Hello again everyone. Well, I think we have the website back up and running like it is supposed to. Today I want to talk about being frugal and going green at the same time. I know, the two usually don't go together. This time they do though. Have you been to the store lately and looked at the prices of the things that we use every day? I have and one of the things that got to me the most is how expensive soap has become. Yep, good old every day soap. It is soon going to be too expensive to take a shower, wash clothes or do the dishes. Worse than that, have you looked at some of the ingredients? Almost makes you feel like a lab rat. Well, today I am going to tell you about a way to change all that.

Today I am going to talk about making your own soap. I know, the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear homemade soap is some old pioneer lady in her long dress and bonnet, standing outside the log cabin with the big black kettle on the fire. You see her with the big wooden paddle standing out in the smoke and stink, stirring the mixture all day to make some chunky looking white bars of soap. Let me tell you a secret, it isn't like that any more. Some of the ingredients may still be the same depending on what type of finished product you want, but the process has changed a bit. There are enough different processes and recipes and such that I will probably turn this into several parts since it is going to be way too long for a single post.

First, lets talk about the hard milled type of soap since that is what we are all thinking about. The kind where you cook up the lye and oil and such. Yes, you still use lye. In its raw state, lye is a caustic compound commonly used as a drain cleaner. When you cook the lye and add such wonderful things as lard, there is a chemical reaction that takes place that changes the lye and lard into...you guessed it, soap. Note: you can use other oils in place of the lard, the chemical reaction takes place between the fat in the oil and the sodium hydroxide of the lye. Once the chemical reaction, called saponification occurs, the soap is usually precipitated from the mixture by adding some salt. The excess liquid is drained off and the soft soap can be spooned into molds to cool and dry. Homemade soaps are usually a lot more creamy and luxurious than commercial soaps because more of the glycerol, a product of the chemical reaction, is left in the homemade soap.

Well, there you have the 'hot process' of soap making  in a nutshell. If you want more information about soap making before my next installment, check out this Squidoo lens by clicking here. There are also several books and packages that will give you instruction and recipes such as the one you can purchase by Clicking Here. If you are someone that learns better by watching a step by step video, there are several of those also available such as the one you can purchase by Clicking Here.

One of the things I like best about making my own soap is that I can control what ingredients go into it and use natural substances instead of synthetic chemical ones.  Over the next several installments I plan to cover more processes, give you some recipes for making your own soap, tell you about a way to keep the kids busy and entertained in the process, and give you some tips on how you can turn making your own soap into work from home business that will put some money in your pockets. Until next time, keep clean.

© 2009, joerickman. All rights reserved.

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Hello again everyone.  As you can see from the picture we are making progress at last.  The wallpaper is all gone, the drywall is all replaced and filled, the walls have been primed and the first coat of paint has been applied.  One more coat of paint and then the new  trim goes up and all the trim gets painted.  We may have our bedroom back by this weekend.  It has been quite a process to get this completed but will be well worth it.  I hope that one of the main things you all have gotten from this is that when you are planning your renovation projects always plan for the unexpected.  Especially with older homes, once you start on one project you will find several other things that need to be taken care of in the process.

The new paint is going on great.  Not bad for $5.00 per gallon paint as I told you about in this post. When planning renovations always keep your eyes open for a bargain and don't be afraid to shop around a bit.  We hope that we have given you a few insights and introduced you to some money and time saving products through our experiences here.  Our goal is to give you helpful and money saving tips and information as well as introducing you to ways of going green that won't break the bank.  Until the next time, good luck with any projects you are working on.  Be sure to go to the comments section and let us know of any questions you may have or to share any tips or experiences of your own.

© 2009, joerickman. All rights reserved.

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Photo by Rachael E.C. Acklin

Hello again everyone.  The wallpaper stripping is almost finished.  Now comes the fun part, painting.  You have gone around to the paint stores picking up all these paint chips, trying to decide what color you are going to paint the room.  Hopefully you aren't in the same position I am.  My mother in law is a professional painter and my wife used to work for her.  Can we say just a wee bit picky?

OK, so you have the color in mind and you are looking at all the paint.  The paint you want is really nice, with quick, good coverage and will last through all the kids and grandkids artwork.  Come on, we all know that nicely painted walls are like a magnet to kids with crayons or markers.  Anyhow, you have found that perfect paint but then look at the price tag.  Holy cow, it is $55.00 per gallon!  No, that isn't a typo, I did mean $55.00 per gallon.  You know that it is going to take at least two gallons to do the area you have in mind and you really didn't plan in the budget to spend $110.00 plus, just on painting it.  What are you going to do now?  Well, you can either bite the bullet and dip into the savings or you can do what we did.

Most of the stores that sell paint mix the colors on site.  If they sell to painting contractors they will be mixing a lot of paint.  Sometimes they make small mistakes in the mixing and end up with what is called a "mis-tint", a color that is close, but not close enough to match the rest of what the contractor has painted.  The contractor will not take the paint so the paint store will put it in a special area and sell it at a large discount.  There is nothing wrong with the paint, it just doesn't match the rest of what the contractor purchased.  If you ask at the paint counter, most stores are happy to direct you to their "mis-tint" section.  In most cases you can find a color that is so close to what you are looking for that it will work perfectly for you.  That turns into instant money savings for you.  We were able to get our $55.00 per gallon paint for $5.00 per gallon by taking the time to go through the "mis-tints".

Well, back to the fun part of these renovations.  We will be back next time with more adventures.  If you haven't subscribed to our RSS feed yet, you should so you can keep up on the new adventures and money saving tips.

© 2009, joerickman. All rights reserved.

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