean. Once I had...
A few weeks ago the casting folks from the TLC show “Extreme Couponing” got in touch with me. They’d been reading this blog and clearly had seen some of my posts about my own take on how to extreme coupon, and they must have liked what they read–because they sent me an application to “audition” for the show. Unfortunately, I didn’t like what I saw on that application/audition form, and that’s why I chose not to audition for TLC’s “Extreme Couponing.” (For those of you who follow Suddenly Frugal on Facebook, I’d alluded to my decision there but I...
For the third year in a row, my post from way back in 2009 on making your own laundry detergent has come out on top again. I noticed this year that someone over on Pinterest.com liked the post and the ingredients I was using–and was sending a ton of traffic to my blog. (Mystery Pinterest person, thank you so much.) In case you’re not aware of Pinterest, it seems to be an Etsy-like site for DIYers. Drum roll please…..the #1 post for the 2011 Best of Suddenly Frugal is….
It’s hard to believe that four years ago today I posted my first piece on the Suddenly Frugal blog. I started this blog because, suddenly, our family had to live frugally, after life threw us a financial curve ball. Here is a snippet from what I wrote in that first post: For the first time in 15 years, we are going to have to radically change how we live–from the amount we drive (we are walkable to most things in this new house, even in suburbia, a God-send with gas at the $3+ a gallon point) to the budget...
I’ve been doing a lot of phone interviews lately, offering my advice of shopping etiquette, return policies, and frugal living. Here are links to some of the stories, now that they’ve gone live on the web: The etiquette of group-buying sites, such as Groupon and Living Social, especially if you want to use them when buying a gift or going on a date (basically, don’t). Are you a returnaholic and, if so, what you need to know about the new state of store return policies. Tips for planning a successful yard sale. 10 offbeat ways to be frugal, which...
WalletPop quotes me in a recent story “10 Off-Beat Ways to Be Frugal.” This is the second time in as many months that WalletPop has featured my advice! Once again my recipe for DIY laundry detergent is getting some play, and why not? It’s a great deal and works just as well as the commercial stuff. I’m still on my mission to figure out DIY dishwasher detergent. Stay tuned on that front. In case you haven’t had the chance to click over to that WalletPop story, here is quick recap of the 10 different ways that the 10 frugal...
We had grilled chicken over greens for dinner last night, and not surprisingly I used my vegetable peeler to prepare my cucumbers to go in the salad. I also wanted to include some grated cheddar cheese over the top, but couldn’t find my cheese shredder–it’s still in the laundry room from my making my own laundry detergent. So in a pinch I grabbed my vegetable peeler and, voila, shavings of cheese, not so much shreds, but it worked nonetheless. Intrigued, I did some research and discovered these 5 surprising uses for a vegetable peeler, none of which involves peeling...
Despite my frugal ways I hate that I often “waste” money by forgetting to take laundry out of the washing machine in a timely manner. Why is this a waste? Because I end up with smelly laundry that I’ve got to wash again to get rid of the odor. So now I’m using twice the detergent (or vinegar) and twice the water to freshen my already clean laundry. Even with DIY laundry detergent, I’m still wasting my resources. (By the way, my laundry room would never look this neat; I just think it’s a nifty-looking washer and dryer.) Since...
I’m shocked that my post on how to make DIY laundry detergent continues to be the number one post on this blog. I had no idea that so many people were interested in learning this recipe. Speaking of which what other DIY “recipes” would you like to see me cover in the near future? Who knows what else you can make from your pantry to keep your home, clothes and family clean.
Technically, we’re on vacation this week, but I didn’t want to leave the readers of Suddenly Frugal hanging. That’s why this week I’m running a “best of” series, based on the blog posts that have, historically, drawn the most visitors. Today, I’m re-running my post of how to make your own laundry detergent. This is, by far, the number one read post on Suddenly Frugal. Hope you enjoy this “best of.” Tomorrow we’re taking a trip down memory lane to my post on how to reuse toilet paper rolls. I’d read about this practice of DIY laundry detergent on...
Hey, there folks. Just wanted to share with you that the Role Mommy blog has named Suddenly Frugal a Fave Five for this week. They’ve highlighted my recipe for DIY laundry detergent, and held it up as an “ingenious post.” Pretty cool. I hope you’ll check it out.
When my children were really young, I was vigilant about keeping cleaning products away from curious fingers. We had those special child-resistant locks on all of the cabinets, and anything that could potential hurt the kids, well, we stored that stuff way up high. Even I couldn’t reach them when I stood on a step stool! (Thankfully, hubby is 6’3″.) Now that the kids are older and know better, I don’t worry so much about accidental poisonings, though I still keep cleaning products away from the dog. The last thing I need is for him to decide to “clean...
It’s been 3 years since I originally wrote this post, and much has changed in my laundry life. Since this continues to be the most popular post on my blog, I decided to update it in May 2012. I always try to do inventory of the house before I go grocery shopping. In the past when I haven’t done this, I’ll come home with, say, two bottles of maple syrup, only to discover I already had two bottles in the pantry. The same is true with checking other household goods. That’s why I’m glad I checked in the laundry...
