I found this post this morning while scrolling around Facebook and thought I’d share it.
I haven’t tried making these myself yet, but I absolutely want to give them, and the all-purpose wipes mentioned in the post, a try.
Have you ever made your own wipes?
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2015/01/diy-armor-wipes.html
Who hasn’t found themselves with a clothes washing emergency? I know I have!
What I love about this idea is that for someone in our particular living situation who doesn’t have a built-in washing machine and dryer, it’s a perfect idea even for everyday washing!
I know I’ve spent my share of time either bent over the bathtub, kitchen sink or “walking clothes” in the tub which can actually be very dangerous. I’ve fallen more than once walking clothes because of the slippery laundry detergent.
Also, have you ever tried getting the soap out by hand? I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it is quite difficult and time-consuming!
I plan on talking to Paul about making this set-up for us as our everyday washer for when CB and Crew are doing their own laundry and the washer isn’t available.
http://www.foodstoragemoms.com/wash-clothes/
Blessings on your journey,
Dawn ~ TTH
One of the biggest battles we face living in a small space, is clutter. When we moved in last March and when we moved back in, in December, it seemed like we were covered in boxes and bags.
One drawback to small space living is lack of storage. You really have to think about what you have and what you need verses the available space you have.
Now, campers do have storage boxes, some that you can access from either inside or outside access panels, some that are only accessible from outside, but the size and shape of what you’re storing matters since it has to fit in them.
When we moved into the camper, I was very thankful for the years I’d spent following the Flylady system. Because of her, I had already released a lot of clutter. Had I not already been used to, and involved in, the process of doing this, it would have been much harder. I can say with complete honesty that if you’re planning to move into a small space, it’s always best to start going through things, and getting rid of things, as early as possible. The truth is, no matter how much you get rid of in advance, you’re going to find yourself with more than is going to fit in a small space anyway. You’ll go through the process again as you’re moving in.
Our weakness with clutter has always been sentimental decorative pieces. We love dragons and had quite the collection when we moved into the camper, counting them among some of the things we “just couldn’t part with”. I envisioned some small shelves in the living room for them or something along those lines.
When we moved in, the living room was so small that there really wasn’t any floor space for shelves and the walls are all windows, so no space there either. They ended up nearly piled on top of each other in the little space we did have and didn’t look attractive at all.
We ended up going through them again and got rid of most of the collection. It was hard, but it was necessary.
Another concession I had to make was with our altar. Before, I’d had a rather large, working altar. There’s no room here for something like that, so the altar pieces are now scattered around the house and if I need to do something, I gather up what I need at the table or do simple workings, which works just fine as well.
Neither of these things were concessions I originally wanted to make, but to make this lifestyle work, it had to be done or we’d have spent every day tripping over things and you do that enough in a small space as it is.
Now that the original clutter has been handled (mostly – no body is perfect), what we have to be careful of is bringing new things in. We’re pretty “wall-to-wall”, so I’m constantly asking “where are we going to put that”.
A perfect example was the purchase of the much-needed propane heater. During the winter, it’s already a little in the way, but we deal with it because we’re using it. In the summer, it’ll need to be put away, out of the way. We had to decide how and where it will be stored when it’s not in use. So, every item we bring home has to go through this, even if it’s something we need.
Multi-use and multi-purpose items work best. Like the camp shower. When not in the bathroom being used for it’s intended purpose, it hangs in the kitchen to be used for rinsing dishes and washing hands. It gets used all day, every day, and we love things that work like that. When we fix the plumbing and no longer need it, it can either be folded small for storage or given to our son-in-law who loves to camp out. This was something we discussed in the store before we bought it.
The truth is, clutter can easily take over your life and home no matter the size space you live in. “If you don’t love it, or use it, let it go”-Flylady website. Those are words we live by!
Crystal ~TTH
Cleaning. A necessary evil. We all have to do it, but with the chemicals they put in store-bought cleaners these days, who knows what you’re replacing those germs with? Cleaning in itself is enough of a chore without having to worry about if you’re leaving a toxic film everywhere.
I have a grandbaby and a furbaby. Neither of them seem to realize how gross it is to lick things, so I have to keep things clean around here, but I worry about the residue those harsh cleaners leave behind.
I started researching homemade cleaners a few years ago but until a few months ago, I’d all but forgotten about them. One that stuck out in my mind when I thought about it was vinegar and baking soda.
Now, I tried several methods with this since I couldn’t remember exactly what I’d read and I’ll clue you in to what I tried as well as what worked best for me.
To begin with, I tried putting the vinegar on a cleaning rag and adding the baking soda to it. This method worked, sort of, but it took a lot of vinegar to get enough on the rag. If you’re going to try this method, I recommend using it when you want to use the mixture more like a scrub (works similar this way to using Comet or Ajax).
Next, I tried pouring the vinegar on the surface I wanted to clean and sprinkling it with the baking soda. This worked pretty well if you’re cleaning, say a small counter, but to me, it still seemed to use an awful lot of vinegar.
I also tried putting the vinegar in a spray bottle. This used less vinegar, but I doubt it would be practical for cleaning anything small.
Next, I got a small bowl and poured some vinegar in, then added baking soda. I’d have to say that this method is probably my favorite and the one I use most often. I can make as little or as much as I think I’ll need and I can even control the consistency depending on what I’m cleaning.
Like with using any other abrasive cleaner, I’d recommend sticking to surfaces that don’t scratch easily but I like it for the fact that both ingredients are something we consume regularly, so I know it won’t hurt us, the grandbaby or the furbaby.
Since moving back to the camper, I attacked our gas stove with baking soda and vinegar. I wish I’d thought to take “before” pictures because we left so suddenly last summer and were gone for six months. I didn’t get a chance to clean it before we left and six months of sitting…well, let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.
Until recently, it had my toaster oven sitting on it. Out of sight, out of mind. I’d also tried using some tin eye covers last summer that were still on it. I couldn’t believe how bad it really looked when I took the toaster oven and eye covers off. It was disgusting!
I immediately got my spray bottle full of vinegar out and my box of baking soda.
I sprayed the stove top liberally and then sprinkled on the baking soda and let it sit until it stopped foaming then I went at it with some elbow grease.
Although I think it still needs a little work, Paul says that in comparison, it looks like a new stove. I have to admit, it does look a lot better.
Although my stove was bad enough to require some pretty serious elbow grease in some places (like under those eye covers that I’ll never use again), over-all, the scrubbing was minimal. I did leave the mixture thick enough that it was usable for scrubbing.
Make sure when you’re done, that you wipe everything down with a clean (or rinsed) rag to remove the excess baking soda so you don’t leave grit on everything.
Have some home cleaning remedies of your own? Leave them, or a link to your post about it, in the comments! I love hearing from you!
If you’re anything like us, it seems like you bleed money from week to week. You leave home with $100, and before you know it, the money is gone and you don’t have hardly anything to show for it.
One thing that I’ve found helpful in living on a very small budget is tracking spending habits.
Ever so often, I remind myself to save all of my receipts for a couple weeks, then I’ll sit down with those receipts and look at our spending habits.
It helps to make notes on your receipts if they don’t clearly state what you bought in a way you’ll remember in a few weeks.
There are apps you can download that will tap into your debit card and itemize what you spend money on for you but since that information is so sensitive, I only recommend using them at your own discretion.
With that said, pen and paper may take a little longer, but it’s certainly safer and it’s the method I currently use myself.
Doing this helps you to understand where your money is going.
It also helps when you do this to make a few columns for things you already know you spend money on. Say, if you like to stop at Starbucks on your way to work sometimes, go ahead and make a column for that. Add up what you spent and what kind of expense it was.
Don’t forget purchases you might not have a receipt for, like that soda and bag of chips from the vending machine at work.
For example Paul and I have weak spots for energy drinks (I know, they’re full of chemicals, but it’s a weakness none the less). When I track our spending, I go ahead and make a column for those and write down how much we spent each time, then add them all up.
This allows me to see not just what I spent on energy drinks during that time, but what I spent on those random “quick stops” we make and sometimes forget about.
The last time I went through this process, I was surprised at just how much we had spent on things like energy drinks, snacks and eating out, so I was able to identify some spending habits that were being completely overlooked.
In doing this, I was able to see that we were spending way too much on these purchases and I was able to get a handle on it by making myself more aware of the fact that there was a problem.
Now I’m not saying we never spend money on them at all anymore, but now we buy sodas occasionally instead, which are cheaper anyway. I not only saw this, but it also helped me see where I stop that our drinks are cheaper. $5 combos for one person became $1 menu purchases when we do eat fast food (which isn’t often anymore). We also started using coupons and taking advantage of in-store specials when we could.
Tracking your spending can help you see exactly where your money goes and help you curb spending in areas where you might not even be aware you’re spending so much.
If you see that you’re consistently spending money on a non-necessary item(s) you might want to consider adding it to your budget and giving yourself an allowance for those types of spending. This can help take some of the sting out of it and it certainly helps us.
Tracking you’re spending sounds like such a small step, but it can make a huge difference in how much money is left in your pocket when you get home.
The Tiny Hearth 