~ Yep, We're Wierd ( and Okay with It) ~

It all started one day when my dad called down and asked if he could have a roll of toilet paper.

My husband told him, "We don't have any".

Dad "You need some too?"

Hubby "Nope"

Dad, "Huh"?! What are you using then?

Hubby, "Buttrags" ( I hate that term by the way but that is what hubs called them when they were diaper wipes for when our youngest was in diapers. I prefer family cloth, but...)

A couple of days later my dad asked again why we don't have toilet paper thinking it may have been a money thing and we didn't have money for tp. It is a money thing, not that we don't have money for tp but that we don't want to spend hard earned cash on tp when we have a large stash of family cloth from cloth diapering.

This idea to most is a bit "off". People will say that baby poop is one thing, but big people poop is gross! Here's the thing, once a baby starts eating solid food, everyone's poop is the same.

I got to thinking about all the other non-mainstream ways that we have adopted to save money which allows us to create a healthier home, buying organic, sustainable, local products as often as we can.

• We have a large stash of bar towels instead of buying paper towels.
• We use cloth napkins. I make them 11"x11" for the kids.
• We used baking soda and apple cider vinegar for shampoo.
• We don't buy cleaning products. Our staples are baking soda and salt for scrubbing, apple cider vinegar mixed with water and essential oils for an all purpose cleaner. If I want it to have some even stronger antibacterial killing properties I add a few drops of grapefruit seed extract.
• We used cloth diapers.
• I use cloth for my monthly cycle.
• We make our own lotions and bath products. My aunt makes awesome soaps and we get the misfits at Christmas time. I love misfits!
• We have two older cars that are completely paid for.
• We don't buy tv and we have prepaid cell phones. Hubby and I both get $100/year and that's it. If we run out, we're out.
• We try and grow as much as we can. For some people that means a couple of tomato plants and/or a green bean plant on the patio or deck.
• We have our own milk cow. (I totally get that this is just not possible for most of the country but added it b/c it is way outside mainstream thinking)
• We have chickens, ducks, and geese. This one is much more doable for people. Four to six backyard chickens are okay with in most city limits. For your neighbors sake you may want to skip the rooster.
• We don't buy boxed foods. Believe it or not, boxed foods are more money in the long run and if it comes in a box the nutritional value is slim to none. 
• We shop second hand. You would be amazed at the some of the things we have gotten at thrift stores. This one is becoming more and more popular. Hooray!!
• We homeschool/unschool. This is also becoming more popular as people are realizing just how broken our education system is.
• We use alternative healing over allopathic medicine.

There are just of a few of the things that we do that cause us to fall out of mainstream living but like I said "We're weird and okay with it"