P90 Day 4: Bands vs. Weights

  Today's workout is another circuit training session.  In other words, strength training.  As such, the program calls for a choice of either hand weights or resistance bands.  Both are great tools for building muscle and burning fat.  The decision to use one over the other depends on your own preferences and needs.
   Personally, I like hand weights.  You get a range of motion with hand weights that is not possible with resistance bands.  The weight is also consistent throughout each motion unlike resistance bands which add more resistance the farther they are stretched.  If I had to choose, I would prefer hand weights over resistance bands any day.

   With that said, I actually use is resistance bands.  Why?  Because they really do give nearly as good a workout as free weights.  Most importantly they are much cheaper.  With hand weights you must buy each size as you grow stronger and that money adds up.  However,  Go Fit has a set of bands you can buy at once.  I can progress to a higher weight without spending more money.  Finally, resistance bands are very compact.  I live in a modest apartment without room to store various sized weights, but my resistance bands fit neatly in a small bag in the closet.
   Maybe someday money won't be an issue and I'll have a house big enough to store the extra weights but for now I will stick to my bands.  The important thing is that I am still getting the exercise I need.

   Do you prefer weights or bands?  Why?

DIY Savings: "Fabreze"

  I am always concerned about how my apartment smells should anyone come over.  Therefore, I find myself using a lot of Fabreze.  When I am doing a 30-minute clean it takes seconds to just spray down the carpet and sofas as I go.  So when I realized the other day that I was almost out of Fabreze, I turned to the internet to find out how to save money and still keep my apartment smelling fresh.

   There are many recipes for home made "Fabreze".  Most of these recipes involve some combination of water, fabric softener, and sometimes baking soda.  The recipe I used is from tipnut.  There are four options on the page, so you may choose any you wish.  I used #2, and so far I like it.  It seems to work just as well as the real Fabreze.
  So what are the benefits of making my own?  The first is the most obvious: cost.  A bottle of Fabreze can cost $3 or more at your local grocery store.  A bottle of cheap fabric softener can be found at a local dollar store or Family Dollar and will last much longer.  I even used my old Fabreze bottle, so I did not have to pay for a new one.
  The second reason is less obvious.  When buying my fabric softener, I spent a little more money to buy a product called Seventh Generation.  Seventh generation is non-toxic and biodegradable, it uses natural scents, and the softening agent is plant based (most fabric softeners are made from animal fat).  I might have paid more, but it will still come out cheaper than buying Fabreze.  Plus, using the right fabric softener is better for the environment.
*Note: If using on material that is flame resistant, most fabric softeners reduce flame resistance.

What do you use to keep your home fresh?

DIY Savings: Detergent

 In the quest to save money, DIY (Do it yourself) can sometimes save a bundle.  I plan on sharing various DIY money savers in future blogs.  Today, I will focus on a recent project of mine, making my own detergent. I have heard of making my own cleaners many times, and finally decided to try it.  About a month ago, I bought my ingredients and tried it out.  So far, it works just as well as the store bought variety and costs a lot less.  If you do a google search for home made detergent, you can find a dozen recipes.  The one I recommend is at a website called DIY Natural.  The directions are very simple and there are only three ingredients.  Plus is is made with simple natural ingredients for those of you who worry about chemicals.
      I also plan on making my own dishwashing detergent once my supply runs out.  Since it uses many of the same ingredients as laundry detergent, I will not have to spend any money.  I found a recipe that looks good at yahoo finance.  I will let you know how it works.
How do you DIY to save money?

Update: I tried the dishwashing detergent and it works great