Growing an Organic Garden with Whitney Farms®

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms. All opinions are 100% mine.

An Organic Garden Needs Love, Too!

Gardening is a hobby for many, but it can also be a necessity in these tough economic times. I’ve already discussed how you can harvest your own seeds to maintain an heirloom garden, so today I’m going to discuss how you can aid plant development with organic products, rather than using plant foods that contain questionable chemicals.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the benefits of using Whitney Farms® organic plant food, Tomato and Vegetable food and their organic soil. These products make it easy to develop beautiful, healthy, organic gardens.

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How Does Your Organic Garden Grow?

Organic gardening starts with heirloom seeds. The problem that many organic gardeners face is that heirlooms don’t always produce the abundance that today’s hybrid plants do. This is the reason that so many of the hybrid plants are grown commercially. However, the fruits and vegetables of hybrid plants contain fewer nutrients than the heirloom. Further, because they are grown commercially, most produce found in supermarkets contain traces of chemicals from pesticides and plant foods.

Do you want that in your body? In your children’s bodies?

I don’t.

Would I like to have a big, beautiful garden? Of course! However, I want my garden to be free of deadly chemicals and free of hybrid plants that contain little nutritional value for my family. I feel that heirloom plants fruit, vegetables and flowers will provide more nutrients.

My organic garden dream:

My Organic Garden Dream

 

Why Choose Whitney Farms® Products for Organic Gardens?

Whitney Farms® offers a complete line of organic soils and plant foods. Because these products are 100% natural, they contain nothing artificial. Instead of being manufactured with chemicals and other questionable additives, these plant foods and soils are comprised of ingredients that come straight from the Earth; helping your plants thrive on the nutrients that have kept them in existence for centuries. Why use products laden with chemicals and other unnatural substances to obtain a bounty of giant fruits, vegetables and flowers when you don’t have to?

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For over 25 years, Whitney Farms® has been improving thier products. This has resulted in products that contain an array of beneficial microbes, macro and micronutrients that give your plants everything that they need to thrive. What’s more is that these products are a snap to apply to your garden.

Organic Plant Food

Worried about the smell of manure or the frustration of high dust? Don’t be. You’ll find that these products contain little to no dust and they are practically odorless!

Provide Your Family with an Array of Healthy Produce from Your Organic Garden

Growing your garden with Whitney Farms® plant foods and soils means that you know what your family and/or your customers will be eating – fresh, organic produce that has been grown without the use of harsh chemicals. For me, that’s more than enough reason to try these products.

Of course, you all know how much I love to save money, which is why I plan to use this $3 off Whitney Farms® coupon – and you can, too!

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This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Soaps from the Hive Review and #Giveaway

This review was written by Stephanie at Mom Goes Wild. Over 70 different bloggers have teamed up to help Stephanie promote this awesome review and giveaway…after all, it is for products from her very first sponsor! Call it a helping hand, call it sponsor love…I like to call it what you can expect from a fabulous blogger community.

 

Let’s see what Stephanie has to say – and don’t forget to enter the giveaway below when you’re done!

 

Check out my Natural Remedies page and you will instantly understand why I have a long love affair with honey. For me, honey is everything. If there is no honey in the house, panic sets in.
I’ve learned over many countless nights of obsessive research over the years, that honey has a great history. Here are two of my favourites, that I have never forgotten:
  • Ancient Romans greeted their guests with honey as “a gift from the gods and the elixir of life”.
  • England’s Queen Anne used honey to pamper her magnificent hair – a secret that was so closely guarded that it was disclosed only after her death.
Well, there ain’t no turning back now! My family is hooked on Soaps from the Hive.
Soaps from the Hive is located in the picturesque village of Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Frank Novak, the owner, and his wife work very hard on their little honey bee farm, to bring us the purest most natural soaps possible. They offer 7 different varieties of pure honey soap. All soaps are made with 100% natural ingredients and lots of pure natural honey, of course.


His & Her Shaving - This is my favourite, as Frank expected it would be. My skin has never been so moisturized. I have an awful time keeping it moisturized. Since I started using this soap, I haven’t reached for my skin moisturizer nearly as often as I was. I went from using it 3-4 times a day, down to using it just once.

His & Her Shaving consists of honey blended with Lavender and Tea Tree. This was originally designed for “Her” legs; however, “His” face loves it too.

 

Refreshing Morning Mint is the ultimate “wake up bar” and it’s a real fun looking soap. I really love how Soaps From the Hive swirl the ingredients together, not to mention hand bevel each and every bar of soap. The honey in this soap is blended with peppermint, lavender, fir needle and eucalyptus. Imagine the smell of this! Yumm!

 

This pretty Lavender & Oatmeal bar consists of honey, lavender and oatmeal. This can soothe irritated skin, ease a pounding headache,  release stress & tension, lull you to sleep after a bath or help heal a sunburn. Lavender, oatmeal and honey are, in my opinion, three of the most amazing natural ingredients for anything – whether it be soaps, shampoos, natural remedies…..they are truly gifts from Mother Earth.  My favourite experience with this soap is that, I cut off a piece and slipped it in my daughters pillow case to help her doze off to dreamland.  And, unlike any of the other lavender soaps I’ve used for this, the smell hasn’t faded and it’s been two weeks. Lavender is a natural sleep aid. The scent relaxes your body and calms you to sleep. Yay for that!

This Mojito soap is one of my all time favourites.  I could eat it! I love the smell and the colours.  It consists of honey blended with spearmint & lime. Use it as a facial and body soap on oily skin. It’s known to soothe headaches and invigorate senses. 

Lemon Poppyseed is the mother of all exfoliating soaps I’ve ever used. You need to try this! The honey is blended with lemon and poppyseeds. This soap is also known to stimulate the immune system.

The Spiced Garden is so pretty too. Don’t ya think? This was my husband’s favourite – because it looks masculine of course. It got my approval because of its ingredients of honey blended with clove bud, cinnamon leaf and sweet orange, which is an excellent antiseptic. This is the soap I placed in the soap dish in our bathroom, knowing everyone will use it to wash up.

Unscented. Honey. Yup! Nothing in this soap but lots of Honey! Anyone that knows me, knows how I have become accustomed to unscented products. Unless it’s a natural scent, I can’t handle it at all. Perfumes and man made fragrances – well I can sniff them out a mile away. This is a must have for those who have are sensitive to scents.

Soaps from the Hive are $7/ bar. They offer wholesale pricing and free delivery on orders over $100. There is a lot of work that go into these soap bars, and I truly appreciate that all of the ingredients are 100% all natural.
As the old saying goes, “Honey is the dew distilled from the stars and rainbow”, which makes these products, in my opinion, a gift from Mother Earth.





Visit Soaps from the Hive on-line, and while you are there, check out Frank’s other passion – Above and Beeyond

(I received one or more Soaps from the Hive products to write my review. All opinions are my own and mine alone. I was in no way influenced by Soaps from the Hive in my review nor did I receive any monetary compensation. I only recommend products that are a good fit for my readers.)
How would you like a chance to win some of these amazing gifts from Mother Earth?
One winner will win the following: Two (2) Lavender Oatmeal Honey, One (1) Shaving, Tee Tree Honey and generous samples of each one of their other All Natural Honey Soaps along with a $25 gift certificate towards a future on-line purchase.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Ten Ways to Save Water

When it comes to ways to save money, one thing that people tend to overlook is how to save on their water bill. Water conservation is extremely important. Best of all, you can lower your monthly bills easily by taking a few simple steps.

Here are ten easy ways to save water and money:

1. Dishes: When you are doing dishes by hand, do not let the water continue to run while you are rinsing. If you have two sinks, fill one sink with the water to wash the dishes in and the other with rinse water.
If you have a dishwasher you should only run it when it is full of dishes. This can save almost 500 gallons of water a month. Purchasing an energy efficient dishwasher can help lower the amount of water that you use as well.

2. Laundry: When doing laundry, make sure to only run the washing machine when it is full. Consider purchasing an energy efficient washing machine as well.

3. Drinking water: Instead of using the tap to get your water, keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator. This will ensure that there is less water running down the drain every time you get a drink.

4. Bill: Monitor your bill. Watch your water meter as well. An extremely high bill is a signal that you may have some type of leak.

5. Appliances: When you go to purchase new appliances choose ones that have load and cycle adjustment options. These types of appliances are typically more energy and water efficient.

6. Showers: Spend one or two minutes less in the shower and you can save as much as 150 gallons of water a month. Invest in an energy efficient shower head.


7. Toilets: If you have older toilets, upgrade to newer models that are more energy efficient.

8. Food Preparation: When rinsing vegetables, use a bowl of water instead of running the faucet. You can use the extra water to water your plants.

9. Water Barrels: Use water barrels to collect rain water. This water can be used for watering your garden, landscaping and grass if necessary.

10. Water Timers: If you use sprinklers or irrigation systems for your yard, make sure to set timers for them. Only run them for a short amount of time and only when necessary.

When it comes to water conservation, there are many simple things that you can do to help save water. Just by simply thinking about how often you turn on your faucet and how much water you use, you will come up with all sorts of ways to start saving on your water bill.

Have something to add? Tell us how you save money on your water bill!

 

Image Credit – fox_kiyo

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

My True Nature Review

I recently had the opportunity to review a couple of products from My True Nature. The company was founded by Kelly Boyd, whose goal was to create safe products for her child that worked as good as most mainstream soaps and shampoos, but that were made of completely natural ingredients. When she couldn’t find anything that she was happy with, she created her own.

The products that My True Nature currently offers are:

  • Dewey’s Natural Baby Bubble Bath
  • Daisy’s Natural 2-in-1 Shampoo and Body Wash
  • Ollie’s Natural Hand Soap

The products that I got the chance to try were Dewey’s Natural Baby Bubble Bath and Daisy’s Natural 2-in-1 Shampoo and Body Wash. Each is made of completely natural, certified organic ingredients.

The first thing I want to note is that my son is a fair complected redhead with super sensitive skin, so I’m always a bit on edge when I try new products on him. (Yes, this is a little boy in these pictures. He just has long hair because I can’t bear to cut those curls off again.) It just makes me nervous because I don’t want him to break out or be miserable for even a small period of time – it’s just the over-protective mother in me. However, using these products didn’t make me feel that way.

Why? Well, because I could find all of the information about the ingredients right on the website and then look them up for additional information. Aside from being able to learn more about the ingredients used, I also thought it was great that they have a list of harmful ingredients (that they DO NOT use) present on their site to keep parents and caregivers informed.

I used Dewey’s Natural Baby Bubble Bath first, of course. I squeezed a little over a half ounce into the base of the tub as the water was running and walked out of the room for a moment to get my son ready. He LOVES bath time, but he also loves to play hard to get, so sometimes I have to chase him down. I have to admit, I didn’t really expect to see a lot of bubbles when I went back into the bathroom, but there they were! It was almost like a giant fluffy cloud had landed in my tub! Of course, this made my son happy because he’s a bubble popper.  The bubble bath  has a very clean, light floral scent – and I stress light because it is only lightly scented in  my opinion, which is not a problem for me and my son, but others may prefer a stronger scent.


Wyatt and My True Nature - Lots of Bubbles!

 

 My True Nature Bubble Bath

Of course, I tried Daisy’s Natural 2-in-1 Shampoo and Body Wash next. I’ve been using a product that was lavender scented on him, so it took me a few minutes to get used to the scent of the shampoo and body wash, but it doesn’t smell bad by any means. Just a different smell than I’m used to. In fact, the scent is definitely natural and pretty darn refreshing – it kind of reminded me of laying in a field of wildflowers in the spring.

The shampoo also lathers up remarkably well compared to other all-natural products that I’ve tried and all I used was about a dime-sized amount, which pleasantly surprised me. I could even make little rooster tails with my son’s hair! Some of the other baby shampoos I’ve used couldn’t do that, so I was pretty happy with that aspect. My mom and my grandma used to lather us up and give us cool hair designs when we took baths, so it allowed me to reminisce a bit.

My True Nature Shampoo and Body Wash

Another thing I liked about the shampoo was that it washed clean fairly easily. I think I used three cups of water to rinse it out, which is amazing considering that I typically use nearly 8 cupfuls of water to rinse his regular shampoo out. Like most kids, my son hates to get soap in his eyes, so I do my best to keep that from happening. That said, I can’t say for sure if it’s truly tear-free or not because he didn’t get any of it in his eyes and I wasn’t going to be a big meanie and “accidentally” test it out.

 

I used another dime sized amount to put in the wash rag and that did the trick for the body wash. I also think it’s fantastic that My True Nature has fun little characters on the bottles – they are adorable and my son loved them. The very next night, he said, “Mommy, I want the skunk and the dragon! Get them for me, mommy, get them!” and pointed up at the bottles. I think the characters would be fabulous tub-toys.

Overall, I was very pleased with both products. As I previously mentioned, my son has sensitive skin and neither product caused any adverse skin reactions to occur – not even a single splotch! You know what that makes? A happy baby and an even happier mommy.

If you are interested in learning more about My True Nature and the products that they have to offer, you can visit them at: www.mytruenature.net, follow them on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with the new products that they will soon have coming out!

Also, My True Nature has offered to sponsor one of the prizes in my upcoming giveaway, which will begin on November 1st and run through the 25th – so if you’re interested in trying these amazing products, you just might be able to snag them (and a lot more) completely free! Don’t forget to check back on 11/1/11 to enter!

Have you used My True Nature products yet? If so, share your opinion!

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Going Organic: Your “Quick” Guide to Buying Organic Produce

We all know that eating organic produce is good for our bodies and the earth, but it isn’t always easy on the pocketbook. Now, wouldn’t you think that not purchasing mass quantities of pesticides would make things cheaper? Unfortunately, it doesn’t.

Still, if you’d like to purchase organic food for you and your family but aren’t sure if you can afford it, consider limiting your organic purchases to what the Environmental Working Group (EWG) calls the “Dirty Dozen.” And, no, they are not referring to the movie, though it is dirty in its own right.

The Dirty Dozen represents the foods that have been found to have the most pesticide residue on them and are the most important to buy organic. If you buy anything organic, it should be these 12 foods, since they tend to have higher levels of pesticides present in them when grown on a non-organic farm:

The Dirty Dozen

  1. Apples
  2. Celery
  3. Strawberries
  4. Peaches
  5. Spinach
  6. Nectarines (imported)
  7. Grapes (imported)
  8. Bell peppers
  9. Potatoes
  10. Blueberries (domestic)
  11. Lettuce
  12. Kale/collard greens

The EWG has also identified the “Clean 15,” which are the fruits and vegetables lowest in pesticide residue. These foods have the lowest levels of contamination, usually due to a thick peel that protects the edible part of the food. It’s much less important that you buy these foods organic. And if you don’t buy anything organic, sticking mainly to these foods will significantly lower your pesticide exposure.


The Clean 15

  1. Onions
  2. Sweet corn
  3. Pineapples
  4. Avocado
  5. Asparagus
  6. Sweet peas
  7. Mangos
  8. Eggplant
  9. Cantaloupe (domestic)
  10. Kiwi
  11. Cabbage
  12. Watermelon
  13. Sweet potatoes
  14. Grapefruit
  15. Mushrooms

Remember, eating fruits and vegetables is crucial to our health, and the benefits of consuming produce far outweigh the risks associated with pesticide exposure from conventionally grown (non-organic) produce. Eat your fruits and veggies!

Editor’s Note: In addition, non-organic does not always mean that no pesticides are present. Instead, it means that a lower rate of pesticides is present in farming and no pesticides are used in production. When in doubt, research is always the best policy.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Going Green and Saving With Family Cloth

Over the past few years, I’ve been looking for ways to make my family’s home a little greener. A family of five can use up a lot of resources, after all. A major change was switching to more reusable products, rather than using disposables. This has included cloth diapering and making my own “unpaper” towels (tutorial idea?). Well, I recently made another switch to what many people call “family cloth,” meaning I now use cloth wipes instead of toilet paper.

Now, let me clarify. I only use family cloth for, how shall I say, number one. From what I can tell, that’s how the majority of people use it, although I’m sure there are many who go whole hog and use family cloth exclusively. I’m not going to say I won’t make that leap at some point, but not yet.

This change alone has drastically reduced our spending on toilet paper. Considering I’m the only potty trained female in the house, I used the majority of the toilet paper. I’m not even sure how often I buy it now, but it’s rare. Of course, we still keep it around for our “other needs” and guests. Family cloth is obviously good for the environment, too, and I’m happy to save a few trees if I can.

Saving money and the planet aren’t the only benefits of using family cloth. It’s also much softer and easier to use than toilet paper. As much as toilet paper manufacturers are always trying to come up with a softer version (that doesn’t fall apart on you), nothing comes close to a cotton wipe (or fleece, or velour, or sherpa etc.). Reusable wipes are also larger and thicker than toilet paper, making you know what a whole lot easier. I always praised cloth wipes for my babies; why not for me, too?


You’re probably wondering, at this point, how it works. I’ll walk you through what I do. I use Thirsties wipes, which I first purchased as baby wipes. I liked them so much for my babies that I bought some more for myself. They’re about 8×8 inches and made of velour on one side and microfleece on the other. (I love Thirsties cloth diaper products and appreciate that the company employs work-at-home moms to make its products). You could also choose from many other wipes available online, or you could make your own if you sew. I’ve even heard of people simply using old T-shirts cut up into squares.

I keep the wipes in a basket next to the toilet. I also keep a small wetbag nearby to put them it after use. I would recommend this work-at-home mom’s wetbags. I have four and love them! When the bag gets full, I dump its contents and the bag itself into the washing machine. Since I also have babies in cloth diapers, I wash my family cloth along with the cloth diapers, but you could wash it with your regular laundry, especially if you only use it “part-time” like me. Just don’t use fabric softener on your wipes because it leaves a residue that will affect their absorbency.

In the picture below, you can see the basket of wipes on the table and the wetbag hanging from the door handle.

It’s that easy! Would you ever consider making the switch to family cloth?

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Making Homemade Baby Food: A Picture Tutorial

Making homemade baby food is a healthy, inexpensive way to feed your baby. Today, I prepared and froze about one week’s worth of homemade baby food for my twins. Follow along to see just how I did it.

What you’ll need:

  • Fresh fruits, vegetables or both
  • Peeler
  • Knife
  • Pot
  • Steamer basket
  • Food Processor
  • Bowls
  • Potato masher
  • Fork
  • Strainer
  • Freezable containers (you can also use ice trays covered in plastic wrap if you don’t have these)

First, I selected the foods, choosing those that are typically recommended as “first foods.” We have bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes and peaches on today’s menu. Don’t overbuy! Notice I only have two of each item. A little goes a long way. I’m choosing to steam all my food today, since it’s one of – if not the – healthiest methods to make homemade baby food. I started with the peaches. Try to use fruit that is quite ripe, so it’ll be nice and soft.

 

Peel them, and remove the pit from the center.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, dice the peaches into relatively even chunks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add the peaches to a steamer basket. I have a silicon steamer placed over one inch of simmering water. I put the lid on and let it cook for about 7 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the peaches were fork tender, I placed them in the refrigerator to cool. Then, I added them to my food processor and let it whirl until very smooth. I added a bit of  water (maybe ¼ cup? It will vary) to make it an extra-smooth, first-food-baby’s-ever-eaten consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the sweet potatoes. I started by peeling them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dicing one sweet potato, I realized that was plenty and set the other one aside. Just like with the peaches, I steamed the sweet potatoes, let them cool in the refrigerator and pureed them in the food processor, adding water as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neither the bananas nor the avocados need to be cooked; they already have a soft constancy, perfect for babies. Cut the avocados in half by working your knife around the pit in a circular motion. Once you’ve reached where you inserted your knife, set the knife down and twist the two avocado halves to open it. To remove the pit easily, give it a whack with your knife and twist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scoop the flesh out of the avocados by running a large spoon around the inside of the rind. Then, mash it up in a bowl. I used a potato masher, but you could also use a fork. One of my avocados wasn’t as ripe as I would have liked, and I had quite a few chunks left. So, I chose to work the avocado through a mesh strainer.

 

 

 

 

 

It was extra work, but I wanted a super smooth consistency for a first food. Here’s what I ended up with. After this pic, I added some water to make it runnier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I mashed the bananas in a bowl. Like the avocados, I then worked the bananas through a mesh strainer, and ended up with this – a very runny bowl of bananas, without adding any water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All I had to do from there was add the food to my containers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready for the freezer!

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Living Green: Making the Switch to Cloth

When I first got out of college, I knew that I wanted to be a more environmentally conscious person, but I felt overwhelmed to think of where I was versus where I wanted to be. My husband and I started taking baby steps, and while we still have big dreams for eco-friendly living in the future, I am proud of how far we have come.

One of the small steps along the way occurred to me about two years ago. I have always struggled with seasonal allergies. Over the course of my life, I have probably already consumed far more than my fair share of Kleenex. I’m also the kind of person who never has any on hand! I don’t know what caused the light bulb to come on for me, but a couple of years ago it suddenly occurred to me that I could become a person who used handkerchiefs. Truly, it was a revelation.

I became a hankie person immediately. I remembered that my husband had gotten some handkerchiefs in his stocking the previous Christmas which he never used. So that was my starting place. While I was on a trip visiting home, my Grandma noticed me using a handkerchief and said, “Oh! I’ve been waiting for years to find someone to give these to,” and off she went to her bedroom. She emerged with a whole pile of very old, very lovely hankies. I love them. Recently she bought me a whole new stash of bright, patterned ones. I try to have a hankie with me at all times now—which has come in handy in my first year of motherhood, let me assure you!

After I made the switch to hankies, I realized how easy it would be to make the switch in the kitchen, too. I had my mom make me a bunch of cloth napkins, which we have been using pretty exclusively ever since.

Replacing paper towels altogether takes a little more planning, but it can be done. I highly recommend stocking up on microfiber cloths. They are highly absorbent, which is not something of which every kitchen towel or cloth napkin can boast.


There is neither time nor space here to talk about cloth toilet paper, but let me give you the heads-up:  It’s out there and there are people who have made the switch. Once you have put your baby in cloth diapers, it’s not such a stretch.

Wherever you’re at on the eco-friendly journey, there is a place for you on the switching-to-cloth spectrum. It is yet another example of how living green and thrifty living can come together.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

How We Save Money on Our Electric Bill

Occasionally, I’ll hear friends or relatives mention how much their electricity bill was this month, and I smile a little inside because I know mine is lower. Not that having a lower electric bill is a competition, but it does feel good when I see that the effort we’ve put into paying less each month is working. If you’re wondering how to pay less for electricity, here are a few things we do around our house to save:

We started when we bought the house. Built in the 1940s, our little place needed some big upgrades. We insulated the attic and replaced all the windows to seal up the house nice and tight. We also put in an energy efficient furnace. We didn’t live in the home before making these improvements, so I can’t make a comparison, but by comparing our electric bill to other families’, I’m convinced that these upgrades had a huge impact on our energy bill.

A smaller improvement we made right away was installing a $100 programmable thermostat. With it, we can set the temp to stay warmer in the house while we’re away in the summer, or cooler while we’re out during the winter. This was especially useful when I worked outside the home; I would set it to reach the comfortable temp an hour before we got home. We also have the thermostat programmed to stay cooler/ warmer while we’re asleep.

A no-cost change is to lower the temperature on your hot water heater to 120 degrees. Sorry, I can’t help you with how to do this. My dad (the handiest guy I know) did it for me. He said it’s easy, though. I’ve also heard of wrapping the hot water heater with an insulated blanket, but I haven’t tried that.

Use less hot water. I take short showers. I’m not certain if that’s to save money or because I’m a mama who’s lucky to squeeze in a quick one while the babies aren’t screaming. Only run the dishwasher when it’s full (why do dishes more than you have to?).


We also switched all our light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). I’m not arguing their effectiveness, but honestly, our experience with them has been hit or miss. Some we’ve installed have burnt out after one a couple weeks. Others, though, have lasted much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. Maybe it depends on the brand; I haven’t quite figured that out, yet.

One day, I’ll have all energy-star appliances. For now, I don’t. We bought all our appliances when we moved in as newlyweds, and the objective was cheap, cheap, cheap.

These changes will not only help your reduce your bills, but you’ll also be living a little greener.

Photo courtesy of Lydia.

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Do It Yourself: Make Your Own Shampoo

Nearly a year and a half ago I jumped on the ‘poo-free bandwagon. Going shampoo-free is a movement that is growing in popularity, although it is not a new idea. The theory behind living without shampoo is that the soap in shampoo dries out your scalp’s natural oils. When that happens, your scalp responds by creating excess oil, which then causes you to want to wash your hair more often, and so on.

I had two main motivations for giving up shampoo (and conditioner): (1) to save money, and (2) to switch to more natural products. The longer I live, the less excited I am about rubbing substances into my skin that I cannot pronounce. Something in me says, “Warning! Lay off the unidentifiable substances, please!”

For those of us who have dispensed with shampoo and conditioner, our new cleansers and conditioners are made from baking soda and vinegar. The baking soda mixture replaces shampoo and the apple cider vinegar mixture replaces conditioner. Baking soda and vinegar go together like ice cream and apple pie; I don’t recommend one without the other. Baking soda alone will make your hair feel like straw.

If you are ready to try it out, here are a few tips before you get started. First locate two squeeze-bottle containers. I saved two agave containers after the agave was used up. They are the perfect size and have the necessary squeeze-able top. Honey, ketchup, mustard — any of these squeeze-able plastic bottles would work. Next, prepare yourself: It’s going to take your scalp a week to adjust to the new system. Your hair is going to be as greasy as it has ever been for at least five days. For this reason, I made the switch while we were on vacation; no one from my normal life had to experience the transitional phase!


After you have found some containers, make up your mixtures. Ratios of baking soda and water will vary according to your hair type. If you have “normal” hair (not oily and not dry), start out by trying a ratio of two tablespoons of baking soda to one cup of water. Shake your bottle vigorously before each use. For your conditioner, try mixing ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar with one cup of water.

Perfect recipes are not necessary for this to work! I heard about the system but never read up on the details and ended up using equal parts baking soda, vinegar, and water for over a year—and my hair still looked and felt fine! Experiment widely until you find ratios that work for you.

I haven’t used shampoo for a year and a half and my hair looks as good as it ever did. If anything, I have experienced a little more body, and my natural curl is slightly more prominent now. I recommend giving it a try. You’ve got very little to lose and lots of money to save in the process.

This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page