I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie - Ode to Cloth Diapering

I don't currently cloth diaper, but I know some that LOVE it. If you are even a tiny bit interested, visit this Cloth Diapering 101 tutorial by Little Bean Tree. She does a great way of explaining everything with several breakdown links.

There are several reasons to cloth diaper. It is environmentally friendly, safe for your baby, and... you guessed it, thrifty! You buy products that grow with your baby so you use them over and over again. Want to see real savings? Use them with a second baby. You can even buy stashes on Craigslist and Ebay. It can be addicting to get that new cute cover or scoop up that sale off the internet, so watch yourself. It still probably beats buying diapers by the box every month.

Eliminate Dryer Sheets and Minimize Fabric Softener

Want your clothes soft and static free AND cut back on costs? This tip is great.

Ingredients:

• A bottle of your favorite fabric softener
• A 2 gallon bucket
• A few sponges
• Water

Directions:

1. Pour the fabric softener into the bucket. 
2. Fill the empty fabric softener container with water. Pour into bucket.
3. Repeat Step 2.
4. Stir
5. Throw in sponges
6. Cover with lid or towel.

To Use:

1. Wash clothes without fabric softener.
2. Put clothes into dryer.
3. Wring out a sponge (or 2 - depending on load size). Toss in with the load.
4. Dry as usual.
5. Return sponges to bucket.

Your clothes will still be soft and static free. You are using a mere fraction of the amount of softener you'd normally be using AND you are eliminating your cost on dryer sheets.


Additional tip:

Find small container to store the sponges and a smaller amount of the liquid. This way, you can store it handy and you don't have the bucket in your way. Keep the remaining in the bucket, but out of the way.

Feel Green:

If you use this tip, you'll be eliminating the waste of your added fabric softener containers, the dryer sheets, and the dryer sheet box AND you will be using fewer chemicals in your clothes.

Another use:
Does your dog ever act strange when a thunderstorm is approaching? Some believe that they act this way because the canine feels an increase of static electricity in their fur. Wipe a little bit of this liquid on their fur and it will help remove the static, making them calm and fresh smelling all at the same time!

Let me know if you try it!

Getting Started

You should ask yourself why you want to save money. Keeping this motivation in mind will help you with your goals of saving pennies. When you want to give up or take a break, figure out if your goal should be a higher priority over convenience. Because let me tell you friends, the tips I'm going to be sharing are not what you do out of convenience. Many are hard work, some are just practical habit changes, regardless, if you find yourself spending too much now, you're going to need an adjustment.

My husband and I survived for 2.5 years off of unemployment and jobs that barely paid minimum wage. We were able to keep a roof over our heads, stay up to date with all of our bills, and still managed to live a life of great quality.

I will tell you now that I am no expert. Some of my tips are practical tips that we've just adjusted how we live. Others are ways that I'm still experimenting with. Over the next few months, I'm going to share ways to save and tutorials for money by making your own stuff (of the crafty and non-crafty variety), pinching pennies in the kitchen, ways to save energy (and go green!), and ways to keep focus. I'll also be inviting you, my readers, to email me questions you'd like to see, or if you have tips you'd like to share. I'll also be scouring the internet for additional ways to help you out.

Stayed tuned for I will be sharing my first tutorial soon!