Do you remember the flooring dilemma I had a few months ago? I’m almost embarrassed to say that I am just now getting around to solving the problem. I installed laminate flooring into my hallway and bedroom. And I have to say, at this moment I am confident this was the best decision for us.

Not only do I have the peace of mind of having a complete, normal, beautiful floor in my bedroom, but I have the financial peace of mind knowing I didn’t spend $3737.50.  I love the look of hardwoods, but with the dogs I couldn’t justify spending that much money and watching them get scratched.  Going with laminate flooring eliminates that worry.  It’s going to take a lot (knock on wood) for them to scratch the laminate.  Also, I was able to install it myself, which saved us a ton of money.

With the current housing market the way it is, we’ve decided to love the home we’re tied to, and make improvements that fit our lifestyle.  We can afford the laminate flooring.  We actually bought it at Costco and will get 2% back on our purchase because we have an executive membership. Also, I was able to pay with cash out of our hardwood floor fund, and I’ll tell you, when I pulled out my envelope and paid cash for the flooring, it was amazing. It felt so empowering to know that I had been saving for so long to be able to do this, and I wasn’t having to charge it or use my debit card. What a natural high!

Although I was worried about the resale value of the home after installing laminate, I realized that was a silly concern, as there are more serious problems going on that are making my home value go down right now.  We love our house, and although it’s not where we’d prefer to stay for the rest of our lives, it’s where we need to be right now, and we need to make it into a home we can love.  We’ll just have to keep making frugal renovation decisions and realize that anything’s possible if we put our minds to it.  After all this is said and done, I can look back and realize that sometimes the most frugal decisions are the wisest ones when we are pushed to our limits.  I’m thankful the flooring is done in my bedroom, and now I can relax.  Or paint the living room…

Posted under DIY, Home Ownership, How To

Helpful readers: I am in desperate need of your help. I am looking for a dish soap recipe and dishwasher soap recipe. As you are probably aware, I love making my own cleaning products. I have tried and tried to make my own dish soap and dishwasher detergent, but every time it either doesn’t work, or turns out horrible. I want to “be green” and also be frugal at the same time. Here are a few things I have tried.

Dishwasher detergent recipes:

Mix and use per dishwasher load:
1 Tablespoon Borax
1 Tablespoon Baking soda

and
1 Tablespoon Borax
1 Tablespoon Washing soda

These recipes never seemed to get my dishes clean!

Dish Soap Recipes:

I’ve also tried melting soaps down to a liquid consistency and then using those as dish soap. I have a ton of bars of soap that I wanted to use up. I used Dr. Bronner’s bar soaps, melted them, and then used it as dish soap. The problem is that it doesn’t lather up very well. It works fine for hand soap, but when you put it in the sink to wash dishes it just stinks.

I have tried googling, asking around, and asking my mom, who normally knows how to make everything. No one has a dish soap recipe to make your own dish soap or dishwasher detergent!

Do you make your own dish soap and dishwasher detergent or know of a recipe that I can use?

Posted under DIY, How To

Well, just when Mr. Money thought I couldn’t get any more frugal or crazy as he probably thinks, I’ve shown him. Not only did I do laundry and hang it out to dry, I also baked bread. That’s right, I made homemade bread.

Last month I decided I was going to give it a try because I was sick of all the crap that is put into bread you buy at the store and I was tired of paying $3 a loaf for store brand organic whole wheat bread. My plan didn’t work out so well last month. I tried using my bread machine, and needless to say, my beautiful homemade bread tasted like sawdust. With a little glue.

In all my domesticness yesterday, I went grocery shopping and bought all the ingredients to make my homemade bread. I had high hopes for it this time. This time I was skipping the evil bread maker.

Here’s the recipe:

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil (you can use vegetable or olive oil)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast

Next time I may substitute the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour to be a little more healthful.

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer)

Add flours and yeast and knead until bread is smooth and elastic. I put the mixer on the second speed and watched it. Place dough in a bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let sit for about 40 minutes, until it’s doubled in size.

Punch it down; knead until smooth and then form into your loaf.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, watching carefully.

Remove from oven, cool, and enjoy!

This bread turned out so much better than my last loaf! As it came out of the oven, I cut a piece and buttered it. It was heavenly! Not only did I (hopefully) save money, but I also avoided having to eat High Fructose Corn Syrup in conventional breads. I will definitely be making this again!

Posted under Food, How To