December 29, 2008
Frugal, Green, and Chic: Bathroom Tips
Here is my opportunity to preach all things frugal, green, and chic for the bathroom!
- Buy high quality metal shower curtain rings that have ball bearings for skidding along the shower curtain rod. They cost about $12 or $14 a dozen at Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Fred Meyer, etc, but are worth it. They always look great. They do not get scummy like the plastic rings, and because they scoot along on bearings, they prevent tears to the shower curtain.
- Cloth shower curtains are less toxic; they dry quicker, tear less frequently, and are easier to clean than vinyl or plastic shower curtains. We got a pair in a warm tan color for $10.00 a piece at a local discount chain, and they are worth every penny.
- Buy bath and hand towel and washcloths at discount stores such as Marshalls, Ross, and Nordstrom Rack. You can get the best name brand 100% cotton towels there for a fraction of the price.
- While you are there at those discount stores, scout out the organic cotton and bamboo fiber products. I saw organic cotton sheets on mark-down at Pottery Barn Home this week, for a very reasonable price, with an extremely good weave, holla?
- Ikea is a good place to pick up stylish rugs and other bathroom accessories like shower curtains, toothbrush holders, and waste baskets.
- Use over-the-door hanging hooks to hang robes and towels. Get them from the Goodwill and other thrift stores, or buy new from Ikea, Target, or other mass-market discounters.
- Use a small 3-drawer rolling plastic cart to store toiletries, make-up, washcloths and small towels, etc. Better yet, mount a small shelf to store bathroom supplies. If the shelving is exposed, store supplies in decorative baskets, boxes, and jars. Baskets and boxes work great for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, make-up, and manicure supplies, while cotton balls, swabs, and bath salts look great in plain canning jars. Get inventive with containers! Thrift stores have lots of options that can work for decorative storage in the bathroom. I use an old dishwasher silverware caddy to hold shampoo, conditioner, etc. Recently I bought two glass jars with cork stoppers from a thrift store. They were in the kitchen canister section, and the cost was $2.50 for both. I now use them to store cotton balls and swabs on top of my medicine cabinet, turning the top of the cabinet from wasted space to a cute little shelf. Plus, they are closer at hand than they were in a drawer, and putting them on top of the cabinet frees up space in the drawer.
- If you have a bath tub, use an expanding metal bathtub rack to hold sponges, soap, shampoo, razors, etc. This will keep things handy during a shower but will also provide a ledge for drinks, candles, and reading material during long, luxuriant soaks. I use the odd-shaped space behind my claw-foot tub to store cleaning products, toilet paper, etc. because my bathroom has no built-in storage except for a small medicine cabinet. I’d like to find a basket or caddy to store them in this year, so they don’t look quite so untidy (unfortunately, this space is visible from the front door!)
- Use hotel soaps and small bits of left-over soap in a soap dish at the sink.
- Don’t use anti-bacterial soap. Regular soap works just fine. Anti-bacterial soap may in fact decrease the body’s resistance to germs, making one more prone to illness.
- The dollar store is a great place to buy: cotton balls, swabs, nail brushes, poufs, emery boards, nail polish remover, and shower caps. They sell some OK brands of shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc.
- The dollar store is NOT the best place to buy bar soap, body wash, etc. Watch out for the cheap dollar store brand! I cannot imagine putting that on my body or giving it as a gift! The dollar store might have some good brands, but you are better off looking for a sale on a particular brand and matching it with coupons or checking out Grocery Outlet or Trader Joe’s for a more natural, even an organic cleanser.
- It’s not good for your hair to wash it every day. I wash mine every other day, out of sheer laziness, but I guess it saves on shampoo as well. I only condition once or twice a week, when I have loads of time. Use less than the recommended amount of shampoo and conditioner. You rarely need to follow the manufacturer’s directions to “Lather, Rinse, Repeat”.
- Since I live in an apartment and don’t have to pay a water bill, I overlooked tips on saving water around the house because I didn’t think they would save me any money. Then I realized that we have a looming shortage of fresh water on the planet, which affects many already. Every drop is precious! I try to take shorter showers, timing them to about 10 minutes or so. I use the alarm-clock function on my cellphone as a timer (admittedly, I do this more to keep myself on schedule in the mornings, than out of a desire to save water). Also, I try to take cooler showers. The water does not need to be searingly hot. In fact, washing in really hot water can dry out your skin and hair. So I try to keep it at a bearably warm temperature. When I lived in a house, and we had a garden to water as well as an astronomical water bill to pay, one of my roommates would collect the “gray water” (run-off or wasted water that would go down the drain otherwise) in a 5-gallon bucket when showering, and use it to flush the toilet or water plants. In the same spirit, it’s a good idea to get in the habit of turning off the tap when brushing teeth or shaving, because many gallons of water go down the drain that way.
- Use petroleum jelly as an eye-make-up remover. I just dab a tiny bit on and wipe off with a bit of tissue.
- To save money on electricity, use your dryer less. Put clothes (shirts, skirts, etc) on hangers and hang from the shower curtain rod. Using hangers, you can maximize space and dry more there than if you just slung them over the rod to dry.
Some ideas I’d like to try:
- Mount a window box (purchased unfinished from the garden department), or a small distressed bench (turned upsidedown so the legs form sides) to the wall to use as a shelf.
- Hang a plant, like a fern, in the bathroom. I love those old 70′s macrame hangers, and I have a bathroom with very high ceilings. I think this would fill in the corner nicely and add to the natural jungle look I am cultivating in my bathroom.
- Screw cup-hooks inside the door of the medicine cabinet to hang small scissors, clippers, etc.
- Install a towel bar! Of course! We don’t have one in our bathroom, we are just making due with hooks. We were in a hurry to move in and the landlord did not replace the previous one. The ugly screws are still there. I would love to buy a neat vintage-looking towel bar and put it up. Home Goods and Target have nice selections, and so does Ikea.
- Paint! But I haven’t decided on a color yet…
- Use vinegar to clean soap scum, rust deposits and lime scale stains. Spray on, let sit for 30 minutes, wipe away. It would be great if this works!
- Arrange evergreen or rosemary sprigs in a vase for a festive holiday smell.
December 24, 2008
Frugality Around the House — Introduction
Since I’m off work for a few weeks, snowed in and bored, I thought I might do a series of how I save money around the house, in utilities, products used, and decor. Some of these ideas are also “green”, as I do a lot of recycling, using up, and making do. I do not really think of living like this as especially frugal or “green”, because it has been so deeply ingrained in me by my parents and by years as living as a student in housing shared with environmentalists and and broke but intelligent and talented folk. But as I look around the internet, I see lists of things people do to be “green” and/or frugal. I am surprised when reading them because some of the things seem so obvious, like going to the library for books and movies, or going out to coffee for an inexpensive date. Other things are certainly an inspiration but do not seem to apply to my lifestyle in an urban environment (my boyfriend and I live in a small apartment), the size and circumstances of my household (just the two of us, both working, and one cat), or my level of squemishness (using cloth rags instead of toilet paper).
I also think that I may really not be so frugal after all. I’d like to cut back on expenses (and calories), for example, but I continue to buy a can of Coke almost every day at work. My boyfriend and I choose to buy quality foods at the grocery store, like organic fruits and veggies when possible, good cheese and good coffee, but spend very little eating out (I may eat out once a week, often just a burger or burrito or slice of pizza, and about once a month we go out for Thai or Mediterranean food). It’s a trade-off. Another trade-off I make is with make-up. I buy Clinique foundation about once a year, when they have a gift-with-purchase deal. I like a certain kind of Cover Girl mascara that almost never goes on sale. But I am not brand-loyal when it comes to lip gloss and eyeshadow, which I will only buy BOGO with a stack of coupons. I try to stretch the foundation and gift items from Clinique as far as possible, and only buy them with birthday or Christmas money, because $25.00 makes a huge dent in my budget these days.
Another area we do not scrimp on is entertainment. We like to go to shows, because we believe it’s important to support our artist friends. If you like someone’s music, it is especially important in these days of recession to show up physically at the show, pay admission, and buy some merch. The same could be applied to authors, painters, or any other creative business. If you want them to be around in a few years, patronize them now. We tried to do a lot of our Christmas shopping at small, locally-owned businesses. It might be cheaper to buy a gift at Ross or Marshalls, but shopping at those stores does little to bolster the local economy.
Back to the topic at hand. I thought it would be interesting to explore my own frugal ideas for each room of the house, while doing more research into other people’s ideas to give me goals to strive for in the coming year. I would really like to at least grow some herbs indoors and find new ways to reduce waste in 2009.
