Week 10 & 11: Cheap Cleaning Supplies

I know I haven't blogged in a few weeks...lots to do, birthdays, prepping for Baby #2 (only 8 weeks left). I couldn't think of a topic to write about and then I saw a post on mrsjanuary.com about cleaning. So this week i'd like to talk about ways to cut down on the cost of cleaning supplies.

Believe it or not, you don't need to buy chemicals to clean, in fact I don't keep ANY chemicals in the house, not even bleach. I've always hated cleaning supplies for a couple of reasons; the way they smell, the cost and the fact that if one day IF I accidentally left something in reach of my child - the fear they would put it in their mouth or try to drink it. For those reasons I started looking for alternate methods of cleaning effectively without dealing with the above.

Sure, there are LOTS of coupons out there to get cleaning supplies for cheap, but why use them at all if they aren't good for our health. Baking soda and vinegar are my 2 favorite things to clean with. Here is a great article written by mrsjanuary on just some of the uses of Baking Soda. I purchase mine in a 5kg bag at Costco for around $5!

http://www.mrsjanuary.com/simple-living/baking-soda-uses/

Total Spent Weeks 10/11: $230.25
Total Coupon Used Weeks 10/11: $56.69

YTD Grocery Total: $1287.27 (average $117.03 per week spent)
Coupons To Date: $302.03 (average $27.46 per week saved)
% Savings to Date: 23%

Week 9: My February Local Purchases!

So its time to show you what I purchased for the month of February. February was all about organization for me. Shelving and toy organization that work for one child may not work for another. Since our daughter turned 1 I have discovered some things that we own that just do not function properly in our house 1. being her bookshelves and 2. her toy organization...so we purchased some new bookshelves made from pallets and 2 handmade toy trunks:

Total Spent Week 9: $271.78 (Birthday week!)
Total Coupon Used Week 9: $14.00

YTD Grocery Total: $1057.02 (average $117.45 per week spent)
Coupons To Date: $245.34 (average $27.26 per week saved)
% Savings to Date: 24%