spreading frugality

My sister, Cheryl, asked me to show her how to make my homemade laundry detergent so she could save money. I have been giving some to my mom to use, but I wanted her to learn how to make it herself. Cheryl mention that we should get together more often with Mom so we planned a Saturday to get together and make laundry detergent.
While in the shower (my thinking zone) the next day, I decided to created a monthly mother and daughter's day. I named it "Creative Mother and Daughter's Day". I put together a sheet of rules and a motto to follow by like an official meeting. Each month we will take turns planning the 1st Saturday of the month. For October, I planned a frugal day. We took a trip to the Amish store and made laundry detergent. For lunch we went to Becky's Burger's and Cones in Pilot Grove. It's very good and inexpensive. I highly recommend this restaurant to any passersby. It's worth the 5-10 minute drive off I-70 or it's not far off the Katy Trail.
While we were preparing to make our laundry detergent, Cheryl's friend stopped by to cut Holli's hair. Cheryl told me a week later that her friend asked how our detergent turned out. Cheryl offered to make some for her and she accepted. How exciting! You never know who may be interested so share, share, share. It may not be realistic, but I dream that if a large percentage of people turned to frugality, then prices would have to come down on products. I was buying toilet paper the other day and thought how ridiculous it was to pay so much for a necessity.

picture @ the park

Makayla (6) & Ruben (10 months)

frugal weight watcher's

After discovering that I have gained 10 lbs. instead of losing it, I have decided to start counting Weight Watcher's points again. It's such a great program and it works as long as one has "will power". Oh, those dreaded phrases.."will power" and "self control"...the opposite of giving into temptation. Why does it have to be so hard? It's just food, right? Tim has agreed to support me by eating the food I make as long as it's not labeled "fat free". I am at the end of my second day and I feel great! I am so afraid of eating too much that I have points left over at the end of the day. Now I have the challenge of figuring out how to eat healthier and being frugal about it. Dieting or eating healthier can be more expensive.
I also get support from Dottie's Weight Loss Zone. There I can get points for restaurants, recipes, chat with other's and more. I heard about 3 Fat Chicks in a WW meeting a long time ago, but just now visited the web site so I don't know a lot about it. I notice that it provides recipes using mostly natural ingredients instead of fat free or substitute sugars. It also provides calorie charts for food, nutrition charts for fast food and metric conversions. Also, there is a section that explains different diet fads and how they work, and fitness articles and programs (including a walking calculator). Wow, I should have look this site up a couple of years ago instead of while typing this post. Uh, I think I will be going now. I have a new web site to check out ;)