Shipping Containers as Homes

I have been doing a lot of reading about shipping containers being used as building blocks for houses.  Wow!  What an awesome idea!  These things are made of steel, Weatherproof - made to withstand storms at sea, and made to stack 9 units or more high.

Ever since I read about this I have been wanting to build one.  The thought of escaping the mortgage game is very appealing to me these days.  I guess I have reached the age where I'd rather spend my time living than working.  I am guessing that a very rugged and sizable structure could be build for cheap by using these containers as the building block.

One thing is certain, housing will become more and more of an issue as the population rises and the economy changes.  People will always need a place to live.  Shipping Containers could be one way to build a home that is yours without spending the rest of your life in debt.

I will post links of interest that I find in my reading about Shipping Container Homes here...

Like and Time of A Renaissance Ronin  - This site has a ton of info.

ContainerBay  - This page has links to a bunch of container projects across the globe.

Want to Live in a ISBU Shipping Container - A great article with useful links and resources.

More to come...

Save Big Money on Detergents, Soaps, and Cleaners

I recently became irate over the monthly cost of soaps and detergents my household was using.  "Surely there is a better way."  I thought to myself.   I began to read articles people have written on the topic, and decided to do some real world experimentation.  The recipes below have worked for my household.  We are saving a good deal each month, and I hope that you will find these useful...

Dishwasher Detergent Recipe:

1 Tablespoon 20 Mule Team Borax

1 Tablespoon Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 Tablespoon of "LemiShine"

Put it in the dishwasher and run like you normally would.

(You can mix larger batches and store in a dry place.  I mix 2 cups of each ingredient and store in a plastic container.)

Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipe:

1 Bar of Ivory Soap

1 Cup 20 Mule Team Borax

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

5 Gallons of Water

Instructions for Liquid Laundry Detergent Recipe:

1. Shred the Ivory Soap (or equivalent no-name brand) into fine shreds with a cheese grater.
2. Warm up, but do not boil, a pot of water.  
3. Drop in the shredded soap.  
4. Stir slowly until soap fully dissolves.
5. Put about a gallon of cool water in a 5 gallon bucket.
6. Dump pot of hot soap water into the 5 gallon bucket.
7. Add 1 Cup of 20 Mule Team Borax and 1 Cup of Arm & Hammer SUper Washing Soda into the bucket.
8. Stir until slowly until all is dissolved.
9. Fill the bucket the rest of the way up with warm water.  Stir throughly.
10. Allow mixture to cool.  
11. Store in gallon jugs, soda bottles, etc.

(Use approximately 4 ounces per load of laundry.  This recipe should be enough for over 100 loads of laundry!)

Fabric Softener:

Add 1/4 cup of White Vinegar to the load.

Liquid Hand Soap:

Heat up but do not boil 1 gallon a water.

Grate 1/2 bar of Ivory Soap or equivalent no-name brand.

Stir the grated soap into the gallon of hot water.

Once fully desolved add 2 more gallons of water to the mix.

Stir well, and allow to cool.

Store in jugs.  Refill your dispensers as needed.
That's 3 gallons of hand soap for under $1.00!!

Reduced My Cable Bill... Bigtime!

I have been a cable subscriber for many years now.  Cable is the viable choice we have for Internet Access in the area we live in.  I was happy paying my $58 bill each month for Internet and Basic TV... But one day I came home and found a cable bill for almost $100 dollars in the mailbox.

"This can not be."  I said to myself.  But a quick call to my cable company confirmed it.  They had practically doubled my bill, and they did not seem to want to negotiate the price.  So...  I decided to make some changes.

 

1. I bought an HDTV antenna.  No more paying for TV stations.  I get about 20 channels.  And the programming isn't bad at all! 
2. I evaluated video streaming options...  Still thinking about it.  Services like Hulu.com offer streaming of TV shows etc.
3. I bought a new cable modem.  (It seems that I had been paying a modem rental fee of $7 per month.  According to my calculations I have paid over 600 bucks in rental fees for a 54 dollar modem!)  The new modem will pay for itself in no time.
4. I called my cable company and discontinued my TV service -  keeping only my Internet Access.
5. I activated my new cable modem and returned the one I had been renting back to my cable company's local office.  No more $7 rental fee!

My cable bill is now $39.99!  I can live with that!

Now...The cable company keeps calling me to offer promotional packages.  Essentially they want to rope me in for some low price for 3 months, then jack the rates up again.  No thanks!  :)

Lessons Learned:

• Never rent when you can own.
• Never pay when you can get it for free.
• TV is mostly just background noise in my home.  We hardly ever sit down and watch TV shows.  I can honestly say I do not miss cable TV at all.  Cable TV is so infected with commercials that it is difficult to grasp what you are watching.  In fact the things we watch now are more to our liking!
• Beware any promotional offering... It is merely a ploy to get you on-board so that they can increase the price later. 

DIY 55 Gallon Drum Incinerator

I got tired of paying for trash pickup. In these times hard times in which we live one has to come up with ways to reduce expenses in order to survive. I had an old 55 gallon drum that was just collecting dust. I decided to make an incinerator that I could burn my paper & cardboard in. I know... I know... Its probably not the greenest solution in the world, but hey... its saving me 30 bucks a month in trash removal. :)

We actually recycle our plastics. The nasty food stuff goes into a compost pile. The rest gets burned. Saves $360 a year. Works for me. So far everything that I have fed into this burner has burned completely and has been reduced to ashes. For my next trick I might try to harness the heat from something like this for home heating in the winter months. Imagine heating your house with trash. :)

Parts used:

1 55 Gallon Drum

1 Toggle bolt (for door handle)

2 Galvanized Hinges

1 4" x 5' Galvanized duct pipe

1 4" Duct Rain Cap

Tools used:

Dewalt Hand Grinder

120 VAC Arc Welder (This thing is worth its weight in gold!)

Drill with 1-1/2" Hole Saw attachment (For holes in bottom of barrel for air.)