CHEESESLAVE

I love to make my own homemade laundry detergent. Homemade laundry detergent costs 2-3 cents per load, versus 15-30 cents per load for storebought detergents.

It’s good for the earth too, since all the ingredients are natural and you’re not buying plastic containers of laundry detergent. All the ingredients come in cardboard, which is biodegradable.

I usually triple or quadruple this recipe so I can make a bunch at once and have it for months. It’s a fun weekend project to do with kids.

I’m excited to announce the winner of the free Belkin Conserve Surge Protector — a really neat gadget that can help you save lots and lots of money each year on your electricity bill.
Before I tell you who the winner is, I want to let you know that Belkin is offering 15% off on the [...]

Last night I was watching an Oprah show about how to save money. They had a woman on named Rhondalyn from Baltimore, Maryland who shared a tip for saving money: unplugging all the stuff in your house you’re not using. Apparently we have to pay for the electricity for the things that are plugged in [...]

This morning I was listening to the news about all the recent layoffs. I can’t stop thinking about all the people out there who are sitting at their kitchen tables right now, wondering what they are going to do next. During these tough times, every cent we save matters. We are all looking for ways to cut back. So I’m going to be writing a series of tips on how to cut costs. I pray that these tips will help a few people out there. One of the best ways a family can cut back on spending is to switch from disposable diapers to cloth. When I ran the numbers when my daughter was 6 months old, I was stunned at the savings. By switching to cloth diapers and wipes instead of disposables, you can save over $50 per month — which adds up to over $1,500 over 2 1/2 years.

Like many people, I’ve been on a quest to track our household finances and cut back as much as possible. My husband taught me how to use Quicken a few months ago. I learned how to download all the transactions, reconcile all the accounts, make categories, and prepare financial reports.
I loved the idea of Quicken. [...]

Welcome, everyone, to our new blog carnival, Real Food Wednesdays! This week our topic is Real Food on a Budget.
Click here to read my entry for this week: An inexpensive and delicious recipe for Pasta with Grass-fed Meat Sauce.

I can get organic grass-fed ground beef for just $4 per pound — so I [...]

As I posted the other day, I made a New Year’s resolution to cut my grocery budget in half. Without compromising on nutrition, taste, and variety.
How do you go about slashing your food budget? I’ll be honest, I’m new to this budgeting thing. But I’ve got some good ideas that I am going to implement [...]

I usually do my menu planning on Saturday or Sunday but I’m a little late this week. We just got back from our trip on Friday night, and the weekend was spent unpacking, doing laundry, cleaning, picking up raw milk in the valley, and grocery shopping.
I’m focused on a new goal for the new year: [...]

We are lucky in California. Unlike some states in this country, raw milk is legal here. We can buy it at Whole Foods and other health food stores.
I believe so strongly in the nutritional superiority of raw grass-fed milk, we simply must have it. I refuse to buy pasteurized milk — ever.
However, it’s pretty [...]

Which saves more money, using a dishwasher or washing dishes by hand?
It is actually cheaper to use the dishwasher.
Compared to the dishwasher, washing dishes by hand:
Takes five times more effort
Uses six times more water
Uses more energy
Melinda at One Green Generation posted a great article recently analyzing the difference.
According to one study:
Each person washed 12 place [...]