Alice's Wonder Spray

A low-cost household cleaner.
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ALICE'S Wonder Spray

This cleaner will kill 82 percent of molds and 99 percent of bacteria in a household, according to Ami Voeltz of Do It Green Minnesota. It costs only 14 cents, whereas a store-bought cleaner runs $4 to $20 a bottle. Making your own is kinder to the environment, and you save packaging by using your own reusable bottle.

• 1 c. white vinegar

• 2 tsp. borax

• 32 oz. (4 c.) hot water

• 20 drops essential oil, optional

•1/4 c. liquid dish soap

Directions

Combine vinegar and borax with 32 ounces hot water. Add an essential oil (if desired, for fragrance) and dish soap. Place in a spray bottle and be sure to label it.

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I have all the ingredients but need to make sure I have a clean spray bottle. I wonder if the dollar store sells them?

Justice Clarence Thomas

Interesting article on a meeting he had with high school essay winners.

Changes to Student Lending

The private student loan industry is not happy with Obama's plan to change the game on them; they make crazy amounts of money, and if you recall, there was a big scandal a few years ago about gaming the system so that the loan officers would recommend loans with whatever company made it most beneficial to the school. I believe that was mostly for-profit institutions but could be wrong on that.

It used to be that people could get part time jobs and work their way through school. Tuition costs have escalated so that isn't possible. It's even worse once you get into advanced degrees.

Remind me now, why did we do this?

Credit Card Debt

While it's true that I have a balance on my credit card right now, based on date incurred, it isn't due yet;I haven't yet changed cycles so won't have to pay for awhile yet. I may have two additional purchases but am still being very careful with my card.

As changes imposed by Congress are coming up, Credit Card companies are doing what they can now to make more money. The mistake may have been leaving too big of a gap in passage and implementation of legislation. I don't expect changes in my terms; I have a fairly high interest rate and a low credit line with my credit union. Credit card defaults reached record highs in May and aren't going down any time soon.

I'm very happy not to have default as a possibility. At least not with my credit cards.

Jobs

Here's an article from April, talking about jobs. While Joe Biden says the administration "Misread" the economy, unemployment has gone up to 9.5%. Jobs aren't being lost in as great numbers, but not too many companies are hiring. More families are becoming homeless. The outlook is grim and people keep talking about the Depression.

I find that depressing; in my area, hourly rates for temporary attorneys have gone down. While there were a few corporations that paid $3 less an hour a few years ago, a couple of the agencies are going to the lower rates. Because I'm not actively seeking temporary attorney projects, I don't know if that's a reflection of firms lowering their rates generally or the agency thinking they'll have an edge.

I'm Back!

For no apparent reason, except that I didn't post, I stopped posting. In April. I just couldn't muster up another post at that point but have returned, to hopefully continue daily.

Keeping Food Expenses Down

While I haven't gone so far as to start with the Ramen Noodles, I did see one of their PR people interviewed on tv a few weeks ago; Ramen is cheap, easy and sometimes those are the only priorities.

I've mentioned before that a church near my house has a free food day and those going for food drive better cars than I do; they're the ones who are overextended and in big houses they can't afford. I also learned that someone at work, who is in a financial management program, has been criticized by others for accepting food that someone else gets from a food shelf. Someone's father gets the food and is given too much so it would otherwise go to waste so why not give part of it to someone who's happy to have it?

My point of view may be colored by my childhood; my grandma lived in a senior citizen's high rise and because of her low income, qualified for USDA programs. She kept the honey, milk and butter but took the cheese and passed it on to us. Her reasoning is that she qualified for it, so she took it.

Some people swear by a combination of shopping at Wal-Mart for non-perishable foods and Aldi for perishables. Aldi isn't that convenient to access where I live so I don't think about it and don't go that often.

There are a couple of other programs that provide lower-cost foods. Angel Food is a national program so may be available in your area. I haven't tried either the local program or national one; I do pretty well with sales, coupons and coupons for buy-one-get-one-free offers at my grocery store.

I'm looking forward to Farmers market season so I can have fresh local food.