More Tips on Being Cheap!

Ok, the all-purpose cleaner is the easiest, so let's start there. Mix one part regular old white vinegar with one part water and put it in a squirt bottle. Done! My only advice is to use a funnel and get a good squirt bottle. The kind from the travel sized toiletries area at Target will rust or break pretty quickly. I suggest the good $2 kind from Home Depot, or at least the kind from the mops/brooms area at Target!
This stuff is REALLY CHEAP! WAHOO! (And yes it works, I used it in my lab.) And the best part is you don't have to worry about it being where your kids are. They can lick a floor cleaned with this stuff! Heck, they could drink of this stuff!
(ETA: No, this is not going to get a red food coloring stain off of your kitchen counter. I have a bottle of cleaner with bleach that I use every once in a while for things like that. I'll have that bottle for YEARS though!)

Next, glass/mirror cleaner.

Get another good squirt bottle and put a cup of rubbing alcohol (I use the 91% isopropyl...it's in the pharmacy area by the bandages), a cup of water and a tablespoon of your vinegar. DONE. Works like a charm. Also, I use this instead of the all-purpose cleaner if I've got some raw meat drippings on the counter or something. You just can't get it on painted surfaces, including your fingernails!

And then there's the fruit and veggie wash. This is the most complicated!

This is the only one I mix in a separate bowl. You know the foaming that goes on when vinegar and baking soda mix...it'll cover your kitchen if you do it in a little squirt bottle! Anyway, mix 1 cup vinegar with 1 cup water, add a tablespoon of baking soda (bubbles!) and then a teaspoon of lemon juice. Make sure your bowl is pretty big if you are going to double the recipe...don't want bubbling over! Use that funnel to get it in your quality squirt bottle.
SAVING MONEY and not eating dirt!
When I get home from the store I spray all of the produce thoroughly and let it sit while I put the rest of the groceries away. Then I rinse them right under tap water and put them away. I give things like apples and cucumbers a good rub to get all the waxy residue off. Easy!

Make it Yourself

Ok, here's how I do this.
We'll start with the laundry soap. I use equal parts soap, washing soda and borax.

The recipes I looked at used Ivory, Fels Naptha or Zote soap. The 2 latter, as well as the borax and washing soda, can be found in the laundry isle at Wal-Mart or a grocery store. I just shred the soap with a fine cheese grater (this takes a while, but it's a good excuse to watch something on TV!). I use 4-5 bars for each batch.

Then I pour in the box of washing soda (don't use regular baking soda...that's different stuff!). Then I pour in as much of the borax as will fit in the container. (I use the leftover borax to clean the tub and shower!) You'll want to use an airtight container because the borax will harden. Plus, it makes it a whole lot easier to shake up! Then I just use a heaping tablespoon in each wash. Easy peasy! And it lasts for a really long time. How cheap is that?!?!?!?!
Ok, I'm out of time now...but glass cleaner, fruit/veggie wash and all-purpose cleanser are coming soon!

I'm doing it wrong!

My standards are very low these days. At 10 p.m. if the kids are in bed and I can find all of the baby bottles then I consider that day a success! Some days I look around at our messy, messy house and think, "What am I doing wrong?" I ask other moms "How do you do it?" I wonder, " Why can't I do it?"
Most of the time I feel like I just need to work harder. I feel embarrassed that our house is so messy.
But sometimes I really think hard about what I've done that day. Today I held Evan for hours, which is really irritating, but it won't be long until he too is a 4 year-old that won't let me hold him. So, time well spent. Today I took a quick nap with Braden when Evan was napping because I didn't get much sleep last night. Time well spent because it gave me the energy to deal with them until Mike got home. Today I picked up my parents from the airport and hung out with them because I haven't seen them in almost 3 weeks. Obviously time well spent. Today I took the boys to our playgroup Halloween party where they had fun and learned about loving our friends. ALWAYS time well spent. Today we ran around outside and played zombies with the neighbor kids. I watched the kids crunch leaves and feel the cold breeze and laugh and scream like crazy monkeys and I thought TIME WELL SPENT!
So tonight I'm going to bed at 11 hoping to get some sleep and hoping to have another great day tomorrow and hoping I can remember to be patient with my messy house. Because I didn't do anything wrong today.
I have a really messy house, but for me, my family and where we are right now...I'm doing it right!