Winding Down

Well, the summer garden is winding down.  The cantaloupes still on the vine are smaller than the first fruits, the tomato plants are either dying off or producing very small amount of very small tomatoes and yet oddly enough, the green pepper plant is still blooming. 

Go figure.

I'm going to have to purchase tomatoes at the Farmer's Market if I want to get that hot batch of salsa made this year.  I have to admit, I'm fairly disappointed in our tomato yield.  The big boy and better boy plants (of which there were only two, thankfully) only gave us a few small tomatoes.  The romas did well, except that little black ants took over one entire plant and ruined all of them. So half our plants either under produced or were killed by bugs, so I guess we didn't do too badly overall.  It's still a disappointment though.

The tomatoes I am still pulling off the vine are being fed to some of the pet rabbits and to the chickens. I might as well get some use out of them, as there are too many for us to eat, but too few to make it worthwhile to do the canning or to try to make salsa.

I have the seeds started for a fall garden. I'm hoping I can make the seeds survive.  For some reason, mine always grow these really tall, spindly little seedlings that never "bulk up" and ultimately die.  I'm hopeful though- ever hopeful. If I can't make the seeds find the will to live, we will have to do without fall produce- at least homegrown produce. 

So far I have lettuce, spinach, broccoli and radishes planted.  I'm planning on getting some more dirt and starting a second bunch of seedlings a few weeks behind these, so everything doesn't come ripe at once, like it tends to do.

Fingers crossed!

-Kristen

Lessons in Nail Painting

I've finally managed to stop biting my nails.  This is big news for me, I've only had nails twice in my life- once in High School and when I got married!  Inevitably I have found myself forgetting and biting them- or one breaks and I get frustrated, or I get stressed and I gnaw them off.

So far, none of that has happened this time.  Dare I start to hope that the habit is truly gone?

I let my friend's daughter paint my nails last night.  She was thrilled.  Meanwhile, I had forgotten a very important rule- or pair of rules- for nail polish.  1.) Bright teal is probably not the best choice to go on your nails.  2.) Make sure your manicurist is over 10 years old.

So today I am sporting remnants of having my fingers painted.  It made her happy and it wasn't hard to remove most of the color.  How she got the paint under my nails, I will never know.

-Kristen

Make your own Powdered Laundry Detergent.

This comes from my dear friend Amber at Wonder Woolies-

"Powdered Laundry Soap
- 1 bar Fels-Naptha laundry soap, grated
- 1 c. Arm & Hammer washing soda
- 1 c. 20 Mule Team Borax
- 1 scoop (4oz) Oxy-Clean

Mix the washing soda and grated bar soap together.  Blend, 1 c. at a time, in a blender or food processor (optional).  In a bowl or container, mix all ingredients together very well.

We keep ours in a glass jar, atop the washing machine, labeled "Laundry Soap" w/the instructions "2 Tbs per load, 4 Tbs per extra dirty load".  One quadruple batch lasted over 1 year for our family of 6.  Now that's economical!

Notes:
~  Blending the grated bar soap with the washing soda prevents the soap from sticking to the blades or clumping together.  Be sure to close the lid before you start the blender.  It helps to start on low and then slowly increase the speed.  You could also mix all ingredients together if you like and then blend.  The point is to powder the grated soap so it melts effortlessly in your washing machine.  You might want to wear a dust mask for this step.

~  Find Fels-Naptha laundry bar soap at your local grocery store in the laundry soap isle OR buy it at Ace Hardware in the cleaning/laundry soap isle.  I pay about $1.29 - $2 per bar. Kristen Note here: You can also find Fels-Naptha at Walmart for around $1 a bar.

~  Zote brand of laundry soap bar is a good substitute for Fels-Naptha.  Use one small bar or 1/2 of their 14 oz bar.  Yes, that's more than 1 bar of Fels-Naptha but it works out well.

~  This laundry soap recipe really gets our boys' clothes clean despite the very hard, well water we have.  If you have softer water, or it seems too harsh on your clothes, you may want to decrease the Borax to 1/2 cup.  It's not rocket science so it's okay to play around with it a bit to see what works best for you.  :) "

Thanks Amber!

-Kristen

P&G Rebate $5/$25 - ends 9/16/2012

There is a new P&G Rebate out there.  Buy $25 worth of products, get a $5 prepaid card.  This is a great time to start keeping all your receipts to make the $25 amount necessary! This is *before* coupons!

The qualifying brands are: Always, Bounty, Clairol Hair Color, CoverGirl, Crest Toothpaste, Duracell, Herbal Essences, Olay (Facial Moisturizers, Treatments, Cleansers and Hair Removal), Old Spice Deodorant and Body Wash, Pantene, Puffs, Secret, Tampax, Tide, & Venus.

You have to have the receipt(s) submitted by 10/12/12, but they must be dated between 7/31/2012 and 9/12/2012.

-Kristen

Make your own Rinse Agent

Tim just informed me that we are pretty much out of Jet-Dry for the dishwasher, which he made fun of me for stockpiling when I got it free many moons ago.

I just informed him we're making our own.  Cue eye rolling and resigned/amused expressions. 

He can be really annoying.

So how do you make your own Jet-Dry?  You don't.  You just buy a cheapy container of white vinegar and pour some of that in to the reservoir.

The end.  It works incredibly well, nothing smells vinegary and it's super, super, super cheap.  Oh, it's not pretty and blue- will that be a problem? If not, go for it, you will be amazed.

-Kristen

Don't give up

Have you ever dieted?  You know that one day where you lose your mind, can't take it anymore and end up eating half a cake by yourself? Or maybe it's a whole pizza or a pint of ice cream.  What happens? You end up getting upset at yourself and more often than not, you give up on the diet because you've "blown it anyway".  Maybe you don't give up totally, but you stop being as strict with yourself because "it's not as bad as that day where I ate that whole pizza".  You stop losing weight and eventually you are right back to where you were.  Maybe you even self justify it by saying "Well, I'd be worse off if I hadn't dieted that two weeks- I'd weigh more."

Money management is just like dieting.   There will be some point where Murphy (you know, Murphy's Law- what can go wrong will) will pop up and slam you with some big bill- new tires for the car, a broken leg, a vet appointment- something will happen.  Or perhaps you end up taking an unexpected and unbudgeted for trip.  Maybe you just can't stand it and run out to buy the new iphone. Whatever.  Things happen.  This is no time to give up on money management or your long term financial goals.  Don't think about how you saved $20 that month and said "well, good enough, I can quit."  Don't say "I blew $1000... I'm so dumb, I am just not going to try anymore."

There is no need to throw good money after bad (which is one of my favorite sayings ever).  Get back on track.  So what, it will take a little longer to reach your goal, whether that's to pay off all your debt, or whether it's to save a specific amount- or for a specific item.  If you stop now, will you ever hit your goal otherwise?  How many times have we all said "I wish I'd stuck with that diet in January, I'd look so much better in this bathing suit now in August".   "I wish I had started couponing twenty years ago, I'd be so much better off now."

Stick with it.  Accept there will be mistakes and mishaps along the way, but it's the trying that counts.  Every $20 you save, every penny you shave off a bill, is moving you towards a better life- one including financial freedom and hopefully financial security.  So you had to take $500 out of savings to blow on new tires for your car- at least you had it to begin with.  It isn't on a credit card that will ultimately cause you to pay even more than $500.  You aren't having to beg family members to loan you the money and straining relationships with them.

You can do this! Even if it takes you a little longer because of setbacks, don't give up.

-Kristen

Tricking Yourself in to Saving Money #4

NBPRs and regular rebates are a great way to trick yourself in to save money.  If you were going to spend $50 on groceries anyway and you can get a $15 rebate, just sock that $15 away in the bank or on a bill! It's free, found money.

Save those receipts when you purchase items at the store. You never can tell when a rebate is available :). It's free money, after all.

-Kristen