It’s astonishing how much you can spend on household cleaning products, or professional house cleaning services. Here’s a back-to-basics approach to something each of us does on a regular basis that, if done affordably, could save a lot of money.

Clean Your House Yourself
I’ve heard the contrary advice, from folks who say, “I can make more per hour working than it costs me to pay someone to clean my house.” Perhaps this is true. But is it really true for you? Only if you’re working while your cleaning person’s cleaning. If you can squeeze in the time each week to clean your own house, and put that $75-100 or more per week into savings or toward another money-making investment, it’s possible that you could live more affordably by cleaning your own house. And let’s face it. It’s exercise that you’re probably not getting right now.

Or…Instead of Hiring it Done, Get Your Family to Help
This is going to be one of those “when I was little I had to walk up the hill both ways” stories, but it’s true. Every Saturday, I worked most of the day with my mom cleaning the house. So did my sister. So did my brother. And my mom stayed home with us, rather than working full-time. You’d think she could have done it herself, right? But she felt (and rightly so) that if it took a whole family to dirty the house, it could take a whole family to clean it. Old-fashioned values helped her, and me, too. From a young age, I learned how to roll up my sleeves and do some dirty work, and now have no qualms about cleaning my own house. Wouldn’t have it any other way. My 5th-grade son’s weekly job is to clean the downstairs bathroom. Granted, I re-clean it on a semi-regular basis to give it a THOROUGH cleaning, but I’m pleased that I’m raising a son who’ll know how to pick up a toilet brush and go to work if needed. What’s my alternative? Clean his bathroom while he plays wii? Huh-uh. Not going to happen.

Streamline Your List of Household Cleaning Products
I’ve greatly reduced the number of packaged cleaning products I buy at the store and have gone back to basics. Here are some of my basics:

• Bleach
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Ammonia
• Borax

I buy these in bulk quantities for a dollar or two per container, and then use them throughout the house, having re-purposed old spray bottles and other containers to hold my homemade cleaning supplies.

A little Bleach plus water cleans and disinfects almost any hard surface, from sinks, toilets and countertops, to plastic chairs, as well as toys and cupboards.

Baking soda can be purchased in a huge box for a dollar or two, and then used in place of carpet deodorizer. I add a few drops of essential oil and mix with a whisk before sprinkling this homemade carpet deodorizer instead of fancy Carpet Fresh. And it smells better and less flowery/powdery, too, plus I can choose my scent based on my mood or the season.

Vinegar is becoming one of my best friends. Plain, ol’ white vinegar. Again, available in big bottles, I mix it in a spray bottle with water to clean mirrors, countertops and other surfaces, especially in the kitchen. It’s food-safe, disinfects and once it dries, leaves no odor. Non-toxic, too, which is perfect for small children or pets.

½-cup of Borax, 1 Tablespoon of clear household Ammonia, ¼-cup of vinegar and 1 gallon warm water makes a great mix for cleaning interior walls. Just mix, apply the solution with a sponge and then use a 2nd sponge to rinse the wall with plain warm water.

A little bit of old-fashioned thinking and some common sense from Grandma, and you’ll find that when it comes to cleaning the house, more affordable living is as close as your mop and bucket.

Tags: Affordable living, Borax, Cleaning Your House, homemade carpet deodorizer, Household Cleaning Products, old-fashioned thinking, Old-fashioned values