Dirt Cheap Dad

Why Waste Your Time? Let Mother Nature Do All Of The Hard Work! Unless you are a hardcore gardener that needs compost right away (15-30 days), this lazy cold compost method is probably just what you're looking for. Why waste time building a fancy bin and turning your compost every day? The fact of the matter is, if you throw a bunch of food scraps and yard waste in a pile, it'll eventually create compost in about a year or so with little or no effort.  Why Not Just Throw Everything In The Garbage? When you throw food scraps into your garbage for pickup, it is dumped into a landfill. The problem with landfills is that they are completely sealed from the outside world to prevent all of the nasty chemicals and waste people throw out from seeping back into the soil and / or water supply. When you throw food scraps into the garbage, you're essentially wasting space in the landfill and preventing all of those good nutrients from ever making their way back into the food c

Container that I use to store my baking soda Why Make The Switch? In this post, I'll share the tips and tricks that I've learned throughout my journey switching to straight baking soda as my underarm deodorant of choice. Trust me when I say that I have a few important tips and tricks to make your switch to baking soda as smooth as possible. Don't make the same mistakes that I did! Like many people, I was raised to believe that the only solution out there to keep my underarm funk at bay was store-bought stick deodorant. After spending many years trying to find an agreeable scent, or an unscented that doesn't fail, I decided to explore other options. Since baking soda was already my household cleaning and deodorizing product of choice, it only makes sense to slap some under my arms to see what happens, right? Saves Money I've saved a ton of money by switching to baking soda because it's cheap cheap cheap! I'd imagine that a large box of baking s

Homemade Mason Jar Candles For Your Wedding Making your own environmentally friendly soy wax candles for an event or home use is super easy. Follow these step by step instructions and you'll have yourself a big batch of long burning soy wax mason jar candles in no time. As an added bonus, we'll show you how to easily hang the candles as pendents from trees to make any night or evening event extra special. What You Will Need Soy Wax Mason Jars 6" or 8" Wicks #10 Can(s) Medium Saucepan Large Plastic or Metal Spoon Oven Mitts Kitchen Thermometer Painter's Tape Knife Long Scissors Mare Sure To Stir Right Away How Much Wax And Why Soy Wax? Approximately five pounds of wax will fill seven pint jars full and will burn for a very long time. If you fill the jars to about the level (apx. 2") in our photos, you'll get about fourteen jars from five pounds of wax.  Soy wax candles are more eco-friendly than candles made from p

And To Think I Almost Threw These Old Boots Into The Garbage We've all had a pair of shoes or boots that look like they've already given up the ghost but if they are made of leather you shouldn't throw them out just yet. I'll show you how to preserve your leather boots and make them look like new again.  Leather Oils and Preservatives There are a lot of options out there when it comes to leather oils and preservatives. I'll show you a few of my favorites as well as the best option if you need maximum protection for your heavy duty work boots.  Mink Oil Mink oil is made from rendered mink fat (pulled from pelts). It's great for smooth leather and most people find its light scent pleasant. It will soften up leather and provide a waterproof barrier to protect from the elements but won't provide the best protection in harsh environments. Be aware that any good leather preservative will darken the the leather a bit, and Mink oil is no exception.