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homemade powdered laundry detergent

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i want to know something. why is laundry detergent so expensive?? ugh.  

making my own soaps is part of how i stay home when we can hardly afford it.

it really adds up and helps a lot, even if it doesn’t seem like much. i prefer powdered detergent, and most of the recipes i found on pinterest when i first set out to make my own soap were for liquid {i think it ends up being cheaper if you go the liquid route, but i don’t care that much}. i tried a few different powder recipes but didn’t love any until i improvised and fell in love with my own. vain, i know. 

here’s the recipe like you all asked for. the ingredients you’ll buy to make this soap will make enough to last you a year, and will cost you about $20. i make it in one big batch, store it in a big ugly bucket in the garage, and take smaller amounts of it that can fit in my cute mason jar in my laundry room. cause laundry sucks enough… i need my soap in a cute jar. oh, and you’ll only need two tablepoons per load. yes, that’s it. no, you don’t need to add more for an extra dirty load. this is no nonsense soap and it’s awesome. two tablespoons is plenty, trust me. 

side note: i read that using too much detergent in the laundry can actually cause the clothes to not get clean. weird, i know. 

allie’s laundry detergent

i insist you label your soap that when you make it. and send me a pic 😉

what you need:

3 bars of plain ivory soap

1 box arm & hammer washing soda

1 box borax

1 tub oxi-clean stain remover

2 lemons or 1 container purex crystals

directions:

1. grate the bars of soap with a cheese grater (i have one i use only for making soap)

2. add the washing soda, borax, and oxy-clean powders to the grated soap. 

3. shave the rind off the two lemons into the detergent mixture, or add the container of laundry crystals. this is an optional step meant to add scent that will refresh your clothes and last for the duration of the batch. 

4. toss and stir and mix it all together and store in your container of choice. 

done!

now go get your laundry off the floor and into the drawers, now that you can afford to!

How I Stay Home When We Can Hardly Afford It

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Burlington Coat Factory online has been a huge help with saving on maternity clothes as well. I also joined local exchanges on Facebook where people post items they are selling for super cheap in my area. Craigslist has been great for bulk toys like Thomas the Tank Engine and building blocks (sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!) as well as big ticket purchases like furniture and outdoor play things for the kids.

the things that are actually cheaper there and that we use in bulk (diapers, wipes, toilet paper, meat). 

Hubby works extra.

This is the hard one (for me). Brian has the option to take on overtime at work- lots of overtime. It’s such a blessing! It’s a difficult thing to do though, for sure. He can work twelve hour days if we need him to. In order to make ends meet and live our lives as usual, he works two twelve hour days a week. When we need to save money (since we don’t live on credit) or have a large purchase coming up, he will work more. For example, right now is crazy. We are building up a large amount of savings and making some big plans for early next year, but we don’t want to put in all the overtime after the baby is born (beginning of November), so Brian is working six twelve-hour days for about two months and we are saving our money now. It’s crazy hard! But God provided a way for us to have the money we need and control our income according to our needs, which helps me stay home. I am so thankful!

I plan out our meals.

This is where all of our money used to go out the window- eating. A few months ago I signed up for Emeals. (I saved money there too by paying for a year ahead rather than more money monthly). Emeals is incredibly helpful! We are on the Paleo family dinner plan, and I just choose 3-4 of the suggested meals each week, then stretch them into the remaining nights by doing leftovers, breakfast for dinner sometimes, or just a snack-around night if Brian is working late. We pretty much never go out to dinner as a family- it’s just too expensive (and too chaotic to enjoy it anyway)! I also avoid the drive-thru on the days we spend out of the house. I cut up fruits and veggies, pack sandwiches, kettle corn and sippies full of water rather than stopping for cheeseburgers if at all possible. If we’ll be out all day long, I bring a cooler with ice and keep it in the trunk. Anything is better than stopping for fast food if it’s avoidable, and not just for health reasons but for budget reasons! I will say though, there are times that I am out much longer than expected or life happens and we have to grab a quick bite. But I plan when I can and as much as I can, and it saves us a ton of money. However, let the record show that I do have a Starbucks problem (if you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed how often I have a cup in my hand). I keep that under {some} control with my Gold card, by loading a small amount on it each paycheck and when it’s gone, no more coffee out. Plus with the card, I get points toward a free coffee with each purchase 🙂

I make my own…everything.

Dishwasher detergent,

laundry soap

, dandruff shampoo, baby soap, rash cream… you name it, I make it. There are a few things that, for me, aren’t worth the extra effort- hand soap, dish soap, body wash, regular shampoo and conditioner- those are a few things that I have found to be complicated (or the recipes I found didn’t work well enough), and it’s just better to spend the few bucks. The biggest savings comes from making my own laundry detergent. Seriously, it is so expensive at the store! I can make a huge batch for a few bucks and it’ll last me six months. Also, there are some seriously scary and harmful, cancer-causing chemicals in soaps (yes, even baby and kids soaps), so that’s another reason I prefer to make my own stuff or at least buy natural on the stuff I don’t make myself.

We homeschool through a charter school.

There are so many reasons why many homeschoolers refuse to involve the state in their homeschooling. I have read up on this so much, and I know all the why’s and why not’s. For us, the why not’s do not outweigh the benefits. I feel many of the reasons to homeschool solo, which is more expensive, are based on fear, and we do not make decisions out of fear, but out of obedience to the Lord. Through the charter school in our area, we get $1,000 of funding per student per school year, and it can go towards curriculum, enrichment activites (like the American Girl history class Bella will be going to this year), sports, ballet, music classes… you name it. It’s awesome! Our particular charter school is very parent-led, and I get to choose whatever curriculum I want, and don’t have to lie or hide the Bible portion of our school days like some other parents do. I am also free to lead my children through a Charlotte Mason curriculum without any complaints from my ES (education specialist) about not having enough structure.

There is so much that goes into living on one income, making it very difficult to concentrate it into one blog post. If you have any questions or can think of something I didn’t cover here, please share with me in the comments and I will try to cover it in the next portion of this series!

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On Staying Home// No Luck in this Sacrifice

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Instagram feed [@allie_thatsme]

It’s one of the questions I get asked among all the other common ones…

“How far apart are they?”

“You sure have your hands full, don’t you?”

“Do you stay home or work?”

And when my answer to that last one comes with a smile and personal pride, “I stay home with them”, I get the same response nearly every time.

“You are so lucky.”

It’s not that this response bothers me necessarily, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t sit right with me.

Lucky.

Why lucky? I’m not one of those people that’s adamant about people using the word blessed instead… it isn’t that. I thought about this a lot the other day as I drove home from a kid’s birthday party where the above conversation had taken place yet again. Am I lucky to stay home with my children?

No. 

I am not lucky at all. Five years ago, my husband and I sat down and made a choice after I heard from God Himself the call to be home. I tucked away my fresh real estate license and pencil skirts and traded them in for sweat pants and Veggietales.

Staying home was a choice we made, and it comes with sacrifices not everyone is willing to make.

We are following a leading of the Holy Spirit- a calling on our lives and the lives of our children- to live this one life I get at home with them- being there for every step, breath, boo boo, and giggle.

Sometimes there are just a few dollars in the bank, seriously. That’s because of a choice we felt led to make, and it’s a big leap of faith and a sacrifice. It means we are saying “no” to credit cards and debt, “no” to more money and better things and worldly stability. It means we are saying “yes” to a one-income lifestyle so that our children will always remember their mom being there for every little thing, having no work to take up any of her days. It means less of everything material in exchange for more of everything emotional and spiritual. It means making difficult decisions based around a small budget and doing what is best for our family- which is for me to be at home with our kids.

I know people mean well and aren’t thinking their comments all the way through, and I mean no rudeness to them, but I am not lucky to stay home. I am a Spirit-led parent who made a hard choice, and continues to make that hard choice every week when there is less where there could be more. But you know… the exchange is a pretty sweet deal- less in my wallet than others but a thousand times more tiny moments and memories in my heart.