Homemade hand soap... This is going to save you a LOT of money.

Here's the recipe I used.

I told my mom I was going to be making hand soap. She said, "I have TONS of bars of natural soap I got on clearance at Christmas time at target." LIGHTBULB...

"Hey mom, I'll make you a gallon of it if you send me home with a bar for you and a bar for me."

This works out well for both of us. She got the 3 packs of soap for $2.50. So she only paid $.83 per bar of soap. And I don't have to buy a bar of $5.00 organic soap.

The glycerin was $2.29 at Publix {Its in the bandaid isle} I only used about an eighth of the bottle. Plenty leftover for future soap making. So that was $.29 cents worth of glycerin per gallon of soap.

And the gallon of distilled water was $.79 at Publix.

So, Thanks to my mothers awesome clearance shopping skills, I only spent $1.08 on a GALLON of hand soap. My moms cost per gallon was $1.91. Plus the $.83 cents for my bar.

Now, I've said it before, I am very picky about the soaps we use and I ONLY buy J.R Watkins. It's natural, not a lot of ingredients, ETC. I like it. It's about $4.99 a bottle. That bottle contains 11 Oz. 

  

This is the soap I used. My kitchen smelled LOVELY.
 And it only took about ten minutes hands on time.

{Technically it made a gallon and this much. I filled this one up with what wouldn't fit in the gallon. That's why its not full...If you were wondering.}

One gallon is 128 Oz. So lets do the math. 

128 Oz of JR Watkins would cost me $58. 

128 Oz of this homemade soap cost me $1.08 {Thanks to my genius idea to have someone else buy the stuff and I'd do the labor. I like this system... } even if you bought everything yourself, and didn't get the soap on sale, It would maybe cost you $6 or $7. You would still come out way ahead.

So, Cost savings... A LOT.  Who the heck wants to spend $60 on soap? Not me, I'd rather spend ten minutes making soap and have that $60 for something else... Like sitting in the bank earning 3%. Every little bit helps right?

Recently I have taken a huge interest in making my kids avid readers. {Ironically they have never been in a library, It's just too much to take 4 of them by myself}

We do flashcards and of course that dang leap pad. {I'm going through batteries like there is no tomorrow.} And the books... Of course the books. We are currently taking a book a day and reading it and doing a fun activity inspired by the book. {AHHH, The perks of not having cable. I really do like it. I just miss ESPN}

Here's a few of our favorite books. 

I'd love to know some of your favorites. We are running out of books here folks!

 

  

 I'm pretty sure we have read every fancy nancy book out there... At least a hundred times.

You need to read this book.

This is what I'm reading right now. I've wanted to read it for a long time but didn't want to cough up the $10 for the book. Ironic no?

A few random thoughts that this book has provoked...

Owing is not owning.

It's not how much you make... Its how much you spend. 

Man, This book makes me feel really poor... {Like as in money, not in spirit} These can't be real numbers can they?!

I feel really dumb for not starting to care about money and saving sooner.

Where was this book when I was 18? I wish I'd found it then. 

It also made me wonder where the balance was? Is there a point where you have enough in the bank that you can loosen up the reigns a bit? If so, what's that number? When you are to that point is it so ingrained into who you are that it becomes hard to spend money? 

How do you get to that point? How do you turn yourself from a spender into a saver? If I had the money is it okay to splurge on a few things? Do millionaires next door splurge on nice things ever? Or do they put every last penny into savings and sit on cardboard boxes and drive corollas? Okay, basically I'm wondering if I can still be a millionaire next door {Sometime down the road obviously not tomorrow} and buy a tiny bit of Pottery Barn for the new house ;) Like a vase or something:) Where's the balance? Can one of you millionaires next door please tell me the answer to that question?

A few random stories...

One of Mikes mission presidents was extremely wealthy. And yet, he always wore shoes from payless. He's one of Mike's role models for several reasons. Payless shoes and old man Toyota Avalon are two reasons that are on the list. {And several others that aren't related to this subject, That's another post}

We were in the grocery store the other day and Lala asked if she could have something out of the dollar bins. Before I could say anything Blake said "Lala that costs money. Do you have any dollars to pay for that? Mom doesn't have any dollars." Awesome, I'm sure everyone around us heard. And you know what, I don't care one lick. Now don't think that I am involving my kids in my finances, {not that they would understand all that at 5 years old anyways} But I do teach them that they can't buy everything they want. And I intend to teach them from a young age about being frugal. And no, My children are not deprived. Far from it. 

When did this stupid idea of "wealth" begin? The big houses, flashy cars, name brands, and all that crap? Most people that are actually wealthy don't have any of those things. That's why they are wealthy! Most people that really are wealthy don't even "look" like it. And most people that do "look" like it, really aren't, they've bought those things on credit, even if they didn't buy it on credit, and they can "afford" it, that money isn't in the bank anymore! So technically they aren't wealthy, They spend what they make! {If that doesn't make sense you need to read the book and read their definition of wealthy. It's really good}

Any how, the bottom line is, We get wealthy by saving. It can be done on the most modest of incomes. Just as going bankrupt can come even if you make a million dollars a year. It depends on us, and what we want. Do we want financial peace and security, Or do we want to buy the latest and greatest and the biggest and the nicest? I want peace and stability. Do my spending and saving habits reflect that? I don't know. I need to stew on those thoughts for a while and revisit the budget and the savings.

The best thing I ever did to save time.

Okay, So granted, I may be slightly obsessive compulsive, And I like clean and neat. But this is really a huge huge time saver. all together it takes about 30 minutes to prep all the food from my once a week grocery trip and it's ready to go. I mentioned this in a previous post, But thought that I'd elaborate. This especially makes meals super duper fast and easy. And the kids can snack on their own.

I just use the plastic containers that the food comes in. For the carrots {Since they come in a bag} I just use an extra strawberry container. I wash the containers out, line them with a {reusable} paper towel and cut off the plastic lid, so just the bottom is there.

I peel all the carrots, take the gross stringy part from the middle of the snap peas, cut the broccoli, ETC. While the grapes, apples, stawberries, blackberries, cherries, whatever other fruits we have that week, sit and rinse in a {clean} sink full of of ten parts water and one part vinegar. Okay, I don't really measure it out. I just fill the sink up and pour a cup of vinegar in. It works. I don't rinse my vinegar off. You can't taste it. The vinegar keeps mold spores from growing and keeps the fruits and especially the berries firm and not soft and mushy, they last WAY WAY longer this way.

For the grapes, I cut the stems into smaller clumps with the kitchen shears. Okay, sometimes if I can't find those, I use my kids safety scissors. 

And those carrot peels... Don't worry those don't get wasted, I blanch those and then throw them in the blender with some cooked rice and chicken and make baby food. And no, I don't always make ALL of Brent's baby food. I'm not that awesome. I buy some too.

Oh shootsky, I forgot to take a picture of the meat. {I know you all love my iphone pictures because they are so awesome!} We only have chicken breasts once or maybe twice a week. So when I get home I clean the entire package {I buy the fresh organic packs at Costco} And cut them into meal sized portions {I slice the chicken breast in half so they aren't so thick}, and put them in two bags of marinade. Half goes into a salsa marinade and the other goes into an herb seasoning. That way all I have to do for dinner is throw some rice into the rice cooker and just throw those on to cook. This saves SO much time. Especially snacking and lunches. For lunch I just tell the kids to put whatever they want on their plate from the fridge and then I add a sandwich. They love that because they get to pick! I love it because they can't pick anything unhealthy! Breakfast is super easy, A few waffles and throw some fruit on top and voila! 5 second breakfast. I hate when people say "My kids don't eat fruits and veggies..." Well, That's because you haven't given them the chance. If you put processed brightly packaged crap in your pantry, you've chosen for them. If you don't buy that, One, it's cheaper, two its healthier, and three, They won't have a choice but to eat what you buy. My kids will almost always pick fruits and veggies over chips or snack cracker. Why? Because that is what they are used to. Their pallets aren't junked up by all that sodium and crap, so they crave good whole, natural foods. So, Let's recap... I don't do processed food because A) unhealthy B) Cheaper... WAY cheaper. C) when I do it this way, by talking just 30 minutes when I come in from the grocery store, It is JUST AS FAST as all those pre packaged meals. I bet I could actually get this (A healthy lunch) on the table faster than someone could cook that box of mac n cheese. with half the effort. So, Do yourself a favor and just try it. I promise you'll like it!

cash budget envelopes

I've been pretty good about the cash budget thing. It's really pretty simple when you cut way way back. 

Over the past 2 months I've cut out....

Diapers and wipes. Savings $40 a week.

{Cloth diapering is going well, Still having to fiddle around and figure a few things out, But I'm committed!} 

5 hour energies are totally gone. Savings $20 a week. 

{that was between both of us}

Paper towels are gone. Savings $20 about every week and a half. We used a LOT of paper towels. We are using reusable ones these days and really like it.

Nobody is getting new clothes until we have to go school shopping so there is no clothing budget right now.

I started making my own hand soap and laundry soap and using vinegar {With lemon peels soaked in and some essential oils} as our all purpose cleaner. It actually works really well, and it isn't stinky. 

I'll do a whole post on those later this week. 

And we are set on toiletries from my couponing days, So we don't have any expenses for those right now. So really the only thing I have to buy is gas and groceries. The grocery budget is $100 a week. Most of that goes to fresh fruits and veggies and a few pounds of meat. The bulk of our meals is coming from food storage. {rice, beans, pasta, oatmeal, and wheat.} 

So, back to cash. This is in my opinion the best way to get started on a budget. And stay on one for that matter. Once it's gone, it's gone. No going over budget. You'll learn to buy the real needs and not the conveniences real quick. 

I'm really surprised at how many ladies I see at the grocery store with their envelopes! It's pretty exciting!

I was sick of having ugly plain white envelopes for my cash, And so I made some cute ones.

I just took some scrapbook paper and traced a regular envelope, And then folded and glued where the original envelope was glued together. 

Pulled out the old cricket and made some labels to designate which week of groceries, or Costco, or miscellaneous. Punched some holes, And then did a blanket stitch to hold them all together. {You can totally skip that part. It doesn't really make that big of a difference. I would actually prefer to have mine separate, But how was I to know that before hand? That just goes to show that not all ideas on Pinterest are awesome. }

It does fit nicely in my wallet and they are way way prettier than plain old white envelopes and they are a bit sturdier too! And I don't know about you, But when things are pretty, it makes me want to use them. More motivation to stick to cash!

I love my job

Cutest bosses ever!

Just another day at the office!

It's a rough job, but somebody's gotta do it. {Let's see how long it takes Sarah to beat me for putting this picture up. Since my best friend rarely reads my blog.} 

Okay so most days I do sit for 30 minutes or so and chit chat and have a protein shake at the gym, But that's really about the only time that I get to sit down until the kids go to bed. 

I will say that being a stay at home mom is hard. Exhausting. Frustrating. Takes LOTS of patience. Is physically and emotionally taxing. 

For example, Just now as I was writing this, Brent is tired and starts crying for a bottle and a nap, So I get up to fix him that. Lexi is screaming "lullaby lullaby lullaby" At the top of her lungs to "soothe" him. Kynzi sees that Brent is getting a bottle and starts doing some rain dance type thing, waving her arms and dancing around in circles, clapping and babbling in Kynzi language "baaaabaaaaa baaaaaaabaaaa"{Yes I still occasionally give my 2 year old a bottle. My thoughts are that she's small and underweight and she needs the calories and if that is the only way she will drink them, I'm going to give it to her. And she's going to need braces from her finger sucking habit anyways. Think what you will. I don't care.} And lets not forget about Blake... He's asking for seconds on cinnamon rolls. Sure kid, I'm not busy, let me hop over and grab that for you, right this second.

But you know what? I love it. I love almost every second of it. {Let's be honest, some seconds are less than fun.} I love that they need me. I tell Mike all the time how much I love that he needs me. And I love to serve them. I was thinking the other day what I would be doing if I weren't a stay at home mom. And you know what, I couldn't think of anything else that I love doing more than what I do, and couldn't think of anything that I am better at. I am good at being a house wife. I am good at cooking, cleaning, laundry, taking care of babies, running the household finances, and everything that comes with running a household. 

My name is Kyrsten and I'm a Mormon, a Mommy and...

A tutor

A seamstress

A laundry lady

A CFO

A cleaning lady

A teacher

A lifeguard

A Chef

A referee

A dishwasher

A Nurse

A playmate

A handy man 

A proffesional organizer

A party planner

A professional errand runner

A diaper changer

A bottler maker

A grocery shopper

The list goes on... Depending on what day it is. It's hard, But I Really LOVE LOVE LOVE my Job, and the wonderful man that makes it possible for me to live out my dream. This is exactly where I thought I'd be and where I wanted to be 10 years ago. 

Well, Minus the mini van ;) But it's grown on me.

Len Penzo's ABC's of money.

I've taken a liking to this blog. I found THIS and couldn't agree more! {Okay the only thing I disagree with is K. I think that 3 months is a good start, But 6 months is better and that's what I am going to go by.

{These are Len's ABC's not mine.} My thoughts are in green.

Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, nineteen pounds; result, happiness. Annual income, twenty pounds; annual expenditure, twenty-one pounds; result, misery. –- Charles Dickens in his book David Copperfield*
Buy when everyone else is selling and hold until everyone else is buying. That’s not just a catchy slogan. It’s the very essence of successful investing. –-J.P. Getty
Content makes poor men rich. Discontent makes rich men poor. — Benjamin Franklin
Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are. — James W. Frick
Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that. — Norman Vincent Peale
For a happy marriage, wise is the husband who understands that what’s hers is hers and what’s yours is hers. — Len Penzo
Good habits result from resisting temptation. — an ancient proverb
He is richest who is content with least. — Socrates
If you owe the bank $100 that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem. — J.P. Getty
Just remember: Any man who has $10,000 left when he dies is a failure. — Errol Flynn
Keep an emergency fund of at least three month’s living expenses. — common financial wisdom
Lend your money and lose your friend.– English proverb
Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. — Benjamin Franklin
Never spend your money before you have it. -– Thomas Jefferson
October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to invest in stocks. Other dangerous months are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February. — Mark Twain
Plenty of people despise money, but few know how to give it away. — Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
Quit using credit cards for making any purchases unless you intend to pay off the balance in full at the end of every month. — common financial wisdom
Rich people plan for four generations. Poor people plan for Saturday night. — Gloria Steinem
Solvency is entirely a matter of temperament and not of income. — Logan Pearsall Smith
The art of living easily as to money is to pitch your scale of living one degree below your means. –- Sir Henry Taylor
Understand that there is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means. — Calvin Coolidge
Volatility in your retirement portfolio can be minimized via diversification. — common financial wisdom
Wants may be easily satisfied either by producing much or desiring little. -– Marshall Sahlins
Xerox stock price on April 17 of selected years (adjusted to account for any splits and/or dividends): 1970 – $14.15; 1999 – $55.13; 2009 – $5.92. The moral of this story is that even buy-and-hold investors need to know when it’s time to sell. — Len Penzo
You’ll be much better off financially if you strive to be anonymously rich rather than deceptively poor. — Len Penzo
Zillow should never be considered an accurate gauge of your home’s value. — Len Penzo

You know what's crazy... Most financial "Golden rules" are common sense... The test comes when we can actually enforce the self control to live the way we know we should. I'm not perfect. But I am to the point that I know what I want {In short, House paid off in 15 years, and enough money in savings to retire when I'm 45.} And I know what I need to do to get there, AND I have the self control to tell myself NO when I want something. Yes, I'd love that $130 shiny pearl colored Brahmin wallet... But I sure as heck have enough self control to NOT buy it. I wouldn't have to buy it on credit, my emergency fund would still be in tact, and I would still be able to buy my groceries. "Technically" I could afford it. The point is that I have come to the place where I can afford those things if I wanted them, Because I haven't bought everything I've wanted in the past. I'm not saying I'm perfect. But I try hard. And I have done my best to teach my kids that saving money is important and that we don't buy everything we want. There is always room for improvement. But I think I realized that "This" {frugal} Is who I have become {I was a terrible spender before} While we were on vacation. We could have lost ourselves in the moments of vacation and spent on things we wanted, overpriced snorkeling trips, overpriced spa visits, ETC. We had a fabulous vacation and even better is that we still have the money that would have been spent on those things in the bank. It's a much much better feeling. Now I'm not saying that we have a boring terrible life and that we never do those things. We do, We just do it frugally and have learned to manage the emotions that go with spending. I'd say that I am now a logical buyer and not an emotional buyer. It's taken time, But it's well worth it. This is coming from a girl who used to NEVER look at price tags, and spent money on whatever I wanted. {That was one contributing factor to the "financial disaster or '08} If I can make this 180, You can too. You can't get frustrated that you made a financial mistake this week and throw in the towel, hang in there. Its a LONG, hard, but well worth it, journey.