I've discovered that my laundry detergent really is a good household cleanser and so powerful that I only need just a sprinkle in each to cleanse the bathroom tub, sink, and toilet. It works just great. 

For starters, I use Tide laundry detergent.  Its one of the few  items my hubby will not allow me to frugally substitute.  Lord knows I would've grated a bar of Bronner's castille soap and mixed it with some boric acid by now and been done with it. But he works hard and makes few requests so I buy it.

Though, I must say that Tide brand laundry detergent is very cheaply priced here as in comparison to the price for it in the United States. Its like half the price here. I was surprised to see that because the prices for food and household items are just about the same in both countries.  In the U.S.  I only bought Tide brand laundry detergent when it was on a good sale and I would buy the liquid and dilute it as this brand contains powerful cleaning agents to me. But here since its so reasonably priced, I buy a big box of the powder. However, I'm sure any laundry detergent would be just as effective.

As for household cleaning products...Now thats a totally different story in this neck of the woods.  Its so expensive, like twice the amount you would pay in the U.S.!  And guess what?  I have yet to see a big box of baking soda. I've  only seen little cans of it in the baking isle, which is what I would have used as a cheap, but effective substitute.  I bought basic household cleansers when I first moved here, and I hated paying the ridiculous prices for them.  

One day I ran out of tub and all purpose cleanser in between my scheduled market runs and so I quickly sprinkled a little of  theTide in each my tub, sink, and toilet. I was amazed at how well and quickly it cleaned my bathroom to a sparkling shine. From there I even sprinkled a little into a fresh bucket of hot water to mop the floors and the fresh scent it left behind was just one more perk for me. 

I was so pleased with the way it cleaned the bathroom, that I filled an empty container like the ones used  for non-dairy creamer  with the detergent to monitor usage, and to use just for cleaning the bathroom. Since a sprinkle goes a long way, I do not have to refill often which saves me alot of money.  Whenever I buy a new box of Tide, I just refill my little container if needed and keep on going.

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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.

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