It's Been Awhile

Wow, it's been a long time since I have posted. And so much has happened. First I decided not to move back in with my mom. We are both adults very much stuck in our ways and we would butt head on a daily basis. At least we know that now. It is sad but exciting at the same time. The worst part is that I have to wait until October of 2010 to finish off my car loan. That will free up $700 a month that can go towards other debt, helping out mom, home repairs, investing or just fun stuff like vacations. So that realization is a little disappointing but I am still dedicated to being debt free in the next five years, I just have to readjust my plan.

Also I broke a friend out of the drunk tank last week. That was a new and unpleasant experience. She seems to be spiralling at this time and I am not sure what can be done to either slow or stop the spiral. It is very tiring to be her friend right now, but I care and I know she would do it for me so I will just endure.

Lastly but definitely not leastly, another close friend lost her mother to cancer. She was diagnosed about two and a half months ago and it progressed very rapidly. I haven't talked to her as she has not answered phone etc. which of course is understandable so I just left a message telling her I was thinking of her and her family. And really that's all I can do.

Homemade detergent and credit cards

I finally finished using my first ever batch of homemade detergent. It was good but I knew what I wanted to change when I made it again. It came out too thick and was thus very slow to come out of the container. Also I used Fa soap which I love but the smell was not very strong at all. Also, I felt I needed to add something as I had to use more of it per load then I was supposed to based on the advice of other web users. So this time I used two bars of Irish Spring soap. I grated them and put them in a pot with 4 cups of water. When it was liquidy, I turned the temp down to simmer and put in 1 cup of borax and stirred until smooth. Then I added 1 cup of washing soda and stirred until smooth. Just for added oomph, I then added 1 cup of baking soda and stirred until smooth. I then added 1 cup of vinegar slowly, so as not to foam up and cause a problem.

I use a 8.8 L jug, the big ones with the spout. I poured the warm solution into the jug and then add hot water until the jug was full. Then I just let it sit. Every time I walked by it I shook it up a little. By the next day, voila, 9 litres of laundry detergent. I tried it today and I still have a few issues. I don't have a nice Irish Spring scent like I expected. But on the upside it is more powerful even with more water. I used the amount I normally use and had to put the clothes in again to rinse. On the next load, I used half and then decided to use a third or a quarter next time. That is exciting. I am expecting this jug to last me an entire year. All that for about $5. Sweet.

I also had a small victory. I paid off one credit card. Mind you, it was a card with a $500 limit but it is done. I had already cancelled the card and was just paying it off. Now I am going to snowball that payment into my next card. I have two more cards. ONe with $1200 owing and one with $2000 owing. I have been reading lately about how one shouldn't cancel a credit card when it is paid off because that actually lowers your credit rating but I did that before I knew that information. THat and I was extremely unhappy with the company so I wouldn't have kept it anyway. My intention when I applied for it was to have a card with a small limit as my main card and to put away the card with the $2000 limit.

However, I have discovered the pay-as-you go credit cards. I have a Nextwave Titanium. I use it for online purchases. My thought is that if anyone gets the number oh well, I only put enough money on it to pay for things as they come up. I am going to get rid of this card though. The fees are horrendous. $7.50 a month and $0.50 per transaction. It also charges you $2 every time you put money on the card. I have ordered a Bank of Montreal card - it is the same card load idea, except you pay $10 for the card and there are hardly any fees. So I am anxiously awaiting its arrival so I can stop paying exorbitant fees.