How To Make Deoderant

Ultimate Money Blog- Save Green and Live Green!

Store bought deodorant contains many ingredients and fragrances. Also, there’s a lot of controversy about aluminum in deodorant being linked to breast cancer. I like to err on the side of caution. I figure it can’t hurt to use homemade deodorant.
Also, your body is meant to sweat to release toxins, so antiperspirants really aren’t that great.  Just use a little deodorant and you’ll be smelling like roses all day!

Ingredients

-6 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil
-1/4 cup Baking Soda
-1/3 cup Cornstarch
-1/4 teaspoon shea butter or cocoa butter
-10 drops of your favorite essential oil

Directions

Heat the coconut oil until you can stir in the shea butter or cocoa butter. Once these are incorporated, add in the dry ingredients and the essential oils. I like to use lavender essential oil because it smells so good! You could also use lemon, sweet orange, or patchouli. Use whatever you like! That’s the fun of making your own deodorant.
When the mixture cools, you can put your homemade deodorant in an old deodorant container or in a tub and just scoop some out with your fingertips.

You may have to store the deodorant in the fridge in the summer, because the coconut oil may liquefy.

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!

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.