Claire Cooke

I tell everyone that listens about what you are doing and about baking soda and vinegar. I am a complete convert and have found that with prices going up left right and centre, I am coping quite well as I try and shop and cook the basics and am happy with the results. My family aren’t complaining (maybe a little). My eldest daughter would like to have more snacks at home that she likes as she says everything takes a lot of effort (and she cant always be bothered), but I just smile and let her know that it isn’t worth her health or mine or her pocket. I get my baking soda, washing soda and glycerine from a lady in West Auckland and get mostly everything else at either my local bulk barn shop (no Binn Inn locally) and Pak N Save. I have been using the recipes that I used when I was home with my kids when they were little and I think very carefully about everything I spend money on and have cut out a lot of unnecessary expense. My hair is also behaving a lot better since I switched to baking soda and vinegar and found the tv programme by Petra Bagust very interesting about hair products. I could go on and on but must go now.

Angela

I have to tell you that last night I tried baking soda as a facial scrub and today my skin feels so lovely and soft. Also, it didn’t dry my skin so I didn’t need to use as much moisturiser afterwards. To think that I have had a big tub of baking soda sitting in my kitchen cupboard for ages and I’ve never thought to use it for anything other than baking bread! I must have spent a fortune on shampoo and facial scrubs over the years – what a terrible waste. I am going to visit Bin Inn this weekend and stock up on this amazing ingredient. And I have also been raving about the benefits of baking soda to my friends and family back in South Africa. They are all rather sceptical at the moment but I will convert them in time 

It’s been a long time since I, Waveney, blogged – but I want to tell you all about my hair! During our Rubbish Free Year I felt that nice, expensive salon shampoos and conditioners were ‘permissible’ – partly because I had chosen brands with hard plastic containers that can be recycled at kerbside, but mostly because my hair isn’t what it used to be. I know that’s the cue for the 50 somethings to say ‘honey you haven’t seen anything yet’ but nevertheless, as the sun has set on my silky 20-something hair a growing dependence on allsorts of hair products has steadily risen.

I say all this as a defense of some sort because I don’t use the shampoos and conditioners at my local bulk eco food stores where I can refill my own container. I also have to confess to not trying any of the completely natural, and rubbish free, suggestions that people in the know have offered – until two weeks ago that is. My mum rang me all excited, she had been told that cider vinegar is an amazing hair conditioner and she had just tried it, “Its silky” she said, ‘’you’ll have to feel it to believe it.” And when I next saw her I actually was impressed. It sat better, it looked better, it really was silky.

Do you get that problem when a hair product that used to work really well starts to be less and less effective? My conditioner has been getting that way recently and mum’s hair was looking better than mine (and she’s 60 something). It was all the convincing I needed, I tried it and actually couldn’t believe it. It worked better than my salon silky treatment stuff, in fact I don’t know if my hair has ever looked and felt so nice.

And that’s not the end of the story. A few weeks earlier I had actually read a blog, by the legendary Lyn of Taranaki (Pigs Tits and Parsley Sauce), saying that cider vinegar conditioned and baking soda cleaned hair. And Lyn was raving about it, saying all the heady things I’m saying now. Although I hadn’t quite believed it, I did remember it. So yesterday I went back to the blog to sus out the baking soda thing feeling convinced that Lyn could be trusted and that I was on to a winning ticket. Consequently, my hair got the double-hippy-whammy, first the baking soda then the cider vinegar! I waited expectantly as it dried. And the verdict? Silky, shiny 20 something hair! With results this good saving a serious bit of cash and helping the planet out almost fade into the background. I couldn’t recommend it more. But if you don’t feel quite ready to flush decades of lab tested, break through developments down the drain, then next time you think your product of choice isn’t working as well as it used to, wash your hair just once with baking soda, it will completely strip away the build up of the hair product out of your hair thus allowing it to become fully effective again.

You feel weird when you first limit the grocery budget as your natural inclination is to shop like you used to but just get less.  Then you realise that there is cheaper products out there and if you don’t get sucked in to value added marketing spin, you will realise that the cheaper products are just as good if not better… we pay a lot for brands and advertising with no real benefit to the consumer.

After a while it becomes a fun challenge to spend less and get more and you and the family quickly start to realise where to find the bargains.  For me Bin Inn has been a real gold mine of value and the fact that you can avoid packaging be using your own containers and recycling is a boon.

The meals I make now are not fancy but they are hearty, filling and I think healthier that before when we used to eat a lot of pre-pared packaged convenience food, no doubt laced with addictive salt, fat and sugar.  Meals in our house are now much more appreciated too, no longer taken for granted.

Now I have the knowledge to make and create my own cleaning solutions using cheap ingredients like baking soda it has opened the doors to diminishing my day-to-day living expenses. I no longer feel threatened by uncertain economic times as I know we can live well on as very small amount of money. Even more importantly my children are learning by example and will take the skills with them into adult life.

Making my own cleaning products and cosmetics has definitely been the key to our success and the information I learned from the Baking Soda and Vinegar books (see buy books and recipes) has certainly stopped me from buying rip off branded products.  I just wish I could get my money back from all the past things I have purchased unnecessarily  when baking soda would have done the same job, better and cost a few cents rather than $$$$$. Some of these include… shampoo, cleanser, exfoliant scrub, hand cleaner and sanitiser, toilet cleaner,  foot powder, damp rid, pot scrubs, oven cleaner and kitty litter.  Never mind – you live and learn.

Try sweet almond oil as a night moisturiser.  you can get a 500ml from www.amoraromatherapy.co.nz (see link on this page) for about $16 – it will last you forever, great savings and great results. I have a great home made moisturiser recipe on my cosmetics pamphlet ($10). Only 4 ingredients, you make it in the microwave in minutes,  let it set over night and you’re laughing. The quality is vastly superior to over the counter and you know exactly what’s in it. A little bit goes a long way and if you have sensitive skin… just don’t add any colourant or fragrance to it.

It is great feeling to know you can make something so easily that does a great job and costs way, way less than anything you would buy over the counter.

Basically, Lyn is a solo mum of 2 girls and a share-milker in Taranaki. Getting into a bit of financial strife she needed to cut back her budget and she discovered that most spending was at the supermarket and the likes – no surprise to most of us! So she set a weekly shopping budget of $100.00 a week and they all had to stick to it – otherwise she risked losing her share-milking business.

Looking at ways to lessen her weekly shop costs she discovered she could actually make a lot of what was on offer at the supermarket. A bit of research on the Internet and she started to make her own homemade cleaning products, cosmetics (shampoo, moisturiser etc) and milking shed cleaner - buying the ingredients in bulk -  and the change proved to be a better choice for the environment. She has fine tuned the recipes and they are now available in a pamphlet form.

Needing to boost her income she offered paid lessons in her home demonstrating the making of various products to show how easy it was. Campbell Live ended up filming one of her  lessons! She also started writing a column for the local newspaper -Taranaki Daily News – about how she was cutting back her weekly budget. Oh, and she has been on Good Morning too. Bearing in mind, this was all while she was working a dairy farm, running a home and bringing up 2 girls as well! This is probably the reason she doesn’t subscribe to the excuse that people just “don’t have time” to make their own stuff.

Lyn has now cut her budget to $75.00 a week and admits that she often doesn’t pay for milk and they very seldom eat meat BUT the message is that you can make you own stuff, you can save money, make a better choice for the environment, not be a SLAVE to the supermarket and no longer be sucked in by clever advertising! She gets a smug sense of satisfaction as she by-passes the cleaning aisles each time she shops. The lack of need to go to the supermarket means she can often source fresh fruit and vegetables from small locally owned stores. Great for local businesses!

Lyn Webster is an absolute treat to listen to and her simple homemade recipes have  inspired me to actually get on and make some of my own products. The washing powder is brilliant and cheap – if you buy in bulk.

If you ever get a chance to go and see her live … I can thoroughly recommend it!

For those who didn’t see her – check out her website at www.pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz or Google “Lyn Webster”.

I can tell that Baking Soda and White Vinegar are good for my hair because my hair has never been so healthy and easy to manage.  I have cut out all other hair-products as well and haven’t missed them at all, my hair is that good. I’ve had positive feedback from all sorts of people that have purchased my recipe pamphlet and tried this suggestion.  They love it.

These are the sort of ideas you get from the Baking Soda and White Vinegar books (available on this web site for $20 each).  As a money saver simply using Baking Soda and White Vinegar as substitutes for shampoo and conditioner is a great idea… just imagine how much you save if you are not buying expensive branded shampoo and conditioner and how much more chemical free your life will be (not to mention no more plastic bottles down the dolphins blow-hole… Oh, I’ve mentioned it!)

I do not miss shampoo and conditioner and would dearly love to have my money back that I’ve wasted on these products over the years.  Petra Bagust’s program on Tuesday night.. WHAT’S IN OUR???? …was an eye opener that just showed how over rated shampoo and conditioner and deodorant really are… the claims the manufacturers make are practically lies. http://www.tv3.co.nz/Shows/Reality/WhatsReallyInOur/WebLinks/tabid/1121/Default.aspx It made me so happy that I have found cheap, effective, healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives to these products that we are brainwashed into believing are beneficial.  Surprise, surprise… they are NOT!!

On the way, share milker Lyn Webster has become a star, clocking up tens of thousands of hits on her website, running classes, selling books, recipes and ingredients and adding to her income through an increasing round of public speaking.

Webster will share her knowledge with Hutt residents at a free talk at the Lower Hutt Town Hall on Wednesday, June 16 at 7.30pm.

Last year, Webster set about restricting her family grocery budget to $100 a week.

“The $100 a week budget was inspired by necessity … I ran out of funds,” she said.

Once into the swing of things she found $100 a week too easy  so cut it to $75. She also had a savings goal of $12,000 to reach her dream of buying a house.

She was so successful she nearly tripled that amount.

“It’s now a matter of when, rather than if I buy.”

Her website pigtitsandparsleysauce.co.nz has snowballed, attracting hits from throughout the world.

“Sometimes I wish I had thought of a different name  too late now.”

Not content with spending less, Webster discovered she could create her own cleaning and laundry products as well as cosmetics.

Since the start of her savings experiment she has become a phenomenon, appearing on several TV shows, magazines and newspapers.

The budgeting wizard is being brought to town by Hutt City Council to share her tips on spending less and making greener choices.

Council’s environmental sustainability officer Nicolette West says Webster’s philosophy of choosing homemade over store-brought products is also a great way of reducing our impact on the environment.

“Cleaning products you buy at the supermarket often contain harsh chemicals which, if we’re not careful can find their way into our waterways … there’s also usually a plastic container to get rid of,” she says.

The evening is the first of a future series of free sustainability demonstration evenings where residents can gain practical skills and information on gardening, electricity savings, shopping and travel choices, warmer houses and reducing waste.

Come along to hear Lyn speak and learn how to make your own laundry powder.

* Lyn Webster at the Lower Hutt Town Hall, Wednesday, June 16, 7.30pm, free entry. Goodie bags and spot prizes will be on offer.