I buy cleaning supplies about every 3 months or more and have decided that this next trip to the store is going to be stocking up on items to make my own cleaning supplies for use in the kitchen and bathroom. I like knowing the ingredients are simple and easy to understand and that I had a hand in making the cleaning solution work for me.

Because I am not fully certain that all cleaning solutions will work, my back up plan is to buy some 7th generation products, with their coupons, if something fails to work - But I hope all goes well.

Grocery List
☑ I need spray bottles for liquid solutions I make as I don't have any leftover bottles around the house I feel comfortable using and I need a container for shaking out the powder solution made as well.

Before I figure out how many containers to buy, I need to figure out what ingredients are used that I may need to buy:
☑ Baking soda - deodorizes, scours surfaces, and is a natural cleaning agent
☑ Vinegar - kills most mold, bacteria, and germs
☑ Salt - scours, cleans, and deodorizes 
☑ Borax/Washing soda - water softener and sanitizer and makes an excellent freshener when added to laundry and an all-around deodorizer (use gloves)
☑ Hydrogen Peroxide - kills bacteria and mold
☑ Ammonia - general purpose cleaner for many surfaces (never use in combination w/bleach) 
☑ Lemon juice - has antibacterial and antiseptic qualities, is a natural bleach, and it controls odors 

Bathroom: 

Toilet - Vinegar straight or used in combo with baking soda or borax.  Alternatives: couple of denture cleaning tablets, coca-cola or a pumice stone for stains

Bathtub - A powder mix of baking soda w/ salt or bar soap, add a little vinegar after for tougher stains. A liquid cleaning mix of lemon juice and vinegar. Also pour warm vinegar in a sandwich bag and rubber-band to shower-head for an hour to clean. Alternatives: left over shampoo

Sink/Counter - A mix of baking soda w/ salt or bar soap or 2 teaspoons borax, 4 tablespoons vinegar, and 3 to 4 cups hot water in a spray bottle.

Kitchen:

Counter-tops - All purpose spray: Equal parts vinegar and water with a few drops of lemon juice.

Oven - A pan of ammonia left in the oven for a few hours if no one else is in the house and it is well ventilated. Otherwise a paste of three parts baking soda, one part salt, and one part water spread all over the inside of the oven and let sit overnight. Alternatives: Lay down aluminum foil on the bottom to cut down on cleanup, use cookie sheets under dishes in the oven

Microwave oven - Heat up a bowl of vinegar in the microwave to steaming and wipe off with warm rag.

Refrigerator/Freezer - For manual defrost freezers and refrigerators the use of hot water with a cup of vinegar helps clean it out quickly.

Cutting boards - Clean with vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, but not together, one after the other in any order.

Over-all Cleaning:

Dusting - Mix olive oil and vinegar in a one-to-one ratio and polish with a soft cloth.

Drains - Pour Baking soda and vinegar down the drain and let bubble and sit. Then follow with Hot water.

Moldy Grout - Mix a half a cup of hydrogen peroxide with one cup of water. Spray on and let sit for an hour. For colored grout, mix a paste of baking soda and water. Lemon Juice can be tried as well, testing a small area.

Carpet Deodorizing - Sprinkle corn starch or baking soda on carpet and vacuum up to freshen carpet. For stains, mix equal parts borax or baking soda, salt, and white vinegar. Apply the paste to the stain and let dry, then vacuum.

Carpet Steam Cleaning - Double check your manual, but most will accept 4-6 ounces of vinegar with the hot water in place of the steam cleaning products


Overall it appears that Vinegar, Baking soda, Hydrogen Peroxide and Lemon Juice are the top used items. Salt, Borax and Ammonia seem to be the runner's up.

What things have you found that help with the above cleaning items?

I love summer and I am beginning to love the idea of traveling more by car as sometimes the slower route is more relaxing than the wait in an airport and sitting in cramped seats that seem to cost more than they are worth.

This summer I will be doing some traveling and I anticipate the only worry that I have while traveling is that the car doesn't break down on me. This is my checklist for when I travel the fast freeways and empty county roads.

✔  Tune-up: A month or so before I am to leave on a long trip I get the battery check out, oil changed, tires rotated, belts checked and fluids topped off. Fluid leaks are at the top of my list to watch for- Black drips are oil; green, orange, or yellow are coolant; and brown or reddish oily drips can be transmission or brake fluid.

✔  Tire Back-up: I make sure to have the back up tire in working condition should the tire blow, making sure to have all necessary tools that are accessible and not hidden under luggage in the trunk.

✔  Wipers: Two years ago when we were traveling across country, we found that the car couldn't go above 55-60 without the wipers lifting off of the windshield. That was fixed by getting proper wipers next time around. I also run sandpaper along the wiper blade to cut out the streaks and help them last longer.

✔  Fuses: A box of fuses were bought and changed out about two years ago for the last trip. Haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary for lights or sounds that makes me believe they need to be changed anytime soon. But those fuse kits aren't very expensive.

✔ Extra Keys: I haven't gotten locked out of the car yet, but traveling with a second key on long trips has been very helpful. I know I almost locked my keys in the car on one trip because I ran out of the car so fast to get to the bathroom and almost forgot to grab the keys as I closed the door. Those things do happen.

✔  Food/Drink: I don't have children but I found that having the gallon cooler of water with us and some light food (crackers, apples) was the cheapest way to travel. Gas stations were for bathroom breaks and gas only and made the trip move quicker since we weren't deciding what junk food we wanted to buy.

✔ Entertainment: Last time I brought a laptop to play movies on but that wasn't very useful for us as the sun made it hard to see the movie and the road noise was too loud for the laptop speakers. This time it will be books, music, sleeping and talking.

✔ Maps: Last time the road atlas worked just fine. It doesn't tell you about upcoming road construction like a GPS but that may be something to consider for the future.

✔  Sleeping: Getting an idea of how long to travel each day and what towns will have places to sleep is an excellent preparation that can otherwise suck money out of your pocket. Last time we just relied on the road signs and road map telling us. This time I will have phone numbers of motels/hotels and coupons to use, plus any discounts.

✔  Misc: First Aid Items, Napkins, Trash receptacle, Doggy bags when traveling with dog, Cell phone and numbers for emergency assistance, pillows and blankets.

What items were handy for you while traveling by car for vacations?

This past month, over the weekend, I have been writing to 2 companies whose products I use on a semi-regular or regular basis. It isn't hard to get ideas of who to write to, I simply open up cupboard doors and look in.

I go online to each companies website and find their 'contact us' link - many of them are at the bottom of their websites. I take about 5 minutes out of my day to write a note to them that, in return, gets me some coupons I know I will use.

My standard writing technique is to first write about what I like about their product or why I buy their product over another brand. The second part of the email is giving them at least one idea for an improvement or a marketing idea.

For instance, I wrote to Haagen-Dazs a few weeks back and thought they should come out with some ice cream for dogs, since I don't like to give my dog all the weird ingredients in human vanilla ice cream. They informed they they already had it and sent me some extra coupons to try it out, along with their Haagan-Daz ice cream coupons.

And then I finish up with a request for coupons if they have any or a link that will take me to some place that gives more coupons for their products - because, we all know we COULD go for store brand instead and they have been increasing in sales! ☺

So far I have gotten coupons from each company I have written to: Del Monte, Haagen-Daz, TollHouse, Cottonelle, Cheerios and Cream of Wheat. I have more to go and won't be running out anytime soon - obviously, if I found the store brand cheaper than some of these name brands w/coupon I will buy them instead - but at-least I didn't waste a stamp.

I also noted that Quilted Northern has a Money Back Guarantee on their site for one of their types of toilet paper if you are interested.

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Who uses coupons most and least, and why - The key finding? Well-to-do white shoppers are confident enough in their affluence that they are not threatened by the attitude of clerks. Those who struggle to keep their financial footing, on the other hand, are very sensitive to the criticism they often receive at the checkout counter, and therefore unwilling to use the coupons they see as symbols of their financial plight. This is an interesting read.


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As you can tell I don't write about some things that are very handy with living frugally and investing is one of them. My weaknesses are others strengths and dividend reinvesting over at Bargaineering and Frugal Dad is one of those weakness for me - I really like the idea of getting a 'two for one' with stocks - having them go up and getting dividends to reinvest as well.

Dividend Champions- What makes the Dividend Champions list so valuable is in the wealth of information the list provides. Not only does it include almost everything you could possible want to know about the Champions and their payouts, but it includes soon-to-be champions/aristocrats (20-24 year streaks) and the extent to which a company is a champion.

How to Buy a Single Share of Stock Certificate- The process for buying a certificate isn’t difficult, it just takes a bit of time, and there are a few options out there.

Reinvest Dividends for Greater Long-Term Growth- In ten years ATT could go from paying his Netflix membership to making his car payments, in thirty years ATT could pay his mortgage.

Dividend Investing Supplements Passive Income- Slow and steadily, we will be building a portfolio of dividend stocks with the potential for lifestyle-sustaining income for the years ahead.

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Reclusive Russian math genius rejects $1M prize for solving century-old puzzle- This Professor solves this ridiculously old math problem, that no one else could do, and then rejects the reward. I love what he says in reference to why he rejected the money.
Dr. Grigory Perelman, 44, who lives as a recluse in a bare apartment in St. Petersburg, said through his closed door: "I have all I want."

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Living On Less: One Woman's Life-Altering Decision

Micah White’s Thought Bubble - In the 14th century, pollution had an exclusively spiritual and immaterial meaning. Back then, to pollute meant to desecrate or contaminate what is sacred, such as one’s soul or moral sensibility. Not until the late 19th century did pollution take on the scientific and materialist connotation it has today.


Tragically, with the changing meaning of ‘pollution,’ we’ve become increasingly concerned about contamination of our external, natural environment, while ignoring the desecration of our internal, mental environment.