That has WHAT in it?

I think one of the simplest things to downsize your life style, or live more frugally is to look at nearly everything and ask, "Can I make that?"

From food, to cleaning supplies, and home decor projects it is pretty cool what we can do ourselves. It is like there has been this giant disconnect with what we use in our daily lives and how it is made. With that said, not everything is worth the time, effort, and money to make on your own.

Last week, I flipped over a bottle of special teeth whitening mouth wash to read the ingredients. Wow! The first ingredients listed? Water. Peroxide. Then a bunch of scary looking chemicals. So why not occasionally use peroxide instead? It is cheaper, and I actually know what is in it compared to my mouth wash with 15+ compounds that I can't pronounce, let alone explain what they are.

The last couple weeks I have been trying to look at everything sideways. What can I downsize? What would be easy to make? Better to make?

The coolest thing about looking at everything like this? It is almost anyways more environmentally friendly. Making my own tea instead of buying sodas...? That is a lot less trash in this world. Using my Brita filter...? Saved my lots of money on those plastic water bottles and WAY less trash from my household.

Full disclosure: I am working towards lessening my paper towel addiction. Wish me luck.