Doing Life Daily
I love my crockpot and use it often. I think I made 2 meals this week using it. Here’s some of my favorite quick and easy crockpot recipes.
Red Wine Chicken Crockpot Meal
Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes Crockpot
Let me know if you try any and what you think. I love cooking in my crockpot!
I received the above products through Sublime Media Connection in exchange for an honest review. In no way was I asked to give a positive review.
I am always looking for ways to reduce my impact on the environment. For years I’ve been hating on dryer sheets and how bad they are for the home environment. Breathing in those chemicals is not good for you. But I digress! So I was super pumped when I was able to review the Woolzies dryer balls for my family.
Well these little gems came in right as I ended up having emergency surgery. I didn’t get to use them right away like I had wanted to. But this was actually a good thing. My hubby ended up doing the laundry for a good week to 10 days and he used them. He used them without asking me. He used them daily and he ended up telling me all the reasons he liked them! I was stunned.
They reduce drying time. How? I was actually shocked when I finally got to do a load and it was done quicker then it normally is. They reduce drying time by bouncing around and separating the clothing and allowing space for the heat to get to all the clothes. It’s true that they reduce drying time. I was not aware that I’d be saving energy by using these.
They soften clothes naturally. By the balls bouncing around of course the clothes are going to be softer. They eliminate wrinkles and reduce static electricity. It says if you’re still having a bit of static electricity to ball up aluminum foil and throw in there with it. These balls last for over 1000 washes. How unbelievable is that. IF I do 5 loads a week for 52 weeks that’s only 260 loads a year. That means these are going to last me almost 5 years from this one purchase. Wow!!
If I notice I’m seeing more static shock it says for me to put the balls in a sock and run them through the wash cycle. I love that they are even helping me keep my clothes static free. This is a no brainer. I will be using woolzies from now on and no longer purchasing those dryer sheets. Check them out and let them save you money too!
Look for a giveaway coming in the next week or so!
Yes, you can! Isn’t it silly that you can save money by simply consuming less stuff! But we can. Here’s my top 10 tips for less purchasing and more using what you have.
1. Make your household cleaners. My household cleaners consist of baking soda, vinegar and dawn dish detergent. These three items clean my dishes, my bathtubs, mirrors, open drains and are even great floor cleaners. They really are all you need.
2. Use microfiber cloths instead of paper towels. Just hang it where your paper towel dispenser goes. Voila clean hands.
3. Use wool dryer balls to help dry your clothes and do not use those freshened dryer sheets. The chemicals used in those sheets are not good for your family. Or better yet hang your clothes to dry and use no electricity.
4. Grow your own food. I had planted my garden last month and we got this huge rain for like 4 days in a row. I had to replant it yesterday…well part of it. I just had surgery so I couldn’t hoe the rows like I needed too. So I just used my little shovel and planted the most important vegetables that we often eat. I’m going to miss my larger garden this year. Anyone want to share their bounty with me? I’m trying to find some apple trees and blueberry bushes this year to expand our families power of eating what we have!
5. Less trips to the store to get forgotten items actually saves you money. Because while you are at the store you are going to purchase more then the one forgotten item. Make a list and stick to it and don’t go back if you’ve forgotten something.
6. There’s this book I’m really wanting right now. We are low on funds until my hubby gets paid…or I do. So I want this book called the Zero Waste Home…how amazing is that. But by the own author’s advice I’m trying to get it from the library so that I will not be bringing another item into my home. Oh the waiting! Oh the patience of not consuming!
Yes the fact that I’m listing these books for sale isn’t lost on me! haha! But don’t they look like awesome books that I want to own?? Those are affiliate links if you choose to purchase a book I might make a nickel to keep this site running.
7. Do not buy more clothes then you need. I would recommend 8 shirts, 5 pants, 5 shorts and let them mix and match. We have way too many clothes. Luckily most of them were purchased at a thrift store or yard sales so not too much money spent. But we still have too many clothes. This is giving me something to aspire to!
8. When you purchase things make them count. Let your dollars do the talking for you. Don’t purchase little crap items from the dollar store unless it’s something that you know you can use and reuse again and again. Those kids begging for dollar toys don’t need them nor do they want to clean up their room with all the little toys in it.
9. Purchase or make cloth bags to give gifts in. Think of the savings once you already have these bags. I want some of these and have been wanting them for over 3 years. Maybe I need to find some material and just make them myself!
10. If you have to purchase new items try your best to find them second hand. This saves you money and depreciation on the item. There’s so much to consider when you are trying to be respectful to our Earth and to be true to yourself. Let your dollars speak for what you value!
Have you heard about the important work Operation Smile is doing? If not you have to hear about them. They are a nonprofit group that raises money to change children’s cleft palate and helps them get their smile back. Just a donation as small as $240 will help a child to go to school and live a normal life without the fear of being bullied or made fun of because of their issues with cleft palate. What a small amount to raise to make such a difference in the life of a child.
Campus Book Rentals gives a portion of each book rented to Operation Smile. They also have a new program called Rentback. Don’t sell your books back. Rent them to Rentback and see a nice increase in 2-4x as much money made in renting them then selling them. Rentback does all the work too. All you do is go online and let them know the book you have that you want to rent to them. They will send you a postage paid card and rent the book out each semester. Then they’ll send you the money that you made from renting it to them. What a great idea! I have a sophomore in high school so I’m seriously thinking this is the way we’ll go to get his books when he’s at college. Make sure you watch the video that will help explain it all.
CampusBookRentals.com RentBack:
Vonage provided product for this review and giveaway. My review is an honest opinion based on my own experience and has not been reviewed or edited by Vonage.
It tripped me out. I called my friend, didn’t get her, but spoke to her husband from my iPad. I loved that. The call quality was crystal clear and I had no trouble hearing him nor of him hearing me. We had a nice conversation and were able to get caught up quickly using this great app. I do not have vonage. But was able to put in my phone number and it found people from my contact list who had either vonage or the vonage mobile app and I was able to call them. This is a free service. So why haven’t you downloaded it already? Go do it now! It works on many other platforms too.
So, go to iTunes or Google Play and download the Vonage Mobile app. It’s free…did I mention that already. Then let it go through your contacts and it will show you who you can call for free. If your friends don’t have a phone but do have an iPad you can get your friends to download it and use it to make your phone calls. This would be great for teenagers and tweens. It has a video chat feature as well. I wasn’t able to test it out as my friends didn’t have that. But these young kids should know exactly what to do and would be able to use the video chat feature easily. You can use mom or dad’s cell phone number as your number and then you can make calls to all your friends who have downloaded the app. So easy! So download the app. Get your friends too as well. Then, follow the Vonage family on twitter @vonage and like them on facebook too. Get all the great updates and latest information on what you can do with this great app. Oh and look for a giveaway sponsored by the Vonage Mobile app that is for a iTunes gift card!
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