Today I baked 2 dozen of my homemade oatmeal raiSIN cookies. I say raiSIN because I used a little more sugar than usual. Anyway, I stored each dozen in 2 small flour bags I saved and recycled  just for such an occasion. As I placed the cookies inside of their bags, I began to recap the past 30 days or so in my mind and blew myself away with all of the recycling and last minute improvising I had done up to that moment. The days went by so quickly, and with me moving right along with the time, I hardly noticed how much I had done until now.

For starters, when I attempted to do my meal menu for the month I was blown away at how the food prices had gone up in my neck of the woods as I compared my past food receipts from the market. And, I think thats what started all this here that I'm talking about, lol because the first of the string of improvising events took place when I noticed the price increase and right away I decided to shop for 2 weeks instead of the whole month.  This time when I  returned to the market. I hit that place with a vengence as I was fully loaded with a "fool-proof" shopping list which had the cap-off prices beside each item. Counting and adding as I went along, I swear the only thing that was missing was the theme music to the old TV show "Mission Impossible".  I faired well in there so I thought and once I returned home I realized that I had forgotten to buy a few things of importance as I was rushing a bit.  I won't bore you with anymore details I'll just get right to all the things I either forgot to buy or refused to buy and recycled and improvised to make up for it.  The items are below:

• I made a new cover for my ironing board out of some scrap fabric I had by using the old one as an outlining pattern. Serged it closed and straight-stitched about a 1/2 inch a casing for the string which I reused (recycled) from the old cover, placed it onto the ironing board reusing the padding also and it was actually better than the ones bought from the stores.
• I got a recipe online for french dressing that was so good my dh thought I bought it like he had asked, but it was one of the things I'd forgotten, but I refilled the old bottle. I revealed it to him later and now the recipe is a keeper (will share later, I promise).
• I forgot to buy a couple of pie pans, so I improvised by making 2 pie pans out of aluminum foil which I used a small stoneware bowl as a mold. (I shared this crazy stunt and they featured it) which was nice of them, lol.
• I needed some stone beads from the craft store, but they didnt have any so I made some out of potatoes which I got the idea from this site and was amazed at how nice they turned out. Thanks again.
• I recycled a tall cylinder tubing  that was originally a reel for some satin bias tape I had finished.
• I made some oatmeal facial scrub.
• and I made some bisquick for pancakes, and the grand finale that I know you're not expecting or ready for......
• I FORGOT TO BUY ROLLERS FOR MY HAIR AND MADE SOME OUT OF SOME CYLINDERS I WAS SAVING FOR A CRAFT PROJECT THAT MAY COME TO MIND (cracking up with laughter over this one........to be honest they worked alot better, lol)

None of this was the least bit frustrating to me, I just kept right on moving along with the time and I enjoyed every minute of it. It just happened that way really.  Also, this behavior just kicks in for me and all the time my dh calls me Mcgeiver as we both know the things can be bought,  but I keep telling him that  if I dont have a thing that I need, I naturally improvise a way to reach my goal. I just start looking around for alternatives.

 But I had to share this with all of you in hopes that you guys would get a kick out of it and find it as funny as I do.  Thanks for reading.

Images:

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Perform these steps when showering and they will surely leave you feeling very clean all day and make your deodorants and perfumes last longer.
1.  regulate your shower to the warmest water you can stand, and rinse your entire body.

2. (Using a bar of soap) lather your entire body from head to toe, rinse well (using only the soap first, gets rid of the top surface dirt and odors. When you use a cloth first, the dirt and odors get trapped into your wash cloth ICK!!)

3. Then, wash your hair if need to at this time and apply conditioner,  rinse well.

4.  Next, lather your washcloth, or bath brush, or loofa, with your bar of soap and wash entire body, rinse well. You should see an increase of soap lather.

5. If you use shower gel, now pour a quarter size amount on your spoof or in the palm of your hand and smooth all over your body, rinse well.

Note:  Many think to use shower gel as their main and first soap, but believe it or not, shower gels work best and their scents last longer on a clean body surface, and besides applying it by this time allows you to use alot less gel since you are basically clean at this point, which prolongs the use of your shower gel, which also saves you a ton of money especially if your the type that buys those really expensive brands from the lingerie or bath /body shops like I do. I shop for that stuff once a year when they have their big sales. Bath and Body Works just after New Years and Victorias Secret in the summer. No Fooling. 

5. After you've done steps 1-4,  Exit the shower and  pat your body dry with a clean towel. 

Apply deodorants and perfumes as usual and you are squeeky clean and set for the day.

In conclusion, I would like to mention and advise that during the performance of this bathing technique that it is only completely effective if while washing you NOT MISS THE FOLLOWING SPOTS: your ears (in and behind), any crevices and both orifices thoroughly, and  armpits (which stay deodorized better if also shaved of hairs as hair traps bad bacteria that causes odors)

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Hi, I'm so green to this blog thing, but "here goes... For my first ever blog, I decided to blog a list of things I no longer buy from the stores.  I stopped buying some of these items because I didnt like the chemicals involved to make them and also because making from home I found saves me money. Sometimes I personally think that many people go a little overboard with being frugal and become just down right cheap as it is easy to cross the line, so I do have some limitations here and there.  List 1:

• baby oil-
• antiperspirant (aluminum sulphate possibly causes cancer) regular old rubbing alcohol works great for me.
• hairdress/conditioner
• granola cereal
• Butter
• yogurt
• microwave popcorn
• pancake mix
• cookies/snacks
• tub/tile cleanser

All of the items above I make at home and save alot of money and the things I make are alot better and healthier. Also I have alot of methods of cooking, cleaning, organizing, that also play a part. Whenever I find something new to add to my list my family teases me, or when I try to share a money saving ideas, they give me a strange look or pause or roll their eyes towards the ceiling. I guess they right away feel that why go through all of what I do when I can just go and buy it, but that just tells me that they've missed the whole point. Those $$$ we spend at the stores add up. For example if each item I've listed above cost $1 each (realistically we know most of the items are more), that would be a total of $10 I would save. And things that I do buy, I use in a smart way to get full use and benefit.  So at some point I will make believers out of them. I love my family though, but for being frugal I've come here to share with others who will appreciate my methods and also to learn something new. Thanks

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