Frugal: sparing or economical with regard to money or food
This page does include some affiliate links. While there is no difference in price if you were ever to make a purchase using any of my links- it's just simply pays out a small commission to me. #forceofnatureclean
I think these days, there are more and more people that are trying to move to a more self-reliant or frugal home. Especially with the costs rising everywhere we turn.
Part of me hates to see it because, come on, who doesn't like to see their hard-earned money gone in the blink of an eye when its grocery day, fill up the car day or just about anything day really!
And part of me thinks that maybe this is what we all need. Our nation is known for being go-go-go, spend-spend-spend and... waist.
But why do I say it might be what we need? Well, it's causing all of us to reevaluate what we spend our money on. How we do or do not make use of what we've got at home or even how to stretch that food budget.
Learning a less wasteful way-of-life can actually seem like a challenge when you're just starting out. There is a lot of thinking outside of the box that we may not be used to doing.
I consider our household pretty frugal but there are all kinds of ways I am seeing and learning about our life that can be improved when it comes to living less wastefully. We have been practicing cutting back on waste (not just food) for quite a few years now. I'm always shocked when something new has come to my attention that I never thought of.
Today's blog is to help get our brains thinking. I promise, once you begin to put yourself in the mindset of learning to be more frugal in your life and home, it gets easier. It's sort of like working out- when you start out you may find yourself weaker than you thought- but with consistency and giving it your all, you get stronger! And just like working out, it starts to become a personal challenge to see just how much more improvement you can make! It becomes addicting LOL! But not the kind of addicting that makes you weird so don't worry.
**I will not be covering things that have to do with food, this time. That post will come but this time. Thats a subject that needs its own space here-it's just too juicy (pun intended).**
LAUNDRY.
Most of us hate it and even cringe a little at the word laundry, like its reminding us we have a load that we didn't finish or need to start, #amiright
But hear me out-there are a few hidden gems of saving here.
If you live in a warm climate, even seasonally, hanging our clothes out on the line is one of the easiest and most free changes we make (well, unless you want to put up a line, that of course will come with very minimal cost to set up). This may take up an extra 5 minutes of your time, but hanging clothes on a line not only saves on the power bill, but it's better for your clothes too! The high heat in the dryer can cause you're the fabric to break down much faster, meaning your clothes are not going to last as long which will cause you to spend more money to replace them. This can get costly- especially if you have larger family like us.
Sunshine and wind are free and actually dries your clothes at a much faster rate than a dryer does!!
But cutting dry time and prolonging your clothes isn't the only benefit of the sun! The sunshine also is a great natural brightener. It can help to get your whites, whiter! And with the sun's rays, it purifies your clothing too! Sure, the high heat from a dryer can kill but so can the sun!
How about this little bonus! Being a busy mom, this one is my favorite! If you forget to grab it after its dried, guess what? IT WON'T BE WRINKLY WHEN YOU REMEMBER TO GO TAKE IT OFF THE LINE! (Now you see why this one deserved to be yelled at in caps LOL!)
By now, I think we have all heard from somebody we know about how toxic grocery store cleaning products are. So, I won't get into my version of how and why here. But this is true. If you haven't done your own research yet to check the facts, I strongly encourage you to do so! This isn't one of those "if you like it don't read the label" situations- you truly should read and research these labels. Even on the most popular and fun smelling ones on the market which I am not going to name (I know you know which ones I'm talking about!)
What if I told you that there was truly a REAL GREEN way to clean your home and one product that actually REALLY DID clean EVERY surface in your home?! Yep, including the windows!
You can look it up for yourself- I encourage you to!! Force of Nature is a product I stumbled across that is a true GREEN product! And its greener than you think! Beyond just the ingredients- it truly is as self-sustainable as a cleaning product can get. It both cleans AND disinfects!
Force of Nature is EPA registered and kills up to 99.9% of germs! (Jus
t like all the mainstream chemical cleaners but WITHOUT the chemicals, WHAAAT!)
It literally consists of just 3 ingredients:
*Water
*Vinegar
*Salt
The vinegar and salt come perfectly premixed and packaged in the cutest little easy-to-use pods and an electrolyzer device, which sends these little electronic pulses to mix the pods with your regular household water to create a super powerful and all natural, zero chemical cleaner!
It mixes up so quickly and is quite satisfying to watch if you ask me! I literally use this cleaner daily, even on the toughest jobs. I clean my mirrors, floors, counter tops and even my baby's highchair tray. There is no rinsing after either!
Because of the versatility of its use on hundreds of surfaces/textiles, you can eliminate the need for multiple cleaners in your cabinet. That means more space AND if you hate the thought of all the materials involved in all those cleaners that you have to figure out how to recycle later, you can kiss those worrisome thoughts good-bye. It's also completely safe for both kids and pets.
You can check it out HERE they even have an amazing sale for 40% off bundles plus free shipping on all orders! So, go check it out for yourself- do your own research!
Watch my TikTok video below on how easy it is to mix up Force Of Nature
Food Storage.
I know. I said I wasn't going to talk about ways to be frugal with food. Technically, I am not! I just want to touch on storing your food. Specifically, in your refrigerator.
Storing your refrigerated food items in containers that are see through, actually helps you to consume them before they go bad! It's true. Have you ever heard of the phrase "out of sight, out of mind"? You can apply that theory here too.
If you invest in some nice glass containers (glass lasts longer, never stain and are truly microwave/oven safe as opposed to plastic containers) and store your leftovers in them, fresh fruits and vegetables, etc. and store them on the main shelves, you will always see those first and naturally reach for them to eat.
I try not to place the fruit and veggies in those little trays most fridges come with it at the bottom. I find when I put the fresh items in those, I think they are called crispers, it never fails, I always end up lettings those items rott before we finish them off- and there are 6 mouths to feed here!
If you need ideas on where to pick up some glass food storage containers, you can check out these glass storage containers HERE
What are some ways you are frugal in your home? I'd love to hear in the comments, you might just help spark more ideas for all of us to work towards a more sustainable, frugal, way of life!
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