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6/20/2019

Making Body Butter in Your Own Kitchen for a Fraction of the Cost

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I've shared this recipe before on the blog (back in 2015) but I never actually showed you guys how I make it so I decided to fix that this week. It's a staple in my home and I was running low plus had a request from a family friend so it seemed perfectly timed to update this post a bit. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years!

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 C Cocoa Butter
1/4 C Sweet Almond Oil
1/4 C Coconut Oil
1/4 C Shea Butter
1/2 tsp Vitamin E Oil (optional)
Essential Oils of Choice (optional)

NOTE: A single pound of these 'butters' will likely last you nearly a year's worth of lotion or body butter for one person or several months for a family so there is no need to over purchase.

EQUIPMENT:

Small saucepan
Measuring cups/spoons
Knife
Spoon
Electric Mixer
Container to hold your body butter

PROCEDURE:

Measure out your ingredients. You will likely need a knife to cut the cocoa butter.
Place the Shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and sweet almond oil in a double boiler or, like I did in the video above, place a glass or metal bowl in a small saucepan of water on low heat. You do not want the mixture to boil or smoke. The ingredients will melt fairly quickly even on low heat.
Once everything has melted, remove from heat and mix in the vitamin E oil and any essential oils you wish. I prefer peppermint as it smells delightful with the cocoa butter but sweet orange, lavender , or citrus work very well also.
Allow the mixture to cool until it has just begun to set up. You can just leave it on the counter for a few hours and go about your day or be like me and toss it into the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.
Once it has begun to set up you will use the electric mixer to beat the mixture into the creamy consistency we are looking for. NOTE: If you let the mixture get to hard/cool then it is easy to apply a little heat and mix with a spoon for a minute or two to get back to the correct consistency.
Add it to a jar and allow to finish setting up for half an hour or so.

I have been using this recipe for 4 years now and absolutely love it. I even have requests from family friends for batches from time to time. Let me know how you tweak the recipe to fit your needs and preferences. What other DIY household items would you like to see made next?

Until next time,

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6/13/2019

May Financial Update

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I disappeared again... but I came back with a renewed plan for my blog. We're going visual! I'm going to start incorporating a lot more video content over on YouTube, some of which may not be here on the blog so head over there and subscribe today so that you don't miss any content. The current planned schedule looks like this:

Sunday: Content Varies but includes Planning, Online Teaching, and Health/Weight Loss
Monday: Monthly Updates (not every week)
Tuesday: Budgeting with a Planner
Wednesday: Budgeting with YNAB
Thursday: Content Varies but includes side hustle, reviews, DIY and “Try It Outs”
Friday/Saturday: Rarely will I post on these days but the occasional post may crop up so subscribe so that you will know.

There may be some deviation as life happens but I've got the next several months planned out (that's where I disappeared to... I had to find a way that was both fun and fit my schedule a bit more). You'll still get a weekly post over here but there will be a lot more content over there with condensed versions over here. Let me know if there are any videos/topics you are interested in!

So... first video of the financial nature: May's financial update. Click below to watch or scroll down for a quick recap.

Debts

Assets

That puts my Net Worth at:

This is a different calculation than the numbers you are used to getting as it doesn't take into account current monies in the bank (sinking funds and daily expenses plus bills that haven't been taken yet for the month). Here is a graph from YNAB.

I also looked at my annual change per year since 2016. It was pretty cool to be able to look back that far... through the good and the bad choices I've still come a long way!

The last thing I did was plan out what my goals were for this month. You guys get to know first that I already know I can't meet some of them 100% due to some unexpected expenses that cropped up. My poor Roxy needs her teeth cleaned asap (she may lose a tooth) and Bella likely next month but she's not as bad thankfully. Plus I had a tire replaced due to a nail and had to have some serious yard work done that I didn't budget for. I should be able to stick it out and accomplish most of them but yeah, that's all going to add up to a pretty penny for sure.

My other financial goals for month are as follows:

Get half a month ahead on the following bills: mortgage, auto loan & cell phone
Pay dental bill when it arrives
Lower cell phone bill
Bank extra $200 of ‘just in case’ money for Washington D.C. trip

That pretty much sums up this monthly update. I posted a run down of my YNAB budget as well as how to budget in YNAB earlier this week on YouTube if you are interested in viewing that as well.

Part One

Part Two

Until next time,

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Making Body Butter in Your Own Kitchen for a Fraction of the Cost

May Financial Update

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