Homemade Laundry Soap

I first made my own laundry soap last year (adapted by lizmarieblog) and fell in love with it. Not only do I save a ton of money, about $30 to make, but also I know exactly whats in it.

After doing some research regarding septic units I found that Fels Naptha, which I used in my first recipe, isn’t good to use. opps my bad. So this year I changed up the recipe just a little bit to make it septic friendly.

1 box borax (laundry aisle)

1 box Arm & Hammer Baking soda (laundry aisle)

1 box Arm & Hammer Super washing soda (laundry aisle)

4 lbs Oxi Clean (laundry aisle)

Purex Crystals (laundry aisle)

3 bars of Dr. Bonners Pure-Castile Bar of soap

**If you are pregnant please either wear a mask or have your husband mix the ingredients due to the fumes

In a large bucket pour in the Borax, Baking soda, Washing soda, Oxi Clean, Purex Crystals and then grate the bar of soaps with a cheese grater. Mix well and convert to a glass container (found at Walmart). This recipe will make 3 Gallons and lasted us a full year with 2 people!

Learning to be grateful

I have been going back and forth as to whether or not to post this but something just keeps telling me too so here it is.

One of the biggest personal struggles I deal with is comparing myself to others. I find myself asking why others have nicer homes or cars, or why their home is always perfect. Well I might not be able to cure my insecurities, but I definitely have learned to be grateful for everything I do have. These past 2 months have taught me that. Here is a rundown of the roller coaster my husband and I have been on.

On March 26^th 2015, we found out we were pregnant. We had been trying for a few months, so I had a few tests in the bathroom. That evening I was taking Karl for a run and my boobs were killing me. I decided to take a test, even though it was a few days before my missed period. The only ones I had in my bathroom were the ones with the + symbol, so I peed on the magic stick and waited. We got a clear line and a very fainted other line. After Chad and I both examined the stick, I decided to run to Walmart to get a digital one that clearly states Pregnant or NOT Pregnant. After the initial excitement, the fear settled in.

On April 5^th 2015, we were driving home from Dallas after visiting our friends and shopping for furniture. It had been raining all night so the roads were really slick. We just got out of Dallas, when we hydroplaned and hit the concrete barrier, totaling our car. Luckily, we were able to position the car for a side impact causing us to not be injured. I was terrified that we had just lost our baby. I truly believe the good Lord was looking out for us and our little nugget. The 2.5 of us walked away unharmed.

On May 9^th 2015, Karl started to get really sick. He started throwing up and not being able to eat or drink. He continued this into Sunday, so we ran to the vet. They gave him an anti-vomit shot and we went home. Later that night he threw up again, which prompted us to return to the vet on Monday. He stayed there until Tuesday and then, after sending results to a specialist, they had us go to a 24 hour clinic where they performed surgery. As they were going through our estimate on surgery, they asked us if they were allowed to perform CPR if he was turning south. I immediately lost it, just the idea of this being a possibility. We dropped him off on May 12^th at 8:30 and they called us at 1:00am telling us everything went great. He ended up eating a piece of carpet or pieces (looks like we’re investing in hardwood floors now) it was stuck 4 inches from his colon. He almost passed it but it was pulling some intestines along with it, so they ended up having to take out 5 inches of his bowel. We are so grateful that he is now ok and they were able to get it out. We picked him up on May 14^th 2015.

(Karl after he got home from the hospital, he was happy to be home)

On May 12^th 2015, I went into work early since I couldn’t sleep. On my way to work I hit a raccoon. It was literally the size of a baby bear cub, this thing was huge. Apparently it had a coat of armor on too, because it did pretty good damage to my NEW car.

These past 2 months have been rough and challenging but they have also made us stronger, not only individually but as a couple as well. It’s so easy to blame your spouse or to take it out on them for everything that’s going on, but they are going through just as much. We show emotions in so many different ways. Even though he’s not crying because our (fur)baby is in the hospital, doesn’t mean he’s not nervous or worried or scared just as much as you are. It also doesn’t mean they don’t love them any less either. I mean it’s a good thing at least one of us is strong, could you imagine if both of us were bawling our eyes out when we had to say good night to Karl before surgery? Life throws us all sorts of challenges no matter who you are, it’s how you deal with them that matters. We are definitely crossing this bump(mountain) in the road but it’s a lot easier when you have a positive out take on it. No matter how low this point can be, it could always be worse than what it is. I am grateful for a man that is strong for me and for his family, I’m grateful for our health and knowing our little fur baby and human baby are ok. I’m grateful that we have worked hard over the years to save up for emergencies, like these, so that finances don’t add additional stress to an already stressful series of events. And above all else, I’m grateful for the love of our heavenly Father who is always looking out for us. 

Forecasting the New Year

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love a fresh start and planning all the fun adventures for the New Year. It’s also a time to reflect on the past year, it seems to be that I never get done everything that I wished for or hoped for at the beginning of the year. Last year my New Year’s resolution was to get organized and decorate our bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Well we did some progress but not 100% complete. I am so indecisive about decorating; I try and focus on one thing but then end up finding things for the kitchen, dining room, etc. This year my resolution is to take more pictures. I find myself so caught up in the moment that I forget to cherish the moment with a quick photo. For example, this year was our first Christmas together and we didn’t get a picture of the both of us.

Another reason why I love this time of year, is that it’s an opportunity for Chad and I to discuss our plans for the upcoming year. Each year we sit down and discuss our vacation plans, home projects, etc. We then estimate how much each item will cost and add everything up and divide by 12. We put this amount away each month in our savings account. Last year we planned on having a fence put in, buying bedroom furniture, go to San Diego, pay part of our honeymoon and also save up for a truck for Chad. We were able to pay for all these things with cash since we had it in our savings! What are your plans for the upcoming year?

(picture from our honeymoon in Punta Cana)

How I became debt free (except the house)

I was raised in a pretty normal household. My parents had a car payment and their mortgage and I just thought everyone lived that way and that was the way of life. My parents also installed in both me and my sister the importance of a dollar and hard work. I had my newspaper route, and I started working in concession stands at a very young age. Now that I think about it, I think my parents got tired of me complaining during my sister’s softball games so they put me to work, hmmm. My parents also taught us that if we want something we work for it. So when we were in college, my parent’s allocated money monthly for bills, rent, etc. but if we needed/wanted anything else we need to get a job to pay for it. And since I like nice things and had been working throughout high school, I went out and got a job.

I started working at White House Black Market. There I met friends that will always be huge influences in my life. One day about a year after I started working there, and right after I purchased my very own car all by myself, my supervisor (who was only about 30 years old) was talking to me about Dave Ramsey and how she was debt free, except her house, but had a goal to pay off her house in just a few short years. If you’re familiar with DaveRamsey this is baby step 6. I was fascinated by this conversation and wanted to know more! She didn’t come across as being well off or wealthy, she didn’t drive a nice vehicle, in fact it was a manual, single cab, ford truck and she didn’t buy expensive clothes but she was well off in my books. I remember looking Dave Ramsey up on the internet and looking at his baby steps and thinking there is no way. Buy everything with cash, including a car; you have to be out of your mind. I put the conversation towards the back of mind just telling myself “it’s not normal” until I started going to a new church. (We actually still go to this church and absolutely love it there; you can find out more information or find a campus near you, here)

They did a special with Dave Ramsey himself, remembering the conversation with my supervisor I knew I had to go and find out more. My pastor spoke first and he told us his story of becoming debt free. I have to be honest here, I was truly thinking “another one how many are there”. Dave later came on and spoke about being debt free and his journey. I was so moved by this sermon that from that day it really changed my life. I purchased my first Dave Ramsey book and got to reading. I also changed my lifestyle and started a budget, for the first time. I started shopping at Ross and TJ Maxx instead of shopping at department stores. I started waiting on sales to come out and didn’t buy anything unless I got a really good deal for it. I was in it to win it. You can call me crazy all you want, I’ll take it.

If you remember, I had just bought a new car all my own. I had a loan for the first time. I was scared to death after the Dave Ramsey presentation and I remember asking myself “why didn’t I wait?”, “What was wrong with my old car?”. To be quiet honest I wouldn’t change it. It really taught me a lot about being determined and about striving for something that meant so much to me, getting it paid off. 

The process took me about 2 years to get my car paid off. Was it hard, yes, especially being in college and not having that much of an income. I would work every chance I got. There was one time I was working 3 jobs. In the end it was completely worth everything I had strived for. Dave Ramsey talks about the snow ball effect. It means writing down all of your debts and picking the one you owe the least amount of money on and start there. Since my car was the only debt I had, after it was paid off I was debt free before I graduated from College.

It was easy to say “no” to certain things while I was in school. When I graduated and starting working it got to be a lot harder and I started to fall into my old pattern. I never got back into debt but I found myself buying things I didn’t need and paying for them full price. I was making money now, real money and I felt like I needed to live up to that. Luckily Dave was there to catch me once again. I purchased one of his other books and starting focusing back on the baby steps that he talks about.

When my husband and I first starting dating it was difficult, you see he was still in school and had a school loan. We talked about money but not that much, I mean I was still trying to win him not scare him. As soon as we got engaged we really started to talk about money and talked about getting his loans paid off before we got married. It was something that was very important to me to be financially stable before we got married and especially before we have kids. I referenced Dave Ramsey so many times that I think he was going to go crazy if I mentioned him one more time. He grew up the same way I did where his parents had loans and just thought that it was the way of life. When he started joining me in going to our church together he really started to understand the importance of being debt free.

I am beyond blessed to have a man that is on the same page as I am when it comes to finances. I understand that this is a touchy subject and one of the leading causes of divorce. I know that it can be difficult if both parties do not see eye to eye on this subject.

Throughout this whole process my whole perceptions of wealthy people have changed completely. Most people think that if someone is driving a nice car, carrying an expensive handbag, goes on vacations every 6 months that they are wealthy. I think of them differently. Dave Ramsey quotes this book “The Millionaire Next Door”. It talks about the surprising secrets of Millionaires and the statistics. You see real Millionaires aren’t the ones driving expensive cars, you’ll find them driving used Ford’s instead just like my old supervisor.

Did I mention that it’s HARD? I can’t tell you how many times I would love to just go to a car dealership and sign my name to get a new car instead of saving up cash or to just put a vacation on a credit card. Yes it’s hard, yes it takes a ton of dedication, yes people will try and take advantage of you and judge you. I’ll be the first one to tell you that it’s worth it and people can judge all they want. Chad and I had a huge unexpected expense that came up this year and although the situation was stressful in itself it was less stressful because we were able to pay it off in cash. The worry and the weight of money and the stress is lifted.

I know this was a really long post but hopefully it will touch and inspire someone!

Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover
Dave Ramsey - Financial Peace
Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruz - Smart Money Smart Kids (I have not read this one yet but they came to speak at our church and it's definitely on the must read list before kids)

Budget for the Holidays

I cannot believe that we only have 9 Saturdays before Christmas, crazy! The holidays are such a fun and exciting time of year but it can also be very stressful with all the presents to buy. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to go broke around Christmas or have to rack up your credit cards just because it’s the holidays. It’s all about making a plan and today is the day to start! My family always makes fun of me because I ask for their Christmas list way far in advance but hey that’s who I am. This is how I survive the Christmas blues. Starting in September, I write down a list of people we need to buy for plus the extra’s that always come up like those Christmas parties you don’t expect to go to that ask for you to bring a present, etc. I then assign a set budget amount for the individuals on my list (yes family you are assigned a number, sorry not sorry). I add up my “Christmas” budget and divide by the number of months left until Christmas, I then include that amount in our monthly budget so my budget and wallet aren’t shocked when it comes December. And yes you guessed it I start buying Christmas presents in September, if you don’t wish to start buying Christmas in September set the money aside that  you budgeted each month and when you purchase something pay it off with what you have saved.

Another great idea if you are tight this year is to make homemade presents; sometimes personal gifts are so much more meaningful and make for the perfect present.

 
No one should have to keep paying for Christmas in April and months beyond that. The key though is to plan ahead, make this Christmas the year you don’t go broke!