Where do we go from basics?

Sharkie994

My tip would be to use soda crystals for household cleaning and washing instead of buying lots of different sprays and detergents. I find soda crystals remove grease in the kitchen much better than these other sprays. Plus you can also use them for cleaning surfaces, removing stains, softening washing and they don't contain enzymes or bleach and are cheaper.

valentina

ceridwen wrote: »

That just had me googling for images of japonica plants - and promptly getting rather confused, as I came up with images of plants that looked very different to each other and none of them with any fruits on.

Errr...have you got a photo or link to an image of the one concerned purlease?:)

Japonica is chaenomeles - Japanese flowering quince

silverleaf79

mardatha wrote: »

hi Silverleaf. Am interested in your haircare - would like to know more. And my OH was a PITA re hens but I created until I got them and he now admits they are no bother at all. And I have a fridge full of lovely yellow free eggs.

Well I was reading somewhere about how all the chemicals they put in hair products aren't good for your hair so I decided to do an experiment after a bit of research. I figured it might help with the flaky dermatitis/eczema my scalp is prone to as well. And after the "trial period" I decided I liked it better than the usual shampoo-conditioner-styling products routine so I've continued it, and besides it saves me a fortune.

This is my routine - I wash my hair in the shower 2 or 3 times a week.

I add one tablespoon of ordinary bicarbonate of soda to an empty 250ml bottle (those little single-serving size bottles that contain fruit juice or smoothies are perfect), and one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar plus a few drops of essential oil (because I like the smell) to another bottle. (Lemon juice works too, and seems to be preferred by blonde people - I find it's a little drying on my hair but ymmv.)

In the shower, I fill up both bottles with warm water. Shake the bicarb bottle to dissolve, then pour it over my scalp, rubbing with my fingertips. It doesn't foam so it feels weird but it gets rid of all the grease and dead skin, etc. And I don't bother with the lengths of the hair as that gets cleaned as I rinse.

Then I rinse out the bicarb solution thoroughly, squeeze out excess water as best I can, then apply the vinegar solution all over the hair. I leave this on while I have a quick body wash, then mostly rinse it out. You'll feel the difference when you use the vinegar, the hair gets softer and much less tangly.

Once I'm out of the shower I use a pea-sized amount of coconut oil rubbed between my palms and stroked over the hair to stop frizz, apply some of my home-made hair gel and wrap my hair in an old t-shirt to dry a little (I'm trying to grow my hair really long and the t-shirt causes less breakage compared with a towel).

My hair and scalp are way happier than they used to be when I used conventional products, and it costs very little. My hair is clean, hardly frizzes at all, curls better and isn't weighed down by product. It does smell faintly of vinegar while it's drying, but I can totally live with that.

I recently bought a 3kg bag of bicarb from the cash and carry for about £3.50 which will last me years. A bottle of organic apple cider vinegar from the supermarket costs about £1.50 and lasts months. I found some flax seeds in my cupboard which are probably too old to eat, but work fine for my hm hair gel, and they aren't expensive anyway as you only use a tablespoon every couple of weeks. Coconut oil in a big jar from the Asian shop, £3.50, which will also last at least a year.

I reckon I used to spend about £6-10 a month trying to tame my mane with anti-frizz products, so I was amazed that it actually looks better using stuff that costs maybe £10 a year.

Hope that helps! Try it for a couple of weeks and see if you like it - I've already converted a few people but lots of my friends are a bit weirded out by the idea of giving up their shampoo, even though they tell me how much healthier mine looks.

HI is not budging about hens, even though I did a quick calculation and worked out they could save us £100 a year even if we didn't sell all the surplus eggs. His new reason is that he thinks he'll get stuck with all the work.... as far as I can tell they aren't much work anyway and won't take long to clean, feed, let out, etc each day. I'm not sure how to persuade him!

silverleaf79

Thanks for hen info Mardatha and Smiley - I do have a good vet who I take hedgehogs to (I rescue, rehabilitate and release wild hedgehogs) who will admit when she doesn't know things and asks my opinion, etc, but I'd have to check how she is with poultry. I guess there are enough chook forums where I could go for advice about sick birds as well...

Gigervamp

We've got so into keeping chickens that I don't think we'll recoup our costs! However, we do sell 3 or 4 boxes a week which is enough to pay for the feed, so we're happy with that. We also have enough eggs to give away a couple of boxes a week to family/friends and still be left with enough for us.

Gigervamp

silverleaf79 wrote: »

HI is not budging about hens, even though I did a quick calculation and worked out they could save us £100 a year even if we didn't sell all the surplus eggs. His new reason is that he thinks he'll get stuck with all the work.... as far as I can tell they aren't much work anyway and won't take long to clean, feed, let out, etc each day. I'm not sure how to persuade him!

It took me 5 years to persuade hubby to let me get chickens! Now, he admits that he was wrong and we should have got them sooner!

They're not only good for eggs. Had a stressfull day at work? Sit watching the chickens for a while and the stresses melt away!
They're pets +. Much more entertaining than cats/dogs/fish etc, and you get the added bonus of eggs. :j

fh2901

Fascinating thread!

A couple of ideas: I live on my own so a lot of the BOGOFs aren't much good just for me. So I drag along my other half (we don't live together - yet) and we shop and share. BOGOF or bulk buy, split the cost and take one each! I guess it'd also work with larger numbers / quantities as bulk's always cheaper, and shopping can be more interesting / fun too. Ask around, I'm sure you'd find someone else willing to at least give it a go.

I've also always been a great believer in community spirit. In less difficult times I freecycle stuff to other people whenever I can, give a hand and generally do what I can to help others, and if they want to offer something in return, I always just ask them to do the same for someone else when they can.

Oh, and a handful of rice / oats in a mince dish makes it go sooo much further without any noticeable loss of flavour...

bluethink

Packed lunches - I bought each of my kids a lunch bag and four of those click and lock boxes (they last forever and never leak) plus a water bottle. I usually put fruit in two of the boxes (apple, orange, grapes etc), raw salad veggies and some sandwich meat in another (my girls won't eat meat sandwiches), and a jam or honey sandwich in the fourth box. Water in the reusable water bottle. It's cheap and healthy. In the winter I put heated leftovers in a lunch-size thermos container for them.

We have a great greengrocer in our area, and the prices there are so much cheaper than buying fruit and veg in the supermarket. If you have a local one, it's worth checking it out.

jenblackrod

Hi my OH leaves the heating on 24/7 and I thought it was weird when I first moved in with him. However, we leave the thermostat in the hall on a very low temperature. (As low as we can stand around 17.5 or 18 degrees). The heating only comes on for short blasts to maintain the temperature. His argument is that it uses a lot less gas as the heating isn't required to start from scratch every time its switched on, thereby using a lot of gas to get to the temperature in the first place. His theory was confirmed by the gas engineer when he came to service the boiler and is certainly borne out by our bills. Coupled with standard frugality with electricity, e.g. not using tumble dryer and only taking showers not baths, our dual fuel bill averages out at £75.00 per month for gas and electricty. That is for a three bedroomed semi-detached house. We are perfectly warm most of the time, but are not obsessive about it. I always tell my DD if she complains she is cold that she should put a jumper on and some thick socks and after 20 minutes if she is still cold, then she can turn the thermostat up by one degree for a short while. Also we don't use the living flame gas fire ever, as OH is convinced he can run the central heating to heta the entire house for the cost of running just that.

jenblackrod

I only buy the fruit and veg if its on Aldi super six. We have fun dreaming up recipes to use the different vegs each week. I have basic range tinned fruit and cheap frozen veg if what we need is not on the super six. I make soups a lot etc. I am disabled and OH suffers from Fibromyalgia so home grown is not an option.