Cloth Diapering, Can Save You MONEY!

You can do it a couple ways, you can buy disposables, ruin the environment and spend a TON of money, or you can buy compostable disposables and spend even more money or you can spend a little less money and do cloth diapers OR you can spend way less and do cloth diapers.

Some cloth diapers are just ridiculously priced.  I searched high and low for a diapering solution that was environmentally friendly, healthy for baby, easy for me, and cheap.

If you are not sure if you are a cloth diapering person, there is only one question you need to ask yourself.  Do you have a problem keeping up with laundry? If they answer is yes, definitely or what is laundry? then you will either need to change some things in your life or know that cloth diapering is not for you. 

What I've spent on cloth diapering ...
$225!
And what I've bought will last me until this babe is out of diapers. I may need to add a new set of liners here or there, but even then we are talking $20-$50 more  The average family spends $600 per year on diapers. If you are diapering for 3 years... or more... That really adds. up.

Here's what I use:

Imagine Newborn Diaper cover. Only if you have very small babies. My 6 month old is still in these, she is very small. About $9-10 each. I ordered 4. That was enough for the first couple months. You can dump out the liner and reuse the cover all day or until soiled.

Alva Baby Bamboo Diaper Liners.  About $36-40 for 12. I ordered 24.  They wash up really nicely and are really absorbent and stackable. 

  Planet wise wet bag. A place to put dirty diaper liners when you are on the road. $11.95  You could just use a ziplock bag actually, but these are washable and reusable and come in bigger sizes too. 

A waterproof, reusable, diaper pail liner.  You take the whole thing out of the pail and dump it and the diapers in the wash. You will want 2, so you have one to use while the other is washing and drying.  $17-$20

Imagine diaper cover.  You'll need bigger diaper liners eventually if you go with the newborn size at first.  Both are adjustable to fit many different sizes but the newborn gets very small.  The regular size can accommodate many newborns or after the first month. $10-$12

  

We decided to try a new brand Bumkins. They are great quality and way more adjustable but I kinda like the simplicity of the Imagine covers.  These have way to many snaps and they have a flap inside to "hold in the liner" better. I find it just gets dirty faster and doesn't stop leaks any better than the Imagine brand, without flaps and is cheaper.  They also have double gusseting, that means 2 elastics around the leg. the imagine brand has this too.  I have 2 Flip diaper covers also, that were the most expensive. You can tell when you look at the quality stitching. Other than that they are not better than the Imagine diapers. They do not have double gusseting but it doesn't really seem to make much of a difference in terms of containment. They also have those inner flaps that do nothing but get dirty faster.

  

For wipes, I bought a roll of these bamboo towels. I cut them into fourths.  They get washed with everything else and reused.  They are way better than regular wipes. They are thicker, and better at cleaning and keeping your hands clean with a much smaller wipe. $15-20 

You need a place to stash diapers until you can wash them.  This Safety 1st pail is perfect because it seals the smells out well and my liners fit it well. It is small and compact but holds plenty. $20.

I have 10 diaper covers and 24 absorbent diaper liners,  It is best to put a fleece liner over the diaper liner for a stay dry feel. I simply bought fleece at the store for $2 a yard and cut about 24 that fit my absorbent liners.  You can double up on liners for more absorbency or buy microfiber liners to place under the bamboo liners. You can also use triple folds.  I've even seen people make their own absorbent liners with terry cloth, cotton, microfiber, bamboo, hemp, and other things.    

At each change, dump the liners in the diaper pail, if the cover is clean then you can reuse it. If not put it in the pail too and any wipes used. If baby is eating solids, dump them into the toilet as much as possible, then put liners in the pail.  If baby is exclusively breast feeding, then you do not need to do anything but put it all in the pail.  

To wash I use tide and have soft water in my home.  I have a front loader machine and have no problems with it getting them clean. 

I dump the diapers, liners, wipes, wet bags, pail liners, all into the washer, then I run it on cold rinse and spin. Then I add 1/4 the amount of soap the box recommends for a load, and wash it all on hot wash. When that is done, if my diapers have been getting a little smelly after baby wears them, like uric acid is building up, which is an ammonia smell, then I do one last rinse and spin. This always solves that problem. Remove all of the diaper covers, diaper pail liners and wet bags (do not dry in dryer, it will ruin your covers) and allow to air dry. Put the wipes, and liners and fleece in the dryer and dry on hot. 

If you have stains on your liners, hang them in the sun for 1 day. The sun bleaches away the stains.

  

When you leave the house pack a wet bag, 2 covers, equivalent liners, plus one or two extra liners and some wipes.

If your baby has a rash problem, try washing with a cup of vinegar in the second hot cycle. 

Do not use any diaper creams against your absorbent liners or they won't absorb anymore. Use your fleece liners to protect your absorbent liner and then just make new liners when you need to.

If you are not sure if you are a cloth diapering person, there is only one question you need to ask yourself.  Do you have a problem keeping up with laundry? If they answer is yes, definitely or what is laundry? then you will either need to change some things in your life or know that cloth diapering is not for you.  

If you are ok with laundry, then know that you only have to wash diapers once every 2 days or so and you are doing tons of laundry anyway with a little baby.       

Successful Gardening in a Tiny Back Yard

Before we moved into our townhouse we lived in a rental house that had a huge garden in it.  I was very successful at growing giant sunflowers, tomatoes and carrots, I even grew delicious giant ears of corn and had zucchini taking over my life. Well, we bought our townhouse, which I love, but the garden is lacking. It has a small 30' x 15' back yard that is half patio.   

 

There are of course, pros and cons to not having a massive yard and garden to take care of, like more time to do everything else, smaller water bills and less sun burns and heat stroke in the Utah summers.  

 The first year in our townhouse, I tried raised garden beds. They were a huge flop.  They didn't drain properly and the soil in them was such junk that nothing would grow very fast.  By the end of the season we had not one tomato.

The next year I tried container gardening as you can see in the picture below.  It was slightly more successful.  By the end of the season I had 4 green tomatoes which my son picked before they could ripen and I didn't even get one squash.  I know this method works for some... but it certainly didn't work for me. I thought long and hard about what made my garden successful for those two years in the rental house.  One, the landlord dumped amazing black topsoil AND compost from the waste processing facility into the garden. Amazing soil, very important. It got almost full sun. My backyard gets less than 6 hours a day of direct sunlight. But that year I tried container gardening something funny happened. A stray tomato from some kitchen waste got thrown into the back under a tree. It got maybe 3 or 4 hours of sun a day and it grew better than anything else I had planted that year. So I knew that sunlight in my yard should be less of an issue than I thought.  

Container gardening, not very successful. Grass area of 15'x15' before beds were put in. 

I decided I would get rid of the grass and use the soil available. I used the cardboard method.  I covered the spots I wanted to be dirt in cardboard and covered it with top soil. I left it all fall and all winter and all spring.  When the ground thawed I pulled up what cardboard had not composted and threw it out.  Then I turned it all in with a hand tiller.  Back breaking! But good exercise. All winter long we threw all of our kitchen scraps out into the soil.  I smashed every egg shell we used and threw it out there, knowing that the dirt in this area is often lacking calcium, which the tomatoes especially need but it benefits all plants.  

In the process of composting the grass for garden beds.

As you can see in the picture below, come June I had thriving tomatoes on the right (started from seeds inside), a zucchini that is now 3 times that size (started right in soil from seed), and some various squash and pumpkins, all stated in the soil from seed. I also have some peppers near the tomatoes, and have already harvested peas and a full crop of lettuce.  

squash vines after a month of growing. They grow so rapidly!  We went away for 4 days and when we got back the vines had doubled in size prompting us to build the permanent arbor.  

 Since my vines have gotten out of control, and I just don't have the heart to get rid of some of them I convinced the husband we needed to build this arbor out of scrap wood.

Simple arbor I designed and the husband helped build.  All out of scrap wood. 

 You can see below that the vines have already climbed over the arbor, with some coaching by me.  I have a small push mower that takes about 90 seconds to clean up the horseshoe shape of grass path.  I have a drip system tied into my hose and each section of the garden has one sprinkler.  This has seemed to be enough.  I have a simple timer that I just have to manually set to the time I want it to run each day.  I spend about 15 minutes a week weeding.  I expect by the end of August I will have plenty of food coming out of my garden. I only wish it was bigger so I could spend more time gardening!

Aerial view of tiny yard.  You can fit a lot of plants in a small space, they just need some sunlight, not full sun, some water and GOOD soil is the key.

Now we have almost an acre to tackle.  But I wanted to share how you can have a successful garden in a small space, soil is really the most important part of any garden.

Meal Planning for Better Health, Saving Money AND Weight Loss

A great habit to have is meal planning.  Meal planning doesn't have to be set in stone.  The point is to save money, not be rushing around to figure out what's for dinner, and always have a nice meal ready.  If you plan really well you may even loose some weight.


1.  Shop in your Pantry and Fridge FIRST.
Figure out what you already have to make a meal with.  Frozen meat, bags of rice, beans or noodles.  


2.  Look at your favorite store's adds and see whats on sale.  
If they have a sale on chicken legs, then plan a meal around that. Simple!


3.  Take a piece of paper and start planning.  
Plan the WHOLE meal, sides, sauces and all.  Spend a little time flipping through cookbooks or searching online for recipes to go with the ingredients you already have, then start looking for things you want to make.  Try finding recipes for your favorite take out food.  Making it at home means you can control ingredients, portions and avoid things like trans fats and MSG.  


4.  Make your shopping list complete
Go through each recipe and make sure you have enough of each ingredient.  This will keep you from buying too much of something that could spoil and keep you from going back to the store and buying "in the moment" items you don't really need.  Like that candy bar that keeps calling your name...  


Here is an example of what you should come up with.  It is not only a shopping list but a meal guide for the rest of the week. 


Meal 1
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli and Fresh Bread Sticks with Garlic Butter.  
Have:  noodles, broccoli, yeast, flour, butter
Need: cream, parmesan (4 oz), head of garlic, chicken 1/2 lb breasts 


Meal 2
Tuna Salad
Have:  tuna, dressing, 
Need: lettuce, green onions, wrappers


Meal 3 
HLC Ginger Citrus Meatballs with Brown Rice and Vegetables
Have: rice, lemon/lime juice, 
Need: ground turkey, garlic, broccoli, bell peppers, corn, tofu, cornstarch, soy sauce


Meal 4
Spicy Pursuits Pan Seared Tilapia with Hot Orange Ginger Sauce Brown Rice and Fresh Green Beans
Have: spices, vinegar, brown rice
Need: tilapia 1 lb, scallions, ginger, marmalade, orange juice, garlic, green beans


Meal 5
Soccer Night Pizza
Papa Francesco's $5 off coupon


Meal 6
Left overs


Meal 7 
Dinner at Mom's


You can write this down however you like. You may not need to write what you already have, that is just an example.  Notice I wrote down Garlic on each meal that it calls for, this will help me gauge how much I will need.  Then take the Need items and add them to your shopping list.  Make sure you always check to see if you have the basics like cooking oil, salt and flour.  
If this seems a bit overwhelming for you just start with a couple of days.  Don't try to tackle a whole week all at once.  
Plan meals that will specifically fit a certain day.  If you have to pick up the kids from a late soccer practice and have less time that evening allow a night for dinner out, or plan a meal from frozen ingredients that don't need to be thawed before cooking. 
To save even more money, take the sale items at your grocery store and make them fit more then one meal. For example, if lean ground beef is on sale, buy 2 lbs and make meatballs one night and hamburgers another.  You can also freeze half of it to use for a meal another week.  Try not to make it too complicated if you are not a fabulous cook or don't have a lot of time. Skip the potatoes au gratin until Easter. Just make baked potatoes with cheese for the work week.  Also, try not to take too much time planning.  There is such a thing as over-planing, it can be overkill if you calculate exactly how much salt you will use or an exact poundage of meat.  Keep it simple, flexible, healthy and remember to shop from your pantry first. 


Check out Martha Stewart .com This site has an excellent recipe finder.  You can search by ingredient.


-Val  

    


    


     

Green, Not Mean, Allergen Killing, Steam Clean!

Steam cleaning machines are wonderful.  They clean without harsh chemicals.  They deodorize and sanitize.  I love my steam cleaner to get that dirt and junk out of little crevices of appliances or the toilet seat hinges.   It goes seamlessly from one room to the next.  My kitchen floors no longer have that sticky feeling after moping and have never been cleaner.  They are so clean you could eat off of them.  My fridge is sparkling inside.  My curtains are all wrinkle free and my car smells fresh again.  I can not say enough about how great steam cleaners are.   They do not do everything however.  Don't have unrealistic expectations.  When you clean something with a  steam cleaner the dirt doesn't magically disappear.  The steam knocks it loose and then you have to wipe it up with a cloth.  Old stuck on stains likely wont be removed with the steam either.  If you don't have one already I would highly recommend getting a great steam cleaner like a Steam Buggy or a Stanley Steamer.  Don't bother with those small Shark cleaners.  They don't hold enough steam to really get anything done.  Did I mention you can sanitize your toothbrushes too?  You can sanitize anything that can hold up to the heat.  Baby toys, sinks, upholstery, bath poufs.  You can clean jewelry and door knobs or mirrors and table tops.
If you have allergy's a steam cleaner is a must.  The steam kills dust mites.  You can use it on your pillows, mattresses, carpets and curtains.  Killing mites and freshening the fabric.  For a really healthy home get a steam cleaner!  The McCullough and SteamFast have great ratings on Amazon and I love my Steam Buggy.  Get one that will replace multiple cleaning implements in your house like the McCullough and Steamfast.  So you will need a upholstery/floor brush with the cloth moping cover, and a steam jet nozzle at least.  Most come standard with these accessories.

Great steam cleaner options:
McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner
McCulloch MC1246 Portable 1500-Watt Power Steam Cleaner
SteamFast SF-275 SteamMax Steam Cleaner

-Val