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Save $48.68 A Year With Homemade Orange-Infused Glass Cleaner!

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Good morning, savvy savers! For Thursdays Cleaning Solutions post, I wanted to share with you my recipe for Homemade Orange Glass Cleaning Cleaner! With the outrageous cost of commercial glass cleaners, I created an organic, non-toxic, child and pet-safe all purpose cleaner which can be for under $5.00 for a years worth of cleaner! As the average cost of a bottle of store-bought orange cleaner is 3.89, and I use a bottle of spray a month, that’s a savings of $48.68 a year! Here’s how to make this!

Ingredients:

1 Clean, dried mason jar
The peels of 3 oranges
2 Cups Distilled, white vinegar
1 Empty Bottle
1 Funnel
1 Plastic Bowl
1 Sifter

To start:

1) Obtain a clean mason jar, and fill it with 16 ounces, 4 cups, of distilled white vinegar.

2) Place the peel of three oranges in the mason jar with the vinegar.

3) Secure the cap and ring on the mason jar.

4) Store the jar in a cool, dry place for 14 days.

5) On the 15th day, open the jar and strain the contents into a sifter, over a plastic bowl.

6) Return the solution to the mason jar with a funnel; label your jar as cleaning concentrate.

7) Open a spray bottle and add 1/4 cup of the solution, 2 ounces, to 5 cups water.

8) Seal the bottle and shake gently.

9) Use in conjunction with newspaper to clean most glass surfaces, including counters.

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Please note, that this is the cleaner I also use daily to clean off the counters in my own kitchen, on the cabinets, and around the baseboards! This is also the cleaner I use when completeing many of the daily challanges on MoneySavingMom.com and their Organizing Challanges!

This is an awesome cleaner!

Enjoy the clean!

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Organizational Ideas: Guest Post From The Joyful Organizer!

 

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Good afternoon, savvy savers! With a new week, comes new challenges, and among these challenges are way to bring peace and utility to our day-to-day lives, and here at the Lady Prefers To Save, we like to help you accomplish this task through a weekly blog series, called Organizational Ideas!  For this weeks Organizational Ideas Series Installment, we will be having a guest post by the very talented Bonnie Dewkett, blogger, professional organizer, and economist from The Joyful Organizer®! 

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Here are Bonnie’s tips for creating organization, through economizing, as seen on her blog, The Joyful Organizer:

Getting organized will save you money.  However, we can all take it a bit further.  Here are a few tips that are easy to integrate into your daily life that will save you money.  Involve the family and you’ll have an even greater chance of success.

Go Meatless-Going meatless for at least one day a week helps you be healthier, save the environment and of course, saves you money.  Beans and other vegetarian products are much cheaper than meat.

Call your service providers-Give all of your service providers a call and ask them for a better deal. Most people are fearful to do this, but the worst thing they can say is that they have no better offers.  Don’t be afraid to switch providers if someone is offering a better deal that benefits your family.

Buy in bulk-buy the items you use frequently in bulk.  Good candidates are toilet paper, toothpaste and sponges.  Make sure you will use the entire amount before it expires.  Also, take the wholesale membership costs into account.

Use a programmable thermostat-This allows you to turn the heat down while you’re gone during the day and turn it back up before you arrive home.  Making these small adjustments every day can add up to a big savings.

Save with apps-Use coupon apps such as Coupon Sherpa and Retail Me Not.  These allow you to look for the best deal and sales even while you’re in the store.

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Use grocery delivery-While there is usually a delivery fee it is often less than the time and gas you’d spend grocery shopping.  Plus, if you are going hungry or with kiddies, you’ll surely make some impulse purchases.

Make it visual-If you have a long term financial goal, such as a trip to Disney World, use a visual reminder to save.  A drawn thermometer that you color in or a jar full of coins.

Walk Away-If you’re shopping online and like something, put it in your cart and walk away. Since the store is probably using cookies to track you, they will often send you a reminder with a coupon in a day or so.

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Use natural cleaners-Making your own cleaners with vinegar and water will save you a lot of money over time.  Maximize the savings even more by using cloths that you can wash and reuse over and over again.

Stay In-Instead of expensive family movie nights out, buy a Netflix subscription and stay in.  Make home made microwave popcorn and even bake cookies to make it an entire evening of fun.

Swap with friends-Swap kid’s clothing, toys, meals, and even baby sitting services with your neighbors and everyone saves time and money!  (You can also use sites such as Free Cycle.)

Library-Use the library.  It’s shocking that people forget it even exists.  They allow your o read books for free!  Most libraries have movies and music as well.

Thank you again to Bonnie for her wonderful organizing tips! To find out more about Bonnie, check out her blog  The Joyful Organizer, and her professional organization site, The Joyful Organizer®! Also be sure to check out  and subscribe to Bonnie’s iTunes Radio show, The Joyful Organizer as well!

Here’s to staying organized!

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Refill Your Own Plug-In Oil Cartridges, for Only $0.10!

Good afternoon, savvy savers! For this weeks Wednesdays Ways To Save, I want to share with you one of my favorite money-saving tips, how to refill your own plug-in air fresheners! This tip is very near and dear to my heart, as of late I have been able to purchase several new Febreze and Glade Customizables Units, and as much as I love free units, the new trend in “customizable, dual cartridges,” only means one thing to me, spending double the exorbitant amount I already delve out to keep my home smelling fresh!

Keep in mind, using this tip you will be able to fill each cartridge for only $0.10! This is a 75% savings over store-bought deals! This tip will work with any brand cartridge including Glade, Febreze, Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, as well as Glade brand diffusers! I purchase my oils from the Dollar Tree, as the larger bottles come in 20 ounce sizes, and as I only need 2 ounces each cartridge, I can refill each cartridge on a dime, for a dime!

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What you need:

  • A plug-in of your choice, with an empty bulb.
  • An you like; I purchase my oils at the Dollar Tree!
  • 3 Tablespoons Water
  • A butter knife, or tweezers, to pry off the cap on the plug-in bulb
  • A tea bag
  • A paper towel
  • A small funnel or piece of wax paper
  • A medicine droppers; most pharmacies will give you free droppers, if needed.
  • The cap that came with the original cartridge

Directions:

1) Remove the cap from the plug-in bulb then clean it out with warm water; a butter knife, or case knife works well.

2) Wrap your cartridge with a tea bag, and place them in a paper towel, to absorb the older residual oil, for one hour.

3) After an hour, discard your tea bag (which can be hung in a closet to freshener the air for up to one week; this will also remove moisture in closets as well).

4) Take your cartridge and put about 20 drops of your favorite essential oil into the plug-in bulb, using a medicine dropper.

5) Put 3 Tablespoons of water into the bulb, using a small funnel or wax paper strip,  with the oil, being careful not to let the mixture overflow out of the bulb.

6) Put the wick back in the bulb. Be sure it snaps back into to place.

7) Place the original cap back on the bulb, or carefully place it in a sandwich bag, for 1 hour to let the scent completely refill the internal wick.

8) Plug your refilled cartridge in.

9) Enjoy!

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Affordable Mr. Clean Magic Erasers!

 

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Good morning, savvy savers! For this weeks Cleaning Solutions post, I want to share one of my secrets to a clean home, I have found a way to purchase cheap magic erasers! Through a little research, I discovered that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are just squares of melamine foam! Just cheap, plastic foam! What the melamine does, is that it acts like a small grit of sandpaper. So, my tip it to purchase your own squares through Amazon; I use this seller, here. You can purchase a box of 30 for $6.99, with free shipping, making each eraser only $0.23 each; which out-prices even the Dollar Tree’s 2-pack of erasers by a third!

So, if you use this cleaning product often, then be sure to look into this idea.

Here’s to a cleaner home!

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