Frugality is my new #1 hobby these days. In the past this has been a real weakness. I was always so embarrassed to pay full price, or to not even know what things cost. Maybe rich people can live that way, but we are not those people. I have recently read a book called Money, It's Not Just For Rich People, by Jenine Bolan. (<<< link to her blog and books)
I have wanted to read this book for a few years now. I was first introduced to her in 2006/2007 when I lived in Cedar City. My roommates knew her personally and were being mentored by her. I tend to respond better to methods of living if there is a spiritual component... and this method does. Of course my religion focuses heavily on self reliance. Our church leaders preach often from the pulpit to live debt free. Janine told my roommate of an experience she had... I guess the main spiritual experience she had that made her devote her life to teaching others about wealth accumulation... I won't really tell the story, because it isn't mine to tell... or maybe I sort of will... She doesn't belong to my religion, but so many of her close associates in Cedar City, Utah did. She felt very strongly that it should be her life's work to teach them what she knew about accumulating wealth and debt free living. When she was in the beginning stages deciding on this life mission, she thought, but these people have church leaders, shouldn't they be the ones to teach them... and the response she got was that their leaders have been telling them, but the people are not listening... which anyone who is LDS knows that she is right... I, historically, have been guilty of not listening... I haven't ever had enough money to really get myself in too much trouble, but I have a hard time living within my means. My big fear is that in the future when we have more money, we will just have more debt... and that we will always live on the edge... at the rate we are going, that is what will happen. It is fun to dream of the pie in the sky, right? The $400,000 home is so much nicer than the $250,000 home... and on and on...
Hugh Nibley gave an excellent speech called, Work We Must But the Lunch is Free... It is so great... the main lesson I got from that speech is that there are two thoughts out there... One is truth and the other is a lie. The truth says, "We have enough for our needs"... that God provides... the second says, You can have anything you want with money... which in reality means your wants will never be satisfied, and you will always need more money because your wants are endless... Pie in the sky...
Anyways... I could say so much more on this subject, but maybe later.
My #2 hobby, is chemical free living. I am trying to detox from chemotherapy... and chemicals in general. We are 90% GMO free in this house. I say 90% because there are some things I am still figuring out. Also, a subject for another day... I think heavy exposure to a weed and feed chemical triggered my leukemia back in 2013. Of course I cant prove this, but it does not hurt to live a future life of prevention.
So... it only makes sense that I didn't renew our Costco Membership in May when it expired. There were only a few items that I needed to purchase there on a monthly basis... and I always came home with AT LEASTE $100 worth of things that I didn't intend to buy. So goodbye Costco. I will miss you.
AND NOW... the PURPoSE behind my little rampage: A DIY dishwashing tablet that is super effective, super inexpensive and super easy
One thing I always purchased at COSTCO was dishwashing detergent. Since I am about to run out, I needed to figure out another way. I found a DIY dishwashing detergent recipe online that I followed... and I am very happy with the results. I choose this recipe b/c it didn't call for citric acid. I don't think I have anything against citric acid, I just didn't have any on hand... and I already had everything for this recipe.
Anyways, I totally vouch for this recipe. I have washed 2 dish loads so far, and the results are just as good as the store bought brand I used to use. Mind you, I always rinse my dishes b/f putting them in the dishwasher... So if you are putting un-rinsed lasagna pans in the dishwasher, I can't promise the results... of course I don't think my store bought brand would wash a pan like that either... even though the commercials always promise that they will.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Borax
2 cups Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1/2 cup sea salt (or course salt)
3/4 cup vinegar
about 10 drops of Doterra's lemon essential oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. I added the lemon drops to the vinegar and poured over the dry ingredients.
3. I used a pastry cutter to make sure there were not any chucks and to equally disperse the wet with the dry ingredients.
4. I think in the end I added a splash more vinegar so that the powder would clump together better.
5. pack mixture into 1 T portions and set out on cookie sheet to dry. Other people have used cute ice cube trays and cutouts... I'm boring.
6. Let the tablets dry for about 24 hours.... or whatever. I used one about 4 hours later for the evening dishes... but for storage purposes it is probably best if they have plenty of time to dry.
The rest of the tablets are already in the container. I had 2 trays full of Tablespoon ball tablets... if that helps you figure out about how many tablets this recipe makes.
I was worried they might not really clump together and that they would fall apart when stored together... and turn into a huge rock solid mess, but once they were dry everything worked out. I didn't count the tablets, but this is a 32 oz container. So... this is enough that I shouldn't have to make them again for at least a month.
Finally, I threw a tablet at the bottom of the dishwasher and...
See... it's clean. And if you cant really see, just know there are not any spots or dried up soap residue... Just a clean glass.
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