I’m a HUGE soda drinker (my vice, alas), so when I started seeing the SodaStream Fountain Jet home soda making machine around the blogosphere, I absolutely had to contact them to see if I could review one for myself.  Naturally, I was ecstatic when they agreed to let our family try one out!  A prompt day or two after contacting them, I received several boxes from UPS and couldn’t wait to rip them open!

My husband and I set out on the mission to set up and operate the machine, prepared for a technical and complex execution.  I think my super macho husband was slightly disappointed when the set-up and operation took under 5 minutes :-)  It was as simple as this:

Insert carbon tank into back
Fill included bottle with cold water, and insert in front
Press the button on top for carbon activation
Pull out bottle and add flavor
Enjoy

The machine itself was absolutely beautiful, and it looked great on the kitchen counter next to my kitchen aid.  It didn’t take up too much room at all, and was readily available to be used throughout the day.  Which I definitely did!  Adam, Allysa and I tried the Orange Mango, Diet Cola, Cranberry Raspberry, and a ton of other flavors they sent us. We even combined the Lemon Lime and Cranberry Raspberry to make a flavor that tasted very much like the seasonal Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist (a fave soda around here that we can only find one month out of the year).

The possibilities are limitless with Soda Stream:  make a ton of delicious tasting sodas, sparkling water, sparkling flavored water, sparkling water with juice ( a personal fave if you like the Crystal Geiser Juice-Sparkling water Spritzers), club soda for those party nights, etc.

My favorite was by far the Orange Mango, with a tropical flavor, while my husband preferred the Energy Drink formula.  My husband, a die hard Monster and Red Bull Fan, preferred the flavor to the ready made canned versions costing over $3.00 a can.  Just see the cost comparison:

Even better:  For we health conscious moms, the Soda Stream flavors contain NO high fructose corn syrup or artificial ingredients, and even the non-diet flavors are very low in calories.  For instance, the regular Orange Soda has only 30 calories for an 8 oz serving, versus 100-120 calories or more for traditional Crush or store brand orange soda. I was very impressed with these statistics.

We are looking forward to finding even more fun soda flavor combinations to try in the coming years.  That’s right…years. Because after using Soda stream and seeing how much money it saves us on buying soda, sparkling water, flavored sparkling seltzer water and club soda (for the hubby’s Whiskey treats on the weekends).

I would estimate our family’s savings at around $1205 yearly, based on the following calculations:

(2) 12 pks of Diet Coke

+ (1) 6pk Crystal Geiser Sparkling Juice Beverage

+ (1) Bottle of Club Soda

+ (2) Boxes Crystal Light to flavor bottled water <since we now just use the sparkling water and a dash of the soda flavor>

+ (3) Cans of Energy Drinks

=Total Weekly Savings of $27

$27 x 52 Weeks=Yearly Cost Savings of $1404

Minus Cost of Starter Kit ($99)

plus Carbonator Refills (2 @ $35 ea)

and Flavor Refills (5 @ $6 ea) =$199

Total Yearly Savings with SodaStream Fountain Jet= Over $1205!

Not only was I thoroughly impressed with the frugality of the machine and the replacement parts, I was thrilled to discover how much I would be helping the environment. With our consumption of bottled drinks as described above, I am so excited about how many tons of aluminum and plastic I will saving from landfills, not to mention the not-so-clean electricity that goes into manufacturing these bottles and cans.

“One SodaStream carbonator makes 60 or 110 liters, equivalent to 170 or 310 aluminum cans! When empty, the carbonator is refilled and reused, ready to make more fizzy and tasty soda whenever you want it.”

PLUS, we are saving gasoline and wear & tear on our vehicles from sending my husband out to the store every time I have a craving for a Diet Coke.  Because, despite my best efforts, my Diet Coke stockpile does occasionally run dry.

In summary, the machine is incredibly easy to use and relatively quiet as well as stores nicely and attractively on any countertop corner.  The resulting carbonated products are delicious and the flavoring possibilities are endless. It’s an economical and ecofriendly way to cut back spending on a ton of different drink products you may buy on a regular basis.

Buy It For Yourself! The Soda Stream Starter Kit starts at just $99 and can be purchased HERE, along with a ton of awesome flavors.

WIN IT!!! SodaStream Giveaway: SodaStream has generously offered to give away a complete SodaStream Starter Kit featuring the fountain jet, carbonator, and several soda flavors to one of my lucky readers!

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Extra Entries: There are several ways to gain additional entries in this amazing giveaway!

If you are spending an average of $30 a month on cleaning products for your home, you could save over $360 a year by making your own cleaning products.  The following is a room by room list of products in your home that can be replaced with a combination of three simple (and very cheap) ingredients:  baking soda, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol, all three of which can be picked up for free or under a buck at your local CVS or Walgreens.  Bonus benefits: your home with be cleaned without harsh chemicals that could harm children or pets, and creating these concoctions takes less time than running to the store to grab a bottle of 409—plus you’ll save a ton of room in your cleaning closet (which leaves more room to stockpile toothpaste, hooray). For more helpful advice on living greener, check out LighterSaferGreener.

In the Kitchen

Drain Cleaner &  Deodorizer: Pour ½ box baking soda down the drain. Add white vinegar until the foam begins to bubble over.  Let the foam settle, then repeat until all the baking soda is gone.  To deodorize and sharpen the blades in your garbage disposal, run ½ lemon and some ice cubes down the disposal every few weeks.

Microwave Cleaner: Microwave a bowl of ½ vinegar and ½ water for two minutes.  Wearing rubber gloves, dip a sponge into the mixture and wipe down the inside of the microwave.  The heat steam cleans all the food off the surface, and the acid in the vinegar deodorizes.

Dishwasher Rinse Agent & Dishwasher Cleaner: Use vinegar in place of a chemical rinse agent.  Alternatively, fill the detergent well with vinegar and run it, empty, through a wash cycle. This cleans the entire dishwasher including the heating elements.  Bonus tip: throw your sponges in the empty cycle to sanitize and deodorize them.

Degreaser: Use vinegar, diluted or straight, as an inexpensive degreaser.  Simply put in a spray bottle and go to work.

Fruit & Vegetable Wash: Use equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle to wash fruits and vegetables as soon as you get them home from the supermarket.

Ajax/Scouring Powder: As a mild abrasive with the cleansing power of Ajax, use baking soda and a scouring pad or sponge.

In the Living Room or Bedroom

Dusting Spray & Furniture Polish: Mix 1 cup olive oil with ½ cup lemon juice in a spray bottle.  Using a scrap of old flannel or an old sock, lightly and evenly buff furniture or shelving to dust and polish.  The lemon juice has the power to dissolve dirt and smudges while the olive oil restores shine and moisture.

Carpet Stain Remover: Mix 2 tablespoons white vinegar into 2 tablespoons baking soda to form a paste. Work into stains with an old toothbrush and allow to dry.  Vacuum up baking soda when dry and stain should be removed.

Carpet Refreshing Powder: Stir baking soda in bowl with your favorite essential oils until lightly scented. Sprinkle powder into carpeting to remove odors and lightly scent the carpet. Vacuum well.

In the Bathroom

Glass Cleaner & Chrome/Stainless Steel Cleaner: Mix 1 cup water with 1 cup Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and 1 tablespoon white vinegar.  Use as a cleanser and polisher for glass, mirrors, chrome bathroom fixtures, door knobs, or ceramic tiling.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Pour 1 to 2 cups of undiluted white vinegar into the toilet bowl and swish with a toilet brush. The acidity kills viruses, bacteria and mold while removing stains and absorbing odors.

Mold and Mildew Remover: Mix equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle to kill mold and mildew bacteria.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes for maximum bacteria killing power.

Around the Home

Laundry Booster: Adding one cup of white vinegar to your washer’s rinse cycle has many benefits as a laundry booster, including whitening your whites and brightening  your colors while preventing dye in any new clothing from running, eliminating static cling and preventing lint from forming, killing any bacteria present in your laundry, softens laundry while neutralizing any odors present and has the added bonus of removing soap residue from your clothing and your machine, keeping your washer running in top condition.

Windshield Washer Fluid: Did you know you can make your own?  Mix equal parts vinegar and water and replace your vehicle’s windshield washer fluid with this frugal version to save money and cut through grease, dirt and bug grime on your windshield.

Tire Cleaner: Mix baking soda and water to form a paste.  Rub onto tires and scrub with a stiff brush to cut grease, brake dust and grime from your tires and rims.

Bonus Tip:  Scenting Your Homemade Cleaning Concoctions

1. The fresh-from-the-garden approach:  Add fresh flower petals or herbs to desired strength (the more you add to the bottle, the stronger the scent).  Let steep for at least 10 days and then remove.  Use as desired.
2. Add essential oils directly to the vinegar to desired scent.  Suggestions:  lavender or rose for use in laundry products, or peppermint or citrus for cleaning usage.  My favorite combination is 2-3 drops each citrus and rosemary essential oils to 1 cup white vinegar for a delicious and clean smell that rivals Pine Sol and is much better for the environment and safer for your kids.

Decorating Your House for Pennies-Part Two:  Room by Room Ideas

Free and Low-Cost Ways to Transform your Humble Home into a Holiday Paradise

A Few Room by Room Ideas for Redesigning your Retreat:

• Kitchen and Dining Room
  • A simple pretty bowl filled with some in-season fruit scored cheap on your last shopping trip can bring beauty and a feeling of abundance into your home, not to mention serve as a visual reminder to meet your 5-a-day quota. 
  • Switch up your towels.  Something as simple as switching to new set of pretty kitchen towels picked up cheap at Walmart can really improve the look of your kitchen. It sounds silly…but I got new kitchen towels for Christmas one year, and after draping one over the oven handle, it really did give the kitchen a new look. 
  • A fun idea to mix it up is to sew up some quick café curtains (you know, the little ones that only cover the bottom half of the window). They are so NOT practical or useful, but somehow…I adore them. Depending on the size of your window, you can probably do it with just a half a yard of some cute fabric that matches those new kitchen towels, and just string them up on a tension rod—these are less than a dollar.  A whole new look for your kitchen, for under $2.
  • To delight your inner culinary artist, plant a windowsill garden of fresh herbs. Not only will you save at least $20 a month off your grocery bill, you’ll have more flavorful food, the herbs act as a natural air freshener and aromatic delight, and the vibrant green hues of the plants are naturally stimulating and complementary to many of the colors you probably already have in your kitchen.
  • If you’re renting or in military housing, you probably won’t want to paint or do any permanent designing like painting, so go with the next best thing:  wallpaper. Find some cheap wallpaper that matches your color scheme, and cut out individual designs or pieces of the wallpaper and place them strategically in your kitchen.  For example, in one of my kitchens, I found some cute wallpaper with fruit on it. My color scheme has always been black and red, so I cut out the red apples from the wallpaper and placed them in a few key spots around the kitchen.  The wallpaper itself was hideous (probably why it was clearance) but the apples were adorable and matched perfectly.
• Living Room and Bedrooms, etc.
  • Throw Pillows: A variety of throw pillows in different sizes covered with a fabric complementary to your current design covers gives a cozy and elegant feel to any couch or bed.  Just pick up some fabric on clearance that complements the area they’ll be accenting, sew up some quick slipcovers and throw them on those bargain-bin throw pillows you picked up.  The stains and small tears on the pillow will never be seen, and your wallet won’t even have felt a dent from their purchase.  *Military Mama Tip:  Take one of your husband’s old flannel shirts, cut off the collar and sleeves so you are left with a rectangle, and sew up the edges so you are left with a big flannel square. Unbutton and stuff in a pillow and voila, you’ve got a great “Daddy Pillow” for snuggling during long deployments*
  • Blankets and Throws: A nice throw draped over the edge of a chair or couch is always inviting, or try finding a blanket with a scalloped or interesting edging that matches your throw pillows and drape it over the bottom cushions of the couch, with the edge hanging neatly down.  This always worked well for us as Allysa likes to snack on the couch (and consequently make a mess of crumbs everywhere…so we could just throw the blanket in the wash rather than having to wash couch cushions).
  • Glass Bottles or Vases with flowers: Pretty glass bottles or vases, grouped together, look beautiful when filled with real or fake flowers.  Try experimenting with different colored bottles on a windowsill for a pretty way to adorn your dwelling. My husband is a beer connessoir, so different colored and sized Ale bottles make great decorations after he’s had his indulgence.
  • Flaunt a Frame: The dollar store usually has a great selection of cheap picture frames. A picture frame acts as a great accent piece for an end table or the top of a TV or empty bookshelf.  Especially when we lived in a small apartment, taking advantage of every surface can give an area a cozy feel, without looking cluttered, if done properly.  Framing a photograph of a loved one or the entire family, or even a pretty picture cut out frame a magazine gives a room character and flair.  Pair the picture frame with some inexpensive candles you have (Glade candles, anyone?) in a complementary color and you’ve got yourself a beautiful and inexpensive display.
  • The Power of Pink: Try replacing the bulbs in your bedroom with pink bulbs. Although I usually advocate the energy saving fluorescent bulbs, this might be fun to try for an anniversary or *special night* as it gives a romantic glow to the room and can change the entire atmosphere of the bedroom, and a pair of these pink bulbs costs only about $3 at WalMart.
  • Magnificent Mirrors: Mirrors can make a room look much bigger than it really is, and they magnify the amount of light that is naturally let into the room through the windows. You don’t even have to hang them up; bigger mirrors propped up against a wall can give a quaint magical feeling to a room.  I’ve heard they look great just propped up against a wall rather than attached to one, but having little kids I’m too afraid to try this one. I’m sure it would take my daughter exactly two and a half minutes to knock it over and hurt herself.
  • A time for all seasons…A super cute idea that I recently heard of for a neutral décor idea is taking nice sturdy branches, clipping off all the leaves, etc. and then supergluing tiny white flowers onto the branches.  If you use a bouquet of tiny white flowers from the dollar store the branches end up looking almost like cherry blossoms. Place the branches in a tall vase and you have a beautiful faux-tree that you can then decorate according to the holidays. You could hang tinsel on it for Christmas, some tiny fake eggs for Easter, throw some colorful confetti on for a birthday.  The possibilities are endless!

Free and Low-Cost Ways to Transform your Humble Home into a Holiday Paradise

Some people think that living the frugal life means a barren home, tasteless decorating and a minimalist attitude towards home décor.  This could not be further from the truth.  In fact, being frugal opens up one’s eyes to the world of possibilities that exists in using just about anything as a form of accent for one’s dwelling.  As a military family, we’ve lived in just about every type of housing imaginable, from a 1700 sq foot double-story home to a teeny tiny apartment, and never once failed to furnish some sort of décor for our humble housing.  Following are some helpful tips that we have both researched and learned over the course of our lovely living experiences:

Some Basic Principles for Inexpensive Decorating:

• Be creative: You’ll find this is a theme in most of our articles, including this one.  Frugality is about thinking outside the box and discovering that almost anything can be redesigned to serve another purpose after its intended life has been worn out.
• Designing is in the Details: This is all about YOU.  Your home should make a statement about you:  who you are, where you’ve been, what your passions are.  Don’t feel boxed into how you think your home “should look” according to the latest Good Housekeeping.  Be yourself, and make your home YOUR home.
• Try to pick a neutral color scheme. I’m a little weird when it comes to this, but I try to follow my own advice every once in a while. I pick one or two key colors for each room of my house and build from there. My kitchen is red and black, my living room is red, my bedroom is brown, etc.  If you have a main color in your head for each room, its easier to shop and look at things with a discerning eye to know whether or not they’ll look good in your home.  For example, I know that a red vase might look good in my brown room as a complementary color, but a blue throw isn’t going to harmonize quite as well in the bedroom.
• It’s okay to Shop…if you know when to do it.  Some of the best accent pieces in my home have been purchased from stores like Ross or Marshalls a few days after the holiday has passed.  Five years ago I scored a beautiful three tiered harvest-adorned candle holder at Ross for under five bucks, and I still use it each year.
• Yard Sales and Thrift Stores are my best friends: You can score amazing finds at these two shopping locales.  Some of the best items to look for include random pieces of dishware (pretty bowls or teacups for displays), throw pillows in decent condition (the key here is mostly that they are clean smelling… we’ll talk about why later), tablecloths or bed linens (relatively clean so they can be made into curtains, if desired)  and pretty glass bottles or vases.
• Don’t underestimate the Dollar Store: This is my favorite place to pickup fake flowers.  Since I have little kids, its not exactly practical to be running to the store every three days for fresh flowers, and that can get rather costly as well. I prefer to buy the nicer-looking fake flowers from the local dollar store, since they’ll last forever.  Different seasons bring different varieties and hues, but they pretty much have a great selection year round.  I like to stick with solid hues:  a white bouquet, a red bouquet, an orange bouquet; this way I can mix and match according to the holiday or occasion.
• Buy Décor that can be displayed for multiple holidays: The abovementioned candle holder is adorned with fall colored leaves and tiny pumpkins; it gets put out in September with the harvest decorations and lasts through Halloween and Thanksgiving.  By buying items that are color themed, ie, brown and orange for the fall, red and white for Christmas through Valentines Day and possibly even 4^th of July, you’ll get the most use out of your decorations.
• Take good care of your decorations. I try to carefully pack away my decorations in newspaper after each holiday and keep them away from moisture and bugs (*Military Mama Tip:  Be careful to make sure and label the boxes fragile so multiple moves won’t take their toll on your treasures) so that they’ll last as long as possible.
• Take advantage of the best resource you have—sunlight:  Sunlight is my number one accent in all the rooms of my house (wherever it is that we are calling home at that particular moment).  Open the shades and let it cast it’s beautiful glow on your belongings.  Sunlight makes everything appear more open and spacious, plus it’s good for your skin, kills germs, and can help you sleep better at night.  And bonus:  If you have good enough sunlight, you won’t have to use the lights in your home hardly at all during the day, saving on your electricity bill. So open those drapes and let it shine!

I hope you enjoyed learning a couple of my helpful ideas for inexpensive decorating.  If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our feed so you won’t miss any of the helpful frugal living advice we have to offer.  Then sit back, enjoy, and watch your inbox carefully tomorrow for Decorating Your Home for Pennies: Part Two—Room by Room Ideas!

Stay tuned this week for a series of helpful articles covering:

• Decorating Your House for Pennies:  Part One:  Basic Concepts for Cheap Decorating
• Decorating Your House for Pennies:  Part Two:  Room by Room Ideas
• DIY Household Cleaners: Never Buy Windex Again ( including a helpful printable PDF of recipes)
• Secrets of the Hotel Cleaning Lady:  Clean Your House Top-to-Bottom in 3 hours Flat
• And more….
  

Take your old Christmas lights to Home Depot from November 5th-15th and get a $3 coupon for each set (up to 5 sets) good on any energy efficient LED Christmas lights.

Home Depot LED lights will be priced at $5.97 during that promotion- or only $2.97 each after the trade-in coupon!

The LED light strings use 80% less energy than traditional incandescent and string lights.

These should save you MORE in electricity charges than the $2.97 you paid for them in one season! Our bill always goes up at least $30-50 each Holiday season so we are planning on taking advantage of this awesome deal!

Thanks Money Saving Madness for featuring this awesome deal!