Whatever Wednesday is when we explore all the different ways that Whatever spray can be used around the house. It is an amazingly versatile little workhorse and because it is so safe and friendly, the uses are endless. If you’d like to share the unique ways you use Whatever in your life, post a link in the comments or email me and tell me about it. kate at cleanhappens dot com

I’m pretty sure we have established that frugal = green 9 times out of 10.  We’re getting ready to go back to school, like most families in America/Canada. And back to school can be pretty darn costly.  For my three- first and second graders I spent almost $100 on school supplies.  That does not include backpacks and lunchboxes.  Mostly because their backpacks and lunchboxes from last year are in perfectly good, usable condition.  My kids are raised in this society too, and they have been conditioned to believe that they need new stuff. But, then what would become of the perfectly good, usable lunchboxes we have? And why should I spend another $100+ on new ones?

But, I get it. I’m in school myself. I got a little giddy in the office supply store buying new pens and folders and highlighters. It’s nice to start out the new year with new stuff.  But, once I told them that we could and would take the whole family to the minor league baseball game with concessions for everyone for the price of replacing just two backpacks, suddenly the value began to make sense.

But again, I sympathize. You don’t want to start out the school year with your lunchbox looking like this.

We wet them down with a little water and then sprayed it with some Whatever and took a little scrub brush to it. After a quick rinse and a nice dry in the sun, they may not look just like new, but pretty darn close.

I posted earlier about eco-friendly (aka frugal) lunchbox packing options and this year I have ordered a couple more from Etsy, because I have begun to use them for toddler snacks and leftovers at home. I really like these because of the extra big size and the affordable price.

As far as what to pack in those lunchboxes, our children’s school does not have food service and so they have to bring lunch everyday (and two of their classrooms are peanut-free). I personally prefer this, because we’ve all seen the typical school lunch, right?  But, it is easy to run out of ideas. I’m lucky because my kids have no issue eating leftovers.  They actually ask for them. crazy, I know.  But there are some great websites that have some easy recipes and ideas for school lunches.

Whatever Wednesday is when we explore all the different ways that Whatever spray can be used around the house. It is an amazingly versatile little workhorse and because it is so safe and friendly, the uses are endless. If you’d like to share the unique ways you use Whatever in your life, post a link in the comments or email me and tell me about it. kate at cleanhappens dot com

I’m a reading junkie and right now while pregnant the emphasis should be on the “junk” part of junkie. It’s ok, I’m not embarrassed, I love trashy romance novels. Don’t get me wrong, I love the classics, too. But, being pregnant when it is 102 degrees outside with a heat index of 115 degrees does not allow my brain to do much more than get caught up in the fabulous world of smut. The darker and more brooding the Duke, the better. The stronger and more hoydenish the heroine, the more enthralled I am.  I can’t get enough renegade cowboys in the Old West or primitively masculine Scottish Lairds from Medieval times.

But, let’s face it. This is mass reading kind of fiction.  I can easily go through 4-5 of these novels in a week.  And since I have yet to make a commitment to an e-reader (but, I am oh so close), how’s a girl to keep up with this kind of volume of steamy little mass market paperbacks? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: Frugal = green more times than not.  I’m not going to pay $7.99 a pop for these bad boys. (teehee. no pun intended.) And checking them out of the library basically equals at least that much in late fines. My solution is the fabulous little world of Paperback Swap. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle all of your literary fare right there in one handy community.

The way it works is quite simple. You list your books on the site and when someone sees one they want, you get a message to mail it out. You pay postage on the books you mail out, usually around $2. Then once they receive the book, you get a credit and then you browse the extensive selection and use your credit to request a book be sent to you, this time no charge. I end up mailing out and receiving 3+ books a week.  You have the option of purchasing your postage from them and printing it out at home, which is crazy convenient, but you end up paying about $1 more for the service.  I keep stamps on hand or take them to the post office on my errand running day.

So, how is this related to our wonder cleaner, Whatever? Well, this week I was sending out a book and I like to take a little time to make sure the book is in nice condition and I even pretty up my packages a little bit. Just because it’s nice. It’s nice to get prettied up little packages in the mail, and I know it brightens my day when I receive one.  The book I was mailing out had a couple of sticky smudges on the cover. I wanted to clean it up.

So, I sprayed a little Whatever on a dry cloth and gently rubbed the stickiness off. Because it doesn’t leave any residues and it doesn’t contain any solvents, the color on the cover wasn’t effected and all that was left was a nice clean book. (I took this picture before it was completely dry, so the dark spot you can kind of see was gone within a few minutes.)

Whatever Wednesday is when we explore all the different ways that Whatever spray can be used around the house. It is an amazingly versatile little workhorse and because it is so safe and friendly, the uses are endless. If you’d like to share the unique ways you use Whatever in your life, post a link in the comments or email me and tell me about it. kate at cleanhappens dot com

Better Life fan Christa, from over at the Thrifty Tickle, makes a hobby of giving new life to old things.  You know, reduce, reuse, recycle.  Green and frugal.  Here’s what she wrote us…

“Is it just my imagination or does my bottle of Whatever look triumphant in front of the cushion it just cleaned?  This is part of a (filthy) settee/daybed thingie I picked up in a nearby alley and I’d love to do a guest post about cleaning it up!”

Check it…

Let us know when it’s all done! We’d love to see pictures of the final project!