Part of homemaking is learning not to spend money on things we don't need. Industrial, toxic cleaners? We don't really need them, and we can make effective substitutes for a fraction of the cost. New clothes/gadgets/furniture every time something rips or breaks? We can learn to be tailors and repair-folks, saving money by refusing to buy into the mentality that everything is disposable and every inconvenience fixable through spending money.
I am not great with money. I'm not a big spender on things, but I spend a lot on going out (or "experiences" as I like to justify them to myself). This is harmful, not only because "experiences" usually translates to "alcohol and food that's bad for me," but because I'm not building my nest egg the way I would like to. We all need a safety net, and while some of that safety net should be made of the intangibles such as community, family, and health, we do need to suck it up and realize that some of it comes down to money.
Having money is about having the freedom to make choices that will make your life better. Having money helps you buy the comforts. It also gives you agency to change towns, move apartments, try new - ahem - experiences, reinvent your style, or take care of a health concern.
In the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I made some very me-specific money-saving resolutions that I hope will inspire you to create your own. Even more, I kind of hope you'll give me more "easy" tips like these because y'all know I need all the help I can get.
(note: I know I make disclaimers like this way often, but I feel they're important. I'm completely aware that these "tips" involve a huge amount of luxury and privilege on my part. Many, many people cannot sacrifice $41 a week to savings or are already not spending any money on books. I'm aware that these are a reflection of the privilege I have as a young, single, childless person with a good job. End of disclaimer).
Erica's Money Saving Resolutions
1. Trick Yourself and Save The Difference. Every week, my paycheck is directly deposited into my checking account. Now, I'm a simple gal with few assets at this point, so I just keep a checking and savings account, both with the same bank (though I'll be switching that soon). In my brain, when I'm estimating expenses and making budgets, I round down what I make each week to the nearest hundred. That means that I end up estimating that I have $41 less coming in each week than I do. Then, I have that $41 directly transferred to savings. I don't miss it, because I was never thinking it would be there in the first place. It's a smidge less than the $50 I ambitiously promised to save every week starting on New Year's Eve, but the difference is I'll actually do it, and it's automatic, and I don't feel deprived or like I'm budgeting for savings.
2. Library, Library, Library. If you've spoken to me in the last week or so, you know I was all atwitter about the DC Public Library's Check It In Amnesty program. From now until February 5, you can return any DCPL materials and pay no fines. If you lost something, you can just tell them and they'll clear your account. I did it, and for the first time in two years I'm using my library (and saved almost $200…don't judge me please).
This brings us to a tried and true money saving technique…USE YOUR LIBRARY. I'm so bad about hopping on Amazon every time I get a new interest, as evidenced by my stack of natural healing/crafts/natural homemaking books that is sitting on my nightstand staring me down with judgement as I type this. Every time, every single time I'm tempted to buy a book or DVD, I check the DCPL website first and see if I can have it put on hold at my local branch. I almost always can. What's better, it takes about the same amount of time usually as getting something from amazon.
If it's a craft book or a cookbook, and I want to save ideas in it, I write it down, put it in a plastic sheet protector, and file it in a binder of my own which is divided into "recipes," "sewing," "housekeeping," and other categories. No longer do I need to order every book I take a fancy to, and what's more, I have a total friend crush on the cute girl at my neighborhood branch.
3. Only Eat Out For A Reason. Being lazy and not feeling like cooking is not a reason. Being bummed and not feeling like cooking is not a reason. Promising to start eating healthily tomorrow is not a reason. Being invited out by a friend, getting a reward at work, celebrating a beautiful Saturday afternoon on a patio are reasons. It's okay for me to go out, and absolutely essential to my mental health and connectedness with others, but it is crucial not to lean on it as a convenience but rather see it as a communion. This means I go out less, cook more, and am healthier.
4. Any Windfall Goes Into Savings. Christmas bonus, tax return, financial aid balance, this all goes right into savings. I do touch my savings (more often than I should), but putting as much as possible into that account helps me watch it grow, which makes me want to save more. I experienced this when I was saving about $2000 to pay off my old University so I could go back to school. It's an addictive feeling.
5. Do The Math. Sometimes I lament that I don't have "any" clothes, or that I'm not dressing nicely enough. Now if I spent a fraction of the money that I do going out, I'd have plenty to look just as stylish as can be. Admittedly, part of this is that I really hate clothes shopping. But it can be fun to splurge and not feel guilty about the money. That's why, once a month, if I have spent less than my allowance for going out, I let myself use the difference for purchasing things that make me feel good about myself and how I look. Next on the list: a proper haircut.
6. Find Soul-Nourishing Things To Do That Are Free (Or Almost Free). I went through a time where I was really lonely, and the only thing I could think to do with that loneliness was go out on the town. Honestly, I don't regret that or think there's anything wrong with it, it was just expensive. I made some of my closest and kindest friends that way, but it's a phase that I was happy to phase out in favor of cheaper and more meaningful alternatives. If you go to meetup.com, chances are you can find a group for any interest you have. In DC, there's "20s and 30s Local Music Group," "DC Knitters" (who knit in the beautiful courtyard at the National Gallery), and a free yoga group that practices on Saturday mornings in beautiful Malcolm X Park. I wanted to make sure I had one weekly and one monthly soul-nourishing thing that I could always count on. I made a resolution to attend church every Sunday in 2012, which gives me community and intellectual/spiritual engagement (even when I'm out of town). Also, my friend and roommate Priyanka started a book club, which (in conjunction with my resolution to use the library), gives me a monthly event with other women (and includes a potluck brunch). Boredom is the enemy of saving money. Whether it's having a standing date with a friend to watch 30 rock every week, or a regular Sunday afternoon running club, knowing you have company and engagement to look forward to helps take the urgency out of filling up every night. By having things to look forward to, I also find myself enjoying my alone time more and getting more things done that are important only to me. This reminds me of a truth: when you're dating someone, alone time is precious. When you're not, you're always looking to fill it up. Hmmm.
There will be more of these, but here's part one. Help a girl out, let me know your own tips for saving money in the new year!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Tell Me How To Use This
Two years ago, I nannied in an Arlington apartment building. In the trash room, I found the most adorable strawberry-red hard-shell suitcases with rosy-pink lining. One is large, one is medium sized. As fancy and retro fun as I would feel checking into my Jet Blue flight with these stylish cases, it's not really realistic when you use public transportation to get to the airport (I need wheels, see).
So I turned the larger one into a place to store my shoes. Lining up my shoes takes up way too much space, and my closet doors don't accommodate a shoe hanger (plus I don't like how they look). I don't mind the cluttered-chic look of a pile of heels and flats in an open suitcase tucked into my closet. So I'm down with how I used one half of the suitcase pair.
Now, I need your help. What do I do with the other one?
I'm willing to get crafty and use tools. If I can't think of anything, I'll probably donate it as adorable as it is.
So I turned the larger one into a place to store my shoes. Lining up my shoes takes up way too much space, and my closet doors don't accommodate a shoe hanger (plus I don't like how they look). I don't mind the cluttered-chic look of a pile of heels and flats in an open suitcase tucked into my closet. So I'm down with how I used one half of the suitcase pair.
Now, I need your help. What do I do with the other one?
I'm willing to get crafty and use tools. If I can't think of anything, I'll probably donate it as adorable as it is.
Home Ec Homeschool Supply List
Learning about DIY cleaning and home care introduces one to a lot of serendipity regarding ingredients. Many, many homemade cleaners have the same ingredients or combinations of them. Even better, each of these ingredients, almost without exception, is inexpensive as can be. With a little familiarity with the functions of your basic ingredients, you can whip up almost any cleaning product you need without finding a recipe. Buying the following ingredients in bulk can save you a lot of money and time. No longer do you need a different, overpriced product to clean every fixture in your house, you can whip up inexpensive and nontoxic solutions to all your household chores.
What Does a Homemaker Need in a Cleaning Cabinet?
The Basics
Baking Soda - Baking soda deodorizes and is a mild abrasive. Suggested use: mix with water to clean bathtub and shower instead of using a store bought, chemical abrasive. Add to laundry to eliminate bad smells.
Vinegar - Vinegar makes everything shiny, and the smell goes away almost immediately as it dries. Wiping down metal or glass surfaces with vinegar will disinfect them and make them shine. Vinegar also kills and impedes the development of mildew. Suggested use: fill rinse aid container in your dishwasher with vinegar instead of store bought. It costs a fraction and works just as well.
Washing Soda - We already used washing soda in a DIY laundry detergent recipe. Washing soda is exceptionally good at cutting through greases and waxes. Suggested use: mix 1/2 cup washing soda with 2 cups water and use to get tough stains out of carpets or crayon marks out of clothes. Note: washing soda should not be used on aluminum surfaces or no-wax floors.
Borax - Borax is best known as a laundry booster. It can also be sprinkled at the bottom of your dishwasher to eliminate problems associated with hard water. Suggested use: use it instead of color safe bleach by adding 1/2 cup to your ordinary wash.
Hydrogen Peroxide - a general disinfectant. I once knew a woman who swore that a mixture of half hydrogen peroxide and half vinegar in a spray bottle was better than Lysol. I happen to agree.
Getting Fancy
Essential Oils - You can add essential oils, such as eucalyptus, lavender, or peppermint, to the cleaning products you make to give them a delightful scent. Many homemade cleaning products are more effective deodorizers than store bought, in my experience, but I sometimes miss the added smell of "spring rain" or "thai dragonfruit" or what have you. Using essential oils gives a fragrance without the chemicals and headaches.
Tea Tree Oil - In homemaking circles, I'm learning that tea tree oil is held up as some kind of panacea. It's anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-everything bad apparently. It is more expensive than almost anything else you'll by for home cleaning, but a little goes a long way. It's used in a lot of recipes for homemade beauty products.
Citric Acid - You can buy citric acid online or at a beer-making supply store. Spoiler alert: we'll be using it in a recipe for DIY dishwasher detergent.
What Does a Homemaker Need in a Cleaning Cabinet?
The Basics
Baking Soda - Baking soda deodorizes and is a mild abrasive. Suggested use: mix with water to clean bathtub and shower instead of using a store bought, chemical abrasive. Add to laundry to eliminate bad smells.
Vinegar - Vinegar makes everything shiny, and the smell goes away almost immediately as it dries. Wiping down metal or glass surfaces with vinegar will disinfect them and make them shine. Vinegar also kills and impedes the development of mildew. Suggested use: fill rinse aid container in your dishwasher with vinegar instead of store bought. It costs a fraction and works just as well.
Washing Soda - We already used washing soda in a DIY laundry detergent recipe. Washing soda is exceptionally good at cutting through greases and waxes. Suggested use: mix 1/2 cup washing soda with 2 cups water and use to get tough stains out of carpets or crayon marks out of clothes. Note: washing soda should not be used on aluminum surfaces or no-wax floors.
Borax - Borax is best known as a laundry booster. It can also be sprinkled at the bottom of your dishwasher to eliminate problems associated with hard water. Suggested use: use it instead of color safe bleach by adding 1/2 cup to your ordinary wash.
Hydrogen Peroxide - a general disinfectant. I once knew a woman who swore that a mixture of half hydrogen peroxide and half vinegar in a spray bottle was better than Lysol. I happen to agree.
Getting Fancy
Essential Oils - You can add essential oils, such as eucalyptus, lavender, or peppermint, to the cleaning products you make to give them a delightful scent. Many homemade cleaning products are more effective deodorizers than store bought, in my experience, but I sometimes miss the added smell of "spring rain" or "thai dragonfruit" or what have you. Using essential oils gives a fragrance without the chemicals and headaches.
Tea Tree Oil - In homemaking circles, I'm learning that tea tree oil is held up as some kind of panacea. It's anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-everything bad apparently. It is more expensive than almost anything else you'll by for home cleaning, but a little goes a long way. It's used in a lot of recipes for homemade beauty products.
Citric Acid - You can buy citric acid online or at a beer-making supply store. Spoiler alert: we'll be using it in a recipe for DIY dishwasher detergent.
Monday, January 9, 2012
You Don't Need To Be A Mother To Make A Home
My life is really good right now.
I have a job that starts at 2pm and rarely goes past 7:30. I'm paid fairly and get a lot of fulfillment from my position. I'm young and healthy, and I make enough money that I can take a bus up to New York as often as I ever care to. I live in an exciting city and have a wonderful, goofy, positive group of friends. My apartment is beautiful and affordable. I can go out to eat if a friend invites me without worrying about overdrawing my bank account. I have direction and ambition, and I'm in college.
Between the cash-strapped, confused, and depressed years of my late teens and early twenties, and the future I'm confident I'll create with husband, children, and home, I'm in a happy place right now where I'm confident, cared for, well-rested, and independent. These are the years I'll be describing to my kids sometime as those thrilling times one should really enjoy.
But I have a confession. Sometimes, I wish I could hurry this all up. I've never been a fan of the in between times, whether it's between boyfriends, colleges, jobs, or Metro trains. I find myself thinking "I'm so ready for my real life to start! I want to meet the love of my life and start my real job and have everything figured out! I don't want any more mysteries!" Lately I've tried to make a conscious effort to enjoy the mysteries. One thing I like to remind myself of is that when I moved to Washington, DC, following a really tough time in my life, I had no concept of how happy I would be in a few short months. I did not truly believe that it would be possible for me to make a living, return to college, or start over in a new city and even be admired for it. I'm about one wine spritzer away from waltzing around my house in a marabou-trimmed peignoir with a champagne glass lilting "if they could only see me now!" "They" being "me from three years ago." Yeah, you got that.
Right now I can't wait to learn who I'll marry, where I'll live, what inside jokes and funny traditions I'll have with my children. I feel like I have so much affection to give that I nearly throw a tantrum and pout about not having anyone to lavish it upon.
But, that's where I'm wrong. Dead wrong.
You don't have to be a wife or a mother to make a home. You, at this exact moment, wherever you are and with whomever you have in your life, have the ability to be a "homemaker" in the most radical, tender, expansive sense of the word. Being a radical homemaker isn't about picking petals off daisies while waiting for your prince to come sweep you off your feet. Yes, I truly believe that prince will come and that it will be life defining, but the spouse and the children do not make the homemaker. The homemaker makes home wherever she wants it, and in doing so is constantly turning the world into a kinder, more interdependent, more environmentally responsible, more caring, more honest, more welcoming home for us all.
Being a radical homemaker is creating a space where people feel nourished and cared for. I have all this caring energy, and like a lot of people with my personality, I went into childcare. But my affection and tenderness has a darker side. If it feels like it's not recognized, or needed enough, it turns into loneliness and shame, and even occasionally self loathing. "Clearly I'm not lovable enough/not good at relationships/not pretty enough or else I'd have the love part of my life figured out by now" is the general jist of the hiss from the natural homemaker's evil twin. So I'm going to tell you the biggest secret and the realest truth of this situation:
Your life is happening right now. And you can make someone else feel more like this world is his or her home every single day. And once you do that, you're going to feel comfortable in your own skin too.
I make a home by opening my apartment to out of town friends and making sure there's something vegetarian and spicy simmering in the slow cooker when they arrive. I make a home by drawing a comic book for a friend's Christmas present, telling the story of our amazing friendship through a funny fable about a vicious owl/bear hybrid. I buy flowers for a girlfriend who has had a fight with her mother and doesn't know how to start feeling better.
And you know what happens? I end up being cared for in return. Like everything relating to radical homemaking, this is most certainly not a calculated transaction. This isn't tallying up favors and carefully making sure everyone you know is in your debt. This is allowing yourself, as you grow and enjoy different phases of your life, to count on and be counted on. There are always risks in forming interdependence, but these are the dearest risks worth taking.
When I first met a lot of my friends in DC, I wanted people to hang out with. I basically wanted people to entertain me and make me feel less lonely, and I was perfectly willing to do the same for them. But that's not what friendships are, unless they are the most casual and perfunctory types of relationships. When my friendships took root, it was with the folks whose natures and priorities are the most similar to mine, and I realize why. I chose positive friends over negative ones because I become extremely uncomfortable when people are unkind. I chose people who have come to my house in the middle of the night after I hit my head so hard I lost consciousness. I chose people who have instincts toward the forgiving and tolerant - none of my friends is teased or mocked for foibles, and no one feels as though a few silly choices will accumulate into rejection. My friends are mostly young men, who have the added perk of reminding me how many truly wonderful young men there are. They give me a family to care for, and a way to see how far I've come.
My friends have shown me extraordinary care. The love and support I hope to grow with my future family is already weaving its way into my life.
-Chris bought me a thoughtful gift for Christmas (a Dungeons and Dragons starter set!) after hearing me talk about wanting to play (don't make fun).
-Ray drove me from the Orlando airport to Gainesville (100 miles) just because I asked. We hadn't seen each other in two years.
-Andrew helped me deal with a stalker and comforted me through a crisis.
-Jim listened to me freak out over loneliness and fear, and listened. He listened kindly and then said "you know what? You need to come to my church." And I did, and the music made me cry, and he bought me a bourbon afterward.
-Lindsay and Kristin took time out of their busy lives to mentor me through a tough time, and I owe so much of my current happiness and clarity to their help and the work we did together.
-Chris makes me laugh in a way I haven't with anyone else besides Marthe and Eric.
-Meaghan and Marthe give me a solid base to come home to in Florida. I have a lot of fun daydreaming about us all being best friends and seeing each other all the time again.
How could I ever feel like I'm waiting on real love to start?
Make a beeline for the happy. I forget where I heard this line, but it rings true. I don't want to spend any time wishing my life would hurry up. As I told my friend recently "it's easy for me to get baby fever from the comfort of 9 hours of sleep per night and the luxury of all the alcohol I care to drink." There will be time for family, home, and marriage. Right now, I want to (and hope you will) embrace two goals:
1. I want to enjoy the moment. If you have kids, enjoy the ages they are. If you are married, enjoy the person you found. If you're single and childless, you better enjoy that, because I have lots of friends with toddlers who are happy to trade places with you for a week or a month or two. At the very least, I hear a lot of "I wish I'd enjoyed that time more."
2. I want to make a home and demonstrate care for as many people in my life as possible. I want my actions and words to always be ones I'd be proud to be known for. Homemaking isn't reserving your best love and care for little progeny who don't exist yet. It's not saying "I'll start acting better when I have children watching me all the time." It's being the person you are proudest of as much as humanly possible.
At this point, my life is a really thrilling book I don't want to put down. I really can't wait to see how it ends, but I definitely want to savor it as it's happening.
I have a job that starts at 2pm and rarely goes past 7:30. I'm paid fairly and get a lot of fulfillment from my position. I'm young and healthy, and I make enough money that I can take a bus up to New York as often as I ever care to. I live in an exciting city and have a wonderful, goofy, positive group of friends. My apartment is beautiful and affordable. I can go out to eat if a friend invites me without worrying about overdrawing my bank account. I have direction and ambition, and I'm in college.
Between the cash-strapped, confused, and depressed years of my late teens and early twenties, and the future I'm confident I'll create with husband, children, and home, I'm in a happy place right now where I'm confident, cared for, well-rested, and independent. These are the years I'll be describing to my kids sometime as those thrilling times one should really enjoy.
But I have a confession. Sometimes, I wish I could hurry this all up. I've never been a fan of the in between times, whether it's between boyfriends, colleges, jobs, or Metro trains. I find myself thinking "I'm so ready for my real life to start! I want to meet the love of my life and start my real job and have everything figured out! I don't want any more mysteries!" Lately I've tried to make a conscious effort to enjoy the mysteries. One thing I like to remind myself of is that when I moved to Washington, DC, following a really tough time in my life, I had no concept of how happy I would be in a few short months. I did not truly believe that it would be possible for me to make a living, return to college, or start over in a new city and even be admired for it. I'm about one wine spritzer away from waltzing around my house in a marabou-trimmed peignoir with a champagne glass lilting "if they could only see me now!" "They" being "me from three years ago." Yeah, you got that.
Right now I can't wait to learn who I'll marry, where I'll live, what inside jokes and funny traditions I'll have with my children. I feel like I have so much affection to give that I nearly throw a tantrum and pout about not having anyone to lavish it upon.
But, that's where I'm wrong. Dead wrong.
You don't have to be a wife or a mother to make a home. You, at this exact moment, wherever you are and with whomever you have in your life, have the ability to be a "homemaker" in the most radical, tender, expansive sense of the word. Being a radical homemaker isn't about picking petals off daisies while waiting for your prince to come sweep you off your feet. Yes, I truly believe that prince will come and that it will be life defining, but the spouse and the children do not make the homemaker. The homemaker makes home wherever she wants it, and in doing so is constantly turning the world into a kinder, more interdependent, more environmentally responsible, more caring, more honest, more welcoming home for us all.
Being a radical homemaker is creating a space where people feel nourished and cared for. I have all this caring energy, and like a lot of people with my personality, I went into childcare. But my affection and tenderness has a darker side. If it feels like it's not recognized, or needed enough, it turns into loneliness and shame, and even occasionally self loathing. "Clearly I'm not lovable enough/not good at relationships/not pretty enough or else I'd have the love part of my life figured out by now" is the general jist of the hiss from the natural homemaker's evil twin. So I'm going to tell you the biggest secret and the realest truth of this situation:
Your life is happening right now. And you can make someone else feel more like this world is his or her home every single day. And once you do that, you're going to feel comfortable in your own skin too.
I make a home by opening my apartment to out of town friends and making sure there's something vegetarian and spicy simmering in the slow cooker when they arrive. I make a home by drawing a comic book for a friend's Christmas present, telling the story of our amazing friendship through a funny fable about a vicious owl/bear hybrid. I buy flowers for a girlfriend who has had a fight with her mother and doesn't know how to start feeling better.
And you know what happens? I end up being cared for in return. Like everything relating to radical homemaking, this is most certainly not a calculated transaction. This isn't tallying up favors and carefully making sure everyone you know is in your debt. This is allowing yourself, as you grow and enjoy different phases of your life, to count on and be counted on. There are always risks in forming interdependence, but these are the dearest risks worth taking.
When I first met a lot of my friends in DC, I wanted people to hang out with. I basically wanted people to entertain me and make me feel less lonely, and I was perfectly willing to do the same for them. But that's not what friendships are, unless they are the most casual and perfunctory types of relationships. When my friendships took root, it was with the folks whose natures and priorities are the most similar to mine, and I realize why. I chose positive friends over negative ones because I become extremely uncomfortable when people are unkind. I chose people who have come to my house in the middle of the night after I hit my head so hard I lost consciousness. I chose people who have instincts toward the forgiving and tolerant - none of my friends is teased or mocked for foibles, and no one feels as though a few silly choices will accumulate into rejection. My friends are mostly young men, who have the added perk of reminding me how many truly wonderful young men there are. They give me a family to care for, and a way to see how far I've come.
My friends have shown me extraordinary care. The love and support I hope to grow with my future family is already weaving its way into my life.
-Chris bought me a thoughtful gift for Christmas (a Dungeons and Dragons starter set!) after hearing me talk about wanting to play (don't make fun).
-Ray drove me from the Orlando airport to Gainesville (100 miles) just because I asked. We hadn't seen each other in two years.
-Andrew helped me deal with a stalker and comforted me through a crisis.
-Jim listened to me freak out over loneliness and fear, and listened. He listened kindly and then said "you know what? You need to come to my church." And I did, and the music made me cry, and he bought me a bourbon afterward.
-Lindsay and Kristin took time out of their busy lives to mentor me through a tough time, and I owe so much of my current happiness and clarity to their help and the work we did together.
-Chris makes me laugh in a way I haven't with anyone else besides Marthe and Eric.
-Meaghan and Marthe give me a solid base to come home to in Florida. I have a lot of fun daydreaming about us all being best friends and seeing each other all the time again.
How could I ever feel like I'm waiting on real love to start?
Make a beeline for the happy. I forget where I heard this line, but it rings true. I don't want to spend any time wishing my life would hurry up. As I told my friend recently "it's easy for me to get baby fever from the comfort of 9 hours of sleep per night and the luxury of all the alcohol I care to drink." There will be time for family, home, and marriage. Right now, I want to (and hope you will) embrace two goals:
1. I want to enjoy the moment. If you have kids, enjoy the ages they are. If you are married, enjoy the person you found. If you're single and childless, you better enjoy that, because I have lots of friends with toddlers who are happy to trade places with you for a week or a month or two. At the very least, I hear a lot of "I wish I'd enjoyed that time more."
2. I want to make a home and demonstrate care for as many people in my life as possible. I want my actions and words to always be ones I'd be proud to be known for. Homemaking isn't reserving your best love and care for little progeny who don't exist yet. It's not saying "I'll start acting better when I have children watching me all the time." It's being the person you are proudest of as much as humanly possible.
At this point, my life is a really thrilling book I don't want to put down. I really can't wait to see how it ends, but I definitely want to savor it as it's happening.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
DIY Laundry Detergent
It wasn't hard to find a DIY laundry detergent recipe online. I got my particular one from Do It Yourself Naturally, and it was easy as pie. I don't know what to love most about this project. The fact that it costs a fraction of what store bought laundry detergent does? The fact that there's no icky, unpronounceable chemicals in it? The fact that the scent doesn't make me sick, unlike so many store bought detergents? It emphasizes what we mean with radical homemaking: economy, ecology, and personal touch.
First, the ingredients.
I bought the following, and though Target didn't have Washing Soda, Giant did. I'm glad my hunch was right, that Giant would have Washing Soda since it falls under the general category of "weird old lady things," which Giant always seems to have. Our Giant also has canned octopus, FYI.
20-Mule Team Borax - 76 ounces - $3.49
Ivory Bar Soap - 10 bars - $5.15
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - 55 ounces - $3.49
After some complicated math, I figured that my batch ended up costing about $.04 per load. My favorite store- bought detergent, Method's concentrated Spring Daisy liquid, is $7.99 for 64 loads. That works out to about $.12 per load. So this detergent, which took me 15 minutes to make, costs one third of what my store bought alternative does.
Gather your ingredients. (The wine is optional.)
Grate one bar of the soap with an ordinary cheese grater. The finer the better, since you'll be stirring later to turn the grated soap into a powder. Don't grate your fingers.
Add one cup of washing soda and one cup of borax to the grated soap. Stir until it all turns into a nice powder. I used a large serving fork and a lot of very fast stirring. Store as you please, I used an old Greek yogurt container (there was a little left over I put in another container).
Some Notes:
1. Ivory Soap bars are lightly scented. I personally like this scent, but if you are sensitive to such things, you can find another plain bar soap.
2. I added a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to my wash load. I love fresh laundry scent, but I don't want a lot of chemicals. FYI, I also use a few drops of eucalyptus oil mixed with water in a spray bottle as a linen spray/anti-Febreeze.
3. There are a lot of apparently great recipes for liquid DIY laundry detergent too. The reason I didn't make it is because you need to store a larger mass of detergent. Every recipe recommends a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. But if you've got the storage space, and a preference for liquid detergents, I'd love to know how it turns out.
4. This detergent is very low-suds. So if you're like me and you keep peeking at your first load for "proof" that it's working, you'll be disappointed. The proof, in this case, is in the yummy smelling, clean clothes you get when you're done. Enjoy.
5. It is important to get the powder very fine. This is difficult with the grated soap, but the borax, being abrasive, helps. If your powder isn't fine enough, there will be white soap spots on your clothes. For good measure (and out of laziness), I gave the mixture a whirl in my food processor.
So did it work?
Yes.
The first load I washed was my bedding, it worked great. This detergent is fine for front-loading HE washing machines, which I do not have. I live in an apartment in DC and I'm fairly certain my washing machine and dryer are from the 1980s. But they work (with the help of a bobby-pin fix my roommate Linsey ingeniously thought up for the washer), and I'm grateful for them.
First, the ingredients.
I bought the following, and though Target didn't have Washing Soda, Giant did. I'm glad my hunch was right, that Giant would have Washing Soda since it falls under the general category of "weird old lady things," which Giant always seems to have. Our Giant also has canned octopus, FYI.
20-Mule Team Borax - 76 ounces - $3.49
Ivory Bar Soap - 10 bars - $5.15
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda - 55 ounces - $3.49
After some complicated math, I figured that my batch ended up costing about $.04 per load. My favorite store- bought detergent, Method's concentrated Spring Daisy liquid, is $7.99 for 64 loads. That works out to about $.12 per load. So this detergent, which took me 15 minutes to make, costs one third of what my store bought alternative does.
Gather your ingredients. (The wine is optional.)
Grate one bar of the soap with an ordinary cheese grater. The finer the better, since you'll be stirring later to turn the grated soap into a powder. Don't grate your fingers.
Add one cup of washing soda and one cup of borax to the grated soap. Stir until it all turns into a nice powder. I used a large serving fork and a lot of very fast stirring. Store as you please, I used an old Greek yogurt container (there was a little left over I put in another container).
Some Notes:
1. Ivory Soap bars are lightly scented. I personally like this scent, but if you are sensitive to such things, you can find another plain bar soap.
2. I added a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to my wash load. I love fresh laundry scent, but I don't want a lot of chemicals. FYI, I also use a few drops of eucalyptus oil mixed with water in a spray bottle as a linen spray/anti-Febreeze.
3. There are a lot of apparently great recipes for liquid DIY laundry detergent too. The reason I didn't make it is because you need to store a larger mass of detergent. Every recipe recommends a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. But if you've got the storage space, and a preference for liquid detergents, I'd love to know how it turns out.
4. This detergent is very low-suds. So if you're like me and you keep peeking at your first load for "proof" that it's working, you'll be disappointed. The proof, in this case, is in the yummy smelling, clean clothes you get when you're done. Enjoy.
5. It is important to get the powder very fine. This is difficult with the grated soap, but the borax, being abrasive, helps. If your powder isn't fine enough, there will be white soap spots on your clothes. For good measure (and out of laziness), I gave the mixture a whirl in my food processor.
So did it work?
Yes.
The first load I washed was my bedding, it worked great. This detergent is fine for front-loading HE washing machines, which I do not have. I live in an apartment in DC and I'm fairly certain my washing machine and dryer are from the 1980s. But they work (with the help of a bobby-pin fix my roommate Linsey ingeniously thought up for the washer), and I'm grateful for them.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Resources
My self-designed Home Ec course has some books and other resources attached to it. This list will grow and change as my skills do, but here's the first lineup:
1. HEARTH: Home Economics Archive of Research, Tradition, History. From Cornell University's Mann library, HEARTH is a database of journals, textbooks, and articles dealing with Home Economics and related fields. I anticipate this database being useful for learning particular skills, as well as providing a springboard for critical and sometimes humorous looks at the history of homemaking.
2. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. I have a weakness for buying hard copies of books, and I'm trying to train myself in thrift by using as many public domain and online resources as possible. This book, however, is a splurge I'm glad I made. It's basically an encyclopedia of everything from book repair to folding fitted sheets, and it's a beautiful edition at that.
3. The Bust DIY Guide To Life: Making Your Way Through Every Day. I'm a longtime reader of Bust Magazine, and my favorite features are the heirloom recipes and crafty project instructions in each issue. Finally, the ladies at Bust compiled a decade's worth of DIY advice and tutorials into one book. I just ordered it (along with my textbooks for Spring semester), I'm excited to get started.
4. Natural Healing Wisdom and Know How. A huge book of home and natural remedies, this book will help me make my first line of defense against bothersome pains and ailments an economical and non-industrial one.
5. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids. Having my own children is far in the future for me, but child rearing is a part of my everyday life as a nanny. I'm interested in Simplicity Parenting in both a theoretical and practical way. I don't have this book yet, but will get it when my budget allows.
6. How To Sew A Button And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew. Organized into short, step-by-step tutorials, this book is full of handy advice on many things, from the concrete ("how to shine your shoes," "how to dry apples") to the large-scale ("how to raise a good citizen," "how to ask for help").
How about you? Which books and online resources do you recommend for someone seeking to learn more skills related to homemaking, community involvement, and economical living?
1. HEARTH: Home Economics Archive of Research, Tradition, History. From Cornell University's Mann library, HEARTH is a database of journals, textbooks, and articles dealing with Home Economics and related fields. I anticipate this database being useful for learning particular skills, as well as providing a springboard for critical and sometimes humorous looks at the history of homemaking.
2. Home Comforts: The Art and Science of Keeping House. I have a weakness for buying hard copies of books, and I'm trying to train myself in thrift by using as many public domain and online resources as possible. This book, however, is a splurge I'm glad I made. It's basically an encyclopedia of everything from book repair to folding fitted sheets, and it's a beautiful edition at that.
3. The Bust DIY Guide To Life: Making Your Way Through Every Day. I'm a longtime reader of Bust Magazine, and my favorite features are the heirloom recipes and crafty project instructions in each issue. Finally, the ladies at Bust compiled a decade's worth of DIY advice and tutorials into one book. I just ordered it (along with my textbooks for Spring semester), I'm excited to get started.
4. Natural Healing Wisdom and Know How. A huge book of home and natural remedies, this book will help me make my first line of defense against bothersome pains and ailments an economical and non-industrial one.
5. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids. Having my own children is far in the future for me, but child rearing is a part of my everyday life as a nanny. I'm interested in Simplicity Parenting in both a theoretical and practical way. I don't have this book yet, but will get it when my budget allows.
6. How To Sew A Button And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew. Organized into short, step-by-step tutorials, this book is full of handy advice on many things, from the concrete ("how to shine your shoes," "how to dry apples") to the large-scale ("how to raise a good citizen," "how to ask for help").
How about you? Which books and online resources do you recommend for someone seeking to learn more skills related to homemaking, community involvement, and economical living?
The Ideas Behind Home Ec Homeschool
My friend Chris texted me one day from one of my favorite restaurants/bars/bookstores/cafes in DC (we have a few of those). He had seen a book in the "bookstore" part of the establishment that he wanted to tell me about. The book was Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes. The day before, I was chatting with my friend Phil on Facebook, and he said "you're one of the most maternal and domestic people I've ever met." On my last trip to New York, Mitch and I bounced around ideas over brunch about parlaying my love of crafts and cooking into a blog that wouldn't be the same old predictable Neo-Granny-Hipster thing. As the weather got colder in the District, I found myself more home-centered, as I shifted ever so slightly into hibernation mode, staying close to my knitting needles and slow cooker stews.
I've always had an inclination toward homemaking. I've been a nanny for seven years and plan to spend part of my life working in child advocacy. Though like everyone else it's hard for me to find the time, I long to keep a beautiful home filled with healthy, whole meals and conscientiously managed consumption. While reading Radical Homemakers, I found a philosophy for life that I've spent years trying to put into words. It claims homemaking as a progressive and, yes, radical choice to shift one's family from a unit of consumption to a unit of production. It insists that homemaking, in a real and passionate sense, can be the catalyst for an equal and loving marriage or partnership. A family that allows one adult to stay home places a priority on that home and the care of those who live there. How many of us grew up with hurried meals made out of heavily processed convenience foods, whose parents worked so hard that doing laundry was a nearly insurmountable chore at the end of a long work day? My goal is not to say that those family lives do not have value, or that families in which both parents find fulfillment through work are deficient. Instead, I wish to examine a life in which the choice to stay home and focus full time on family, community, and home is also valuable. My current lifestyle is possible because wonderful parents make the choice to work and pay a good living to someone who (with the support of extended family) provides care to their children. (Note: due to privacy, I do not give details about the family I care for on this blog.) This is ideal, because it makes use of the skills I have to nurture the family whose parents have the skills they have. This is the kind of interdependence, as well as economical value of childrearing, that I support.
So here is the foundation of Home Ec Homeschool
1. A dual income is not necessarily essential to a good life. Don't get me wrong, I have no interest in entering the horrible struggle that is actual poverty. A large part of my childhood was spent blissfully unaware of the daily hassles endured by my parents as they navigated various forms of public assistance and difficult decision making, and I have no desire to endure that as a parent. My position is that it is possible to have a good life on one professional income, provided that a family is willing to adjust its expectations of what constitutes a good life. The cost of day care, take out meals, a second car, and many groceries can be eliminated with wise homemaking. I am fully aware that this is a luxury, and that many families truly cannot live on one income. I believe that homemaking as a community choice can make this option more available for more families who wish for it through the development of community interdependence.
2. Homemaking is not being a "Soccer Mom" or "Trophy Wife." It is not counting on a spouse to take care of you financially in exchange for you giving birth every few years. It is a choice to devote yourself to the care of your family, home and community, and it is being a part of a true partnership between spouses. Homemaking does not end at the home.
3. There are other ways to earn income besides a traditional "job." Caring for other's children in your home (a great option for families in which both parents find fulfillment through work but don't necessarily care for the day care model) like my friend and role model Meaghan did is one option. So is developing a skill that brings income with the freedom of an open schedule such as canning, sewing, auto repair, freelance writing, what have you. Some homemakers may choose to take part time work as their children grow, like Meaghan also did. A homemaker can still help his or her family financially while placing priority on home care.
4. A lot of the skills of homemaking have disappeared from common knowledge. The shift away from training girls to run homes to encouraging them to pursue education is, of course, a step toward progress and equality in a society that values professional achievement over home-centered vocation. In my Home Ec Homeschool, I want to teach myself (or find others to teach me) how to do things that our great-grandmothers knew by the time they married. A lot of this is for fun, a lot of it will be useful. I have an extremely fun, urban, mid-twenties lifestyle with a lot of free time. I want to use some of that free time to develop skills that will help me be a more conscientious and competent homemaker.
Yes, I'm a feminist. Yes, I'm getting an education. I have no desire to be a doormat or to insist that all women should stay home with their children in lieu of a career. I want to explore homemaking as a life choice informed by and consistent with feminism. I want to join a community that insists on the value of family and interpersonal relationships. Join me as I learn new things, editorialize on feminist and environmental issues, and seek out wisdom from others.
I've always had an inclination toward homemaking. I've been a nanny for seven years and plan to spend part of my life working in child advocacy. Though like everyone else it's hard for me to find the time, I long to keep a beautiful home filled with healthy, whole meals and conscientiously managed consumption. While reading Radical Homemakers, I found a philosophy for life that I've spent years trying to put into words. It claims homemaking as a progressive and, yes, radical choice to shift one's family from a unit of consumption to a unit of production. It insists that homemaking, in a real and passionate sense, can be the catalyst for an equal and loving marriage or partnership. A family that allows one adult to stay home places a priority on that home and the care of those who live there. How many of us grew up with hurried meals made out of heavily processed convenience foods, whose parents worked so hard that doing laundry was a nearly insurmountable chore at the end of a long work day? My goal is not to say that those family lives do not have value, or that families in which both parents find fulfillment through work are deficient. Instead, I wish to examine a life in which the choice to stay home and focus full time on family, community, and home is also valuable. My current lifestyle is possible because wonderful parents make the choice to work and pay a good living to someone who (with the support of extended family) provides care to their children. (Note: due to privacy, I do not give details about the family I care for on this blog.) This is ideal, because it makes use of the skills I have to nurture the family whose parents have the skills they have. This is the kind of interdependence, as well as economical value of childrearing, that I support.
So here is the foundation of Home Ec Homeschool
1. A dual income is not necessarily essential to a good life. Don't get me wrong, I have no interest in entering the horrible struggle that is actual poverty. A large part of my childhood was spent blissfully unaware of the daily hassles endured by my parents as they navigated various forms of public assistance and difficult decision making, and I have no desire to endure that as a parent. My position is that it is possible to have a good life on one professional income, provided that a family is willing to adjust its expectations of what constitutes a good life. The cost of day care, take out meals, a second car, and many groceries can be eliminated with wise homemaking. I am fully aware that this is a luxury, and that many families truly cannot live on one income. I believe that homemaking as a community choice can make this option more available for more families who wish for it through the development of community interdependence.
2. Homemaking is not being a "Soccer Mom" or "Trophy Wife." It is not counting on a spouse to take care of you financially in exchange for you giving birth every few years. It is a choice to devote yourself to the care of your family, home and community, and it is being a part of a true partnership between spouses. Homemaking does not end at the home.
3. There are other ways to earn income besides a traditional "job." Caring for other's children in your home (a great option for families in which both parents find fulfillment through work but don't necessarily care for the day care model) like my friend and role model Meaghan did is one option. So is developing a skill that brings income with the freedom of an open schedule such as canning, sewing, auto repair, freelance writing, what have you. Some homemakers may choose to take part time work as their children grow, like Meaghan also did. A homemaker can still help his or her family financially while placing priority on home care.
4. A lot of the skills of homemaking have disappeared from common knowledge. The shift away from training girls to run homes to encouraging them to pursue education is, of course, a step toward progress and equality in a society that values professional achievement over home-centered vocation. In my Home Ec Homeschool, I want to teach myself (or find others to teach me) how to do things that our great-grandmothers knew by the time they married. A lot of this is for fun, a lot of it will be useful. I have an extremely fun, urban, mid-twenties lifestyle with a lot of free time. I want to use some of that free time to develop skills that will help me be a more conscientious and competent homemaker.
Yes, I'm a feminist. Yes, I'm getting an education. I have no desire to be a doormat or to insist that all women should stay home with their children in lieu of a career. I want to explore homemaking as a life choice informed by and consistent with feminism. I want to join a community that insists on the value of family and interpersonal relationships. Join me as I learn new things, editorialize on feminist and environmental issues, and seek out wisdom from others.
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