by Texas Homesteader ~
I have a super-smart friend from whom I always learn oh-so-much. Recently we were at a luncheon together & she mentioned that she uses soapberries for shampoo – no conditioner required.
She puts dried soapberries in water and lets them sit for about 6 weeks before she removes the berries. Then she adds a bit of baking soda and uses it to clean her hair.
Well color me intrigued! I found a Soapberry Tree on our property several years ago. So I decided to give it a try.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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The heat & humidity here in Texas during a typical summer can create some gardening challenges. And in our area of NE Texas, we’ve been in drought conditions for several years in a row. It can feel like an expensive losing battle to keep your garden watered.
But I don’t pay for treated water to irrigate my gardens. They’re all watered with harvested rainwater. Come see three rainwater harvesting systems that work best for us.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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At the Mother Earth News Fair this year I attended several gardening seminars. One presenter spoke about ‘biodegradable weed block‘. It’s supposed to suppress weeds during garden season. Then it naturally degrades by the end of garden season to just be turned back into the soil. Now I hate plastic weed block because weeds grow right through the blasted stuff, it’s messy, it’s expensive and it’s PLASTIC. But I’ve never even thought about biodegradable weed block.
I wondered how it worked, what it was made of, how expensive it might be, etc. So I went online to research. I found it’s made of ‘wood pulp’. Hey, could that be PAPER??
So I’m thinking of using those heavy paper feed sacks RancherMan’s been saving for me. I’ve always used those paper feed sacks in the walkways of my garden covered by mulch. But I’d never given thought to using it in the actual planting areas. Hummmm…
by Texas Homesteader ~
I’ve talked before about our love of our secondhand percolator coffeemaker. It’s perfect for a very low-waste cup of delicious coffee! But although we loved it, we were going through our morning coffee way too quickly. We really wanted a larger percolator.
When we make a purchase we first research it extensively. 1st consideration is given to customer satisfaction followed by features we desire and only lastly, cost. We’d researched & made our decision for the percolator we wanted and RancherMan was about to place the order. Then he decided to look for a used one instead.
Now this makes my heart happy. I always prefer pre-owned when making a purchase. It’s good for our budget and the environment. And isn’t she a beauty?
by Texas Homesteader ~
Living here has taught me to make the most of what we already have. It’s really very easy when you learn to do little things each day to save a few bucks. It’s rarely the big grandiose things that make the most financial difference, but the small daily tasks repeated over & over.
So I’ll share with you 5 frugal things we did this week to save money. It has a nice little side benefit of almost always being gentler on the environment too!
by Texas Homesteader ~
Y’all know I shun plastic like a banshee, right? I haven’t accepted a plastic shopping bag from the store in years, much preferring my pretty shopping basket anyway. And I refuse to buy over-packaged items too. I’ve learned that recycling isn’t the answer to our landfill problems – PRE-Cycling is! But what is precycling? Well that’s shunning trash from coming into your home in the first place.
But today I’m talking about cling film. You know the stuff, it’s always sticking to itself and hardly ever sticking to the item you’re trying to wrap. Use it once & throw it away. But whaddyagonnado?? Well, I’ve started using beeswax wraps!
by Texas Homesteader ~
In a continuous push to purposefully spend more time with our family, RancherMan & I always look for opportunities. We have a tradition to drive to one of our kids’ homes once a month to have dinner together & spend the day with them. They fix whatever they’d be having for supper that day, but with two more servings to accommodate RancherMan & me. We bring something to go with the meal such as dessert, a side dish, or maybe a bottle of wine – hostess’ choice!
We also try to drive to Oklahoma when we can to visit my dad, or to west Texas to visit my favorite aunt & uncle. There’s an important message here:
Spend time with the ones you love. If life is busy – make time! Tomorrow is never promised…
But recently RancherMan & I enjoyed a weekend at Surfside Beach on the Texas coast with several family members. What a special time! And RancherMan really loved the beach fishing too. (Always wearing his cooling UV-Protective Shirt of course)
by Texas Homesteader ~
Money’s tight for many – us included! In our day-to-day activities RancherMan & I are always looking for ways to do what we do without spending unnecessary money. I’ve always been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is. But it’s true, you do have to keep your eyes open to be aware of options. But once you get into that mindset it’s quite natural to do things in a way that makes the best use of the cash you have available to you.
I thought it would be fun to share 5 Frugal Things we did this week that shaved a little cash off our budget.
by Texas Homesteader ~
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my low-waste/no-waste journey. I’ve been on this path for quite a few years. I was environmentally sensitive since way, way, way before it was the ‘in’ thing to do.
I started off by reducing my trash and redirecting appropriate materials into the recycling bin instead of the landfill.
Then I started eliminating plastic shopping bags by taking reusable bags to the grocery store. Let me tell ya, that baffled many a cashier back then! That was followed by learning to compost, cook from scratch and repurpose things.
Over the years I’ve worked into the stage I’m at now, purposely refusing single-use items when possible and pushing for PRE-cycling before recycling.
I realize my journey may not be everyone else’s journey. Still, several friends & family members sometimes bristle with discomfort when they’re doing their own thing. They often apologize for using plastic or disposable items when I’m around.
by Texas Homesteader ~
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As anyone who is self-employed can attest, being self employed requires a special money-management mindset. Since leaving the corporate workplace, our work hours are longer and our pay is substantially smaller and not near as systematic. Make no mistake, money is tight at the Taylor Homestead! But there’s no place I’d rather be and the benefits FAR outweigh any financial drawbacks.
Plus it’s easy to make adjustments. We just look for tiny ways to save throughout our typical week. Maybe you’re looking for easy, painless ways to save a few bucks too? As an added bonus, many times those money-saving measures are good for the environment too. Come see 5 frugal things we did this week to save money.
