Enjoy a photo of Willa in her bikini, I'll probably take it down, but it was just so cute! I babysat for a girl I visit teach. She has two girls who are 4 and 6. We got ready to go swimming, but the only swimsuit I could find for Willa was this bikini. The little girls both had one-pieces and they asked by Willa's belly showed. I am a bad example. I'm looking for real money saver solutions, not stuff that poor college students (me and Ryan) were already doing. I want someone to tell me something like if you run your dishwasher after 10 pm it will be more energy efficient because it's cooler outside or less people are on the grid. Or, maybe someone can write about thinning out the laundry detergent - do you really need to fill the cup up to the "large" load line?
Since we moved to Texas, I have been cooking and making things a lot more. I did cook in Los Angeles, but it was hard since I was working and also since Ryan was studying late every night. He actually asked me to stop cooking dinner because he would study so long on campus that by the time he got home at night he preferred to have a small snack and go to bed instead of a big meal. Don't worry, he assured me that it wasn't my cooking skillz that drove him to a dinner-less existence. It was a funny situation because I liked cooking but my husband didn't want me to do it, kind of the opposite of most couples.
Here in Texas, Ryan likes dinner again. I've also started making all our bread, yogurt, and now Willa's baby food. It's been not too hard and pretty cheap. The more I make our own stuff, the more I like it. It's nice knowing what is going into it. The biggest thing, though, is that it's cheap! It's nice to save a little money on things that don't matter to us so that we can spend a little money on the things that do. I might not always have the time to do things like this, but I have the time now. Anywho, no real point to this post. I just thought I'd write about what I do each day and some of that includes making baby food, yogurt, and bread. Ryan's mom gave me some recipes to make my own soap and laundry detergent, but I'm not up to that yet. If you coupon well enough, you can get cleaning supplies for free. What's better? Making them yourself or getting them for free? Discuss.
Willa enjoying peaches (why do we always forget to feed her until after the bath?!)
baby bikini's are so cute. and great fodder for Willa's teenage years.
ReplyDeleteI bought all the ingredients to make my own laundry detergent but I'm afraid it'll screw up my machine. So for now I go the couponing route. I have started making my own all-purpose cleaner. Other than my house smelling like salt and vinegar potato chips it works out great.
I'm also trying to make more meals at home, and make the base ingredients from scratch. I made my own pizza sauce today to go on my homemade dough to that was topped with cheese that I pasturized myself. (two truths and a lie)
I'm also trying to use what I have. I often have lots of this and that in the fridge that goes bad, which is such a huge waste. Especially the vegetables. So, I've been trying to be more creative with my meals. I've found that fritta is a great way to use up bits of veg, it's easy, healthy, and my kids actually eat it.
Good luck on your money-saving quest. I'm right there with you!
P.S. I agree the MSN and Yahoo articles always suck me in and are such trash. I think their "10 ways to eat healthier" articles are also hilarious.
They usually have great "tips" of ways to cut back on calories by "only eat one handful of potato chips at lunch instead of 3", "add extra lettuce to your hamburger to bulk it up" and other such nonsense. Genius.
Mom gave you recipes for soap and laundry detergent but no pinto bean fudge!? That's a money saver that you're missing out on if I've ever heard of one!
ReplyDeleteErin - you act like having your house smell like salt and vinegar potato chips is a bad thing. Here's a Yahoo tip for you: instead of sitting on the couch eating salt and vinegar chips, clean your house with them. You can munch and scrub at the same time.
ReplyDeleteRobert - pinto bean fudge? Ugh, sounds like a food storage recipe where we would rather starve.
Cath, I want to get your yogurt recipe. Will(a) you e-mail it to me? Will(a) . . . ha, ha, ha.
ReplyDeleteHey, while you're at it, do you have your mom's cinnamon roll recipe? They are the best and healthy too, I'm sure.