The D word

Twelve and a half hours gives you a lot of time to think.  Maybe too much.  While visiting family in Michigan, my mother said something that fueled my thinking on the car ride home.  She said, "I wish they'd just call this what it is, a depression."  My response was something about that creating a panic in the U.S.
Maybe we should panic a bit more and be conscious of how we spend our money.  Another comment that's been rolling around in my head came from the hubby who was wondering how much money we'd save by not buying organics.  Valid point hubby, but I hate knowingly eating pesticides when a better alternatives is available.
Mom had an answer to one problem.  That of the laundry soap.  Seventh Generation laundry detergent is $.30 a load.  She shared with me a recipe to make my own soap.  For $9 I'm going to be able to make enough detergent for countless loads.  Later I'll share the recipe and how the soap making goes.

Another beef I have with grocery shopping is how much I spend on the non-concentrate orange juice.  A news report came out that the fancy stuff is still dehydrated and reconstituted for ease of transport.  So why am I spending $3.69 instead of $1.39 for the frozen stuff that creates less waste?

Also, see the coffee canister in the background?  It's about to be my new storage bin for compost before it goes outside.