Getting My Frugal On

This past weekend my church held a consignment sale.

If you go on the second day of the sale the items are half off.

Channeling my inner Marie, Feeding Five, and Shauna, What I Love, I proceeded to buy gently used items for my kids at fantastic prices.

My kids were not willing to try everything on and model for me...so I had to splay everything out on the bed and take pics that way (I know not nearly as exciting).

For my 10 year old I picked up 3 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and pajama pants:

For his age group the pickings were slim.  I am sure it has everything to do with boys at this age being tough on their clothes.

My 5 year old racked up a few more items, although he was disappointed he couldn't find a pair of camo pants (for some reason he really wanted some):

He got 3 t-shirts, 2 shorts, 1 khaki pant, and a rain jacket.  Notice the camo John Deer tee.

However the winner in all of this was my daughter.  I suppose young girls take really good care of their clothes, plus they like to wear pretty dresses (which is of endless fascination for my daughter).

We were lucky enough to pick up this bounty:

1 flannel pajama set, 1 sweater, 3 skorts, 1 skirt, 1 t-shirt, 1 pair of jeans, 1 long sleeve linen shirt, and 6 dresses.  I am absolutely in love with the pink dress that is front and center of the second picture.

What was the grand total for this spree?  $51.50.

Yes got 27 pieces of clothing for $51.50.  That averages out to $1.90 per item.

When I came home and told my husband how good the sale went and how little we spent...he was sold on buying second hand from here on out.

I have to say that "No Impact Man" has made quite on impact on us.  Reusing items instead of buying new is really becoming our mindset.

Tomorrow I will have a little round up to let you know how some of our initiatives are going and to update you on the no poo.

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Self Sufficiency

What is this you might ask?

A fair enough question.

It is my first run at greening my beauty routine.

See last week I posted some goals I had to decrease my carbon footprint.

Part of my goals was to make my own shampoo.

With that I did a bunch of reading and it was suggested that you have a period of time where you wash your hair with baking soda and then use an apple cider vinegar rinse.

So enter the baking soda (on the white plate...no it is not a controlled substance), the tinted jar of apple cider rinse, lemon peel sugar scrub, and a lemon rind as a face tonic.

Before jumping in the shower on Sunday I used the lemon rind (I grated the zest to save for a future project) to rub all over my face as a toner (gently mind you, and stay away from the eyes...it can sting a little).  The lemon can help with purifying the skin cells (which helps with the signs of aging, skin problems, age spots, etc).

I got in the shower and rinsed my face and then I washed my hair with a tablespoon of baking soda.  I was a little worried once I got it in my hair, as I was not sure that it would all come out and/or that I would have a big greasy mess on my head before heading to church.

To make my fears a little worse I rinsed with the vinegar, which was super cold and smelled funny.  I used about half of the jar of rinse.

Things did improve when I used my sugar scrub as it smelled quite pleasant.

So how well did the items work?

Well it is probably too soon to tell if the lemon is going to make my skin look any younger, but I'll keep trying it and see what happens.  I figure if it makes the cells healthier it should give me a more vibrant appearance.

The scrub gave my skin a nice softness all day and the piece de resistance....my hair.

I was so very pleased once it dried and I could see that it was cleaner now then it has ever been.

My hair was nice, clean, and shiny.  I finally realized that what I had been reading was true.  You don't need the various shampoos to make you have a nice head of hair...you just need $1 to buy a box of baking soda and a bottle of apple cider vinegar.

To make the items above:

Vinegar Rinse:
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 C water

Sugar Scrub:
peel of 1 lemon
1/2 C sugar
olive oil

I cut up the lemon peel and put it, and the sugar, in my Vita-Mix.  I blended them together until they were of a fine consistency then added enough olive oil to make a paste (sorry I didn't measure how much oil I used, but I know it didn't take much).

So be sure to save your lemon peels (they can have a whole host of uses) such as:

• degreaser
• clean your microwave
• polish chrome
• deodorize your garbage disposal
• clean your stainless steel sink
• refresh your cutting board

What things do you do, or have you read about, that can green your beauty routine?

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