On the Cheap

In May, I made a decision that greatly improved my quality of life, but resulted in a fairly significant pay cut. I had been working 24 hours/week at the hospital and attending graduate school full time. I had become burned-out on my unit, and working weekend nights was taking its toll on me. Andrew and I had started dating in January, and I was quickly growing tired of missing out on lots of things with him because I had to work. In addition, I missed a lot of time with my family, friends, everyone really. So, I decided to make a change and to become a graduate assistant with the university. I still work per diem on my nursing unit, so I'm not losing the skills I've acquired there. However, I'm now working for a Lung Cancer study, so I'm learning all kinds of new things as well. While the economy is still not so great and my income reduced, I have been inspired to look for some ways to save money. I decided to start posting some things here just to share with everyone.

1. Home-made laundry detergent

I saw a recipe for this online and decided to try it. I used one bar of Ivory soap grated, one cup of Arm&Hammer super washing soda (not regular baking soda), and one half cup of borax. All the ingredients cost me about $8. I have enough soap for three batches, but if I bought more soap, I'd have way more. I'll get back with the blog for an exact count. The borax comes in a big box, and I'm not sure how much soda is in the washing soda bag. I only bought a 3 pack of soap because I was just trying this out. This recipe is only for top loaders; however, there's front-loader recipes on the internet. So far, it's worked out fairly well. I haven't washed too much laundry since I made the detergent, but so far, things are turning out clean and have a fresh scent. I suppose I could change the scent a little by changing the type of soap. I use Ivory because it is cheap and fairly hypoallergenic.

2. Traveling

This is a time of year when many people like to go on vacations, weekend trips, etc. While it may be the vacation I spent the whole year looking forward to, there are small ways to prevent such a sharp blow to your bank account. One thing that has saved us probably close to $100 this trip is bringing drinks and some breakfast items with us. Right now, I'm in Baltimore, MD, Inner Harbor. A bottled water or soda from a machine is going to cost at least $2. Meals and snacks from street vendors, etc are going to be pricey as well. Before we left on the trip, I bought one 24-pack of bottled water, one 6-pack of Diet Coke (my personal vice), a loaf of bread, a little jar of peanut butter, and a little jar of jelly. All total, I believe it cost me roughly $15. I chose to share with the three people I'm traveling with. I'll have some things left over that I may or may not choose to take with me when we leave tomorrow; however, it's still a great deal. I can buy a 24-pack of water in West Virginia for less than $5 while I might pay > $2 for just one bottle in Baltimore.