Home made shower cleaner

I have calcium deposits on my shower door. I made this home made cleaner yesterday morning and and heavily sprayed down the entire shower at 8am. At 10:30 I sprayed it again. I let it set while I went to work and then to the middle school basketball game to watch my daughter cheer. I came home, did homework with my son and made and ate dinner with the family. I sprayed the shower one more time and cleaned the shower. I could not believe how clean the shower was .... it looked brand new! BUT the best part was how much calcium came off the shower door! I highly recommend this recipe!!! AND... it was cheap too!!!

Recipe:

1 empty spray bottle (i used an old Windex bottle)

fill 3/4 of bottle with white vinegar

fill the rest with Dawn dish soap

Free Cloth Bags....

scotchbrite - print this form and send with 2 proofs of purchase to get your free cloth bag

Babies R Us - print this coupon to get a free cloth bag in the store

Discovery Education / Waste Management - Think Green - free cloth bag for teachers

Happy Earth Day from Kellogg - free bag from Kellogs with 2 proofs of purchase (and $1.75 for shipping)

FREE RED GOLD TOTE BAG OFFER - free cloth bag here too!

Welcome to Superfresh - free cloth bag from Super Fresh just for signing up for online coupons!

Happy Earth Day.....

We had a busy morning of pre-op tests for my DS so I did not get to post the Earth Day freebies early this morning. I was delighted to see many volunteers collecting trash along the highway in our area - in honor of Earth Day!

I hope you will all take a minute today to think of just one simple thing your family could do to live a greener life. It could be hanging a few loads of laundry outside to dry instead of throwing them in the dryer. You could use a cloth towel instead of grabbing a roll of paper towels. What ever you choose to do, it will help save the planet for future generations.

For a full list of Earth Day freebies go here... Earth Day Freebies 2010 Free Sample Freak .

Wednesday Freebies....

Eco-Friendly : Home : Target - get a free cloth bag at Target on April 18th - with any purchase - to celebrate Earth week!!

Disney In-Store Special Events Disney Store - Be a Friend For Change at Disney Store on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd! Receive an Exclusive FREE Eco-Friendly Baseball Cap when you bring in 6 empty plastic water bottles or soda cans to be recycled. *Limit one cap per Guest, while supplies last.

Mail 5 Target plastic bags to Terracycle (121 NY Ave, Trenton, NJ 08638) and get back $1.


Printable - Bath & Body Works coupon

Staples.com® Staples® Coupons - free pack of paper with this coupon!

To market, to market to buy a fat pig.....

We are always looking for ways to save a few dollars here and there. We have talked about buying half a cow or pig for years. We were never really sure if it would be worth the cost. Recently, we had the chance to buy a pig that was very close be being raised "organically" with out being certified organic. When we heard the price we decided to get the whole pig!

To cut costs, my husband and brother in law did the butchering. That saved us a lot of money.

The picture above shows my DH shrink wrapping the meat to freeze.

The cost...
$190 for the pig
$30 for the vacuum bags
and we borrowed the vacuum sealer

We got 111 pounds of meat. After all costs, that comes to $1.98 a pound for organic pork. What a great savings!

For more Tuesday happenings....
Tackle It Tuesday — Tips for Tackling Morning Madness – 5 Minutes For Mom
Heavenly Homemakers
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam ::

Compost

Last week, I showed you all of my recycle bins, including the compost bin. For years, we have been wanting a compost bin. We have looked at models like this but never wanted to put out all that money. Then, just before Christmas, my friend told me there was a woman in our town that was giving away free compost bins through a special program. Turns out, that woman was my daughters teacher!! I emailed her about it and she said we could gladly have one.




So, a few days before Christmas, we brought this FREE compost bin home and began our journey into composting.

I bought this ceramic jar for my kitchen.....


We we have fruit and veggie scraps or old bread, we stick it in this odor free ceramic jar. Every few days, we take it out to dump into the compost bin. I am sure in the summer, we will have to empty it more often.

Once there is a layer of scraps in the bin, we toss an arm full of brown leaves, from the woods, into the bin.

We will not try to compost our grass clipping. We have a mulching blade on the mower and just let the grass lay to compost back into the yard. We are so happy to be keeping our food waste from going to a landfill! Compost is also a gardeners best friend! We are anxious for warmer weather so that we can start using some of the compost that we made!

For more composting tips, check out these sites....
Compost Guide - Composting Fundamentals
Composting 101 - How to Make Compost

For more Tuesday happenings go here... Tackle It Tuesday – Minimizing Morning Madness – 5 Minutes For Mom
and also... Family, Stamping and FOOD!

Recycle Your Trash.....

We try hard here to lower our contributions to land fills. When we have items we no longer can use, we freecycle, sell at yard sales and thrift stores, donate to Goodwill or pass it on to friends. There is a lot that just does not fit into those categories though and just plain old needs to be thrown away. Here is my trash system.....

Black can = compost
Light Blue can = aluminum cans
Dark Blue can = regular recycle bin
Large Blue can = trash


We cash in the aluminum cans for cash and use the compost in the garden. Here is a look at what we do with the cardboard......

We flatten all card board boxes and stack them in a larger box. Doing this really helps cut down on trash! Cardboard is picked up with regular recycles.

All of this helps the earth be a greener place and takes very little effort. If you do not recycle already, I hope you will consider it. Every little bit helps!

Next week I will tell you more about my composting system.

For more Tuesday happenings try these places.....
Tackle It Tuesday — PENCILS??? – 5 Minutes For Mom
Heavenly Homemakers
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam ::

The Dirty Dozen.....

I have a little secret. I do not buy organic produce as much as I would like to. Why? It costs more. We do grow much of our own fruits and vegetables during the summer months and we use no pesticides. BUT... that only lasts a few short months. If you want to buy some organic produce but are not sure where to start, here is the top 12 items know to have the most pesticides sprayed on them during growing, also know as the "Dirty Dozen". These are the ones you should "go organic" with.


1. peaches
2. apples
3. sweet bell peppers
4. celery
5. nectarines
6. strawberries
7. cherries
8. kale
9. lettuce
10.grapes (imported)
11.carrots
12. pears

For a complete list, go here.... EWG's FoodNews :: Full List

Free Burt's Bees Sample....

Go here for a free sample of Burt's Bees toothpaste. I can not wait to try this stuff!

Goodbye Teflon!!

After we dug out from the 17 inches of snow this weekend, we headed out to buy new pots and pans. This is something we have been wanting to do for more than 5 years but just never spent the money on. We have been hearing more and more about the dangers of cooking with Teflon pans and knew we needed to make a change soon. This is what our new set looks like......
Well, almost. Our set is a little larger than this. You can see this similar set here. After lots of reading about the pans, we decided to go with a Nonstick Hard-Anodized surface for our new pans.

Teflon has been linked to cancer, birth defects and several other health issues. You can read more here....
THE DANGERS OF TEFLON PANS

All About Cooking - Teflon

In trying to live a cleaner and greener life, we decided this was the next step for us.

Homemade Bird Suet.....

Over Christmas vacation, my husband made his own bird suet. He has been saving fat from meat cuts we buy plus he bought 2 packs of fat at the local grocery store for 95 cents each. He set up his work station outside on the grill so the smell of the melting fat would not fill the house.

Once the fat is melted he added some very cheap bird seed he bought in bulk and dried berries from our yard seen here.

He then poured the hot fat mixture into tray we saved for $1.00 frozen meal. By setting it on the snow, the trays did not melt when the hot suet mix was poured into them. He left them there to harden for a little while.

This is what the finished suet looked like. the large pieces were cut in half to fit into out suet holders. We had 7 blocks of suet when he was finished. Next time he would buy more fat at the grocery store to make a larger batch. A larger batch would also bring down the costs.

Cost of Home Made Suet

purchased fat - $1.90

saved fat from meat cuts - free

bird seed - $.50

dried berries - free

Total = 2.40

That brings it to just over 32 cents per suet bar.

The cheapest I ever see them in the store is about 69 cents at the scratch and dent store. These were more than half the price. This will last us through the rest of the winter.

Monday's deals...

I recently tried these products from The Ecostore USA .

The Ecostore USA is an extension of a 20 year old New Zealand company http://www.ecostore.co.nz////// that makes plant based , non-toxic Household Cleaning, Baby and Personal Care Products that contain No Nasty Chemicals(tm).

Go here.... Frugal Finds from your Frugal Friend Give-Aways and Reviews! to see what I thought of their products and for your chance to win a $25 gift card to select items you wish to try.

Ecostore USA always offers free shipping on orders $25 and over.



Good Start - mail in rebate for formula!

Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste – Tooth Brushing Chart to keep track when your child brushes - free tooth brushing chart to print!

Eat like a hero - Organic Heroes - free subscription to Organic Gardening Magazine

Coupon - StarbucksIceCream - printable coupon

Free RedBox code for Jun 22 -23 is rbxthxu6

Sign Up And Receive a Coupon For A Free Yoplait Whips! Sample - free yogurt when you sign up for this newsletter. New members only.

Free Tanning Butter Skin Makeover Store free tanning butter (what ever that may be! LOL)

Free iTunes® Download : Vibe.com - free iTunes download

Setting up the Rain Barrel....

Remember back here Frugal Finds From your Frugal Friend: Our Earth Day Stuff.... when I showed you the rain barrel we purchased? Well, DH finally got time to set it up. Since it is not just something you can set there and be done, it did take a little time. Here is what he did....


Here is making the concrete base for the rain barrel to set on so it is even.......

Concrete is not complete with out a kids hand print....

If you do one kids, you have to do both......

Then time to cut the down spout to the correct height......

And there you have it...

All we need now is some rain!!!!!

Oh ok! We need more than rain. We still need to complete the landscaping in front of the porch and around the barrel. In case you did not notice, DH also cracked off the corner of the concrete pad while he was wrestling with the down spout. He will fix this and it will never be noticeable once the landscaping is complete!

For more Tuesday projects check these out........

The Lazy Organizer » Blog Archive » Talk About Words of Wisdom

Tackle It Tuesday #156 — Where is Mr. Potato Head?

Gratituesday: My Broken Dryer Heavenly Homemakers

This Week’s Toot - 05/12/09

Earth Day 2009

Our family has been trying to live a greener lifestyle for more than 2 years now. We have switched to cloth grocery bags (which I absolutely love!), we stepped up our curb side recycling efforts, we use refillable personal water bottles, we grow an organic garden, we freecycle to keep things from landfills and we recently purchased a rain barrel. While we could do much better, we think that if every family just did a little, we could see a huge change in our global warming problems. I encourage you to think about 1 thing your family could go to live a little greener this year.



Enjoy these Earth Day Freebies.....

AVEENO® Skin Care Products - free tote

Reynolds Wrap® Foil from 100% Recycled Aluminum: Promotions get a rebate form to make this foil free after rebate. Use the coupon from last Sunday's paper and make money on the deal!!

Free coffee at Starbuck when you bring your own cup! This is at free standing Starbuck stores only.

Disney Store to host Earth Day promotions California Consumer Los Angeles Times - Take 3 empty water bottles to any Disney Store and get a free reusable water bottle in honor of Earth Day. Today only!!



Go green in style......

I have many cloth shopping bags that I use but this one is my favorite... by far!! It is very sturdy and fashionable. I get comments about it all the time!

Totes Eco Umbrella - Green - made from recycled water bottles.

Alternative Women's Organic Short Sleeve Scoop Neck Tee - look great and be eco friendly too!



My favorite Green Living blogs are...

Walk Slowly

Green as a Thistle




Ways to recycle.......

Recycle Cans Now. - read up on recycling aluminum cans. We cash ours in yearly. Not only does it help the environment but we make a little money too with very little effort!

Crazy Crayons - don't put your old crayons in a land fill!




Swim a little safer......

Ecosmarte Pools - Chemical Free, Non Chlorine Pool Water Systems

Swimming Pool Supply & Filters, Natural Mineral Sanitizers for Pools & Spas - Nature 2




Teach your kids to go green......

Sesame Street: Being Green

The Three R's: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle (What Do You Know About? Books)




Going green works for us... see what works for other people.... We Are THAT Family

Our Earth Day Stuff....

As we work on the landscaping around the new porch, we planted this tree in honor of Earth Day.

We also purchased this rain barrel. This will be a great way to water our garden without using our well. DH has to pour a cement base for it to set on before we can start collecting rain water. I am very excited to have this! I would love to eventually get 2 more!

For more Tuesday happening, go here......

Tackle It Tuesday #153 — Life without a Laundry Room

The Lazy Organizer » Blog Archive » Talk About Another Apron

I am Blissfully Domestic - Week 25: Blissfully Domestic

Free Rain Barrels in Philadelphia.....

City of Philadelphia Rain Barrel Program - get a free rain barrel by attending this class if you live in the Philadelphia area. We really want to get some rain barrels. I wish this class was just a little closer to home. We live a little more than an hour outside of Philly so this is just a little too far to go. I do hope to have at least 2 or 3 rain barrels in place by mid summer though. I will keep you posted!


There will be 4 coupon inserts in this Sunday's paper. This is a great week to buy a paper. No inserts will be in on Easter Sunday.


Customer Service Survey - Powered by Modern Mind - free water bottle

FCIC Promotion - Heloise Looking for Ways to Stretch Your Budget? - free booklet

Dove Dimensions - free sample

Snuggle Crème - $2 printable coupon

Miller High Life: Age Verification - check out the Miller High Life Extras program. Get cool stuff by entering codes on line... just like the Coke rewards program. You may have to do some serious beer drinking to get some of these things but they are great rewards!

Sam's Club - GLAD® ForceFlex® Tall Kitchen Garbage Bags - free sample

Home Made Simple® - sign up for this snail mail coupon book. Previously they have sent great booklets that contain a free item coupon!

Money Saving Mom: Target: Free Johnson's Safety Swabs - go here to find out how to get free Safety Qtips at Target

Happy Birthday Abby!!

One year ago today our baby was born! Happy Birthday Abby!!!

Build-A-Bear Workshop-United States: Home Page - it is Denim Donation Weekend at Build a Bear. Donate your old jeans to be recycled!! Keep them out of land fills!

Walmart.com - Kellogg’s All-Bran Pink Lemonade - free sample

Old Spice Shaving - Promotions: Great Grooming Products for Guys - free razor

Sam's Club - Gain v. 10056 - free sample

Innovative Brands Sure Coupon - $1.00 printable coupon

http://bizstainfighter.com/BizMoneyBackGuarantee.pdf - printable refund form

Mythbusters : Message Boards : Discovery Channel - printable $2 coupon on this Post Cereal

Walmart.com - Eucerin Plus Smoothing Essentials - free sample

- Bazaar.com - free shampoo sample

Magazine Order Page - Redbook - QFC - FormSpring - 2 free issues of Redbook