Antibacterial Wipes

I am all for convenience. I love convenience. Convenience loves me. We have a friendship, a bond. It's sort of inseparable. Well, it used to be. I am having issues with ingredients and prices of "convenience". Therefore, I have taken a pledge this year to do less convenience and more preparation. One of my first endeavors is homemade antibacterial wipes.

I love antibacterial wipes. I use them in the bathroom to wipe the toilet seat, handles, doorknobs, etc. Cool and I recently had the stomach flu and I credit my use of antibacterial wipes to the picklets not getting sick. And thank goodness they didn't. Oh yeah, thank goodness.

A big problem with antibacterial wipes is the added junk you just don't need. According to Clorox.com the ingredients in their wipes is: water, substrate, isopropyl alcohol, alkul dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, Alkyl polyglucoside, Fragrance, Preservative and Propylene glycol propyl ether. I had to look at the definitions for 5 of the 9 ingredients. And even though I know what fragrance and preservatives are, I don't know what are contained in those. I had to find an alternative.

I have done some research on how to make "natural", low cost, effective cleaners. This one is simple, low cost and effective. Win-win-win!

You need:

• 1 roll of paper towels. Any brand of paper towel will do BUT the thicker, more quality, brands hold up better to rubbing the surfaces. I use the cheapest ones I can find because my children use wipes as their main cleaning supply.
• rubbing alcohol. Rubbing or isopropyl alcohol is a natural disinfectant. . Hospitals and doctors offices use it. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me. Rubbing alcohol is also one of the main ingredients in Clorox wipes

Your method:

• Cut the roll of paper towels in half. This is a messy job as pieces of paper towel lint fall from the roll, but a serrated knife does the job. I have heard using an electric knife works too, but I have no need to invest in something like that just to cut paper towels.
• Put one half of the paper towels into an air tight container. I use the Cottonelle toilet paper holder they sent me free. It matches my bathroom, is decorative and was FREE after all. If the roll seems too big, I put the roll in Ziploc bag, pour the liquid over it and it and put it in the container. I have not had a problem getting it to fit after they are wet. Of course it depends on your brand.
• Pour rubbing alcohol over paper towels until wet. The amount you need depends on the thickness of your paper towels. I usually put too much in but I can squeeze out the excess if I need to.
• Take the paper tubing out of the center, discard and pull towels out from the center.

That's it! Easy peasy, right?

Now, the smell of straight rubbing alcohol can be is very strong and overwhelming. I did some looking around and found that you can mix rubbing alcohol with essential oils. So, I drip essential oil drops into my rubbing alcohol bottle, recap, gently tilt to each side and then pour over the towels. :) I picked orange and peppermint. It was a nice improvement.

My cost for homemade antibacterial wipes:

paper towel roll 33¢                1/2 roll 16.5¢
rubbing alcohol 55¢                1/3 bottle 18.3¢
essential oil $4.15                   15 drops 51¢
container free                          container free

**Grand total: It costs me less than a dollar to make a container of wipes (1/2 roll of towels, 65 wipes) for wiping down the bathroom. And that could be even less if I didn't put the essential oil in. For me, it is cost effective, easy to make and uses natural ingredients. I love being frugal. :)

I know this solution isn't for everyone but it is definitely one way for me to make a financial difference in our house!

**The costs in your area, the brand of towels you use and the kind of essential oils will vary the cost. And be sure to add in the container if you need to buy one.**

A Goodwill Wardrobe

I am not ashamed one bit to admit that we buy a majority of our clothing at garage sales and Goodwill. It is one reason we can afford to homeschool.

Today was quarter day at Goodwill. And it was a pretty good day. Take a ponder.
All together I bought 7 sweatshirts, 13 t-shirts, 4 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 dresses, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 book and an earring hanger. The grand total...$12.40.

T-shirts are a staple at Goodwill.

Two of my favorite t-shirts this trip are The Pledge of Allegiance which is perfect for Chip who loves all things America.

And the yellow pancake shirt.

It is so neat. It looks like pancakes with syrup but upon closer look it is a hill and the syrup is water falls. Perfect for my pancake loving Sweet, who fell in love with it immediately.

One of the keys to purchasing good quality, decent clothing at Goodwill is to buy off season. Sweatshirts go un-noticed during the summer months. That is why 5 of the 7 hoodies were only a quarter. No one looks at them cause why would you need a sweatshirt when it is 97 in the shade? Because winter is coming, that's why.

This Uof I sweatshirt is new, never been washed. I love the Hawkeyes inside the hood.

I bought it to give to Sweet for her birthday...in November. I also bought another U of I hoodie to give to Chip for Christmas. It had only been washed once or twice and is still soft.

This God Bless the USA sweatshirt is also new and not been washed.
It is a gift for Gaga's 90th birthday. It is coming up next month. I love buying gifts for people at garage sales and Goodwill. It is great recycling and much of the time no one can tell where the gift came from.

Another must do is to move each hanger to look at each piece of clothing and each tag. If we hadn't done that we wouldn't have found these two dresses for Sweet.
They fit perfectly and look wonderful on her.

They were lost in between women's dresses.

Look for new items. They are out there. These Dockers are brand-spankin' new.

They fit Chip perfectly and will be great for when he needs to be a bit dressy without needing a suit. The price tag is still on them.

I paid a quarter. But even if I had to pay the full price of $3.38 it still would have been a great deal.

Being in the right place at the right time also helps. These Dr. Martens are brand new. Never been worn.

The bottoms are pure black. I paid $2.38. I looked them up on the internet. The lowest price I could find was $79.00. Sweet loved them.

Of course sometimes I just buy things because they call my name. This "Tao of Pooh" book called my name today.

I will be curled up in bed reading it before long.

I don't get deals like this all the time but I scored big this week. New items to give as gifts and name-brand items I would NEVER be able to buy brand new.

The real key to dressing a family the Goodwill way is to get the whole family involved. Let them loose to find what they like. We normally visit only on quarter days and I let the picklets pretty much get what they want for that price. Of course you have to look carefully for stains and tears, be patient as Goodwill shopping has become very popular lately and visit the thrift stores on a regular basis because one day you will score big and the next you won't find anything. But it is part of the game and the thrill of the hunt. :-)

(c) 2008-2010 Wicked Pickles-Homefront Lines

I Joined the ALL YOU Grocery Challenge

I am so psyched! All You is having a grocery challenge. As written on the All You site:

"Show off your shopping smarts by spending no more than $25 per family member per week on groceries over a four-week period beginning July 13. That's $100 a week for a family of four. You could win a $1,000 grocery card plus a year's supply of Knorr side dishes and the chance to appear in ALL YOU magazine."

"HOW THE CHALLENGE WORKS:

• To register, fill out and submit the form at right by 11:59 p.m., July 12. The challenge starts on July 13.
• We'll send you weekly e-mails, starting July 13, that include tips, recipes and instructions on how to blog about your progress and use our handy Spending Log.
• After four weeks, we'll tell you how to send in your results, and we'll then choose 10 finalists.
• The finalist who followed the budget with the most creative healthful choices will win a $1,000 grocery card and a year's supply of Knorr side dishes—and will appear in ALL YOU!"

Read the official rules here.

Read the All You Grocery Challenge Blog here.

Download and print the All You spending log here.

Join here.

The challenge starts July 13 and runs for 4 weeks. I cannot WAIT to start!