Laundry

One of my enterprises which I had begun this spring is to pay off my debts as soon as possible. This is no easy feat even for a college graduate with a good job. Since raising one's income proves to be a rather difficult accomplishment any way you slice it, reducing expenses is a more feasible way to go. My dear friend MaryClare pointed out that it would be much more cost effective to make my own laundry detergent, which I could hardly believe. I only use a small container ever other month, but when I calculated it out, I spend about 5$ each time, and that is 30 dollars per year on laundrey soap. I spent a total of 12 dollars on supplies to make enough laundry detergent for 100 gallons! At my current rate, that is enough for at least 10 years conservatively. Instead of spending approximately at least $300 in that amount of time, I shall have spent 12! and it can be scented however I like! The recipe that MaryClare uses is the one the now famous Duggar family used, and it can be found here.

An Old Fashioned Girl and Work

Everybody loves an old fashioned girl, that is unless she's a prude. She is generally regarded with honor if the term is applied brightly. I flatter myself that I could be considered an old fashioned girl myself. Why? Well, if I cannot talk with a person face-to-face I would rather write letters than email or even phone someone. My favorite mode of travel is by train, or maybe by car, something that is slow enough to take in all of the country between stops. Therefore, planes are not agreeable to this "old fashioned" world view. Furthermore, there are usually too many people in airports. Washing dishes is much more fun that a dishwasher, which doesn't save much time in the long run. You can hang out with your family, discuss things, and get it all done in record time. Then there is no accidental forgetting to run it and having no spoon at breakfast...in which case you have to wash the thing all the same. Raking leaves provides much more exercise and joy than blowing 'em around. Besides, one doesn't use any gasoline or electricity.

All the benefits are not on the side of being conservative. For example, sweeping is great for your arms but horrid for your back, and it took me an entire hour to sweep the grass out of the gutter in front of the yard. Most folks just use a blower and have done with it, or one of those lawn vacuums. Nevertheless, those blowers do joggle one's joints and contribute to premature deafness. Also, while I was sweeping up, I was able to talk with my Daddy while he worked on the car. Time savers which pollute the nice quiet world with noise often interrupt our ability to converse, to talk with each other, and to just spend quality time. It was pretty nice, spending time with Daddy, cause with 6 younger siblings at home and a talkative mother, I hardly ever get to talk with Daddy.

I would encourage everyone out there to take some time and do it the old way. Otherwise, use your time saved by modern conveniences to spend with family and friends as opposed to getting more modern conveniences.