Mark's Scarf

(Pretend that it's Christmas and not February... I'm a bit behind with my posts)

I drew Mark's name for Christmas gift giving. I wanted to knit him something but the question was what to knit him. I knew it was going to have to be something special and something luxurious in order for him to want to wear it.

I went into my LYS (local yarn shop) and told the owner that I was looking for the highest quality, softest yarn that I could buy with my $30 budget. She showed me the Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran. It's 100% extra fine merino wool. The owner says it's just one step away from cashmere. It was so soft. I picked 3 balls of the rich red.
I knit "The New York Scarf" pattern. I like the simple rib design for men.

I hope he likes his scarf because I enjoyed knitting it for him.

From Messy to Neat in the Laundry Room

 Our laundry room is in our downstairs, In the same room with the furnace, water heater and softener and other things like that. We also have an air hockey table in there, a fridge for my flower business, it is a storage area for my flower business and for craft stuff and ski stuff and all the other stuff that we don't know what else to do with. It is unfinished and it was extremely cluttered and messy! (Check out the horrible before pictures!)

 The unfinished part doesn't really bother me thought it isn't all that attractive like that but someday we hope to add on and things would be torn up in there and so it seems a bit silly to waste money on finishing it right now. That may not have bothered me but the messy clutter was really getting to me! Something needed to be done!

  I talked to Ken about it and loving husband that he is he agreed to help me make shelves. So last Saturday we went in and measured and figured and then he and his helper Aaron headed off to Home Depot to get supplies while I went to work at clearing the room out.

It looks so much better now and I am so excited to have some organization again! It still isn't perfect but I am loving what I do have!

 We even put a shelf above the door (which leads to my office) to hold floral supplies. I can see the top of my dryer again! I cleaned up the appliances and I am enjoying just looking at them. :-)

 The recycling got tucked neatly back in this corner now that there is some space for it since other things are up on shelves.

Stuff neatly on shelves is so much easier to access than in piles!

That is some of the fixing up that we have been doing at our house this week!

From Messy to Neat in the Laundry Room

 Our laundry room is in our downstairs, In the same room with the furnace, water heater and softener and other things like that. We also have an air hockey table in there, a fridge for my flower business, it is a storage area for my flower business and for craft stuff and ski stuff and all the other stuff that we don't know what else to do with. It is unfinished and it was extremely cluttered and messy! (Check out the horrible before pictures!)

 The unfinished part doesn't really bother me thought it isn't all that attractive like that but someday we hope to add on and things would be torn up in there and so it seems a bit silly to waste money on finishing it right now. That may not have bothered me but the messy clutter was really getting to me! Something needed to be done!

  I talked to Ken about it and loving husband that he is he agreed to help me make shelves. So last Saturday we went in and measured and figured and then he and his helper Aaron headed off to Home Depot to get supplies while I went to work at clearing the room out.

It looks so much better now and I am so excited to have some organization again! It still isn't perfect but I am loving what I do have!

 We even put a shelf above the door (which leads to my office) to hold floral supplies. I can see the top of my dryer again! I cleaned up the appliances and I am enjoying just looking at them. :-)

 The recycling got tucked neatly back in this corner now that there is some space for it since other things are up on shelves.

Stuff neatly on shelves is so much easier to access than in piles!

That is some of the fixing up that we have been doing at our house this week!

Spending less on Personal Care products

This week I thought I would get back to the discussion on ways we do spend less or are thinking about spending less in different budget categories.

Today I will cover Personal Care Products. Things like Shampoo, Soap, Deodorant, etc.  One of the big ways I save money in this area is by simple not using some things. An example of things that I do not use or buy are: Make-up (I prefer going natural and that helps me to save both time and money), Hair spray, mousse or styling gel (I do have a tube of gel that I bought around 5 years ago- it is pretty much full), Hair coloring or perms (again I prefer being natural) and more. I guess I am very basic when it comes to personal care.

  Here is what we do use and how we do or we want to save money on that item:

• Shampoo- Traditionally I would have bought on sale and got cheap brands. I do still look for sales and use coupons to get Ken's shampoo. For the rest of us however we are now normally using my own homemade shampoo. To make it I heat up about 10 cups of water, I shred one bar of soap into it and let it dissolve. Then I remove from heat and put in around 3/4 cup of baking soda. I stir that well and then I pour it into bottles that I have saved and cleaned from other things (like ketchup, shampoo, honey, etc.). Let it sit overnight and it will thicken. I have started experimenting with using herbs in this but need to test it more. Use it like regular shampoo.
• Conditioner- I am using Apple Cider Vinegar as a rinse a few times a week and it is working well. I don't seem to need conditioner anymore with the use of the homemade shampoo and vinegar. I have been doing this for around a year. Currently I have just been buying Vinegar by the gallon but it is my dream to make it someday (soon I hope!) instead of buying it. Here is a site I found that has what seems to be fairly easy instructions.
• Soap- I have stopped using soft soap in my attempt to have as little exposure to Sodium Laurel Sulfate as possible. So I just buy bar soap which can be found very cheaply. However I would love to learn how to make my own soap (Maybe Goat's milk soap since we get goat's milk from my parents).
• Toothpaste- In my attempt to not use SLS I stopped using regular toothpaste and have been using baking soda instead. This is obviously way cheaper! The rest of the family is still using purchased toothpaste and I often buy more natural stuff for the kids. Currently I don't have any great money saving tips on that. I also haven't come up with any great ways to save on floss.
• Deodorant. This doesn't seem to be a huge expense as it seems to last forever however I do have all the stuff and have been wanting to try making my own. A fellow blogger e-mailed me a recipe. This recipe seems quite similar.
• Shaving- Ken uses an electric razor which doesn't require shaving cream and lasts a long time. I use disposable razors with bar soap. I rinse them carefully and I don't consider them disposable- one will last me a long time! The cost here for us is quite small.
• Chapstick/ Lip balm- We don't use this much and so far have just bought stuff on sale for what we do need. I do think it might be interesting to try making it.
• Lotion- Again we use this very rarely and I have usually been given it as gifts so it is not really a cost issue.
• Menstruation- I use a Diva Cup (which I purchased here) which has worked quite well and saved me a bunch. I also really like that it eliminates a lot of trash. I do also use light pads some of the time which I generally buy with a coupon and get almost free. I do think I might look into making cloth pads instead at some point.

I think that pretty much covers what we need. It's pretty basic but I like to be that we in this area. Do you have any tips for saving money in this area?

I am linking this to Life As Mom.

Spending less on Personal Care products

This week I thought I would get back to the discussion on ways we do spend less or are thinking about spending less in different budget categories.

Today I will cover Personal Care Products. Things like Shampoo, Soap, Deodorant, etc.  One of the big ways I save money in this area is by simple not using some things. An example of things that I do not use or buy are: Make-up (I prefer going natural and that helps me to save both time and money), Hair spray, mousse or styling gel (I do have a tube of gel that I bought around 5 years ago- it is pretty much full), Hair coloring or perms (again I prefer being natural) and more. I guess I am very basic when it comes to personal care.

  Here is what we do use and how we do or we want to save money on that item:

• Shampoo- Traditionally I would have bought on sale and got cheap brands. I do still look for sales and use coupons to get Ken's shampoo. For the rest of us however we are now normally using my own homemade shampoo. To make it I heat up about 10 cups of water, I shred one bar of soap into it and let it dissolve. Then I remove from heat and put in around 3/4 cup of baking soda. I stir that well and then I pour it into bottles that I have saved and cleaned from other things (like ketchup, shampoo, honey, etc.). Let it sit overnight and it will thicken. I have started experimenting with using herbs in this but need to test it more. Use it like regular shampoo.
• Conditioner- I am using Apple Cider Vinegar as a rinse a few times a week and it is working well. I don't seem to need conditioner anymore with the use of the homemade shampoo and vinegar. I have been doing this for around a year. Currently I have just been buying Vinegar by the gallon but it is my dream to make it someday (soon I hope!) instead of buying it. Here is a site I found that has what seems to be fairly easy instructions.
• Soap- I have stopped using soft soap in my attempt to have as little exposure to Sodium Laurel Sulfate as possible. So I just buy bar soap which can be found very cheaply. However I would love to learn how to make my own soap (Maybe Goat's milk soap since we get goat's milk from my parents).
• Toothpaste- In my attempt to not use SLS I stopped using regular toothpaste and have been using baking soda instead. This is obviously way cheaper! The rest of the family is still using purchased toothpaste and I often buy more natural stuff for the kids. Currently I don't have any great money saving tips on that. I also haven't come up with any great ways to save on floss.
• Deodorant. This doesn't seem to be a huge expense as it seems to last forever however I do have all the stuff and have been wanting to try making my own. A fellow blogger e-mailed me a recipe. This recipe seems quite similar.
• Shaving- Ken uses an electric razor which doesn't require shaving cream and lasts a long time. I use disposable razors with bar soap. I rinse them carefully and I don't consider them disposable- one will last me a long time! The cost here for us is quite small.
• Chapstick/ Lip balm- We don't use this much and so far have just bought stuff on sale for what we do need. I do think it might be interesting to try making it.
• Lotion- Again we use this very rarely and I have usually been given it as gifts so it is not really a cost issue.
• Menstruation- I use a Diva Cup (which I purchased here) which has worked quite well and saved me a bunch. I also really like that it eliminates a lot of trash. I do also use light pads some of the time which I generally buy with a coupon and get almost free. I do think I might look into making cloth pads instead at some point.

I think that pretty much covers what we need. It's pretty basic but I like to be that we in this area. Do you have any tips for saving money in this area?

I am linking this to Life As Mom.