November Featured Work-at-Home-Mom: Kim Stinson!

Kimberly Stinson is the owner of EcoStyle Baby, Inc. Kim has two boys, aged 2 ½ and 9 months. She lives in Clearwater, Florida with her husband Jason. EcoStyle Baby is a retailer of earth-friendly goodies for baby and family (including Fuzzi Bunz diapers, wood toys by Melissa & Doug, and the Buggy Blankie - an EcoStyle Baby exclusive!). We love EcoStyle Baby because Kim tests (and vouches for!) all the products and makes sure that they are produced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way. EcoStyle Baby is also committed to donating a portion of its profits back to the community.

Kim has graciously agreed to answer a few questions for our readers:

Why did you decide to start your own business?
I started EcoStyle Baby as a result of being a disappointed consumer. After discovering there was no diaper service locally, I started to research use-at-home cloth diapers. That lead to research on why I should chose environmentally friendly baby products for my own use. Then I had a hard time finding great responsible products. I thought I could fill a void in the market.

What’s the Buggy Blankie?
When my oldest was just a baby, he often fell asleep during our outings. I hated to take off the warm blanket just to get the 3 point harness off. So my mother and I designed and developed a stroller blanket that solves the problem of transferring a little one from stroller to house without having to take off the warm, cozy blanket. And viola, the Buggy Blankie was born. We sew ourselves using quality fleece. It comes in two sizes: infant and toddler.

What’s your favorite part of being a WAHM?
I love to help other moms. I’ve amassed knowledge and experience with my own kids. So, whether it be finding the right size Hotsling or teaching a mom about why wood toys are better, the moms and their babies are the reason I do this.

What advice would you give to moms seeking to become a WAHM?
Have a solid business plan. I hear of too many moms who don’t do all their homework first. There’s a lot to know about running a business; the products, the taxes, the regulations. Once you get all the details worked out, go for it. It’s rewarding to do something for your family that you enjoy.

What are your best home economics tips?
Meal planning is important. It helps keep order and helps keep our food budget down. Shopping without a list is chaos for us.

Staying tidy is key for my household. We don’t overload our kids with tons of toys (that they don’t really even need) which helps with cleanup time. It never takes more than a couple minutes to get the whole house tidy. Then I don’t feel overwhelmed by it all.

I also am a big fan of clean. I was having a hard time keeping up with all the housework after the second baby arrived, so I decided to splurge on a housekeeping service every other week. It’s amazing how much time I save and don’t have to stress about a clean shower!
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There is always a bargain at EcoStyle Baby, and there’s almost always something on sale (toys, puzzles, organic clothing, books). But, for our readers, Kim is generously offering a 15% discount on your entire purchase! So be sure to visit www.ecostylebaby.com and use coupon code Holiday2008 at checkout.

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My 18 uses for Dr. Bronner's Soap

Many people wonder what the 18 uses are that are mentioned on the Dr. Bronner's liquid soap label. I don't know all of the uses that the doctor had in mind, but here are mine.

1. Hand Soap. Dilute with water and fill a foaming hand soap dispenser (thanks, joyce).
2. Counter Top Spray. Dilute in spray bottle, clean the kitchen as you go!
3. Floor Spot cleaner. I don't clean the whole floor with it, but it works great for little messes in between cleanings.
4. Face wash. I like the Tea Tree for my face. Beware: if you don't have oily skin, you may find it too drying.
5. Body Wash. I like the foaming dispenser in the shower too, but a wash cloth works well.
6. Body Scrub. I love this so much, you can read why here.
7. Baby Wipe Solution. I use a jar that holds about 25 ounces. Put in 1 Tbsp. aloe vera gel and 1 Tbsp. olive oil, fill with hot water and shake until gel is dissolved. Top off with water and 1Tbsp. Dr. Bronner's and swirl around to mix. Pour it over your cloth baby wipes. I use the baby mild soap for this. Don't shake to mix the soap because it will get too foamy.
8. Baby Wash. Don't get it in your baby's eyes. I got it in my eyes once and it doesn't feel good.
9. Hand-wash Wool Soakers. Wool soakers are covers for cloth diapers, for those of you who are wondering.
10. Laundry Stain Remover. Works great, but I did have to treat twice on marinara sauce.

The following are uses I haven't tried yet but am planning to:

1. Dog Wash.
2. Car Wash.
3. Face Scrub.
4. Make-up Brush Cleaner.

A few uses that are a good idea but don't work for me:

1. Shampoo.
2. Laundry Soap.
3. Toothpaste.
4. Dish Soap.

How many more can you come up with?

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Seven Ways to Cut Everyday Costs

Considering the state of the economy and the impending holiday season, I thought this might be a good time to share some of the ways my family cuts costs year round. Some of these started as ways to be a little more eco-friendly and ended up being big money savers, some were adopted strictly to save money.

1. Don't buy convenience food. This takes practice, I haven't perfected it yet. You have to plan your meals ahead and make sure some of them are quick and easy to prepare. My 4 year old helps me make a big batch of granola bars from scratch each week for snacks. We don't buy anything that is packaged in individual serving sizes.
2. Buy in bulk. We have a grocery store with a huge bulk section and the prices are amazing. Some of the things I buy in bulk: Three types of flour, Three types of sugar, All spices, Pasta, Rice, Nuts, Oats, Dried fruit, Chocolate chips, Yeast, Baking soda, Waffle/pancake mix(could make my own, but it's so cheap in bulk!), Parmesan cheese. That's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Most of our time in the grocery store is spent here.
3. Don't go to or rent movies. We do go to the $2 movie theater in our city once in a while, they usually have movies right before they go to DVD. Other than that we know our tastes pretty well and just buy the movies we want to see.
4. Be a one car family. The obvious savings here are the basic ownership costs of a second vehicle. The bonus savings are that when the kids and I get bored we can't just jump in the car and go buy our way out of boredom. We never feel stranded at home because if we want to make plans my husband can always take the bus to work, leaving us with the car.
5. Reward kids with playtime instead of treats. If our kids can be semi-agreeable when we are out running errands we let them play on the climbing toy at Target (our Target is at the mall). Bribing them with a chance to play on the train is just as effective as bribing them with a toy and is totally free. We do all of our errands in one day and it is a lot to ask of the kids so some kind of bribe is usually necessary.
6. Use cloth whenever possible. We use cloth diapers and napkins. Paper towels are only used for doggy accidents; dishrags or rags are used for all other messes. We save the cost of the products and we make fewer trips to the store so fewer impulse purchases.
7. Use less laundry detergent. I had read this tip many times but I was a little scared to do it. What if my clothes weren't clean? How would I know? In hopes of not letting detergent build up in our diapers I finally tried it. I was not looking forward to taking a big whiff of what had been a poopy diaper only an hour ago. I had used a little less than half the recommended amount and my diapers smelled fresh! I use that amount on every load of laundry now.

These are some of the changes we've made that have had the biggest impact on our monthly budget. I'd love to hear some of your cost-cutting ideas in the comments, I'm always looking for ways to save!

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more on non-toxic cleaning

yesterday, kelly posted on one of my favorite topics, and something i have been struggling with. oxiclean is biodegradable and great as a laundry stain remover and as a substitute for bleach. i also like it for cleaning bathrooms, but i have to say that nothing cleans a shower as well or as fast as tilex (toxic as hell though!). i tried switching to method cleaners for the kitchen and bathroom but found that they were not as effective, and it was really adding a lot of time to my cleaning regimen. the daily shower spray reduced spots and mildew, but did not kill the bacteria that shows up as pink discoloration on grout. the all surface cleaner required a lot more scrubbing and wouldn't get out even the easiest stains on my countertop.

so i'm still searching for eco-friendly cleaners. as far as non-toxic, i currently like the clorox anywhere hard surface daily sanitizing spray. i started using this because we got a lot of second-hand toys (and preemies are more susceptible and vulnerable to infection), but it has been great for the highchair too, and now we are going to start using it as our all purpose cleaner. my favorite new find is the shark steam mop. i use it to clean all my hard floors, and no cleaner is needed at all... just water! it is expensive (about $80), but totally worth it, in my opinion. i don't have to drag out a dirty bucket and mop (it uses a microfiber pad that you can toss in the washing machine, and you get 3 in the box), it dries much faster, and i can let the baby crawl around while i mop, as there are no harsh chemicals or dirty water.

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Links: non-toxic cleaning

My house isn't that clean. I am the first to admit my shortcomings in this area. I have been especially bad lately and here are my lame excuses:

1. I don't like cleaning
2. None of my children are currently of the crawling/ face planting on the floor age

Baby 3 is dangerously close to crawling. Imagine the previously unexplored germs and dirt she will find in our home if I don't get busy! The only thing less appealing than seeing my baby lick the floor the way it is now is having her do it when the surface is covered in potentially dangerous chemicals. I've been looking around for some safe products to use throughout my house. Here are some that look good:

I don't know if I'm going to be able to even make it past Halloween before I break out these peppermint scented products from Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. If you sign up to get their emails they send you a coupon code for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more. I really like their dish soap, but I wish I could buy a bigger size to refill my bottle.

Seventh Generation offers a wide variety of cleaning products. I have only tried the dish soap and it didn't work as well as Mrs. Meyer's for me. I think I'll try their toilet bowl cleaner next. You can print coupons from their website if you register.

I can't wait to try the Modern Mermaids products, the all-purpose concentrate is especially intriguing.

A separate post is probably in order to discuss all the ways I use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap. I love it. For now I'll just say that if something needs to be cleaned you can probably use Dr. Bronner's. I don't love it for washing dishes (apparently my current obsession?). I have ordered Dr. Bronner's Sal Suds to try on my dishes instead but it won't be here for a couple of days.

If you want to know exactly what is in your cleaners you could always make your own with vinegar and baking soda. You'll have a clean, healthy home and save some cash while you're at it!

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