STALLED OUT (and Frugal Tip#3)

So now we are out of money and we have almost a week until my husband gets paid.  Even then we won't have much more than $100 to spend and I am wondering how in the heck we are going to get this done in time. This weekend we will just try to accomplish whatever we can without buying anything. We have to keep moving; our landlord has made it very clear that she has several parties waiting in line for the house we are renting now and has been laying the pressure on thick.

We ran into some friends last weekend who had done some remodeling and had some of their tools left and offered to come take a look to give us some advice and let us borrow the equipment. Then yet another friend of ours read our blog and said she too had just finished a remodel job and had some really specific tools that we needed and we could use. So far tools have been killing our budget so it has been great to get these offers. I am just not sure what to do with things like drywall tools when we can't even afford to buy the drywall itself. I get scared and despondent and force myself to calm down, take a deep breath and... clean.

CLEANING AS THERAPY
Whenever I feel like the world is out of control, I clean. It is a great way to perk yourself up (a dirty house is pretty depressing y'know) and if you have a lot of excess upset energy it is a great constructive way to burn it off. Cleaning is also a cheap way to occupy your time while getting a visible accomplishment to help you feel like you are getting something done. Right now I am cleaning the rental house we are in and thinking about how we are going to get through the week without being able to go to the store for anything. As I am thinking about expenses I reach for my favorite cleaner and it struck me that I should write about my favorite cleaner as Frugal Tip #3.

Fill bottle with Dihydrogen Monoxide. Spray area. Return in 20 minutes and wipe away! Pretty!

FRUGAL TIP #3- The world's cheapest, safest and most versatile cleaner!
Dihydrogen Monoxide. Sure, there are warnings and it can be fatal if used incorrectly but in reality I use it every day and I sometimes even bathe my kids in it! Now you may be shocked by my use of this chemical compound on my own children but hey, my parents used it on me and I turned out just fine! (twitch, twitch) Our government has been using it on their own soldiers since our military first formed. No better voucher than our own government right?

Okay, okay. I give. Dihydrogen Monoxide is also referred to as H2O or more commonly known as WATER. There are some websites and emails that circulate making fun of the little used chemical name of water (saying it is deadly with the underlying reasoning being something like folks can drown in water, etc.) here are a couple of links to read more and share as a joke with your chemist buddies. http://www.dhmo.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax

But seriously, with CFS I have a lot of chemical sensitivities and have to be careful of what I use to clean. Combine that with how we continuously slam our environment with tons of household chemicals and the fact that a can of "Scrubbing Bubbles" costs several dollars it was well worth it for me to explore the world of more natural cleaning methods.

I do use stuff other than just water. I LOVE using baking soda in my bathtub as any residue just results in conditioning for my skin when I take a bath. I use Dawn dish soap when there is grease involved and I do keep Clorox wipes on hand if I feel the need for an extra boost every once in a while. I am not a rabid environmentalist; I just try to steward the Earth as best I can while trying my best to care for my family.

Back to the subject though: the handiness of pure water in cleaning. If you are like me, one of the jobs you hate the most is cleaning the stove. In a perfect world I would wipe down the stove after every time it is used but with a house full of kids (one being a toddler) and the fact that I cook A LOT it just doesn't work out that way and I end up with tough stuck-on crud all over. (Cream of Wheat and oatmeal are HIDEOUS to clean after they have dried into glue!) I used to load on the spray cleaners but found that even with their powerful formulas I had to let them sit and soak for 15 or 20 minutes while fumes filled my home and my sensitive nose. Then it occurred to me. Is it the chemical goo that is loosening that stuff or the moisture itself?

I decided to get out the water spray bottle that I used for ironing and try that instead. I misted my stove top, waited the same amount of time and 90% of the crud wiped right off my stove! No smell, no expensive cleaners, no chemical burning my skin and leaving a residue to burn off and stink the next time I cooked. I started using it on my counters as well. I discovered boiling a cup of water in the microwave and letting it evaporate softened most of the stuck on mess and I could easily wipe out my microwave no matter how long stuff had been crusting up in there (and it reaches the ceiling of the microwave!).

To tackle any grease left over I will first do the water soak and wipe everything down then I will do a follow up with a hot, damp cloth with a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap worked into it. I know have squirt bottles in the bathrooms to loosen old toothpaste off sinks and to pre-treat other surfaces. When I am doing a major clean I just go through the whole house with a spray bottle full of water and mist everything down; counters, stoves, sinks, sticky spots on cabinets, walls and floors. By the time I have gone through the whole house I can start wiping down where I started. I will then do a follow up as needed with Dawn or baking Soda or a Clorox wipe as I deem necessary.

At the end my house is very clean, doesn't reek of chemicals, I can breathe and I saved a lot of money on cleaners. So next time your stove is looking back at you, crusty and stained, tag it with some water and just walk away.