Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford

I ran across this Saturday Night Live skit while surfing the web today when I should have been doing the laundry **deep Sigh***
Anyway.....funny how the simple concept of not buying what you can't afford has tripped a lot of us up.

Another Homemade Tooth Paste Recipe

Make Your Own Toothpaste | Ultimate Money Blog- Save Green and Live Green!

In a quest to green our lives and save more money, I have decided that when we run out of many of our personal hygiene products, I’m going to try my hardest to make the replacements myself. Here are the recipes I’ve concocted so far. When we ran out of toothpaste last week, I knew that I would be creating some of my own toothpaste. I have a couple recipes that I’ve been using, but Mr. Money wanted something more like commercial toothpaste, so the search was on. Enter this super simple toothpaste recipe.

Ingredients

-4 T. Baking Soda
-4 T. Vegetable Glycerin (I got mine at the grocery store in the pharmacy area, but you can get it from Amazon if you can’t find it locally.
-2/3 t. Salt (I used pink Himalayan sea salt)
-30 drops of Peppermint Essential oil (I got mine locally, but it’s on Amazon too)
-Container (I use an old toothpaste tube that I cut the end off)
-Toothpaste Tube Squeezer (Optional- keeps the toothpaste in the tube!)

Instructions

Mix baking soda, glycerin, and salt in a bowl. Add in 30 drops of peppermint essential oils and stir. It should be the consistency of real toothpaste. You can add more or less glycerin if preferred.

Put it in a container or reuse a toothpaste tube, and use it to brush brush brush your teeth!

Pack A Salad In a Mason Jar

Mish Mash: What IS in Mish's Mason Jar????????



Picnic Corn Salad
3 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
4 cups bagged lettuce, assorted kinds

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently. Combine oil and next 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle over corn mixture; stir gently. Add lettuce, toss gently to coat. This is a delicious portable side salad; mound lettuce on top of the dressed salad; then toss just before serving to keep the salad crisp. For salad in a jar, layer corn salad into pint jars, top with lettuce. Invert on plate to serve. I usually double the dressing to have extra to pour on top.

Now I'm Hungry.................

Usuing Things To Death

Using things to death | Frugal Village

We live in a throwaway society. We’re so wasteful that people known as freegans (www.freegan.info), an anti-consumer environmentalist group, can salvage and survive, by choice, on what mainstream consumers discard. While they’re often criticized as being extreme or downright nasty, I couldn’t disagree more. I think it certainly reflects the amount of waste generated, and I’m pleased these items aren’t simply tossed and going into landfills. Maybe to you it’s garbage they’re sifting through, but there’s more to it. They’re making a statement that goes against materialism and over-consumption. In a way, freegans are like soul cousins to tightwads. We both simply prefer to take advantage of the full usable life of goods.

Many frugal discussions on my forums (www.frugalvillage.com/forums) include topics such as using items to death. It’s interesting to note the camaraderie among like-minded members. It gives me hope that we can make a difference. In order not to appear fanatical by carrying on about global warming, waste and poverty, I’ll share a bit about wearing out common goods. I’m doing so to show you that if there’s not a little frugality in you already, there easily could be. Why? Because it’s simply the right thing to do.
LINENS: From comforters to towels, frugal-minded folks are holding onto these items until they’re threadbare. It does my heart good to hear from one reader who has a 31-year-old comforter and another who has 27-year-old towels. It’s not uncommon for these items to be used as rags for many years after their original purpose. While there isn’t anything wrong with buying new, if an item has plenty of life in it or needs only a simple repair, there’s no true need to toss it. What happened to this type of thinking?
CLOTHING: Remember when cutting jeans into shorts, patching them and then making them into quilts once they were unwearable was common sense? Winter coats weren’t bought every year. Shoes that were worn out were used for outdoor work until they literally fell apart, and who had more than a dozen pairs? Clothing was bought as needed.
KITCHENWARE: Dishes and flatware were once passed down to children when they moved out. Now it seems everyone wants brand-new and everything immediately. They’ll buy plastic this and that and toss and buy new on a fashion whim. While some appliances are wonderful for convenience, I can’t stop shaking my head at the gadgets that are available. However did we get by without hot-dog and hot-cocoa makers?
I don’t want my children to think I had to walk uphill 10 miles to school in a snowstorm, but I do want them to understand what is good enough. We have better use for our money such as saving or sharing it, and because I want my children to care about their impact on the environment, the economic state of our country and our humanity. What a concept!

Forever Frugal

Spending Money: 25 Tricks You Need To Know

The Psychology of Spending Money: 25 Tricks You Need to Know - Career Overview

March 30th, 2010

Money is a practical part of our lives, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to understand. From investing to fighting the temptation to shop, money and spending are actually pretty subjective concepts that can either ruin our lives or help us develop stable futures for ourselves. In short, it’s all about how you view it. Here are 25 tricks for understanding the psychology of spending money and maximizing your ability to be in control.
General
These general tricks will keep your attitude towards money balanced and realistic.

1. Beware of sales: Just because something is discounted doesn’t mean you should buy it. Decide whether or not you would have bought it if it wasn’t on sale, and then think of the discount as a bonus if you really believe you need it.
2. Spend below your means: To spend below your means, you’ll need to eliminate debt, come up with a realistic budget, and put a reasonable percentage of your income into savings.
3. Don’t buy what you can make yourself: Make your own lunches, coffee, and even clothes or home goods if you know how to sew. You’re just wasting your money if you can make something just as good or better yourself.
4. Live one raise behind: Instead of adjusting your lifestyle to accommodate your new raise, continue living and spending as you were before, and put the extra into savings.
5. Buy what you need, not what you want: Think about spending as exchanging money for things and services that you need, not just buying extra things that you want. Make a list of your needs vs. wants for the month, and then go back and edit it until you’re being truly honest.

Cash
Learn how to use cash so that you’re better organized and less willing to part with your money.

6. Pay in full: For larger purchases, like a new TV, couch or even a used car, save up so that you can pay in full and avoid interest rates. You’ll also know that you can afford to pay, even despite any unforeseen circumstances that could make you late or short on payments in the future.
7. Use cash, not plastic: It’s harder to part with physical cash than to swipe a debit card. Withdraw a certain amount every two weeks, and limit yourself to spending just that amount.
8. Save your change: Every few days, empty all the loose change and dollar bills you have in your wallet. You’ll be surprised how much money you’ll save up in a month.
9. Separate your cash into envelopes: Put your cash into non-bills categories for groceries, entertainment, gas and miscellaneous necessities. Only spend what’s inside.
10. Be smart about ATMs: Decide beforehand which ATM you’re going to use to avoid extra banking fees, and how much you plan on taking out. You want to take out enough so that you don’t have to keep going back (and keep paying fees), but you don’t want to over-withdraw, which can leave to overspending.

Credit
These tricks address the dos and don’ts of using credit cards.

11. Don’t use credit for everyday expenses: If you want to use a credit card, it should for emergencies or to improve your credit score. Using credit for everyday purchases makes it easier for you to turn to your credit card whenever it’s convenient. This bad habit also increases your chances of accruing unnecessary debt.
12. Take responsibility for your own actions: Psychologists believe that people with internal locus of control are more responsible and accountable for their own actions rather than relying on luck, and accrue less debt.
13. Learn how to prefer future benefits rather than immediate gratification: One of the easiest ways to fall into the debt trap is to believe that you must have things now. Train your mind and your lifestyle expectations to appreciate the benefits of saving up for something and rewarding yourself in the future instead.
14. Understand the true horror of a life in debt: Sometimes, understanding how the purchases you make now — just because you feel like buying them — can actually ruin your life is enough to stop you from spending.
15. Never use credit when you have cash: If you have the cash to pay for something, use that, not your credit card. This strategy will help you live within your means.

Budgeting and Saving
Here you will learn how to budget, track your money and save by changing the way you think about money.

16. Make 30-day lists: When you spot something you really want to buy, like a new pair of shoes, put it on a 30-day list. If you still want it in 30 days, buy it.
17. Don’t be afraid to talk about money: Being honest about how much money you have in the bank and how long it will take to save a certain amount is stressful and unpleasant, but necessary. If you keep putting it off, you’ll never make any progress.
18. Set up automatic savings plans: If you don’t think you’re strong enough to transfer money into savings, set up an automatic plan with the bank or your employer.
19. Keep making payments, even when the item is paid off: If you’re used to living on a budget that accommodates a $300 car payment, keep putting that $300 aside even when the car is paid off.
20. Calculate how your spending adds up: $3.50 for a cup of coffee doesn’t sound like much, but when you figure out how much it will cost you in a year, you’ll be more likely to stick that in savings instead.

Attitude
Rework your attitude so that you have a healthy relationship with your money.

21. Don’t associate your quality of life with how many things you have: Make a point to gauge your happiness with non-material things and concepts, people and activities that can’t be bought.
22. Find free, or cheaper, entertainment: Start staying in one extra night per week. Find free — or at least cheaper — entertainment that you can still look forward to as a treat.
23. Live for yourself, not other people: Don’t worry about keeping up with other people’s spending habits or lifestyles. Live according to what you need and what makes you happy.
24. Be honest with what you really deserve: Just because you’ve had a rough day doesn’t mean you "deserve" a new dress. You may deserve a nap, but don’t inflate your idea of entitlement or reward based on your mood.
25. Don’t associate money with evil or negative connotations: Money is serious, but you shouldn’t be afraid of it. Once you realize that you have control over how you spend, invest and save, you’ll have a more balance and productive relationship with money that isn’t based on fear or entitlement.

Living a Minimalist Life

Less is So Much More: Living a Minimalist Life | Care2 Healthy & Green Living

Not long ago, I discovered a blog called “mnmlist.” I’ve been following Lloyd Alter’s Frugal Green Living series and he has added some interesting quotes from mnmlist creator, Leo Babauta, who also founded Zen Habits. What I really like about mnmlist is how refreshingly clean it is — no ads, no pictures, no clutter.

What is mnmlist about?

• It’s about minimalism, and why it’s important today.
• It’s about stuff, and how it has come to overwhelm us. 
• It’s about distractions and commitments and a neverending task list. 
• It’s about the culture of more, of bigger, of consumption.
• It’s about how less is the answer.

That’s it. In the scheme of striving to consume less, edit more and create more of what we need, these ideas strike a chord with me.

 This week, Babauta posted about empowering people to create. Those of you who follow my EcoNesting blog know that I love DIY. Babauta’s post truly resonated with me because it addresses the mindset of moving from “passive consumers to creators.” While I have written extensively about creative DIY projects, I hadn’t really put into words why creating your own stuff can be such a freeing experience.
 Anyway, I thought the mnmlist post was meaningful and I decided to ask Babauta if I could share the post with the Care2 readers. When I searched mnmlist.com for Babauta’s contact info to query him about it, I handily found this statement:

“This blog is Uncopyrighted. Its author, Leo Babauta, has released all claims on copyright and has put all the content of this blog into the public domain. No permission is needed to copy, distribute, or modify the content of this site. Credit is appreciated but not required. Do whatever the hell you like.”

 Wow, I never expected that! You don’t need to know much about writing or publishing to know that everything written online is somebody’s baby. Legally and ethically, you don’t want to mess with that. No copyright. Amazing…
 empower people to create

“We live in a world where we are passive consumers: we see an ad for an iPhone, new car, new clothes; we go to the store or website and buy the item; we use it, and then dispose of it when we’re done.

 What if we could break free from that?
What if we could become creators, participants, sharers, empowerers?
An awesome article about three guys who not only build bamboo bicycles, but show people how to make them themselves, really highlights how this can be done.

These guys are transforming people from passive consumers to creators, builders, knowledgeable users. That’s amazing.

How can you empower people? How can you turn people from consumers into makers? How can you help people from being passive users to knowledgeable ones?

Change the world — it’s waiting for you.”

 Thank you, mnmlist.

Ronnie Citron-Fink is a writer and educator. Ronnie regularly writes about sustainable living for online sites and magazines. Along with being the creator of www.econesting.com, Ronnie has contributed to numerous books about green home design, DIY, children, and humor. Ronnie lives the Hudson Valley of New York with her family.

More on Conscious Consumer (105 articles available)
More from Ronnie Citron-Fink (154 articles available)

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http://freedocumentaries.org/index.php

Free Documentary Films

At freedocumentaries.org we strongly believe that in order to have a true democracy, there has to be a free flow of easily accessible information. Unfortunately, many important perspectives, opinions, and facts never make it to our televisions or cinemas (you can watch movies in our media category if you want to know why).

Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

                                       
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Dishwasher Detergent Recipe

Dishwasher Detergent Recipe - Make Your Own Dish Detergent

Ready to trade your over-priced and chemical-laden dishwasher detergent for something better?
Then, try this simple recipe for homemade detergent:

What You Need:

• 1 Tablespoon Borax
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda

What You Do:

Mix the Borax and baking soda together. Then, add to your dishwasher's detergent compartment, and run as usual.

Why This Works:

Borax and baking soda are both natural disinfectants and mild abrasives – just what you need to blast away stuck on food and germs. In fact, you may be interested to learn that Borax is a common ingredient in many commercial detergents.

Benefits of Making Your Own Dishwasher Detergent:

• inexpensive
• no harsh chemicals
• does not emit chlorine gas like other commercial detergents
• effective sanitizer
• effective stain remover
• effective water softener
• environmentally-friendly (phosphate-free)

Tips and Warnings:

1) Borax sells under the name 20 Mule Team, and can be found on the laundry aisle. 2) Save time by making up big batches of dishwasher detergent, consisting of equal parts Borax and baking soda. 3) Keep prepared detergent out of the reach of children and pets.

Make Your Own Tooth Paste

It wasn't until the late 1800s that companies like Colgate began producing commercial toothpastes. Like products of the nineteenth and twentieth century, marketing became the driving force. Additives like fluoride, flavoring, coloring, and foaming agents are now a standard part of the recipe for commercial toothpaste. But you can keep your teeth clean and white and your gums healthy without these additives. Just use the same simple ingredients your great grandmother used for her family's tooth powders and toothpastes.
Baking Soda and Peroxide

The easiest solution is to make a paste of baking soda and a few drops of hydrogen peroxide. Not only with this make your teeth and mouth fresh and clean, the peroxide will help to whiten your teeth.

The other way to make baking soda whitening toothpaste is to mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide, and if you want you can also add peppermint oil or use lemon flavored toothpaste to freshen it up a bit. You can also choose your favorite kind of flavor; after all you are making your own toothpaste! Brush your teeth with this and in a few weeks you will definitely see the results!




Baking Soda is a natural substance that is used for household cleaning. This substance is often times found in toothpaste for extensive teeth cleaning. If you want to make an excellent toothpaste than baking soda is definitely a must have. Baking soda helps to freshen your breath as well as kill germs.

Good ‘O Tooth Powder
2 Tbsp dried lemon or orange rind
1/4 cup baking soda
2 Tsp salt

Place rinds in food processor or blender, grind until peel becomes a fine powder. Add baking soda and salt then process a few seconds more until you have a fine powder. Store in an airtight jar or bottle for best results and lengthened use. Proceed to brush your teeth by dipping moistened toothbrush into mixture, brush as usual.

Simple Toothpaste
1 Tsp of the Old Fashioned Tooth Powder
1/4 Tsp Hydrogen peroxide

Mix into a paste and brush as usual
Food for thought (Hydrogen peroxide is an excellent tooth cleaner as well. This resource is used as a teeth whitener in many types of toothpaste.)

Peppermint Toothpaste
1 Tsp baking soda,
1/4 Tsp hydrogen peroxide
1 drop oil of peppermint

Mix ingredients together to make a paste, apply to toothbrush by dipping toothbrush into mixture, brush as usual.
Everyone likes to have fresh breath but not all people enjoy chewing gum or popping a tic tac in their mouth. You will be very surprised at how a quick piece of fruit or vegetable can freshen up

Breath Fresheners

Fresh parsley can sweeten up your breath in a jiffy.

If you chew on fennel seeds and anise seeds your breath will smell much fresher.

Peppermint or spearmint leaves taste wonderful and they will freshen your breath quickly. You can also drink a delicious cup of peppermint tea. (This is great after dinner)

Thrifty Recipe: Wartime Cake

Thrifty recipe

When workroom habitué Melissa Thomson's grandmother wanted to bake during the Second World War, she used a recipe that Thomson and family still use today. "It's called the wartime cake," Thomson says, "because the use of eggs and milk and butter were rationed during the  World War 2 , so they came up with the creative, science-experiment technique of baking soda and vinegar to make it rise instead of the usual expensive characters like eggs." The wartime cake recipe is still a family favourite.

Wartime cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together one and a half cups of all-purpose flour, one cup of sugar, one-third of a cup of cocoa, one teaspoon of baking soda and half a teaspoon of salt.

Then, add half a cup of vegetable oil, a cup of cold water, a tablespoon of vanilla and two tablespoons of white vinegar. Mix together until smooth, and then bake in a greased pan for about 30 minutes.

To prepare an optional sauce to serve with the cake, melt half a pound of bittersweet chocolate, three-quarters of a cup of water or milk and half a tablespoon of vanilla.