Friday Freebie Alert!

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links with Tyndale Rewards. I promise not to make sales pitches and affiliate links my norm, but this one was too good NOT to share... Read on to see why!)

I don't know about you, but I love books... Especially FREE books!

So, how do you get free books, you ask?

I recently learned about the Tyndale Rewards program, which enables you to earn points towards free books and Bibles! How cool is that?

After joining their website, you can earn points by inviting friends to join, subscribing to their newsletters, posting reviews, and participating in focus groups. Each activity earns you 10-25 points, which can in turn be redeemed for books and Bibles that start at just 30 points!

You can learn more about the program by watching this little video:

I haven't ordered anything off the site yet, but from my friends who have already joined, I understand that it really is FREE and there really isn't a "catch" or any hidden fees. (Just as you would hope to find from a well-known Christian publishing company, lol!)

So, what are you waiting for? Come join me on the Tyndale Rewards website - click here to join! (By the way, new members typically receive 10 points in their account, but by using my referral link, you'll start out with 25 points in your account... That's almost a free book!)

In Which I Nearly Go Off the Cleaning Deep End

As I've read blogs and scoured Pinterest over the last couple of months, I've noticed an increasing number of people making their own cleaning supplies. Laundry soap, dish soap, glass cleaner, sink cleaner, tile and grout scrub, toilet bowl rinses... You name it, there's a recipe (or five, or ten, or a hundred) online!

My first reaction was to laugh, because (let's face it) making your own soap fits the stereotype of homeschoolers perfectly. However, I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the concept was spreading so quickly. I quickly narrowed it down to two reasons - the first being that when you make your own cleaning supplies, you know what goes into them, and the second being that the economy is in pretty bad shape right now and making your own supplies is CHEAP.

So I sat on this revelation for a couple of weeks, and still silently laughed at people who made their own soap.

Then life happened.

I've always had pretty bad excema and recently it's gotten worse, so I started making more conscious decisions about what I eat, wear, allow to touch my skin, etc. this means that I'm happily going with less "toxic" choices as far as cleaning supplies.

Dustin and I also decided that we want to stop renting and buy our own house, which means that we're trying to be a bit more "frugal." When I first started researching the supplies I would need, I started with a window cleaner and realized that I could buy everything to make a DOZEN bottles of window cleaner for the price of ONE bottle of Windex.

I was sold.

Yesterday, as my sister looked on and laughed at me (I can't say I blame her... see above!) I tried making my own glass cleaner, which I also use on my laminate counters. It was super easy and quick, and I already had all of the "ingredients," so the only thing that I needed to buy was a 95 cent spray bottle from Wal-Mart.

Here's the recipe:

• 20 oz Warm Tap Water
• 4 oz Distilled White Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Squeezes of Dish Soap*

All you need to do is combine all of the above in spray bottle, screw on the top, and give a good shake to make sure everything mixes together. There's no fuss, no mess AND do you know what the best part is?

It works just as well as the name brand stuff if not better. Go figure!

Meanwhile, if you're looking for me, you'll probably find me looking up more cleaning ideas on Pinterest. :)

* I used Dawn, but eventually after I use up my stock I'd like to switch over to Method which is made from more natural ingredients