Prescription to Savings

This may not be a green savings post, but hopefully it saves you big.  Recently, I was put on a prescription by my doctor that after my insurance would be over $100 a month.  Even a like medicine at the same dosage was almost $70.  Of course, I paid it and I ignored my small town pharmacist who asked, “Do you want to check out Walmart to see if you can get a better deal?”  I told him I wanted to be a name, not a number, plus I thought, ‘How much could the savings actually be?’

Green Teeth Whitening: Alternatives Series

My son, braces free. One of my favorite smiles in the world.

When it comes to bleaching teeth, you have a lot of choices out there.  Lots of them expensive, some of them harmful to your teeth, and all of them in some way just not good for the planet. 

The fact is, your teeth have a natural whiteness.  It may or may not be movie star white teeth, but movie stars achieve their whiteness by having veneers applied to their teeth.  So, the first step in whitening your teeth is accepting your whitest shade will probably not be snow white.

Even my son who is making the goofy, blissful smile in the left-hand photo (as his braces were just removed) has white teeth, but they aren’t pure white.  Still, it’s pretty close and also chemical-free.

If you’re willing to accept that your teeth will not be movie star/veneer white no matter what you use if that’s not your natural shade and you want to save a buck, plus whiten your teeth naturally, here’s a few ways you can do that right at home:

• Make a paste of baking soda and peroxide and brush with it daily.  In about a month, all stains will be removed.
• Use baking soda on your teeth BEFORE brushing with your regular toothpaste.
• Brush with a few drops of lemon juice daily.
• Equal parts lemon juice and salt applied to the teeth as a paste is said to be extremely effective for teeth bleaching.
• Brush teeth at night with apple cider vinegar.

Happy green smiles for all,

Thrifty Bif

Thrifty Bif Savings Alert

I’m not a huge fan of shopping, but I am a huge fan of savings. Did you know Target donates a considerable amount of their overstock to Goodwill stores? Shirts, pants, skirts, jewelry … even furniture. All new, all with tags, but all marked down at a fraction of what you would pay at Target (even on sale).

So, next time you get a hankering for Target, check Goodwill out first. Chances are you’rll kill your craving at 90% off. You might even find that one-of-a-kind 60’s sweater with the lemon yellow buttons and apricot faux fur collar too! 

Shop smart,

Thrifty Bif

DIY Gatorade: Alternatives Series

I love visiting websites and gathering good information, especially those websites that know it or not, give you ideas how to save money while saving the planet.  One of the biggest aisles where I work is the sports drink aisle.  So big is this aisle that it also is put on pallets throughout the store.  It seems people cannot get enough of sports drinks and guess what?  It’s just as bad as bottled water because of all that darned plastic.  Let’s not even get into the dent for your wallet, but at a buck a bottle and if you’re drinking 3 a day, that’s $21 a week or almost $2,000 a year.  Come on, now!

But in my tireless research (or surfing while still in pain from surgery), I came across 3 tried and true recipes for sports drinks you can make yourself and if it makes you feel better, just reuse your favorite Gatorade bottle!

Recipe 1

• 1 can orange juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• water (to make 2 liters)

Recipe 2

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon lite salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• water (to make 2 liters)

Recipe 3

• 10 tbs. sugar (5/8 cups or 120 grams)
• .75 tsp Morton Lite salt (4.2 grams)
• 1 package of Coolaid mix for flavor
• Water to make 2 liters 

 

Thank roadcycler.com for the recipes!

Thrifty Bif 

Putting Your PC on a Diet: Green Savings Series

I’m of the idea that any diet is particularly bad stuff.  I mean, usually any type of deprivation leads to starvation, which leads to an all-out binge.  Intel, however, has changed my mind.

Any computer on standby mode is a power sucker.  Most people don’t see the bad side to computer power gluttony.  The kilowatts adding up that you and your company pay for or even the fact that not allowing your computer to be completely off is killing your central processing unit (and your computer).  If you can afford new computers whenever the old one burns out and you don’t care about the planet or saving money, congratulations, you’re nuts.  Stop reading now.  If you’re on the other side, however, read on …

Intel’s Instantly Available PC (IAPC) technology changes is a clever trick reducing a PC’s power consumption in “sleep mode” to less than 5 watts, resulting in 71% less power consumption over a year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has calculated that if every PC had IAPC, in a decade the U.S. would save over 75 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions.  Please, stop to even just imagine 75 million metric tons.

For more information and a free download (and again, Thriftybif.com gets none of the money or fame or glory from this link), please, go here: http://developer.intel.com/technology/iapc/acpi/index.htm

Be power savvy, not hungry,

Thrifty Bif

Out of Commission for a Bit

Thrifty Bif had emergency oral surgery and is in recovery.  New posts will return once she’s up and around.  In the meantime, please, don’t forget to write thriftybif@thriftybif.com with any money-saving or green tips of your own.  And don’t forget about searching through the old stock that’s here.

Borax-A-Plenty: Green Savings Series

Borax, or sodium borate, is one of the most green and economical buys on the planet.  Sold as 20 Mule Team Borax and for about $3.00 a box, this is some of what that small financial sacrifice can get you:

Heavy sink stain eraser: Make a paste of borax and 1/4 cup lemon juice, rub into stain with cloth, then rinse with warm water.  The stain should wash clean away.

Outdoor window cleaner:  Dip a clean sponge in a solution of 2 tablespoons borax, 3 cups water.  Rinse.  They’ll dry to a streak-less shine.

Mildew remover:  Soak a sponge in a solution of 1/2 cup borax dissolved in 2 cups hot water, and rub it into the affected areas. Let it soak in for several hours until the stain disappears, then rinse well. To remove mildew from clothing, soak it in a solution of 2 cups borax in 2 quarts water.

Rug stain remover:  Wet the area, rub in borax, let dry, then vacuum.  Blot with equal parts vinegar and soapy water.  Let dry again.  Make sure to always spot test.  

Garbage disposer sanitizer:  Every couple of weeks pour 3 tablespoons borax down the drain and let it sit for 1 hour, turn on the disposer, and flush it with hot water from the tap.

Toilet bowl cleaner:  Scrub bowl with regular brush plus 1/2 cup borax.  Cleans, shines, and sanitizes.

Repel ants and weeds:  Sprinkle borax into all the crevices where you’ve seen weeds grow in the past. It will kill them off before they have a chance to take root if done early in the Spring. When applied around the foundation of your home, it will also keep ants and other six-legged intruders from entering, but be careful around plants as it will kill them.  

Oh, there’s dozens more … and probably right on the box, so enjoy!

Thrifty Bif

Baking Soda Bonanza: Green Savings Series

Baking soda.  Sodium bicarbonate.  Sodium hydrogen carbonate.  Good old NaHCO_3. 

Another of the those cheap and cheerful and not bad for the environment products that has about a million uses, but is not getting the props it deserves.  If you want to save money … or if you’re going green … or both, here’s a few of the great things you can do with the powdery goodness known as baking soda:

• About a teaspoon in a small glassful of water, and you have a perfect antacid.
• Use it alone or with peroxide to make a super toothpaste that safely whitens!
• A terrific face mask, which soothes and softens the skin.
• A great additive to bathwater.
• An instant pain reliever for insect bites and sunburn.
• A diaper rash reliever (add two tablespoons to baby’s bathwater)
• The tried and true odor absorber.  Just open a box and stash in the back of the fridge and freezer.
• A shoe deodorizer, sprinkle a bit in each smelly offender.
• A carpet deodorizer that zaps odors without leaving behind a false, perfumy smell.
• A litter box deodorizer.  Just sprinkle on top with each daily sifting.
• A quick pet bath.  Use water mixed with baking soda on your pet’s washcloth for a quick, deodorizing clean-up.
• Use it to scrub sinks, showers, and tubs without scratching surfaces.
• A great booster to your current laundry detergent.
• Pour some in the bottom of garbage cans to keep them smelling fresh.
• Use a paste of boxing soda, keep the solution wet, and oven grates will come with ease.
• Pour some baking soda, some white vinegar, and a boiling kettle over any drain to unclog it or keep it running clean.  Wait 30 minutes, flush with warm water.

Here’s just a few ways to use baking soda.  Visit the leading manufacturer’s website for even more.

Clean green and smart,

Thrifty Bif

Va Va Vinegar: Green Saving Series

There’s a lot of things in life that just don’t get any praise. Like the idea of having major pain and someone being able to take it away.  (Getting an impacted wisdom tooth surgically extracted next week, so had to praise the doc who will be doing the job)  This particular praise, however, goes to vinegar.  In more posts, I’ll be doing the same with those little known things that just are cheap, cheerful, and make life easier.  Those “in a pinch” items that if you have on hand, will make life simpler and your wallet fatter.

Today’s praise-worthy item: vinegar, white, if you please.  No other item in your cupboard will do so much and cost so little.  Buy a gallon jug and when you need it, you’ll have:

• an all-natural disinfectant that kills germs and fungi in the kitchen, bath, or wherever you need it (50/50 solution)
• an all-natural window cleaner (50/50 solution in spray bottle)
• an all-natural whitener of fabrics (soak in about 1/4 cup for even the most delicate of fabrics)
• an all-natural water softener (add to laundry or dishwasher)
• an all-natural toilet bowl cleaner (1/4 cup will do)
• an all-natural laundry booster (1/4 cup will do)
• an all-natural instant sunburn reliever (spray on with the bottle and that 50/50 solution)
• an all-natural way to deter ants (cleaning with vinegar kills the trails they leave behind, which is how they find their way back AND they hate the stuff)
• an all-natural way to clean all you baby’s toys, bottles, and surfaces WITHOUT the harmful chemical reactions
• an all-natural and safe cleaner for refrigerators
• an all-natural way to clean floors

These are the ways in which I use white vinegar and at a little more than a buck a gallon, it goes a long, long way towards cleaning without harmful chemical or any unpleasant residues.  If you’re worried about that vinegar smell, it dissipates within a half hour too!

Clean green,

Thrifty Bif

Meatball Mania: Double Batch Recipes

The best way to save time and money in your life is to do one low cost meal that can be served twice.  The following is one of my favorites.  First, I’ll give the grocery list and remember, these ingredients should be purchased on sale and put in the pantry or freezer for when you need them.  Some of the items, are permanent pantry staples and again, always bought when on sale.

Spaghetti and Meatballs one night Meatball Grinders another …

• 2 pounds of ground beef

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (fresh garlic is a staple item)

• salt & pepper (staple)

• 2 eggs (staple)

• italian bread crumbs (refrigerator or freezer staple)

• 1 pound of spaghetti (pasta is a pantry staple)

• 2 jars of spaghetti sauce (or two batches of your from scratch recipe)

• submarine rolls

• parmesan cheese block (this will keep FOREVER in your fridge, a $5.00 investment in an air-tight bag or container will last well over two months and be a welcome addition to meals on almost a daily basis)

To make meatballs, mix the garlic, 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of pepper, a tablespoon of salt, grated parmesan (to taste), and enough bread crumbs to bind the ingredients together and make a sturdy meatball.  (There are many variations for meatballs and you can most definitely use your own meatball recipe or even swap ground beef for ground turkey, ground pork, or combine different ground meats, etc.)  

Form meatballs and put on cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, turning over once.  When complete, put half of meatballs in pot on stove and combine with spaghetti sauce.  Simmer while boiling spaghetti according to package directions.  Let other half cool and then freeze or refrigerate (depending on when you are using your second meal).  First meal is DONE.

For your second meal, put meatballs in sauce and simmer until warm through.  Ladle into sub rolls.  Dust with parmesan cheese.  Add a side salad for extra nutrition.  Either way and with a side salad, total cost of both these meals will be less than ten dollars (that’s less than $5.00 per meal) and will easily feed a family of four.