Toilet Paper and Seedling Time! To save a few pennies…

This year I am keeping it simple. (Work hard, but not get carried away.) Our garden was prepped last fall with compost and chipbrush. I am praying and believing for soil that is rarin’ and ready to go by Last Frost.

Our first batch of seedlings are in the windowsill, in homemade newspaper boxes. Easy and free. I also have eggshell cups waiting for the smaller seedlings, when it is time to start those.

The seeds are all heirloom seeds I saved from the last couple years. Praise God for that! God invented sustainability.  (What are heirloom seeds? non-genetically-modified seeds; the plants they produce will give seeds that can be saved to produce after their own kind. The seeds and seedlings from the store are usually gmo, and will be good only for one growing season. If you save the seed from your gmo plants, you will get an inferior or failed crop the next time around.)

What was my other money-saving tip? Huh? Oh, yeah…

Hubby and I decided that toilet paper is entirely too unhealthy, non-sustainable, and EXPENSIVE, so I went ahead and purchased Soft Spray  (pronounced “biday”) http://products.mercola.com/toilet-bidet/ It was our Valentine’s Day present. I know! So romantic. It was what I WANTED 😛

Don’t worry, we will also continue to keep TP on hand.  How do I feel about the bidet? I love it, but it is a spraying hazard. Picture trying to get a 3-year-old’s cute little bum all the way back to the right spot on the potty. Ha! The water goes spraying straight up into the air. Everyone gets wet, and all in the wrong places. So, the learning curve is happening.

Overall, I really like the Soft Spray Bidet. Definitely an investment.

Cheers!  To clean bums and happy gardening.

Update, 6/2016. The bidet is not all that. Oh well.

Whole Wheat Substitute

Ever look for a whole wheat option for a recipe? I don’t know why there are not more whole wheat recipes out there.

Solution: Substitute whole wheat flour, (or buckwheat flour, coconut flour, what have you…) and increase the fat content just a titch. Maybe another splash of water, too.

Stop looking for “whole wheat cookie/cake/bread recipes”.

Done.

Happy baking!

My Best Money Savers

Absolute  money savers in my world:

 

 

1. Shop once monthly. Period. Every purchase has to be preplanned, very thoughtfully. Food, clothing, etc. Once the decision is made, it has to last a month!
2. If it can be made, make it. (Some things don’t make it to the budget. Forgot to budget in a birthday gift for great-great Aunt Clarabella-Darling? DIY picture album, full of loving notes from Your’s Truly. Etc.) Lotions, soaps, makeup, toothpaste, lunches, wine, coffee, pizza? Make it. Decorative crafts? Don’t make it unless it is a hobby that truly fulfills you 🙂
3. Ugly floors are beautiful in comparison to a credit card balance.
4. Stuff– we don’t need it. Our world tells us we need new clothes. Last time I checked, I can barely fit the clothes I have into our closets. They are not the most stylish, but they are certainly functional. This year we give ourselves the smallest clothing budget we have ever had. I’m kind of excited! Love a challenge.
5. Credit cards are for fuel and medical emergencies. I am a lot more conscious about putting in an Amazon order, knowing it is coming from our checking account. I once over-drafted, and I don’t want to go there again!

Basically, these money-saving tips are mind games that work, at least for me.

Those dandelions in the dish are tantalizing! Have you ever had dandelion omelet? Come on over sometime, as soon as winter is over, when there are fresh (and free!) beauties spring up for us to enjoy.

Here is to paying off a lot of debt, saving, and stocking up on things that really matter.

Cheers!