wood burning stove

We bought our wood burning stove today!!!! I'm so excited! we still have to build the hearth to set it on and then install the pipe, but finally after years of talking and planning we finally have a way to keep us warm in the winter months without gas, propane or even electricity :) . Good timing too. The tempurature is starting to drop here. We havent had to fire up the heater yet and hopefully we'll have the wood stove in before we have to.

No more hair spray

Hair spray is now officially OFF my shopping list!! I'm not doing without however, for hair spray is something i cant seem to do without, but i have found a way to make my own that seems to work great for me. It is also much better for the environment, and much, much cheaper then buying actual "hair spray".  All it takes is a half cup water heated to boiling, then add 2 teaspoons sugar and stir until dissolved. Let it cool and empty into a spray bottle (I use one of those small travel sized pump ones) and there you go....hair spray!! You can add more or less sugar depending on the strength of hairspray you prefer. Now..... the reason i keep mine in a small travel spray bottle  is because water does go sour over time and its the same with this. When i catch that hint of sourness i simply dump it out and refill it with the big batch i keep in my freezer, that way I'm not having to make a new batch so often. Cheap, Green, and Simple...my kind of wonderful!!  :)

Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling for the holidays

So this year I've decided to save all the bows and ribbon's from the presents that were opened on Christmas morning to use for next year. They are still in perfect condition since they were simply torn off the presents and tossed aside, and i can simply tape them on the gifts next year (I have to tape them half the time anyways since the sticky part of the bow doesn't always stick to the wrapping paper). Bows and ribbon don't cost that much to buy new so its not a huge savings but every penny counts on our mission lol. Also I'm trying to find ways to cut down on purchasing new items and buy second hand or in this case "reuse".

Brown Sugar

      I decided to start making my own brown sugar instead of buying it. We buy generic store brand any ways (which is just molasses and sugar) so why not make my own. Its cheaper if you make it your self anyways and lets face it if going for self sufficiency cheaper is better :)

      LIGHT BROWN SUGAR:

            1 CUP SUGAR
            1 1/2 TABLESPOONS MOLASSES

      DARK BROWN SUGAR:

            1 CUP SUGAR
            1/4 CUP MOLASSES

      Simply combined the sugar and molasses until well blended.  You can add or subtract the amount of molasses depending on taste and how strong of flavor you want for your brown sugar, this is simply the measurements i use.

Trash free

This is the coolest thing, this couple produces almost NO trash at all!!!! Just imagine if everyone went to the effort they did.....our landfill problems would almost dissapear! I give these two mad props!!!! What they are doing is amazing.  And on a frugal note i bet they dont have a garbage bill for trash collection :)

Amazing book!

I just finished reading a book the other day called "possum living, how to live well without a job and with almost no money". This book really hit the spot for me. Its "almost" exactly what were shooting for.....to be free, to not be tied to having to go to work everyday just to pay our bills and feed our family. I agree 100% with her philosophy on if you like working and like your job then great....continue, but if not then why continue to do what you hate? Her and her father acomplished what we hope to....to live out our lives as we want and not be forced to work because we dont want to lose our house or our cars or starve. Possum living is what were striving for...its our goal.......and i cant wait to reach it!!! :)

The cayenne harvest

Our cayenne peppers hanging to dry from just three of our plants!!!! :)