Just a small post today with a few quick updates.
1. I was shocked out of my melon yesterday to receive our electricity bill for the month of July. It was $294. TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR DOLLARS, people. I'm used to cheap hydro-electricity at home.
I cried like a baby.
Then, I called Stuart and cried some more.
Then, I ate some peanut brittle.
Then, I texted my Mom.
Then, I went and picked Stuart up from work (remember, we're down to one car now) and he promptly came home and shut off the air conditioner.
Waaahhh!
Alright, alright. So you may remember I'm reading through the Little House books – and it ain't no secret, they got by without an air conditioner and survived.
But y'all. It's hot here. It's subtropical. It's humid. It's….okay, you get the idea. But to keep that danged ‘ol Dave Ramsey's budget happy…the air conditioner had to go.
Here's the plus side: if ever we'd hoped to live on a self-sustaining farm, chances are, we wouldn't have air conditioning. So maybe the Lord is preparing us for the adventures to come after all!
2. On a different note, the NO-POO experiment is going awesome! I haven't had to battle any greasy hair days and I've been able to extend the washing to every three days. I've been pleasantly surprised with the body and oomph my hair naturally has – normally, it is very limp. I wonder if the conditioner was weighing it down?
Here's the routine:
– Before getting into the shower, I dump about a tablespoon of baking soda into a small tupperware. I then pour about 1/8th of a cup of apple cider vinegar into an old bottle.
– In the shower, I add about a quarter cup of water to the baking soda. Then, starting at the bottom of my head, I use my fingers to part my hair and sorta scoop a bit of the baking soda liquid onto the roots. Rub, rub, rub. Then, I part a few more inches of hair down and repeat. Eventually, I make it to the crown of my hair (making sure to get the hair around my ears and such) and just dump the remaining mixture over the top of my head. I use my fingertips to really work the mixture all throughout my hair and scalp. Then, I leave this on while I wash my hair and body with castile soup.
– After rinsing out the baking soda, I take my vinegar bottle and hold it up to the sprayer to fill it with warm water (it's a 12 ounce bottle). Then, I tilt my head back and gently pour the vinegar mixture of my hair. I gently work it through with my fingers and rinse it out.
I haven't noticed a problem at all with a residual vinegar smell, scalp irritation, tangles (in fact, it brushes out very easily), extra-oily hair, or courseness. My hair feels healthy, soft, (and truthfully) better than normal. I trust over time, it will even get better.
I did have a reader tell me that they add a bit of tea tree oil to their baking soda mixture, which really helps them with their scalp – I may start doing this every other wash or so.
I am thankful that I began this no-poo journey when I did – because frankly, ‘Dang Dave' (as I'll lovingly refer to Dave Ramsey as), wasn't allowing for much of a beauty product budget.
3. My parents sent me a care-package with magazines, pine nuts, walnuts, chex-mix, chocolate, and a bottle of vanilla extract. I cried like a baby out of happiness. And sadness. What a blessing. I love them so dearly!
4. Lastly, I'd like to officially say goodbye to my Blackberry. I suppose I'll just have to check my email and comments like a person in 2006 would have. Ah, the humanity!
But it does save us $30 a month. Booya, Dave!
See all the fun you're missin' out on down here?!
Tracy
Girl, you are tougher than I am!I always tell hubby I can live without phones, tv, electric lights, etc. but DO NOT take away my a/c and indoor plumbing! I live here in central GA and I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say it’s hot!!! I think I would rather not eat than lose my A/C! You are awesome! Just think cold thoughts….
Mary Jane Plemons
We married exactly fifty years ago. Very few people had a/c even in our native Texas. Being pregnant while suffering in summer heat is terrible, but I went through 2 pregnancies that way…one in Massachusetts in record heat in a second floor apt. on the west side of an old building. We were too poor to have a fan, TV, phone, or even a radio! My husband was in the Army, and we were so glad to just be together. The second was with a’c on Okinawa, but the third was back in Texas with no a/c and hotter’n’all get out! We did at least have fans by then. By Number 4, we had window units. I learned to do everything early in the morning and try to do as little as possible in the afternoons. Trips to the library, shopping malls, and other places with a/c help. I would bathe my babies and small children and let them nap in their underwear with the fan going in the afternoons. One summer, I kept big galvanized tubs of water under the shade trees and let them play in that in the afternoons. (This was before kiddie pools.) Close your blinds to just a slit; it is cooler and the shadiness gives a cooler “feel”; I do this even with a/c in the summer. Keep fans going in the rooms where you are; turn off unnecessary lights; avoid using the oven…get out your crockpot. I learned you can make cornbread in your waffle iron! And remember…it will soon be fall!
I understand the care package. When we were so far from home, my parents sent some packages, and they included things we missed from home, Tex-mex food like Wolf Brand chili, canned tamales, Fritos, bean dip, candy, other small goodies, sewing supplies and a pattern, so I could hand-sew baby things, hometown newspapers, letters, and more. We were desperately poor, and they even included a twenty dollar bill sometimes! In the 1960’s, that was a lot of money! Such love.
Hang in there with your Dang Dave plan. It will feel so good when you get done! I’m very proud of you both.
JoNita
I love this post! It’s great! I just wanted to let you know I got rid of my smart phone a little over a month ago. I thought I was going through withdrawals. But, now I’m over it and it’s kind of nice not having it. It doesn’t rule me like it used to. LOL.
I would like to try to go without air conditioning also but my brother in law lives with us and he has to have it on. But ours never goes above $100 since we have a pretty small house. I’d hate to have it over $200. Do you have ceiling fans? That might help a little bit.
One thing I would be worried about is the vinegar smell but you say it doesn’t leave a smell afterwards? I guess I should try that No-Poo thing 🙂
Keep up the great work! Looks like Dang Dave has got the money tight! 🙂 LOL Good luck!
Sarah C
I’m a reader from the Seattle area, and I understand what you mean by cheap electricity. And we even have natural gas for heating, so it’s dirt cheap compared to everyone else.
One thing to investigate with the electric company is if a deposit was included in that total. Our first natural gas bill in our current rental was HUGE, but it included a $150 deposit. Imagine my surprise when last month my bill came and I had a $150 credit (about 4-5 months of natural gas for us). We’d been here a year and always paid on time, so the deposit was refunded.
We lived in LA without AC, and I would eat frozen fruit to keep cool.
Shaye @ The Elliott Homestead
We though about the deposit thing too, but we already had a small bill for the month prior (which also didn’t include the deposit…we had to pay that when we signed up for service). Dang, man. 🙂
Anonymous
I live in North Carolina and I am with the above reader! I would do without eating before I would turn off the a.c.!!! It is way too hot and humid to try to live without it. I would check to see if it did include a deposit. Our first bill did. Hang in there – after August we should be on the downside!
Amy
Anonymous
I’m praying for you, and for cooler days to come! I know it’s hot down there, because I grew up in south GA (living in NC now). We rarely used AC growing up, but you might try just setting the thermostat higher and getting on a budget plan with the electrical company, so there aren’t any big surprises like that. On the plus side, your heating bill should be much lower while living in the south.
Other than that, ceiling fans are worth their weight in gold. I wish they had been available when I was growing up!
Jeanine
Rachel R.
I also use the baking soda and apple cider vinegar routine for my hair, however I have two spray bottles in my shower that are premixed, so I don’t have to think about it before hopping in the shower. I’ll get about a week or so out of the bottles before I need to refill (husband’s using it too now). I also put a little peppermint castile soap in the baking soda mix which smells nice and helps with the extra sweat after a workout.
Shaye @ The Elliott Homestead
Rachel, I love the idea of putting a bit of castile soap in there for extra suds and scrubbing power!
Lindsay
Hopefully cooler days come soon! When I lived in Missouri, I had friends that purchased a window AC unit and just kept one “cool room” in the house with the door to it shut. It helped keep the electric bill low, but gave a place to escape the heat when needed.
Anonymous
I to live in Alabama and with the weather we are having my window units are having a tough time keeping up. However, we have been here many years and the winters are easier cost wise I was shocked when we first bought our home almost five years ago and my first bill was 409.00 I about died. I have since done budget billing the current bills during summer still range around 307.00 but on the budget we usually pay around 225.00 I wish I had your strength to say good bye to ac we are currently looking into a solar attic fan and a whole house fan so we can ditch the ac’s. I admire your dedication to staying on budget. You are truely an inspiration.
Danielle
Shaye, you mentioned that your hair combs out easily with the new shampoo/conditioning method… I am curious and would like to try it, however, I am a bit skeptical my hair would do well with the no conditioner scene: I have super long, curly hair. Is your hair naturally curly? (I notice you wear it straight in most of your pics)…just wondering since you’ve had success combing it out easily….
Shaye @ The Elliott Homestead
Danielle, I naturally have straight hair and have no problem brushing it out. The vinegar rinse makes all the difference. I’d give it a shot, even with your long hair!