Several of my friends who follow my personal blog have been gently and not so gently nudging me to be more regular in my posts. I’ve been really tied up with family and business issues so I have been neglectful so I’m going to rectify that now.
I want to start a series of articles about being frugal by using things that are typically available in a household. Today I used one of the tips I recently heard about and thought it would be a good start to the series.
As for being frugal, it goes back in our family a long ways. Before the Civil War, my family was quite prosperous. There was a large family Antebellum home in Louisiana and my grandmother was raised like a princess. She never quite forgot that, but when the war depleted the savings, and money went out the door, the family had to buckle down and learn to do things more efficiently, while still maintaining the level of civility they were used to. In other words, we had to learn to be poor but not trashy. Chuckle. My grandmother never quite got over that part of it. She instilled in me a sense of “princess-ness” which means I appreciate the finer things in life, but know how to get them without spending a fortune – unless I really want a good glass of wine – then money is no object.
But more about that later. Today’s post is about being nice to yourself, but frugally. I LOVE a nice pedicure. It is a form of decadence to me to have someone wash and scrub my feet and give me an amazing leg massage. But, they are expensive so I usually only get them done on cruises. I figure, heck, I am relaxing on the ocean, why not. Since I don’t cruise as often as I like the pedi’s equally don’t happen as often as well.
But, I walk around barefoot probably more than I should and over the winter wearing closed shoes means my feet get really dry, so when summer comes around, and I want to have pretty feet for sandals, my feet don’t cooperate.
Well, today I tried something that still feels amazing, a good 2 hours after the project was completed. My mom told me about something she saw on Facebook. She raved about how wonderful it worked. I, being the skeptical person I am, went to Google to research the process. Basically, it’s a Listerine and vinegar foot bath. The idea is it will remove dead skin easily and your feet are supposed to feel even better than after a professional pedicure. Humpf, I thought. Wrong, I was.
The instructions are 1/4 cup of Listerine and 1/4 cup of vinegar in a warm water foot bath. You soak your feet for 15 minutes or more and then the skin rubs right off. It turns out it actually works. It’s tingly and the Listerine has an interesting smell. Some of the posts said to use the blue kind, but other posts said it stained your feet. Since I wasn’t interested in looking like a Smurf, I voted for the plain Listerine I had in the house. I also choose to use apple cider vinegar, well, because I use that for so many other things, I felt what the heck. In addition, I have this nifty wooden foot scrubber that is covered in two kinds of sandpaper. A really nice manicurist on one of the cruise ships bought me one when we were in port in Jamaica. At $5,00, it really is a frugal find. They are not allowed to use them anymore on the ships, so I am really fortunate that I got it when I did. Included at the end is a picture of this nifty device. I may have to figure out how to make one when this one wears out – or go on a quest the next time we are in Jamaica.
To finish it off, I used my Dr. Scholls Cooling peppermint foot lotion and now, 2 hours later, my feet still feel amazing. I am not sure if it’s the foot lotion or the Listerine or the vinegar. But who cares. It was inexpensive, and just the right thing to do for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Cheap. Easy. Frugal. Satisfying.
So, that’s the first of what I hope to be several blog articles on other frugal things we do around here all the time. Today’s frugal adventure was a new one, but I am adding it to my list of things I will do often. If you have any frugal tips, please share them as well.
Ciao, y’all.
Yes I am Southern 