Borax Multi Purpose Cleaner Will Save You $$$
April 26, 2010
Borax is an affordable, natural cleaning, odor eliminating, eco-friendly cleaner that has seemingly endless uses around the home. You can potentially save a lot of money by using this product instead of other special purpose cleaner products which are much more expensive.
Today there are so many branded cleaners to choose from. Most of them are marketed towards specific cleanup purposes with their special formulas while just a few seem to be marketed towards multipurpose use. You see, more money is made from these companies if they convince you that you have to purchase different cleaners for different cleanup purposes. Also, every so often these products are re-formulated and ‘improved’ to an ‘advanced’ formula to recapture your attention, or to have an excuse for a higher price.
The brands are constantly reinventing themselves and offering more choices of formulated cleaners to train you into believing that you need many different types of cleaners, each with their own specific special purpose. Take a look in your closets to see how many different cleaner solutions that you have.
What in the world did our grandparents do back in the day, when these miraculous cleaning formulas were not available? There homes must have been a dirty filthy mess without them! Wait a minute, I have an idea, lets find out what they used back in the old days…
Borax
One popular cleaner that I can remember being used is something called BORAX. Borax is a multipurpose powdery cleaner whose ingredient comes from a naturally occurring mineral compound of the element, boron. Much of the world’s borax comes from the Rio Tinto Borax mining operation in Boron, California.
The most common brand is “20 Mule Team Borax”. It has primarily been known as a laundry booster for whiter, cleaner clothes, but it has many more household uses. It cleans, disinfects, deodorizes, softens water, and neutralizes many bugs. Lets look at a few borax recipes.
List of Uses for Borax
- Floor Cleaner (1/3 cup Borax, 1 gallon warm water, squirt of dish washing detergent, splash of ammonia)
- Window Cleaner (2/3 cup Borax, 1 gallon warm water)
- Disinfect and Clean Toilet (1/2 cup Borax added to basin water, let stand for awhile, then clean with toilet brush)
- Car Wash Cleaner (1/8 cup mixed with about 1.5 gallons of water)
- Eliminate Urine Odor on mattress – handy for accidents while toilet training a youngster (dampen area, sprinkle and rub in Borax, let dry and vacuum)
- Ants (mix equal amounts of Borax and powdered sugar, place near ant problem area – keep away from pets)
- Carpet Stains (mix Borax with water to make paste, rub into stain, let dry and vacuum)
- Unclog drains (dump 1/2 cup Borax into drain, let stand for 15 minutes, then dump in hot or boiling water )
- Prevent Weeds from growing in pavement cracks (sprinkle Borax in cracks)
- Garbage Disposer clean and sanitize (dump 1/4 cup Borax into disposer, splash in just a little water and let stand for an hour or so, rinse with hot water)
- Tile and Grout Cleaner (sprinkle Borax with just enough water to paste, scrub with brush)
- Laundry Booster (add 1/2 cup Borax to wash load for brighter, cleaner, deodorized clothes)
- Carpet Powder Deodorizer (sprinkle Borax on carpet, let stand overnight and vacuum)
- Flea Killer (sprinkle Borax on carpet, let stand overnight and vacuum)
The takeaway from all of this should be to consider alternatives to what we are being marketed and sold today. Thinking and using common-sense is a learned way of life. Don’t be stuck in ‘the system’. Discover what our ancestors used for frugal solutions to problems. Although many advancements clearly win out over past solutions, not all new products are any better as a solution than what our grandparents and great grandparents used. I believe that Borax is just one of many nuggets out there, waiting to be picked.
What inspired me to post on this topic was having used some ’20 Mule Team Borax’ yesterday while cleaning our patio furniture, and realizing its versatility and effectiveness. Although I have been using this product for some time now, each time I do, I am reminded of how simple solutions such as this can save time and money.
Update: I must say that using a borax solution for car wash cleaner is very effective. I have been using this solution as a car wash soap for some time now, and it definitely cleans better than other special purpose car wash soaps that I have used. I have not had any scratching of the paint whatsoever and it really cuts through the road grime, bug residue, and dirt. I’m still amazed at how much cleaning solution can be made from one box of borax, all at a fraction of the cost of other manufactured soaps.
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Kill ALL Credit Card Debt
March 7, 2010Credit Debt Is Killing You
I cannot stress enough that having credit card debt is the major obstacle that is keeping you down. Having credit debt has very negative side effects that include stress, hopeless feelings of imprisonment, worry, and relationship issues due to the financial strain. If you have a desire to be liberated and debt free, to be in control, to be more self sufficient, to be prepared, to survive hard times, to living frugal, then the answer is to adopt a new way of life – a new way of thinking that will speed you on your way.
Having been in credit card debt ourselves, we know what this feels like. And we also know the incredible positive feelings that begin when you make up your mind to become debt free and begin the process of eliminating your debt. When you finally reach your debt free goal, having gone through the pain, it is quite easy to never go there again. The emotions that come along with being debt free include happiness, liberation, freedom, empowerment, and the feeling of being in control of your own destiny.
Stop Using Your Credit Cards!
Step one is to stop using your credit cards. Period. Use cash to purchase the things you would have. I must tell you, when you are making a purchase, when using cash it seems very different to hand over the money rather than handing over a credit card. It really makes you think about if you really need to be making that purchase. It really works. If you don’t have the cash, then don’t make the purchase. The credit card trap begins when you buy that thing on credit because you don’t have the funds that week. If you don’t have the funds, don’t make the purchase. Simple.
Pay Off the Highest Interest Rate Card First
Step two is determine which credit card has the highest interest rate and pay the highest amount of money that you can afford each month on that highest rate card. This is not the card with the highest balance, but the one with the highest interest rate. Pay the minimum payment on any other cards that you may have. Something that is very important to know is that any additional amount of money that you pay over and above the minimum required payment, will drastically reduce the amount of time that it will take to pay off the entire balance. Not only will it reduce the time, but it will save you a lot of interest money that goes straight to the bank and the banksters bonuses. I think they’ve screwed you enough, don’t you?
You must seriously work at minimizing your expenses during this period of time while you are paying off your card debt. The more you can scrimp at spending, the faster you will become debt free and liberated. Sacrifice the luxuries for awhile. Examine everything you spend money on, and think about alternatives to those expenses. Are there cheaper alternatives? Can you make do in another way? If you really set your mind to this, it can actually be fun because you are convinced of the end result and you become quite motivated and excited to see the balance coming down. Trust me, when you reach your goal, it will be an amazing feeling that will change your life.
Start Paying the Next Highest Rate Card After Paying Off the Highest Card
Step three is to switch to the next highest interest rate card when you have finished paying off the highest interest rate card. Again, pay the most that you possibly can afford each month and only pay the minimum payment of any remaining credit cards. I found a simple online card calculator where you can plug in your current debt, interest rate, and the monthly payment that you choose, and it will calculate the amount of time to pay it off and the interest that you will have paid. Use it to try different payment scenarios to see the effects.
Now, get motivated and get started. You can do it. Become debt free!
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Shop Smart
February 25, 2010
Recession Proof Household – Part Three
Benefits of Shopping Smart
What are the benefits of shopping smart during these hard times? Well, the obvious one is saving money. Keeping yourself well supplied also means you will rarely ‘run out’ of something, so it will mean fewer trips to the store.
Being smart about what and when you buy will allow you to add to your food storage, increasing your preps. Think about it… the prices of everything will only be increasing due to inflation (devaluation of money as more and more of it is printed out of thin air to pay for out-of-control deficit spending ). We all know that the prices never go down. Get what you can now. Be prepared. You will only benefit.
Frequently, I have women approach me and ask me if I would show them ‘how’ I shop along with showing them how to save money. They want to have a good supply in their homes, but they also don’t want to burn a hole in their wallets. At first it came as a surprise to me that all women don’t have savings in mind when they shop. I pride myself on the fact that I can pay $2.00 for a $5.99 bottle of laundry detergent.
Even if you live in a small apartment, there is no reason why you can’t maintain at least 30 days worth of supplies to be more self sufficient. If you put into practice smart shopping, I think you will also find that you are actually saving money. And I’m not just referring to grocery/food shopping.
One of the basics you must put into practice with your shopping is differentiating between a want and a need as discussed in ‘Reduce Your Expenses’ (Recession Proof Household – Part 2). If you can do this, then you are at the beginning of frugal living.
Frugal
According to Wikipedia, Frugal is defined as follows:
Common strategies of frugality include the reduction of waste, curbing costly habits, suppressing instant gratification by means of fiscal self-restraint, seeking efficiency, avoiding traps, defying expensive social norms, embracing cost-free options, using barter, and staying well-informed about local circumstances and both market and product/service realities.
Organization is also another important trait that will help you. It will help you in storing your food, but also being organized before you leave the house will set you on the right track. Make a list and stick to it! I find many women don’t make a list before they go to the grocery store. If you make a list and stick to it, the likelihood of you placing ‘extra’ items in your cart will be greatly reduced. Buy only what is on your list. If you made an accurate list, then the items on your list are all you ‘need’!
Next…..coupons/sales
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