I am very happy to report I was able to rent and use the Rug Doctor yesterday after all. The Rug Doctor is easy to use, the directions are right on the handle and it did a decent job on my carpets. Not as good as a professional but for about $200 in savings, it will do. The hose attachments to do upholstery and stairs was another $3 and I couldn't get the hose part to work so that was a waste of time. In the future, I will schedule my usual carpet cleaning company for the heavily soiled areas, like the stairs and hallway and do the rest myself. The cleaning solution was $12.99 and I still have some in the bottle after 3 good sized rooms and a hallway. I am going to tackle the basement this morning and then return the machine. What a riveting life I do lead!
RUG DOCTOR RESULTS
Cost A+
Ease of Use B
Results B+
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
DIY Project Postponed
Due to 6 inches of snow, school is closed for the 4th day in a row! I came to my senses and realized the Rug Doctor would not be a good idea with both kids home and 70% of our house being carpet. "Okay kids, let's stay in the kitchen and play board
games while the carpet dries." No one can play that much "Guess Who" or "Junior Monopoly".
games while the carpet dries." No one can play that much "Guess Who" or "Junior Monopoly".
Sent from my iPhone
Thursday, January 29, 2009
DIY or Gerald Pays
Get ready for the upcoming DIY post on carpet cleaning Friday. After paying a professional around $250 to clean the carpets in my house twice a year for the past 5 years, I am going to rent The Rug Doctor! Talk about saving a dime. The Rug Doctor rents at my local Kroger for $24.99 for 24 hours and there is something called the "wide track" that rents for $26.99. I think I may just spring for the wide track, whatever that is.
Cross you fingers and hope for success, otherwise Gerald's life will be hell if this little adventure in DIY doesn't pan out. By the by, Gerald is out of town and has no knowledge of the Rug Doctor scheme. He will just bear the brunt of it if something goes wrong. For better or worse and all that crap. Hey, life ain't fair!
Cross you fingers and hope for success, otherwise Gerald's life will be hell if this little adventure in DIY doesn't pan out. By the by, Gerald is out of town and has no knowledge of the Rug Doctor scheme. He will just bear the brunt of it if something goes wrong. For better or worse and all that crap. Hey, life ain't fair!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
We Still Have Power!
Usually our power goes out at the drop of the hat but yesterday's snow and last night's sleet did not plunge us into cold and darkness. Yeah! Now I can enjoy how pretty it is outside!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It's The Little Things
I firmly believe that even while on a budget, some little indulgences should be allowed. It is kind of like being on a diet, if you restrict everything you really enjoy, odds are one stressed out day you are going to eat all the Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby you can lay your hands on and undo those 24 hours of hardcore dieting. Not that this has ever happened to me.
To that end, I am going back to real, name brand Q-Tips. While at my local grocery store yesterday, I picked up a couple boxes of off brand "cotton swabs" for CHEAP. I felt so virtuous and budget conscious! I used them this morning to remove eye make-up and they hurt! Like a mother! "Cotton swabs" do not have nearly as much "cotton swabbing" as one would think--the little plastic stick part almost poked my eye out and the harsh cotton left my sensitive eye area all red and irritated. Lesson learned.
Check It Out
http://www.e-rewards.com/home.do
Hey, many of us waste time online, why not do it while earning some e-rewards? The surveys are fast and easy, and maybe you earn a magazine subscription or 500 Delta miles. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick (or a cotton swab) as my father used to say!
A Little Something I Learned From My Mother...
Butter is expensive. If you use it often, buy it on sale and freeze it. Nothing funky happens to it and once it thaws, you would never know it had been frozen. I have been doing this for years, just as my mother did. The added benefit is I always have butter on hand and never run out. If you read my first post, you know how I feel about running out of something.
You can freeze cheese also but the consistency does change a bit, making it alright for cooking but not for serving with crackers.
You Decide!
A loyal follower of my Blog, one of 4 thank you very much, was wondering about cloth napkins versus paper napkins.
Here is what I found on www.care2.com
"If you are hugely careless in your treatment of cloth napkins and dishtowels (like running a load of hot-water wash for a few barely-soiled napkins), paper can be the more eco-friendly option. But if you approach your cloth towels and napkins conscientiously, cloth is the greener option. Some say that washing cloth must be more energy-intensive than using paper, but electric dryers are actually twice as energy efficient as the manufacture of paper towels. When you factor in all of the components of making a paper towel or napkins (harvesting the material, processing and bleaching it, packaging it, shipping it, stocking it at a supermarket, transportation to and from the store to purchase it, etc). all for a single use, you find that the paper towels and napkins are about twice as energy-intensive and create more greenhouse gases overall. A cloth napkin or dishtowel may go through similar processes to get to your kitchen drawer, but it will stay there for many, many years, rather than being sent directly to the landfill."
That is for you Lisa!
To that end, I am going back to real, name brand Q-Tips. While at my local grocery store yesterday, I picked up a couple boxes of off brand "cotton swabs" for CHEAP. I felt so virtuous and budget conscious! I used them this morning to remove eye make-up and they hurt! Like a mother! "Cotton swabs" do not have nearly as much "cotton swabbing" as one would think--the little plastic stick part almost poked my eye out and the harsh cotton left my sensitive eye area all red and irritated. Lesson learned.
Check It Out
http://www.e-rewards.com/home.do
Hey, many of us waste time online, why not do it while earning some e-rewards? The surveys are fast and easy, and maybe you earn a magazine subscription or 500 Delta miles. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick (or a cotton swab) as my father used to say!
A Little Something I Learned From My Mother...
Butter is expensive. If you use it often, buy it on sale and freeze it. Nothing funky happens to it and once it thaws, you would never know it had been frozen. I have been doing this for years, just as my mother did. The added benefit is I always have butter on hand and never run out. If you read my first post, you know how I feel about running out of something.
You can freeze cheese also but the consistency does change a bit, making it alright for cooking but not for serving with crackers.
You Decide!
A loyal follower of my Blog, one of 4 thank you very much, was wondering about cloth napkins versus paper napkins.
Here is what I found on www.care2.com
"If you are hugely careless in your treatment of cloth napkins and dishtowels (like running a load of hot-water wash for a few barely-soiled napkins), paper can be the more eco-friendly option. But if you approach your cloth towels and napkins conscientiously, cloth is the greener option. Some say that washing cloth must be more energy-intensive than using paper, but electric dryers are actually twice as energy efficient as the manufacture of paper towels. When you factor in all of the components of making a paper towel or napkins (harvesting the material, processing and bleaching it, packaging it, shipping it, stocking it at a supermarket, transportation to and from the store to purchase it, etc). all for a single use, you find that the paper towels and napkins are about twice as energy-intensive and create more greenhouse gases overall. A cloth napkin or dishtowel may go through similar processes to get to your kitchen drawer, but it will stay there for many, many years, rather than being sent directly to the landfill."
That is for you Lisa!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bright Start To A New Era
Like most of America, I watched the Inaugural proceedings most of the day yesterday. I watched CNN Live on Facebook and shared comments with my Facebook friends, it was a totally new experience for me and a great way to start off a new presidency. Now I feel I have a responsibility to change the way I live my life, or at least be willing to make some sacrifices and change the way I do some things. The tone that President Obama set in his speeches yesterday were of accountability, responsibility and the hard work and difficult decisions ahead. I have made a resolution to be mindful of the choices I make and to become more involved in my community.
To that end, I have started this Blog to keep myself on track, share insights and humor, and pass on all that "Depression Era" wisdom that my parents taught me over the years.
Both my parents lived through the Great Depression and the way I was brought up reflected a lot of the lessons they had learned and the hardships they went through. Some of my memories from childhood and the things I do in my home now as a wife and mother, are a direct result of their parenting, as is true for most of us. However, I bet most of your mothers did not have a full pantry in the basement with a year's supply of most canned and jarred foods. A common request from my mother was for me to run down to the basement and get her a can of soup or a bottle of ketchup. And there it all was--laid out before me. Neat row upon neat row of pickles, soups, ketchup, mayonnaise, baked beans, mustard, BBQ sauce, jelly, jam, tuna fish, condensed milk, vegetable oil, you name, we had it. Each in its own row, with 3-6 backups behind it, sorted by expiration date (never take from behind, only from the front otherwise my mother would notice and there would be a lecture!) Running out of something in our house was almost unheard of. All items were purchased on sale and with coupons and lists were kept so that when stocks were running low, sales would be watched for to replenish particular items. Household cleaners also had a place in pantry, Lysol, Pinesol, Scrubbing Bubbles, Windex, Comet-- all stockpiled in the same manner. Friends would ask to see my mom's pantry when they came over to play and stand in awe of the bounty before them. It was just how my mom was, the way we lived. Reserves of toilet paper and Kleenex were kept upstairs in the linen closet, reams of paper towels were kept on the shelves in the laundry room.
We laughed about it. My mother was very good natured and took a lot of teasing for her "depression era" mentality. You have to embrace your foibles, right? I will give you one guess as to what is in my linen closet right now.
12 boxes of Kleenex and 60 rolls of Charmin. Don't even look in the basement!
A Little Something I Learned From My Mother...
Old towels, t-shirts, even old boxer shorts (much to my dismay growing up) were washed, cut up and used for cleaning rags around the house thus eliminating the need for paper towels. Cost effective AND better for the environment. Barbara was way ahead of her time environmentally!
Money Saver For Today
Save money at the pump
and reduce your emissions. When you are at the ATM, the
drive-thru pharmacy, or just waiting to pick someone up —
don’t idle your engine, just turn it off! The American Society
of Mechanical Engineers proved in a recent study that
the average fuel-injected vehicle requires
the same amount of fuel to start
its engine as it would to idle with the air
conditioning ON for only 6 seconds.
Every second counts, so turn off your
car!
To that end, I have started this Blog to keep myself on track, share insights and humor, and pass on all that "Depression Era" wisdom that my parents taught me over the years.
Both my parents lived through the Great Depression and the way I was brought up reflected a lot of the lessons they had learned and the hardships they went through. Some of my memories from childhood and the things I do in my home now as a wife and mother, are a direct result of their parenting, as is true for most of us. However, I bet most of your mothers did not have a full pantry in the basement with a year's supply of most canned and jarred foods. A common request from my mother was for me to run down to the basement and get her a can of soup or a bottle of ketchup. And there it all was--laid out before me. Neat row upon neat row of pickles, soups, ketchup, mayonnaise, baked beans, mustard, BBQ sauce, jelly, jam, tuna fish, condensed milk, vegetable oil, you name, we had it. Each in its own row, with 3-6 backups behind it, sorted by expiration date (never take from behind, only from the front otherwise my mother would notice and there would be a lecture!) Running out of something in our house was almost unheard of. All items were purchased on sale and with coupons and lists were kept so that when stocks were running low, sales would be watched for to replenish particular items. Household cleaners also had a place in pantry, Lysol, Pinesol, Scrubbing Bubbles, Windex, Comet-- all stockpiled in the same manner. Friends would ask to see my mom's pantry when they came over to play and stand in awe of the bounty before them. It was just how my mom was, the way we lived. Reserves of toilet paper and Kleenex were kept upstairs in the linen closet, reams of paper towels were kept on the shelves in the laundry room.
We laughed about it. My mother was very good natured and took a lot of teasing for her "depression era" mentality. You have to embrace your foibles, right? I will give you one guess as to what is in my linen closet right now.
12 boxes of Kleenex and 60 rolls of Charmin. Don't even look in the basement!
A Little Something I Learned From My Mother...
Old towels, t-shirts, even old boxer shorts (much to my dismay growing up) were washed, cut up and used for cleaning rags around the house thus eliminating the need for paper towels. Cost effective AND better for the environment. Barbara was way ahead of her time environmentally!
Money Saver For Today
Save money at the pump
and reduce your emissions. When you are at the ATM, the
drive-thru pharmacy, or just waiting to pick someone up —
don’t idle your engine, just turn it off! The American Society
of Mechanical Engineers proved in a recent study that
the average fuel-injected vehicle requires
the same amount of fuel to start
its engine as it would to idle with the air
conditioning ON for only 6 seconds.
Every second counts, so turn off your
car!
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