One more step towards green & frugal

I just made my first batch of homemade shampoo!  There is only 4 ingredients and you can get 3 of them at the grocery store and/or health store.  The ingredients include: Dr. Bronner’s organic castile liquid soap, apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, and water.  I had to purchase Dr. Bronner's castile liquid soap from Amazon.  Apple Cider Vinegar can be purchased from Amazon too.  Tea tree oil can be found at Walmart, in the vitamin aisle.  Instead of using a spray bottle for my shampoo, I am using one of those soap dispensers that makes liquid soap come out all foamy.  Homemade shampoo is very liquidy, so it's best to use either a spray bottle or soap dispenser.  The shampoo doesn't bubble up like store-bought kind because it doesn't have the chemicals in it.  I actually like my homemade shampoo, I started to get annoyed with all the bubbles. 

Now I have 3 bottles of store bought shampoo in our shower.  One of them was sent to us for free and another was purchased from the store.  The other one was given to us by the in-laws.  I don't think Shannon will like using the homemade shampoo, but I will ask him to try it.  I also plan on making a body wash for Kyle's baths once his baby shampoo is gone.

I cleaned again

Kyle's teacher called this afternoon to let me know that next Monday there will no school but there is school on Tuesday.  Monday is a "school make up day" due to the snow a few weeks ago.  She also said they are doing something with teddy bears next week, so I need to send Kyle to school with a teddy bear.  LOL  I don't think we have a teddy bear, so we'll have to buy one. 

A few days ago, I ended up buying Valentine's Day cards for Kyle's class, so I need to ask the teacher for a list of the student's names!  This should be fun to do, since I haven't done Valentine's Day cards in so long! 

I ended up cleaning the bathroom again.  I did a quick clean of the bathroom, floor, wiped the toilet and cleaned the sink!  I love using white vinegar and baking soda and there are no toxic fumes to worry about.

I am also going to try to make homemade shampoo using liquid castile soap.  I found a few recipes that I want to try.  The same recipe can also be used on our skin since it's all natural. I also plan on using it in Kyle's bath.  Hopefully this will help our dry skin, Kyle's eczema, and prevent staticy hair!

Went to the Warehouse Store!

Kyle was off of school so we were all home, just like all of last week (due to snow, icey roads, etc.).  Anyway, we ended up going to BJ's Warehouse and bought some food!  We bought some organic burritos that all of us can eat because it's meat-free.  We also bought oranges, Uncle Ben "ready rice," Carpi Sun drink pouches (for Kyle), and a bunch of other food!  I also bought a HUGE container of white vinegar to clean with. 

I ended up cleaning the bathroom today using baking soda and white vinegar!  I feel so accomplished.  I scrubbed the bathtub with baking soda and white vinegar and then I used the same combo to help unclog the shower drain.  It helped a bit, it drains a little more than before.  I cleaned the sink too.  I also poured some white vinegar in the toilet bowl to help disinfect/clean it.  Then I wiped the bathroom floor with white vinegar and wiped down the toilet (yuck).  Lastly, I wiped down the shower curtain with white vinegar and it's a little bit cleaner.  I may have to step into the bathtub and really scrub the shower curtain.  Everything is clean in the bathroom, and it smells fresh and looks clean! 

Food Stamps update

When we went grocery shopping last Sunday, our food stamps had already been re-approved, but we were unsure how much it had changed.  We received a notice in the mail of our new amount in food stamps...it's been DOUBLED!!!  

The snow has been crazy here.  It hasn't snowed in the last 2 or 3 days and the snow on the ground is slowly melting, but it's also icing over.  School was canceled on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and now today (Thursday). Since it hasn't snowed, we plan on taking Kyle to therapy today!  He hasn't been to therapy in about a month now! 

Since Shannon and I are both unemployed, I decided to apply for full coverage of Medicaid for us.  Kyle is already covered on Medicaid.  Shannon and I are already covered on the "family planning" side of Medicaid.  I mailed our application in yesterday's mail and they should receive it today.  I am not sure how long it takes for them to process the application. 

Groceries before the Snow & My Phalaenopsis

Yesterday we went grocery shopping!  We wanted to do our grocery shopping before Monday because we are in the middle of a snow storm.  School was canceled today and it may be canceled tomorrow.  Last Thursday, I received a call from the Department of Social Services.  It was our food stamps caseworker letting me know that she is working on our application.  She is behind because they are down one person.  She also wanted to verify some of the information we provided.  Thankfully our foods stamps were approved by the time we went grocery shopping on Sunday!  I was ready to pay for our food out of our own pocket. 

In addition to our groceries, I also brought home a phalaenopsis orchid by a brand called "Just Add Ice."  I've been a fan of their facebook page for a few months now.  The page is active with fellow fans and the people at Just Add Ice.  The orchids were discounted by 50% of their original price just a month ago!  There were only about 10 plants left and I chose the smallest one, it looked the healthiest.  My orchid is purple/lavender.