Home made baby wipes

So since I've been trying to cut down on our grocery budget, I've been trying my hand at making different things. Today I made another batch of baby wipes. This is only the 2nd time I've done this, and might still try a different recipe or paper towel (I've read that the blue shop towels work great). But for now, this is how I did it.

A while ago, I bought a roll of Viva paper towels for 1.98 at Winco. You cut it in half so you have a roll more like the size of toilet paper and take the cardboard tube out. Put paper towels inside airtight container. (I used a square 2.6 liter Tupperware because that's the only airtight container about the right size that I have right now. Others recommend a round container where you can keep roll upright.) Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and add to that 1 tsp each of baby oil, baby lotion, and baby wash. I used ABC Arbonne Baby Care because I know its pure, safe and beneficial! :) Stir everything in the hot water, but don't shake, it will suds up. Pour mixture over towels, turning, soaking the whole roll. I had to squeeze the roll to distribute the liquid a bit, and then there was some in the bottom of the container that I poured on some dry spots.

It works better for me to just take off a "wipe" from the outside of the roll, although I've seen it recommended that you take from the inside. Maybe that method would work better with a different brand of paper towel. I also have to turn the roll on its side and flatten it a bit in order for it to fit in the container.

Some people have had problems with wipes starting to mildew or go bad and have had to add some sort of natural (after all, that is one of the reasons to make your own baby wipes, so we KNOW what is in them!) antiseptic, but I didn't have any problems with that. I'm sure I used a batch of wipes like this for at least 2 weeks.

So I'm impressed with how long a roll lasted (even with my husband using half a roll for one poopy diaper!). Right now, my 15 month old only has 1-2 icky diapers a day, so I would imagine when the new baby arrives, we'll be going through them much faster! But for the price and especially for me knowing exactly what's in them, I think its worth it!

Back in September my husband and I attended a Crown Financial Seminar at our church. We were really excited to learn about how God wanted us to look at money. I'd been wanting to budget since we got married, but just didn't know where to start. Since that time, we've been able to pay off some pesky bills and be debt free (with the exception of a less than $100 payment every month that's interest free on the birth of our son). We can now call ourselves "budgeters" and are learning month by month how to do it better.

My husband works in the logging industry and well, there's not alot of stability there right now. So we've been dealing with lay offs, and just recently for 3 weeks. Due to budgeting and only buying what we absolutely need, we have been able to live just fine and feel so blessed! Not having any bills outside of utilities makes it so nice! We recieved our tax refund right in the middle of that lay off, and its nice to know we have some back up in savings should we need to dip into it. Although I hate the thought of taking money out of savings just to live off of! I like to think once it's there, you don't touch it. That's why its called saving right?

As I was paying bills this week, I realized I was going to have to dip into that tax money. I was headed to the bank and was looking all around the computer for that little Xango check to deposit (every little bit counts!). As I searched, I came across a paycheck that we'd never deposited from almost a month ago! I was so excited, but at the same time, trying to figure out how I'd missed that one! :) I called my husband to report this HUGE blessing, and we both again rejoiced at how blessed we feel, trying our best to manage our money wisely and seeing the results! God is faithful! What you could say was error on my part turned into a much needed reminder that God is in control and he knows what our needs are.