So far in this Pretty Penny Budget Series we have talked about the tools you need to get started, how to set them up, and how to use them efficiently. Now we are ready to dive even further into starting a budget by comparing your income to your expenses and to actually setting a budget a long with financial goals.
Who has heard of Ruth Soukup’s money saving challenge called “31 Days of Living Well & Spending Zero” challenge?
If you want to jump start your savings and/or your budget then you will want to sign up for this savings challenge! Leave a comment below if you are joining and we can help each other make it the entire 31 days!
You can go to Living Well Spending Less to get entire details and actually sign up. But let me tell you in a nutshell, what this savings challenge is all about.
Everyone always talks about their “budget”. Sure I heard it all the time and I even used the word myself, but I don’t think I really understood how to use a budget until the last couple years.
I instantly have anxiety when I think about how my husband and I used to run our finances when we were in college. We would do things like pick an apartment based on nothing else other than what we “thought” we could afford. We never sat down to look at our income and actually run the numbers. Stressful to think about!
After many “lesson learned” experiences we have a system going for us right now that works pretty good. It’s not perfect but very helpful and a huge stress reliever. When finances run smoothly (this doesn’t mean we have a lot of money, just that we manage it better) it’s amazing how other things in life run better.
Are you someone who loves to go to the movies? Do you love to go see the latest flick the very night it opens? I am a person who would love to do that but going to the movies is crazy expensive. We usually only go to the theaters if we have been given a gift card. On a very rare occasion we will pay full price if there is a movie that we just cannot wait to watch at home.
Okay cool, I got a babysitter for Friday night! But how much should I pay her?
I remember the first time I was hiring a babysitter for my sweet little baby girl. I was so nervous! I was nervous about leaving my baby at home and I was nervous because I had no idea how much I should pay her!
You don’t want to pay too much on the first job. That would set the bar too high! You don’t want to pay too little or she might never come back!
So naturally I started asking all of my friends what they paid their babysitters. I was a little surprised to hear how much everyone’s answers varied. Some paid on the high end around $10+ per hour and some were paying about half of that.
The hard answer to the question is that it really just depends on the babysitter and the circumstances of the job.
I found that the families paying more money per hour, were expecting a lot more for their money. Here are a few tips to help you decide how much to pay your next babysitter.
It happens to almost everyone… You decide it’s time to sit down and look over your bank account and your budget. Both you and your sweetie are dreading the conversation because you just know that it is going to end in a high intensity discussion and you would rather cuddle up and watch a movie on the couch.
Although I wasn’t able to specifically pin down a cold-hard statistic on how financial issues influence marriage, I think it is safe to say that financial problems are one of the highest influences when it comes to marital disagreements.
But guess what! Going over your budget doesn’t have to involve a yelling match. We all know we should never yell in our homes. Right?
With baby number three having just arrived in our family, my mind has turned to prepping. Baby prepping. I am trying to think about everything and anything I can do to save time and money for when the little guy comes! That way all my thoughts and attention can be on my family!
Having a newborn join your family is one of the very most exciting times in life! It almost feels like the world stops for those first few days and weeks and all you have to do is love and care for your precious little one.
Then reality hits. The world doesn’t actually stop. Your bills still need to be paid. Your other kid or kids, your hubby, and yourself still need to be fed. Your house still needs to function somewhat. It is a lot to juggle all at the same time!
But even with all the things that are still on the never ending to-do list you still want and need that special time to enjoy while your baby is still a baby! I have found that the very best way handle this balancing act is to prepare as much as possible.
Who is ready to start getting rid of harsh chemicals from your home? Well, let me introduce you to Leanne from The Transplanted Southerner who has massive amounts of knowledge on this very topic!
She is sharing two super simple and cheap recipes to help take care of any and all wood furniture in your home. You are about to be inspired to start making all of your household cleaners on your own! Here she is:
I have inherited quite a few of my grandmother’s beautiful antiques, and I’ve added to the collection whenever I find something lovely (and inexpensive!) on Craigslist or at a thrift store. Most of my grandmother’s furniture came to me in pretty good shape, although a couple of the pieces had been stored near a dehumidifier and the wood was very dry.
Our dresser and headboard, however, were Craigslist scores and, while gorgeous pieces, were in quite bad shape. With a little love, and a good deal of elbow grease, I’ve brought them all back up to snuff and we have some really nice, solid wood furniture throughout the house.
In an effort to keep them looking nice, I dust them weekly and polish them every 6-8 weeks. Typically, 6 weeks in the winter because our gas heat leaves everything feeling dried out, and every 8 weeks in the summer when it’s a little more humid.
For a while, I was using Pledge dusting spray and Old English furniture oil. Don’t get me wrong, those products work and I was happy with the results….but…..well, I was trying to make a shift to natural products and I mean I was making my own laundry detergent for goodness sakes! Yet there I was stocking up on chemical laden sprays and oils. Good grief! (As Charlie Brown would say)
I knew making household cleaning products was a breeze, my “one product for all purposes” bathroom cleaner is cheap and easy to make as well as use. Surely to goodness I could come up with a little something for my favorite furnishings, and, with some research, I did! I won’t lie, I had some amazingly bad flops the first couple of tries, but I’m saving you the headache and hassle by sharing the ones that I know DO work (and work well)!
DIY Dusting Spray
First, the dusting spray because this is what you’ll use the majority of the time. You don’t need much to make this spray, it isn’t anything fancy, but it works like a charm and smells like a dream (um, after the vinegar scent dissipates ha ha)!
What You Need
1 glass jar or glass spray bottle
Filtered water
White Vinegar
Olive Oil
Essential Oils (if you want to add scent and extra furniture protection – I like to use Eucalyptus and Orange or Lemon oil because it smells clean and gives you a little energy boost while cleaning)
What To Do
1. First, make sure your jar or bottle is clean. It needs to be glass if you are adding essential oils because they can eat through plastic (ask me how I know). But if you don’t want the essential oils you can try plastic though I would go with a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle. They can usually be found in health food stores, but if you don’t have one locally or can’t find them they can be purchased inexpensively from places like Amazon or Spark Naturals.
2. I didn’t list specific amounts because that can vary greatly. I make up my dusting spray every week or two so I don’t make a large batch. Someone else might need more and make a larger bottle. The important thing is to remember the ratios. They are:
3 parts water
1 part vinegar
1 tsp (for a smaller batch) to 1 TBSP (for a larger batch) of olive oil
5-8 drops (for a smaller batch) to 8-12 drops (for a larger batch) of essential oil
My recipe looks like this:
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of vinegar
1 tsp of olive oil
4 drops of eucalyptus essential oil
4 drops of lemon essential oil
3. Add the olive oil and essential oil first, and swirl them around to get them mixed well. Then add the water and vinegar, cap and shake. That’s all there is to it!
The essential oil combo I use is great because the eucalyptus repels pests like bugs and the lemon is an excellent degreaser so it teams up with the vinegar to cut through any grime on the furniture surface.
Once it’s well mixed you can just spritz lightly like you would a regular dusting solution and wipe down with a clean, soft cloth.
You want to use a light touch. You’re just using a bit of liquid to help wipe away the dust, not washing the wood! Remember to give it a shake every so often to keep it mixed. That’s it!
*Side note – if you don’t have a spray bottle, that’s okay. For almost a year, I mixed mine up in an old pickle jar for quite some time before investing in bottles. Simply put the lid on and shake the jar, then put the cloth over the top of the jar and tip to dampen the cloth. Wring the cloth out so it is slightly wet, not dripping, and wipe down your furniture. I promise that this works just fine!
Now let’s talk about keeping the wood hydrated and shiny.
DIY Wood Polish
Wood can dry out, especially when exposed to dry heat or stored in an area with a dehumidfier, so it is important to rehydrate the wood. It will not only keep the wood itself in top condition, but will make your home look well put together and cared for. Wood furniture that has become to dry will look lackluster, and the color won’t be as rich. Nothing says “good housekeeping” like some gleaming wood furniture!
The polish I use is actually a little more of a “shoe polish” consistency than an oil, so I store it in a glass jar with a canning lid. The consistency won’t affect the results you get, because this polish will liquify and soak into the wood as you rub it on. Think of it as a “wood salve”.
What You Need
1 cup Coconut oil
1/4 cup Olive oil
2-4 TBSP Beeswax (use less if you want a more lotion-y polish, more if you want it to be a bit more like a wax)
Essential Oils (I choose to use Cedar and Lemon – but you can pretty much use anything you’d like)
What To Do
1. You’re going to melt the oils down to mix them together, so you’ll need to put them in a thick glass jar or bowl. Now set THAT inside a pot of water (do not get water inside the jar or glass), and bring the water to a medium heat. Allow the oils to melt slowly, stirring occasionally.
2. Once everything is melted, pour it into a glass jar that has a good lid that seals well. You can use a canning jar, like I do, or repurpose an older jelly or jam jar.
3. Before the polish begins to firm up, add your essential oils and give it a good swirl with a toothpick or skewer to mix the oils throughout the polish base. I love to use Cedar and Lemon essential oils in mine. The cedar isn’t overpowering and it has a nice, slightly rustic smell. Cedarwood is also a relaxing smell, so you can sit in your freshly cleaned room and unwind later. Lemon is just fresh and clean, hence its presence in so many cleaning products, and the oil can help clear up any musty odors that might be lurking about.
4. Now, set it to the side and allow it to cool off and firm up. You can go ahead and use it, or seal it up for later use.
Did this remind you of a salve recipe? It pretty much is! You could rub this on your skin if you wanted, so you don’t have to worry about pets or kids getting this on them, and it doesn’t pose a hazard to you as you polish your pretty wood furniture.
On the weeks that I’m going to polish I use a barely damp cloth to dust my furniture in preperation for polishing. You don’t necessarily have to use the dusting spray beforehand since you will be adding the polish, although you can put a bit of vinegar into the water if the furniture looks very dusty to help get it clean before you use the polish. Adding polish to dusty furniture would only create a mess.
Use small dabs as you go, because it doesn’t take much. You want this to soak in and hydrate the wood, not leave an oily film siting on the surface of the wood. I keep a second cloth with me to buff the wood once I’ve applied the polish and this helps bring out the natural beauty of the wood without leaving anything behind to attract dust (which pretty much negates cleaning your furniture, right?) or look greasy.
Now that you know how to make your own dusting spray and furniture polish, are you ready to make the switch to other naturally based household cleaners? You can find my carpet cleaning solution recipe here, we like it so much more than the bottled shampoos sold in stores!
