Frugality: fru·gal adj.
The quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty or economical in the use of consumable resources and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance. Not cheap, just frugal, it’s fun. Really it is. Trust me… Last summer I used the clothesline instead of the dryer to dry our laundry on, and ended up with a allergic reaction to pollen and dust that caused itchy rashes for weeks.
Then I started to make my own yogurt and if that’s not a scientific experiment ready to go wrong, I am not sure what is. The first time it was nerve racking to pour that much milk into the slow cooker, did I not mention that we make it in the slow cooker? It’s all over Pinterest.
It turned out tasty, and just a little thinner then I liked it, no problem, eat it, and try again. The third time was no charm, unless you like to eat yogurt that tastes like that last night’s Korean beef tacos… which were delish, but not how I wanted my yogurt to taste. What a waste, it was inedible… I learned that no matter how much I cleaned the slow cooker, the condensation that dripped from the lid might taint the mild creamy yogurt… so now I put a piece of wax paper under the lid and no more problems.
Let’s move onto my new homemade “frugal” laundry soap… less expensive then the current organic laundry soaps we are buying. Great ideas abound on Pinterest, so I perused a few recipes and eventually choose a simple 3 ingredient laundry soap. Washing soda, Borax, and castile soap instead of Blue Dawn. Thank goodness I didn’t pour it into a soap container… because it turned out thicker then the yogurt and now we have laundry paste. Thick, mushy, pure, no pour laundry paste, that doesn’t dissolve in cold water. Great… another failure?
No a live and learn, and make do, kind of lesson. After all how do you think they invented stuff if they didn’t make a few mistakes along the way. I saved enough money to pay for the electricity the dryer uses all winter by making my own yogurt… next week we might give up the vehicles, and bike everywhere…… But I think we are going to have to stop experimenting with being our own Chiropractors, no matter what the tutorial on Pinterest tells us… my arm looks really funny sticking out backwards…… I’m kidding! I doubled the recipe, and am wondering if the castile soap has made it gel up… anyone have any experience with making your own laundry soap, or your own yogurt? I’d love some hints, and I am not giving up… yet. Frugally…