Laundry Detergent - Final Recipe

I just made another batch of Laundry detergent, and I think I've finalized the recipe that works for me.  I use a dry detergent because it dissolves in the detergent slot in my front loader, unlike the liquid(ish) detergent that I made on my first try.  I've been using variants of this dry recipe for the last 18 months exclusively, and I have yet to have any difficulty with my HE LG front-loading washer.  This recipe is not scented, and I prefer it that way; now that I have used it for a while, Tide and Cheer (my old preferred brands) smell overwhelming to me.

For my recipe I use:

1 bar Ivory Soap, grated fine*
4.5 cups Borax
3 cups Arm & Hammer washing soda
1 cup baking soda

I mix it all together, making sure to break up any major lumps in the ingredients (Borax is especially prone to this).
I use one tablespoon per load of laundry.  If the laundry is especially dirty, I will put an additional 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of detergent in the pre-wash slot of my machine.

*I use a Zyliss Hard Cheese Grater to grate the soap.  This is the best hard cheese grater ever and I've had the same one for more than 10 years.  I've had the best success grating the soap if I take it out of any plastic wrap for a couple of weeks before I use it so that it has time to dry out.

This detergent has handled everything I have thrown at it in the way of farm clothing (dust, dirt, sweat, occasional blood and/or feces - farming is hard on the clothes).  I am quite looking forward to giving it the ultimate test - diapers for two babies.

This time I had leftovers from the last time I made detergent (in December, I believe) and so it didn't cost me a penny out of pocket.  However, in my last cost analysis, I erred on cost per load because I estimated that 1/8 cup (2 tbs) would be needed per load.  Since only 1 tbs per load is needed, detergent is now running me 4 cents a load - not too bad!

SmartyPig, the Stock Market, and Savings Options

I got back from the beach to find a notification that SmartyPig has reduced its APR to 1.10%, effective June 15th.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the un-adjusted 12 month inflation rate at 3.2%.  That means that I am losing purchasing power by keeping my money in a SmartyPig account.

Here's how it works.  If the savings and inflation rates stay constant for the next year, if I put $100 in a SmartyPig account on June 15, 2011, the account will be worth $101.10 on June 15, 2012.  However, inflation will have eroded the value of $101.10 to the equivalent of $97.97.  To add insult to injury, I will also have to pay income tax on the "gain" from the interest.  Assuming a marginal tax rate of 15%, that is $0.15 in federal income tax, yielding purchasing power in June 2012 equivalent to $97.80 in June 2011 dollars.  Unless inflation falls or SmartyPig's interest rate rises, I am guaranteed to lose purchasing power over time by saving at SmartyPig.











So what is a saver to do?  There are no safe investments paying 3.2%.  1.10% is high for a savings account (Although I do get 1.25% at Discover because I have a credit card with them as well).  BankRate's highest 1 year bank CD is 1.4%.  One year treasuries are .18 and ten year treasuries are 2.28 today, according to the Department of the Treasury.  People are piling into corporate debt, but highly-rated corporate debt is barely beating inflation; you're not going to fund your retirement on 3.734% interest rates (the yield on a 10 year Google bond issued May 16th).  For instance, I recall that the annual rate of return in the retirement calculator Dave Ramesy uses in Total Money Makeover assumes an 8% average annual rate of return.  (I read the 2003 edition, the 2009 edition may have updated this)

Enter the Stock Market.  As of yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ("DJIA") gained 21.62% over the last year, closing at 12151 (per Morningstar).   Those are some impressive gains.  Also, unlike interest, which is taxed as income, long-term capital gains rates are 0-15%.  (If your marginal tax rate is 15%, your long-term capital gains rate is 0).  Next to the anemic yields of traditional save investments, the stock market is looking good, if it can continue the historical trends of the past couple of years.

But can it?  At it's height, on October 9, 2007, the DJIA closed at 14164.  As of today we're at 85.8% of the highest market in history.  And, just in case you didn't notice, the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1%.  Half the PF blogs I read right now seem to focus on either dealing with current unemployment or planning for future unemployment.  The housing market is in the toilet and expected to stay there.  Looking around, do you feel 85.8% as prosperous as you did on 2007?  If the DJIA rises another 21.62% in the next year, it will be at 14778 next June.  Does this seem likely to you?

For those of us who want to save money, it's a real catch-22.  Thanks to the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates low, there is no such thing as a safe investment for our money.  We are forced to either lose purchasing power or move into moderately risky investments like the US stock market.  I think the current rise in stock prices signals not particular strength in the market, but the lack of any place else for money to go.

So what do I do now?  I keep my funds that I expect to use within the next six months close to hand in a savings account at Discover (because money is much easier to transfer in and out, and the APR is better at 1.25%).  The rest of my money is in various foreign and domestic equities and indexes.  But I am very tempted to lock in my gains now and wait for a more appetizing place to put my money to materialize.  Is anyone else feeling this pinch?  What are you doing with your savings?

Gang aft agley

All that stuff I said I was going to do at the beginning of the month?  Yeah, it didn't get done.  I crashed and burned on getting dressed to lace-up shoes.  I didn't make it to the gym.  My kitchen is now officially a health hazard.  The only thing I actually managed to get done was to sort through my massive pile of "important papers that I am going to get to very soon, really."  At the end, I had 40 gallons full of important recycling and a couple of pounds of paper that I actually needed to save.

We are at Grand Isle this week, and this is the view from my family's cabin.  Let's just say I won't be getting much done this week either.  I'm taking the opportunity to rest and enjoy not being able to do anything.  My nausea finally might be subsiding a bit (I haven't thrown up in 4 days!  It might be a record!) so hopefully I will feel a bit more energetic when I get back.  I'll probably put up more pictures as soon as the wind dies down enough for some decent fishing, but there's not going to be much more content for the next week.

Happy Memorial Day to you All!

My plans for May

Back in February, I noted that I was having trouble following Flylady routines.  Two months of constant nausea and vomiting have not helped; I can say that my house is now unequivocally a disaster.   On the other hand, I'm not even close to 100%.  Apparently it takes 14 hours a day of sleep to make 2 babies; who knew?

So I'm trying to add back to my schedule one small step at a time.  My goal for May is to do the Flylady Beginner Babysteps over and clean for 15 mins a day in the designated areas.  Her habit for May is 15 minutes of exercise a day, which works out as that is about as much as I can do at this point.  This evening I went to the gym for the first time in 2 months and couldn't even make it 15 mins of swimming, I had to stop at 7 mins and walk in the pool for a couple of minutes before I had the energy to finish my swim.  It has to be the pregnancy; even when I started swimming last year after no exercise, I could still swim for longer than 15 mins.

I won't be able to make all 31 of the Beginner Babysteps this month, because I go out of town next week to the Mayo Clinic for more follow-ups and to Grand Isle at the end of the month.  But I should be able to get the first 20 steps done, and 15 mins of exercise every day.  I've done my workout for the day, now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go shine my sink.

Why I'm cutting myself off pregnancy magazines ...

OK, I have been a bad blogger lately, but tomorrow is a new month, and I'm going to get back into my writing routine.  This month I have been amazed at how much crap the baby industry has convinced the people around me that I am going to need.  I am not even halfway through the pregnancy, and I refuse to register for baby gifts, but people are already giving me stuff anyway.  But I can see how easy it would be to be brainwashed into it, which is why my new resolution is not to read any more pregnancy magazines.

When I went to my second ob-gyn (long story, I'll tell you later) they gave me a huge pile of complimentary pregnancy magazines.  I was flipping through them this evening, and according to them: (1) My husband views all pregnancy expenses through the lens of the 50 inch flat-screen TV that he now cannot afford. (2) I need a $1k crib and a $500 diaper bag now, not to mention a room full of expensive new baby-themed wall hangings and a million plastic strollers, toys, baby bouncers, etc. (3) But I don't have to worry about the cost, because it's the duty of my friends to buy all of this stuff for me at my baby shower.  (4) And I need to start planning now for my post-pregnancy body with a ton of girdles.  In fact, I give the scariest product award to ShrinkxHips, which promises to narrow your hips to their pre-pregnancy size or smaller.  Somehow permanently compressing my hips just doesn't sound like the smartest idea ever to me, I can't think why.

I consider myself pretty strong-willed, but I'm pretty sure that six more months of reading this drivel won't do me or my budget any good at all.  So I am cutting myself off; no more pregnancy magazines for me.  Speaking of cribs, my family saves everything, so I have the one my mom used for my brother and myself.  I'm going to need another, however, and I don't want to just run over to Wal-Mart and buy one.  Anyone have any good ideas for finding used (I know, you're not supposed to, but how dangerous can it be?) or reusing something into a crib?

Taxes Finished!

Thanks to promethazine and ondansetron I finally got my taxes completed today.  Thanks to a big loss on CIGX (bought at $4.92, sold $2.03 so that I could pay off my debt) the feds are actually giving us back a few hundred dollars.  Thanks to Louisiana politicians changing the state tax rate, but not the withholding tables, last year, we're getting more than a grand back from the state.

All the money is going into my "baby fund" account.  Basically, my plan is to amass 3K between now and my due date (mid-October) and use that for baby expenses until I run out.  Then I will have some idea of a baseline for expenses and can adjust the budget accordingly.  Anyone have a better idea for budgeting for first time parents?

If you're a big tax procrastinator like me, and you use any Turbo Tax besides the free edition, you might try this link through the Scottrade Knowledge Center.  It gave me 30% off my federal return.  If you scroll down the page there's a link to the Turbo Tax website, and it should come up the same as the normal site, but with the fees reduced 30%.  I'm not sure if it will work or not, but since I didn't have to use my Scottrade log in or anything, I thought I'd share in case it helps.

Well, I didn't see this coming ...

I'm pregnant.  With twins.  Since I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, it's a minor miracle that I've conceived without medical intervention at all.  So I'm delighted, but it definitely was not in the plans for this year.

On a happy note, my ovaries obviously understand that I should have all my medical expenses in one year and get the child tax deductions for 2011 with only 2 months of baby expenses (I'm due Oct 31).

HOWEVER, no one ever explained to me the living hell that is so-called morning sickness.  In my case, it's more like 24-hours-a-day-7-days-a-week sickness, and it's akin to having airplane sickness constantly.  It's been going on for 3 weeks and my midwife expects that it will only continue for another month or so.  Some days it is all I can manage to wipe the vomit off my face before I go back to bed for the rest of the day.  So expect sporadic posts from me until life starts revolving less around my proximity to the bathroom facilities.