Humble Beginnings

Other Ways We Save $$ + a few recipes

Here are a few other ways we save money.

• We buy items (like our honey and pure maple syrup) in glass jars so that we can re-use the jars later on.  Sometimes I'll use the honey jars (about quart-size) for making pickles, storing dried beans, as a container for my home-made hot cocoa mix or spiced tea mix.  I'll even use them for when I make my own bath salts and store them in the bathroom.  They come in really handy.  This past Christmas I also used our maple syrup jars as pretty containers for the bath salts and body soaps I made.  They turned out really pretty.
• As I just mentioned, I also make our shower gel and bath salts.  The recipes are as follows, along with the hot cocoa and spiced-tea mixes.
• We are also trying to reduce the amount of plastic containers we use for our food (as they are not good for our health).  Therefore, we store a lot of our food in these glass jars or other glass containers. 
• I also re-use the baby bath soap containers (like the Johnson & Johnson soap that comes in the pump containers) for our shower gel.
• We also make our own toothpaste by just using baking soda.  It cleans better than any toothpaste I've ever tried.  Plus, we'll gargle with peroxide (BUT PLEASE DO NOT SWALLOW IT!) instead of using mouthwash.

Basic Shower Gel:

½ cup shampoo (I use the cheapest I can find like VO5 or Suave)

¼ cup water

3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:  Pour shampoo into a bowl and add the water.  Stir until it's well mixed and add the salt.  Pour into a container.  (I'll double or triple the recipe to use a whole bottle of shampoo at once.  It usually makes a large amount and lasts about 4-6 weeks).

Bath Salts:

1 cup epsom salt

1 cup sea salt

15 drops of any fragrance (essential oil)

Combine the salts together in a jar (like a quart jar or a honey jar), add the fragrance and shake well every day for 7 days.  Add some to your bath water for a relaxing bath!

Hot Chocolate Mix

4 c. milk powder

1 c. sugar

1 c. cocoa

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.  Use a few teaspoons with a little milk.  I also add a dollop or two of homemade whipped cream and dash of cinnamon.  Very tasty!

Hot Spiced Tea

2 c. Tang

2 c. sugar

1 c. instant tea

1 package lemonade

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

Mix together and store in tight container.  Put about 2 tsp. to each cup of hot water (I use a little more than 2 tsp., though).

Untitled Comment

{ 09:04 , Saturday, March 8, 2008 } { Posted by HomesteadingCarnival }

Oh this was a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing all your homemaking tips!
Blessings!
Jocelyn, THC Staff

***The 40th Homesteading Carnival will be up on Monday! Have you submitted something? Stop by our blog for details!***

Untitled Comment

{ 10:08 , Sunday, March 9, 2008 } { Posted by jennickless }

You have really good tips! I also try to watch what I buy and the packaging. I burn the cardboard, which is not terrific for the environment, but our landfill only recyles a certain kind, the rest goes to the big pile. I reuse all of our glass to store my herbs, beads or reuse them for gifts. I would be interested knowing how you reuse other items if you do. I am always looking at ways to do that myself.
Have a terrific day!

Jennifer

The Homesteading Carnival is up

{ 02:37 , Monday, March 10, 2008 } { Posted by Erica Burgan }

Just wanted to let you know that the Homesteading Carnival is up at The Sojourner - http://burganfamily.blogspot.com/2008/03/welcome-to-homesteading-carnival.html Don't forget to post a link on your blog to help spread the word! Thanks for your submission.