UPDATE ::  Not all baking sodas are created equal. More info at the bottom.

That’s right, I am no longer shampooing my hair.  I am sure you have heard about this since it seems to be all the rage. And I’m not gonna lie, I am LOVING it.

I heard about this almost a year ago. I was intrigued, but never tried it.

THEN

I was with a group of friends back in April and we were talking hair. I was sharing my frustration because my hair had become so dull and lifeless. I had tried several shampoos, yet nothing seemed to make my hair shiny or make it feel like it had more body.

So I again Googled “no more shampoo”.  I then forwarded my info on to my friend and we both began the no shampoo.

For the first week I still had to use product in my hair after I “shampooed” with baking soda. My hair still was dry and fly away hair. By week 2 I didn’t have to use any product in my hair at all. I do have to straighten my hair when I wash it because it has an annoying ugly curl. I tried to let it go, but there is not enough curl in it.

My hair is shiny and it does have more body than before. I am now 5 months in and I will never go back to actual shampoo. There have been a few occasions where I ran out of my baking soda mixture and grabbed shampoo because I had worked out and I was sweaty and gross.  I regretted it each time. My hair instantly felt heavy and limp again.

This is great for traveling because you can just throw baking soda in a baggy and add it to water when you get to your destination.

Why You Should Consider This ::

Shampoos and conditioners are full of chemicals. They are made to strip your hair of product, but they also just strip your hair. Like I said before, I am no longer needing other products, so now there is nothing to strip anything.

It’s cheaper. Even if you can get shampoo for under $1, this is still cheaper. I have products that I purchased for 25¢ and I won’t even be using those.

What’s the harm? That was my thought. I would at least try it and if I liked it I would report in with all of you. Well, I am reporting in, just like hundreds of other bloggers. We all like it. We are all happy with the results and we like our hair even better.

How To “Wash” Your Hair Now ::

1-2 Tbls. of baking soda mixed with 8oz of water. This will be enough to last you for at least a week. Mess around with the amounts. I like mine with a little more baking soda.

For the conditioner use 1-2 tbls. apple cider vinegar also with 8oz of water. Use this just on your hair and not on your roots. It will make your hair greasy if you use it on your roots. The apple cider vinegar works a a detangler, so if you don’t need it for that you can even skip it as I have.

You need to give yourself at least 5-6 weeks to work through the greasy phase. Your hair is being striped daily when you put chemicals on it. So it’s producing extra oil to keep it healthy. Once you stop striping it, it does take awhile for your body to know to stop producing extra oil, but it will.

Not only is it good for your hair, but it’s also great for your budget. I bought a huge bag of baking soda from Costco for around $5.

Anyone else tried it?

Here are other uses for apple cider vinegar if you decide not to use it in your hair. Using it as deodorant or getting rid of cold sores.

UPDATE :: Not all baking sodas are created equal ::

• If you are trying this and its just not working use less baking soda in your mix.
• I have also found that only Arm and Hammer works for me.
• And only the small boxes not the Costco container.
• Trader Joe’s also does NOT work for me.
• Your hair should feel light healthy, not heavy and thick. It will become greasy way too fast if it’s like that.

Want more information? Check out Simple Mom. I like the way she laid it out and even she even includes some extra tips.

Photo credit

Need some extra cash? No time to get another job? Sounds like it’s time to give up a few things. Some are realistic, some aren’t. Even choosing one or two things could save you $100 a month.

Let’s start with the basics

• Stop getting your coffee at the local coffee shop
• Stop eating lunch out
• Stop buying flowers for your significant other.  Just kidding, keep doing that!!

IN THE HOME

• Unplug things when you aren’t home. Seriously who remembers to do that?
• Replace your old bulbs with the new bulbs. I won’t lie, that’s a tough one too, since the new ones are so expensive.
• Close the curtains in the winter to keep the heat in and close them in the summer to keep the sun out.
• Make home super enjoyable. The more you like to be there the less you will be out spending money.
• Get on Pinterest and find easy home projects to furnish and decorate your home. Just because you have Pottery Barn taste doesn’t mean you have to pay those prices.
• Don’t keep up with the Jone’s. Turns out, they are in debt over their head. Instead buy what you can pay cash for.
• Get rid of your home phone. Do you even use it anymore? We got rid of ours 2 years ago.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Use Living Social, Groupon, or any of your favorite deal sites. You can score some great entertainment deals on food, activities and even trips.
• Buy the Entertainment book which has great movie ticket coupons.
• Enjoy Happy Hour instead of a dinner at a nice restaurant.
• Watch for free concerts around town. These happen a lot during the summer, but even in the winter you can find a few here and there.
• Instead of grabbing a coffee with a friend go for walk. You usually just want to talk anyways.
• Get rid of cable. There is really never anything on anyways.
• Replace cable with Hulu. I think it’s about $100 a year.

CAR

• Do all your trips together. This is another one that comes up often, but my husband can’t think like this. Some people just need to make an conscious effort to get it right.
• Take 15 minutes and see if you really can save on car insurance. After we added a kid, we spent more than 15 minutes and easily saved ourselves $75 a month.
• Consider selling your car for a car with a lower payment. Or better yet look for a car you can pay cash for and get rid of the car payment altogether.
• Ask for discounts even when getting your oil changed. Last time I had the wrong coupon, so I asked them (after the oil change was done) what they could do for me. They took care of me. (keeping up on maintenance will save you more money in the long run.)
• Share a car if you can.  We actually could have kept sharing if my daughter didn’t have 2 jobs. But we did have 3 drivers and 2 cars for almost 3 years. The 3rd car was a car we paid cash for.

HOUSE

• Keep the lights off if you are not in the room. Don’t think this makes a difference? Check your electricity bill between the summer and the fall. The bill goes up in the fall even though you don’t use heat or air.
• It’s hard to do in this economy, but try and refinance. That could easily save you over $100 a month.
• Keep up on maintenance. Fix the small things, instead of waiting for the big problems.
• Do your own yard work.
• Clean your own house.  I know it would be nice to have help, but when times are tough, it’s one that needs cut out.

FOOD

• Do a weekly menu plan for your dinners. It keeps you from eating out and it keeps you from impulse buying at the store. Make that $4.99 Costco chicken into 4 meals.
• Here’s one that I hate to pass on…eat vegetarian once a week. I really do like my meat.
• Inventory you freezer, fridge and pantry. Come up with as many meals as you can with what you have on hand. I like to do this every once and awhile.
• Whenever you stop in for milk always check the markdowns in the meat department. If something is not marked down and it should be, just ask.

CLOTHING

• When you buy articles of clothing make sure they are super versatile.Then you won’t need so many pieces.
• Don’t feel like you need to buy quality clothing. I know, it seems wrong, but if you buy cheaper items you can afford to get new clothes more often. And some of my quality clothes are out of style.
• Don’t shop reused, well unless you want to. Target markdowns are usually better deals.
• Do a clothing swap with friends.

So you have done the basics. But What else could you possibly cut out??

• Look at switching to a cheaper hairdresser. I had to ask myself if it was worth paying $30 to have my layers trimmed. Not ready to switch? Try and make it last an extra week or two.
• Do your boys have short hair? Consider cutting it yourself. I started doing this 5-6 years ago. I paid $40 for good clippers and have kept them in good running condition.
• Plan days to just stay home.
• Ask friends to come over for coffee instead of out.
• Make nice meals at home and serve it with wine, beer or cocktails. It might not be a frugal thing to do, but they are a fraction of the cost to make as opposed to buying them at a restaurant.
• Don’t go to the mall or any store just to look around. Don’t check out Target clearance. When we were really, really poor I would go shop Target clearance. Yes I was saving money, but I was also spending money I didn’t have on things I might not have really needed.
• Write down what you spend. Just seeing where it goes will help you cut back. To save $100 a month just cut out $25 a week.

Over a year ago we really had to cut back on our spending and I put many of these to good use and I managed to save us over $500 a month. It can be done!!

What are you doing to save money?  I mean to seriously attack that monthly bill??

Check out some other money saving tips.
Works for Me

Nearly 2 years ago I bought towels on clearance at Target. Here’ s part of the post here ::

So now my rant for why I am willing to buy cheap towels.  My towels always end up stinking.  Before when I had a top load washer I would add vinegar to take out that sour odor.   Well, I have front load now and you can’t do that.  I am sick of my towels stinking and I have decided that if I can find them cheap enough I need to throw them out when they are that bad.  You also have to remember I have teenagers so they get left wadded and wet.  Now the hard part is going to be throwing away my old towels.  I am so frugal I can barely part with them, but gag when I dry off.  So out they go and NO I won’t donate those nasty things. That’s just mean.

Here I am two years later, and they still look brand new and they are still super soft. I paid just $2.48 for each towel. I made sure to keep them away from my kids. And they don’t smell at all. I do NOT need to throw them out like I thought I might need too. I made sure to hang dry them and I did find a way to add vinegar to my load on occasions.

I guess we don’t need to spend a lot of money on towels or replace them for that matter. Well, actually, I am going to replace some more this year.

In case you don’t know the best times to shop Target, check out the Target Markdown Schedule and plan your trip accordingly.

I am trying to keep up with my menu plans because::

1. It gives me future ideas

2. We all know it saves money

3. You can think through how to buy a special ingredient and use it up before it’s spoils and has to be thrown out. For instance Basil or last week I had Kale with a couple of uses.

Sunday
Breakfast Burritos – never got to these last week
eggs, sausage, hash browns wrapped in flour tortillas

Monday
Lemon Chicken
over pasta or spaghetti squash
roasted veggies or salad

Tuesday
Pork Bulgogi with Rice

Wednesday – I don’t want to cook day
Sausage – like Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken
Saute onions and red pepper -toss in sliced sausage
add can of black beans and corn – saute till warm
Serve over rice

Thursday – Girls night, boys are snowboarding
Roasted Veggies over Quinoa
needs a sauce and I’m taking suggestions

Friday
Pasta Carbonara
Bread
Caesar Salad

Saturday
I’m going to the Roller Derby, so dinner out!!
That’s right the Roller Derby!!!!!

Find out what others are eating this week.

It’s been a while since I have put up a menu plan, but the truth is I do them all the time. Even if you have no desire to coupon to save money, you can still save a ton of money by meal planning.

I have ruined my family. I love to cook and the family, in their craziness, never help, so if I am planning on being down at all I have to plan ahead for my own meals, and theirs too of course.

I bring you my menu plan courtesy of Pinterest. I have saved all my food ideas there and love just looking at the pictures as a reminder.

Monday, November 14

• Crockpot Roast
• Roasted Veggies
• Crusty Bread

Tuesday, November 15

• Dutch oven Carnitas

Wednesday, November 16

• Beef Stroganoff
• Crusty Bread
• Salad

Thursday, November 17 -  I have a medial procedure today, so I will be out of it. I have made soup for myself and I will bank on lots of left overs from the other meals for the family.

Friday, November 18

• Meatballs
• Baked Potatoes
• Rolls
• Green Beans or roasted carrots

Saturday, November 19

Chili – I will try and get a recipe up soon.

Menu Plan Monday

It’s that time of year again, so bringing back a post from last year.

We are fully into November now and we are coming up on Christmas quicker than you can say “Buddy the Elf, what’s your favorite color?”

If you are one of those families that buys for everyone, why don’t you approach the family this year and talk about maybe not buying for every.single.person.  You could suggest that you draw names, or even set age limits on when the 4 nieces, now 23 or older, no longer need to get $20 gifts.

The sex talk might be easier than this talk for some of you, but if you budget needs this break it might be worth it.  Every year we say “Christmas is not about the gifts,”  but I guarantee there are still people giving because they have too.

Linked to
Frugal Friday

photo source

I had the Homecoming Dinner at our house for my daughters group. I was able to serve a very elegant dinner for not a lot of money. It saved all the kids money not having to go out to eat, but it also gave the girls less time in those high heel shoes that they all love….and love to complain about.

I made Pappardelle Beef Ragu. I even bought a much bigger roast than she called for since I was going to have a group, plus enough for us. I didn’t do homemade pasta, I don’t have the machine for it. Instead I did rigatoni pasta, which also works well with this rustic pasta sauce. I served it with a salad and some bread. The whole meal set me back just under $25.

The meal ended up serving the 6 kids. Once they were gone, my husband and I ate with his parents. Then we took some of the left overs and saved them for lunch for the next day. The left over sauce we bagged up and put in the freezer. It will easily be enough for our family.

Last minute I realized I had not done any kind of a center piece. So I ran outside, since the trees are so beautiful this time of year and started grabbing leaves…off the tree of course, not off the ground, you just never know. I was able to put together this quick little center piece for FREE.

In order for the girls to get to show off their dresses, they went out to dessert at the local yogurt shop. It was super affordable and they could take as long as they wanted, or hurry if they needed.

It was a pretty affordable evening. My daughter didn’t even ask to buy a dress for this. She simply came home with 3 dresses from 3 different friends and chose one. We have worked hard in the past to save on formal events.

Entertaining guests can be a Money4This expense, but you need to know it can be done very elegantly, making it a Not4That.

Linked to Frugal Friday

I file by pile.

It’s a sad truth.

But, in my defense, I know where things are because I kind of have a system,

or so I think.

The best way to have an organized “File by Pile” method is to have them at least contained. Here are 10 ways to to contain those piles ::

1. Keep your receipts and your all your bills in a pile together. Think outside the box. Use an old picnic silverware/plate holder on your desk for pencils, pens and papers. Everyone knows where to put receipts at our house. This one is probably the most crucial in keeping a tight budget.

2. Use magazine holders to actually hold your magazines. Instead of piling them on the coffee tables and nightstands have one box for “Need to read” and one for “keep for future use”.

3. It’s ok to stack cookbooks on your counter. Try and keep titles out and if at all possible keep the seasonal ones out. I have a grilling one that should be put away for a few months.

4. I made bright color folders with the kids’ names on them.  They can lay inside my desk. Anything that needs future attention can be put in these folders and easily accessible. The rest of my desk is a piled mess, but my desk closes, so it works.

5. Don’t create new piles, use your existing piles. We have a big kitchen with a pretty good sized counter and if I am not careful it gets taken over with piles. I have a designated pile area, everything else needs to stay cleaned up.
6. I even pile in my closet. I have learned that open shelving works a little better than drawers. I also have boxes for out of season clothing to be stored in so I have plenty of room and hopefully help me keep it more organized.

7. Put an open basket in the bathroom to hold wash clothes, toothpaste, Q-tips, cotton balls, and anything else that would be handy for you or guests.
8. If you haven’t discovered Pinterest and you still have tons of printed recipes I suggest placing them in folders according to season. Many tend to put them in folders according to meat or pasta or veggies in season, when in reality we are just going through the seasons of what we would like to eat. That way you can have 4 folders or a binder with 4 tabs as opposed to many categories. If you have too many categories you will tend to not want to file them away. Although Pinterest has made this so easy.
9. It’s nice to have shoes all organized at the door, but that does not work for our family. Instead we have baskets. Yep more than one. One holds summer shoes (flip flops and such) the other one winter shoes. No need to have flip flops out all winter. Just store the flip flop basket away. Our kids are older and their feet have stopped growing so this works for us.
10. My gardening stuff is piled in an old planter I no longer use. We tried to hand somethings and put things in a closed cupboard, but again throwing them in a pile works better for us, but it’s contained.

If this is your method, don’t fight it. Embrace it. Best part is, you can pretty much contain and organize yourself for free. Shop your home and start containing your piles.

Anyone else want to fess up to using this kind of system?

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday

I really love eating out and good food. So I am always looking for ways to save money so I can keep enjoying those things. Today was that day, a day of coupons and savings.

After a crazy week I love to get up on Saturday morning, with my husband and head somewhere and drink tea and eat a quick breakfast and people watch. And there is no better place to do that than Portland.

Months ago when I had purchased a Restaurant.com coupon I was given a $10 gift certificate for free, so I chose Modern Love.

Today was finally the day I could use my free $10 GC.  We made our way into Portland. The only catch with this coupon is we needed to spend $20. Sounds easy? Well, we had to get creative. We got a big cappuccino, a big tea, 2 breakfast sandwiches with extra ingredients (which cost extra) and we topped that all of with a big, really big cookie.  Yep, a cookie for breakfast.

All of that came to $20.60. Had we gone without a coupon we would not have gotten all the extras for sure. Our $10 breakfast was a treat. We took our time and even got to sit outside on this barely sunny, not super warm, fall day.

From there we made our way down to Benessere Olive Oils and Vinegars. I had a Living Social deal that I wanted to use. I purchased my deal, and 3 of my friends bought which meant mine was free and I had $23 to spend. Love this store and these olive oils. I cook with them often.

Once we got home our kids had finally woken up.  I knew I had to take my teenage son driving, so I made him take me to Fred Meyers since they were running a good cereal sale. I got 4 boxes of cereal for $5. Not the best deal out there, but not bad considering it’s over $4 a box regular price.

My son decided he was hungry and wanted to go to Qdoba, which was right next door. My son gets to eat FREE at Qdoba for a year because him and some friends spent the night at a store that was opening. First 25 people in line got FREE Qdoba for a year. And I should mention my husband jumped in on the deal too and went down and spent the night.

As we were leaving my son asked me if I wanted yogurt from the shop next door. He had earned a gift card as a Thank You for volunteering and wanted to share with me. Being the frugal person I am, and not super hungry, I got $1 worth of yogurt, for FREE.

Overall, it was a perfect day. We did a lot and spent a little.

So let’s see how you spend your days cashing in on deals.

Always struggling?  Here are 8 quick basic reminders for you.

1. Know what your budget is – don’t laugh, some people have no idea
2. Write down every penny you spend. Even if you only do this for a month or so, it gives you an idea of where the money is going. I tell you this all the time. A month sounds overwhelming? Break it down to weeks – sometimes saying you have $1200 for the month gives you too much freedom the first 8 days. Then you have too much month at the end of the money. So instead budget it out to $300 a week.
3. Plan ahead – Decide what your big expenses are and spread them out. We don’t have dental insurance so I have to work hard to keep all our appointments spread out.
4. Try and live under your budgeted amount for those surprise expenses – “Mom I need $10 for Powder Puff football.”
5. If you don’t have the money, don’t go to the mall.
6. Have a meal plan – this will save you from buying last minute at the store or even worse, going out to eat.
7. Make sure the whole family is on board, so you are all working towards a common goal and you aren’t constantly fighting your spouse or your kids.
8. One of the best ways to stay within your budget to is read reminders like this often. Check yourself. How are you doing? You know what to do. Have you done it?

Many people will read this and think, wow nothing new or different.  But that’s just it. They only way you can stay on budget is to do the work, the same simple steps you read everywhere. It’s like weight loss, people want the results without the work. It can’t be done. Do the work, for you and your family.

linked to Frugal Fridays

Photo source borman 818