We are moving.....

Come on over and join us at our new site, Adventures of a Thrifty Mom. Hope to see you there.

Heidi

I've been published!!

I just wanted to share the great news. I have submitted and article to Yahoo! and it has been accepted and published. I hope to put out more articles in the future on various topics such as frugal living, large families and single parenting. I'm so excited!!!  Can you tell? Click through to read....My first published article!

Heidi

I Am From...a foster child's perception.

Some of you know that I have adopted my grandson. He came to me from the foster care system after a period of abuse and neglect so severe he nearly lost his life. Not a day goes by that I don't see the pain of his past in his eyes. Even though he is so young, he knows, in his heart that things are not as they should have been. Yes, he knows I love him, we all do, but there is still a void in his heart - one, I'm afraid that I'll never be able to fill no matter how hard I try.
 

I came across this video through Facebook and I was so touched I just had to share.

Go hug your children,
Heidi <3

Ivory Soap, My Favorite Workhorse

Yesterday I happened upon a fantastic clearance deal on my favorite soap, Ivory soap. I was at the grocery store picking up an impromptu day-off-from-cooking dinner when I decided to go to the back of the store and check out the clearance rack. I’m often able to get large boxes of kitty litter at a steep discount because of package damage and since we are running low I thought I’d take a look. There was no litter to be found but something on the bottom rack, pushed way to the back, caught my eye…bulk packages of large, bath-size bars of Ivory soap marked 50% off! With vision swirling in my mind of all the great things in store for this soap, I scooped them up and headed to the check-out.

Here are my top 5 favorite ways to use Ivory soap:

1.  Laundry spot treatment- I keep a bar on hand in my bathroom, where I change my clothes and one in the garage above my utility sink that sits next to my washer. When I see a spot or stain on clothing, I dampen the spot then rub the corner of the Ivory bar into the spot. If I’m in the garage loading the washer, I just toss the item in and wash as usual. If I’m in my bathroom, I drape the article of clothing over the edge of the hamper so that the damp spot can dry out. Later I wash as usual. 
2. Brushing teeth- Just dampen your toothbrush then tap it onto the Ivory bar a few times to get a small amount of soap on the bristles. Brush your teeth as usual. This works great though the taste takes a little time to get used to.  
3. Homemade liquid hand soap- Grate 1 bar of Ivory soap and heat on the stove with a gallon of water. Once the soap bits are melted and the mixture has cooled some, pour it into a gallon jug and use it to refill your pump containers. If the texture becomes lumpy you can shake or stir it to break it up. Consider adding 1 T. glycerin to future batches if it is really a problem. 
4. Homemade laundry soap- recipes abound on the internet for homemade laundry soap. You can substitute shaved Ivory soap 1:1 for whatever soap is called for in your recipe. It works great and is much cheaper than the laundry bars that are usually used. 
5. General cleaning- I use Ivory soap to clean mirrors and windows (among other things). Just dampen a washcloth and get it soapy. Wash the entire mirror, or window, then rinse the rag out with plain water and wipe the soap from the mirror. It might take a few rinses to get all the residue off. Follow up with a dry cloth to dry the mirror. It will be crystal clear.

Do you have a favorite way to use bar soap? Sound off in the comments.

Heidi

Weekend Project: Saving Money on Haircuts

I took on a 5 minute project this weekend that ended up saving me about $50. I cut my own hair.  DD loved it so much, she decided to do her's too which doubled my savings. This was all brought on by a video that was shared on Facebook...

Do you cut your own or your child's hair?

How I Just Saved $133 Per Month** on my Cable Bill (and $5 on Internet) With a Simple Phone Call, And You Can Too!

Do you ever get fed up paying high prices for your TV service? I do. When I opened my bill last month I was in for a real surprise – my third price increase in less than 12 months! Right then and there I decided to call up my provider to see what we could work out. Twenty minutes on the phone saved me $138 per month. This is how I did it…

I told them to turn off the service. Between Hulu.com, Netflix and Redbox there isn’t anything I’m missing. I read a great little book that showed me the way. Thanks to the information I found here, this week I have enjoyed the entire season on The River, current episodes of GCB and I’ve been watching Monk from season 1 episode 1 straight through, all thanks to these websites.

As a bonus, when my service provider realized they were losing my TV business, in an effort to keep me as a customer, they offered me $5 per month off my internet bill. This was great since I wasn’t even planning on switching!

That was quite possibly the most profitable $0.99 investment I have made to date.

** Of course your actual savings will depend on your current monthly rate. ;-)

Heidi