Clean Along #3, clean the bathroom and a money saving tip

January 27, 2025



How do you like the gentle pace of our deep clean? One room per week! Little by little our house will sparkle. This easy going pace works for me because I can work hard for short bursts of  time and then walk away with no guilt. I promise myself that I will come back and finish, I'll be thorough, and the room will be finished in a week. This gives me plenty of time to finish without having it overtake my life or poop me out, but no way can I procrastinate. I know from experience that trying to do it all at once is not only impractical, but impossible. This week the master bath is on the agenda and I attack this room just like any other room so let's begin!

This is Clean Along post #3. You can find Clean Along #1 here where we begin our big 2025 deep clean challenge in the bedroom and Clean Along #2 here where we tackle the closets.

I take all the machine washable items to the laundry room and get that started. I clear the surfaces and take decorative items to the kitchen to be washed. The tiny lampshades were placed in the tub and sprayed with warm water then taken outside to the back patio to dry. I brought in the trash can because anything I get rid of in the bathroom is going to get thrown out, not donated. I then clean the bathroom like I normally would with one big exception, one by one I empty out each drawer, scrub it, line it if necessary, then refill and organize. I use my hand vac and bucket of warm soap water with plenty of sponges and microfiber clothes to clean out each drawer. The walls were washed down with another bucket of warm soapy water and I used a Magic Eraser for problem marks. 

Tidy tip I swear by: My soapy water ratio is a half bucket of warm water with a few drops of Dawn. I use this for practically every cleaning job and also for the floors and the baseboards, plus the vanity that is just out of sight on the right in the picture above. I'm always amazed when my clean looking room produces several buckets of dirty water. 

Tidy tip: In our "catch all" drawers next to the sink we keep our daily items corralled in plastic dividers. I have two sets and use them all over the house; in my desk, sewing room, kitchen and bath. They are on sale now, 25 pieces for $18. I like these particularly because everything in my space has a place and I cannot overstuff my drawers.


Money saving tip #1.  I stopped myself from overbuying products by allowing only one designated spot for back stock. I can't come home with another shampoo or lotion, etc., unless there's room in it's own particular spot. No overspill of product into another room! This saves me money from being tempted with sales and products I don't need and won't use thus unintentionally over buying. We don't want to own more stuff than we have space to store it. This is also a tidy tip because having less keeps our drawers and cupboards less jumbled, and with less stock to manage, nothing gets lost or spoiled.

Tidy tip: Under the sink and in my larger drawers I keep product back stock in plastic bins to keep my drawers safe from possible drips or leaks.


Money saving tips 2-6: The bath is where we store all our beauty products and is our biggest money pit. If you can change habits here, you can save a bundle. Here's how I save money and while I know some of them are obvious,  they were not obvious to me several years ago, so here goes:

  • I don't experiment with new beauty products nor do I allow myself to be influenced by social media. I think this is by far my best money saving tip. Find what you like and stick to it. There are no miracles out there no matter what the influencers say. Be strong and avoid this money pit!
  • I purchase inexpensive drug store brands approved by my dermatologist who says the products I'm using are fantastic. I brought them in for her to check and she liked them all, saying what we already suspected, inexpensive brands can work as well as expensive brands; find one that has the right consistency and fragrance for your liking and stick to it. Use sunscreen!
  • I don't keep a large back stock of any product. When I'm getting close to the end of a product or if I pull out the last of my back stock, I will add it to my shopping list. For convenience sake I have my sunscreen and compact powder arrive bi-monthly with an Amazon subscription because I can't often find it at my drugstore when I need it.
  • My mascara is also on auto order once every six months. When it arrives, I throw out the old mascara and open the new. Because of possible bacteria contamination, it's recommended we don't use old product on our faces, so if you have something that has been opened for 6 months, use it up quickly or toss it.
  • To avoid over spending, follow the one in/one out rule, a guideline for decluttering and keeping your home organized which involves getting rid of one item for every new item you bring into your home. 
 
I think it might be weird to show you inside my drawer but I'm always nosy and you may be too so here goes. The products above are the ones I asked my dermatologist to check. She approved of them all and added the Elta MD as the facial suncreen she recommended. I use the Roc nightly and the eye cream morning and night. She approved of Roc and also recommend their face wash. She also gave me a few tiny sample tubes to try of another brand to try but I think I'll stick with Roc. I also have some blemish cream for emergencies, still at my age, oi. The little pink pump jar of Elf Face Primer is so nice and I have that on auto ship from Amazon as well. I use the Retinol cream in the upper right on Sunday nights only. Anymore than once a week and my face will peel. Most if not all of these products can be found at drugstores or Amazon but I think the Retinol is prescription only. 

I want to show you this drawer because sometimes I have to admit that I don't follow my own advice. See that Chanel lipstick in the middle of the picture? That was purchased when a blogger I love recommended it. It was $45 and it was silly to buy it because it's only just OK. Lesson learned. Again. The rest of the products I love and give me no allergic reaction which I struggle with. I use the original Benetint color stain (at the bottom of the picture) on my lips and cheeks and have for decades. It has staying power and I've never had an allergic reaction like I do with other stains. I use the Boom Stick for travel, also for lips and cheeks. It's a great product to keep in your purse. I just realized that the Bobbie Brown crayon above it is ages old and I'm heading into the bathroom now to toss it. I also like to have a lip pencil and above that are two fun Elf lip gloss/plumpers that were in my Christmas stocking this year (from my sweet daughter). Above that is the colored Chapstick I have in every purse and every drawer, and lastly a fat tube of drug store lip gloss. Most if not all of these products can be found at drugstores, but I give the Amazon links for convenience.

This is my back stock of makeup. This is the mascara I use (auto ordered every six months from Amazon) and the brow product from Maybelline that I can usually find at Target or Walgreens. The Elf face powder is very light and is applied with a brush. It's very small and I go through one a month so I have it on auto order, two at a time every two months. 


Thank you for being my inspiration and my accountability buddy. It means a lot to me that you are reading this. Next week we're going to tidy up my favorite place in the house--the craft and knitting rooms. I'm actually looking forward to that. 

This is Clean Along post #3. You can find Clean Along #1 here where we begin our big 2025 deep clean challenge in the bedroom and Clean Along #2 here where we tackle the closets.

My granddaughter writes a blog and this week's post is so moving. I hope you will read it and share it with anyone you know who could benefit from her kind, sweet and wise words. I'm so proud of her.

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3 Comments

  1. I also use the tinted moisturizer from Elta MD. It was recommended both by my dermatologist and my anesthetician. I sometimes receive posts from Alle when it goes on sale- 3 for the price of 2 so I stock up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I also use Roc and Elf. Great drugstore brands and I'm happy to hear that your dermatologist approves!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bought the Splash Spray and have Boom in my cosmetic drawer and am considering Roc. There are lots of Elf products (or at least used to be) at Old Navy which some people might find convenient. Chloe

    ReplyDelete

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