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It seems to me that some women have this slinging match over who has the higher ground.  Don't go there, you're better than that.  Support other women, and expect support back from them.  It is not acceptable to criticise anyone for not going out to work, or for going out to work and neglecting their house work.  It's stupid and mean.  Be the friend you hope to find.  Be the woman/man you want your daughter/son to be.  I don't understand where the guilt comes from.  Some women have to work and feel guilty for not being at home with their children and not keeping their home as they would like it.  Other women feel guilty for staying at home and not helping with the family finances.  And some women are made to feel guilt when they're criticised for the choice they made - either to work outside the home, or at home.

A couple of ladies have asked how to answer the "what do you do?"- type questions. We should all start from a position of grace and respect.  When I'm asked, I always presume they want to know the truth, so I tell them about making pure soap or the most delicious bread in the world or that we just dug our latest crop of organic potatoes or that I just put up the summer tomatoes or some peaches - and how doing those things makes me feel.  I usually tell them I have a very good recipe for laundry liquid/orange cake/slow cooked italian beef casserole and ask if they would they like me to write it down for them.  Even if the "what do you do" question was not asked with the best of intentions, sharing helps break down those barriers and shows an open heart.

I know there are many readers here who are homemakers, many who work outside the home, and some who combine both.  I have respect for everyone who, like me, is doing their best and working towards a better future, no matter where their workplace is.  Mutual respect and acceptance will go a long way  towards creating caring communities for us all to live in, so when you are asked about what you do, be ready to smile and write out a recipe.  Generosity is sometimes contagious.

Another email has me writing today about homemaking. It's popular topic here, mainly because it is valued, but also, I believe, because there are too few mentors around who will guide and encourage young people towards a domestic apprenticeship.  Those young people, and some who are older, are looking for guidance. The skills of homemaking are seen as menial and not worth much, and often women who work at home, raising children, baking, sewing and cooking are ridiculed as being old fashioned, lazy or "just a housewife".  That is a narrow view of what housekeeping is because if you let it, your home will transform you and is capable of giving you the power and confidence to do anything.

The email comes from a reader in the UK, I'll call her Kate, who says in part:

"Of course, I have plenty of things to do around here and gardening is one of my passions. But I didn't want to be "just a housewife" or "spend my days cleaning". The only role models I have are a couple of other mothers, one of whom employs a cleaner and the other whose chief occupation seems to be acquiring status symbols.

Now, of course, I have discovered you! You seem like a heaven-sent mentor and I love your views on being a homemaker and how it is a viable, creative, fulfilling occupation. Young women, I think, find it harder to embrace this role as their peers can sneer. However, I now feel this is a way I can contribute as much as my husband to the home and I'm very excited!

I appreciate you receive many emails and are very busy (hopefully cuddling a newborn!) but if you do have time to reply I'd like to know if you would still live this life if you had a large family? One loaf of homemade bread lasts ten minutes so I feel a bit daunted at how I would be able to keep up with all these young appetites/soap making etc. Or do you think it's doable, no matter the size of family?"  (Kate also says in the email she is the mother of five children and the youngest has just started school.)

Yes, she gets it!  Housewifing, homemaking, SAHM, WAHM, or whatever you care to call it can be a rewarding career that will help you to contribute as much to your home as your partner does.  Of course, it's not a competition but everyone wants to feel their time is being spent in a worthwhile way and that what they do is indispensable, appreciated, important and meaningful.  Women want to make a significant contribution to their families and when they do, they feel valued and confident.  There are many ways to go through life but I believe one of the best ways is for one partner to earn money while the other partner manages that money to enable the family to spend less than they earn.  No matter what the income is, spending less than you earn is the key.

So how do you get to that place of feeling like your work in your home is important and that it makes a difference?  You have to take charge of it, you need to identify what it is you need to do, and then carry out those tasks to the best of your ability.  When people feel they're in control and are making a contribution, they do their best work.  And when you're raising children, it is in everyone's interests - yours, mine, the community's, that you do your best work.  Children raised well will make our future brighter.  We need to raise givers and doers, not takers and layabouts, our countries depend on it.

I guess you could go two ways. You could see housework as dull and dreary, do as little of it as possible, complain that you're bored, watch TV or play on the computer all day, then open a packet of something for dinner and wonder why life has let you down.  Or you could do what I would do.  If I were a young newly married woman now, I would dive into my new career of being a homemaker.  I would establish a budget and take over every financial transaction relating to the home.  I would challenge myself to get the best value for every one of my dollars/pounds spent.  I would talk to my partner about future children, a future home and work out, with him, how we would work towards what we both wanted.  We would have many deep and meaningful conversations, we would write down our goals, and then we would both work towards them; him by going out and earning a a wage and me by using that money wisely and by creating the best home possible within the boundaries of my budget.

I would buy the best quality we could afford, I'd learn how to cook from scratch as well as how to make and preserve jams, sauces, relish and fruit, I'd learn how to make a good loaf of bread and try to keep out as many preservatives and artificial colours and flavours out of our food.  I would do that because I would have identified that keeping the family in good health can often come down to the simple things like preparing wholesome, unprocessed food.

If you take on any job and believe when you're told that it will be boring, tedious and difficult, you can either believe that, or you can question the motivation behind such statements and find out for yourself.  I prefer to believe that anything I spend my time on, particularly when it involves my family, has the potential to be enriching and meaningful.  If you're just starting out, or coming to this way of life a bit later, I encourage you to dive right into your job as if it's a struggling small business that will evolve into a great success if you understand what you're doing, put time in to skill yourself and work hard.  Once you take that challenge it will give you many wonderful reasons to get up every morning and the more things you want to do, the more you teach yourself, the better you'll feel about homemaking and yourself.  You'll realise then that women make most of the buying decisions in the home and that gives you the power of the dollar/pound.  Use it.  If you don't like the service you receive, if the goods you buy are faulty or inferior, complain.  When we're assertive, shopkeepers listen.  They're not stocking an ingredient you need?  Ask for it.  Shopping is best done with a happy mindset, it's not an exercise of walking behind a trolley picking up products and dropping them  in.  It's much more involved and active than that.  Read labels, know what you're buying, ask, know your products and where to get the best deals.  Shopping is our battlefield.  We want good quality and the best value for our money, the shopkeepers want you to take what is in the shop at the advertised price.  Sometimes getting what you want  takes time and it might involve changing the way you shop.

And in answer to Kate's question, yes, if I had a large family, I would live like this.  I think my children would be happier and I believe it to be the best way to live.  Not just as a retired couple, but from the time you walk through the door of your first home as a committed couple.  If you're making bread for a large family, you'd make 5 - 10 loaves at a time, then freeze some.  On the days you don't bake bread, you might bake biscuits/cookies, muffins, cakes or scones for snacks to supplement the large bowl of fruit on the bench.  Soap making takes less than an hour and the soap lasts for a couple of months.  Making your own cleaning products doesn't take any time at all, the cleaning takes the same amount of time but with a large family you'll do it more frequently.  You'll be doing your laundry in the same way to everyone else, but you'd make your own laundry liquid (it takes less than 30 minutes to make enough for several months), and you'd be hanging the washing on a line instead of using a dryer.  It's much cheaper and healthier, to cook from scratch for a large family because there are so many crock pot/roast/casserole/soup recipes out there and you aren't relying on packets of soup or convenience foods to feed them.   I'm sure there are many readers with a large family, please chip in here and help Kate understand how a large family works.  

And don't forget to model the behaviour you want to see in your children.  Not just today or tomorrow afternoon, but all the time.  As you go about your everyday work, your children are watching and learning how to be when they're older.  If you want them to cook and bake, show them that you do it and teach them how to.  Let them help you while they're young.  Show them how to make their beds, put their toys away, take their dirty clothes to the laundry, feed the dog, put away dishes, sew on a button, how to repair a ripped shirt, mow the lawn, plant seeds, water the garden, clean the car, clean their shoes, watch over their siblings and to be a good citizen.  Everyone of those things will enable them grow in confidence, help them as they grow and help you in your daily work.

Don't listen to anyone who wants to put you down, no matter what you're doing. If you have friends who demean you, tell them it hurts you and you would like them to respect your lifestyle choice.  If they don't, walk away, they're not friends. Believe in yourself, know that homemaking is a valuable way to spend your time, and do your best. What you do in your home will improve your quality of life, even in the most humble home.  It's a great investment in your family's future and one you can be proud of.  Those "friends" who say housework is dull don't understand its potential. It not a series of mind numbing chores, it's active and enriching work that helps a family be their best.  Sure, you'll have days when you wished you could leave it all behind but from my experience, those days are far outnumbered by beautiful days that make you realise there is no better way to live.

ADDITION:  7.30 am, Sunny and Kerry have just gone to hospital for the birth.  :- )

10.00 am, Sunny is in very early labour.  They were given the opportunity to wait at home so they've gone back home in the hope that Sunny can rest.  She's been awake since 3am.  They have hourly checks to do and instructions on when to return to the hospital, which is only 10 minutes away.

Thank you all for your good wishes for them.

I've had a couple of emails lately asking about washing up.  I've written about this in the past but its over a year now since we got rid of our dishwasher so I thought it would be interesting to write about going back to washing up by hand.

In November 2009, I decided I no longer needed, nor wanted, a dishwasher and asked Hanno to remove it from the kitchen.  Today, I wanted to give an evaluation of the water and electricity saved by not having a dishwasher but we've changed both our electric and water companies in the past year and with price fluctuations and different pricing structures, it was too difficult to calculate.  Suffice to say we're saving electricity but probably use about the same amount of water. I know there is a common belief now that hand washing uses more water than machine washing.  I have seen figures of 63 litres mentioned for washing up by hand.  That is a lot of water! My washing up sink holds about 15 litres, my rinsing sink holds about 10 litres.  Even if I filled them both to their capacity I'd use 25 litres. As it happens, I use  less than 10 litres, twice a day.  I explain how below.

But water and electricity aren't as much of a concern to me as the chemicals used in dishwashers are.  Not only are they very expensive, they're highly toxic and corrosive.  Before I gave up my dishwasher, I tried a couple of homemade versions of dishwasher detergent but was never happy with the result.  I realised I could not continue using them and still say I cared for the environment.  And please, I am not accusing anyone of anything here, I'm just relaying my feelings.  The last day I used those chemicals in my home was a happy one. When we sold our machine, we gave the lady all our dishwasher detergent too. I was really glad to see it go.

Another cost that's often overlooked in the hand versus machine washing debate is the cost of the machine's manufacture, freight from the place of manufacture to where you buy it, and then to home.  Add to that the waste they become when they break down or wear out. All these costs have to be weighed up and considered.  If you have a large family, work outside the home and have little home time, you'll probably decide you're willing to pay the various costs.  If, like me, you're in a small family with occasional large family groups, you might think the cost is too high and hand wash.  Either way though, it's a private decision for all of us.  As always I don't expect you to follow what we do here; I expect you to do what suits you and the way you work and be proud of that.

For me, there is nothing like hand washing dishes.  It is a homemaker's task that hasn't changed in many a long year.  What I do is what my grandma did, and her grandma before her.  It's so simple and gentle on the dishes, it's relaxing, quiet and satisfying.  Just me and a sink of hot water with either liquid soap or dish detergent, a dishcloth, dish mop, stainless steel scourer and brushes, and a sink of warm water for rinsing.  I don't dry, I set the plates and cups on the drainer and let them air dry.  Hanno wanders along later and puts everything neatly back in its place.  

There is a line of thought that says the dishwasher washes cleaner, and I believe that is true.  Dishwasher water is so hot and the detergent so corrosive, you'd not be able to put your hands into it.  I have found that hot water you can put your hands into, cleans effectively, and easily, and we've never had an instance of food poisoning in our home.  I've written about over-cleaning before.  Cutlery and crockery you use every day needs to be clean,  it doesn't need to be sterile.  

This is how I wash up.  After breakfast the plates are scraped, but not rinsed, unless we've had eggs.  Eggs stick and will need scrubbing later if you don't pre-rinse it.  The plates and cups are stacked in the sink.  The morning tea cups and a plate are added and I wash up after we've had lunch - usually another couple of plates and glasses or cups.  If I do any cooking or preserving/canning, this is an extra and will be washed up as soon as I'm finished.  As I prepare dinner, I wash up as I go, so I add hot water to the sink, wash graters, paring knives, measuring jugs, strainers etc as I use them and leave the water in the sink ready for the dinner plates.  After dinner, all I have to do is finish off our two plates, cutlery, water jug and glasses and I'm finished.  Everything sits in the drainer to dry.  I fill my sink with about seven litres/quarts of hot water, and in a second smaller sink, about two litres to rinse, twice a day.  The soap, brushes, scourers, dishcloths, are mostly handmade and used repeatedly, with time out for cleaning or soaking in oxybleach or peroxide.

There is one small part of the dishwasher that I do miss - the ability to stack the dishes out of sight until they're washed.  But it's not enough of a reason for me to put up with the downsides. In the space the dishwasher once stood, I now have extra storage for recycled jars and bottles and my spare dish drainers.  I don't have a door there, it's a red and white check curtain.  I'm very happy with this arrangement, it suits my kitchen and the way I work and I'm pleased the dishwasher has gone.  It's nothing fancy, but neither am I.  All I need is an effective method that suits the way I work, and after shuffling around I finally have it.

The yarn is plant dyed, organic and fair trade cotton from Peru.  It is, without doubt, the softest cotton I've ever used and just perfect for our first grandson, who is due to arrive this weekend.  I got it from Eco Yarns and will have more information about it next week.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you for visiting me this week.

I have been reading through my book, The Thrifty Kitchen, and in there is a very good guide for oven processing small amounts of fruit - page 153.  All I need now are some recycled jars, sugar syrup and a bit of time, oh, and the plums.

The Thrifty Kitchen recipe calls for 2kg|4.4lbs of any stone fruit - peaches, nectarines, apricots or plums to make one litre|quart of fruit. Preheat the oven to 120C|250F, wash your jars thoroughly in hot soapy water, rinse in warm water and place them in the oven, opening upwards, for 20 minutes.  Then,

We were vegetarian for quite a few years, maybe seven or eight, and went back to meat after reading Nourishing Traditions.  When I started buying meat again I was shocked at how expensive it was so I've tended to stay with the cheaper cuts or we eat fish or chicken, along with our favourite vegetarian dishes.

I really like meat with the bone still in it.  Either as a roast, chops or in a casserole.  The meat seems sweeter and more tender, and the bone gives an added depth of taste.  One of my favourite pieces of meat is a pork shoulder.  When it's cooked well, the meat is tender and delicious, and it's cheaper than a leg or anything from the middle section.  

I encourage you to buy meat from your local butcher, not the supermarket; it's usually cheaper. The butcher will know where the meat comes from, so ask him about each cut while he's wrapping it for you. When the butcher knows you're interested in your food and want to know about it, he'll probably be more careful about giving you good quality meat. You can ask the butcher to trim the fat off, to slice thin or thicker slices, or to dice up or mince a slice for you.  It's all in the service they offer you - service you'll never get from a supermarket. There was a time when every housewife knew the various cuts of meat, now it seems very few do.  I encourage you to know as much about your food as possible.  Learning which part of the animal the various cuts come from is a good start to learning about meat.  I've found some good guides to meat cuts.  Some cuts are the same in all countries, some are different.  The lists are below:

AUSTRALIAN MEAT CUTS

UNITED KINGDOM

We had this shoulder of pork as a hot roast with baked purple sweet potato, onions and green peas on Sunday.  On Monday we made sandwiches with the shoulder, last night's dinner finished it off.  I stripped the bones of the good meat and the scrap meat - that with too much fat on it - and gave that to the chooks as an added treat.  Chickens are carnivores and love meat.  The good meat and some of the roasted bones went into a pot for a very nice pork and vegetable casserole. The bones gave a lot of added flavour to the dish.  The shoulder fed us well for three days.

When you buy a shoulder - you can also buy lamb shoulders instead of legs for a delicious roast lamb meal - you can ask the butcher for it to be boned, if that is how you want it.  A boned shoulder is easier to cut and you can lay it flat and fill it with stuffing before rolling it back up again and securing it with cooking string.  If you do have the butcher bone the shoulder for you, ask him for the bones, because when you roast the meat you can roast the bones at the same time, then make stock with them - and freeze it.  But as I said, I like meat with the bone still in so that is how I buy it.  There is quite a bit of fat in pork and lamb but if you cook it slowly for a long time, much of the fat will render out, and if you eat it cold the next day, it's very easy to cut the fat out.

You can either buy the expensive cuts like T-bone steak, rump, legs of lamb, pork chops or fillet, or stay with the cheaper things like sausages, neck chops or minced steak|ground beef.  But there is a middle ground.  In between those two extremes there are the cheaper cuts that tend to take longer to cook, but have excellent flavour and give you delicious nutritious food, for much less money.  With rising costs, this is one way to keep meat on the table while staying within your budget.

I am absolutely amazed at the support shown in the last post.  It proves, yet again, what a close and caring community we have here.  I wish I could give you a hug, or shake your hand, but all I can do is say thank you.

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Can you remember back to when you had babies to care for and how careful you were with their bedding? You'd make sure the sheets were clean and straight, you'd make the little bed several times a day and as soon as there was a wet sheet, into the washing machine it would go.  You did those things, and more, because you knew how important that bed was to your baby.  Well, I might be reverting to babyhood because I tend my bed as carefully as I would a cot or crib and I do it because sleep is important.  Now let me declare my bias here up front.  I LOVE my bed, always have, always will.  I am a good sleeper.  I'm rarely in bed more than ten minutes before I'm sound asleep.  But I also do a lot of my thinking in bed in the cool dark hours of the morning and being in an uncomfortable bed would not be conducive to my sleeping or thinking.  If I want to get the most out of every day, I need to sleep well.

I can almost hear the sighs from readers who just want to leave their bed untouched until they get into it again at night, but having a clean wrinkle-free place to sleep is one of the things that will make a difference to your day and how well you get through your work.  You are mindful of your diet and exercise, you shower every day - or most days, you clean your teeth, make sure you store your food properly so it remains safe and healthy; your bed, my friends, is in that category.  It matters.  If you're just going to pull up the sheets during the day, why not give yourself another two minutes and make the bed. 

You don't need expensive sheets, blankets or doonas/duvets.  It doesn't matter if nothing matches,  what matters is that your sheets are clean and fresh, are tucked in properly and that nothing in your bed makes you uncomfortable or causes you to wake up.  Of course, the best bed is the one you sleep in the first night after your change the bedding.  The smell of sunshine on those newly laundered sheets remind me every single time that a simple bed, well made every day, has a power beyond what you think is possible.

My sister Tricia made these red worked pouches.  They are for holding a nightie or PJs during the day and sit on the bed like little pillows.

I change our bedding every week, wash the sheets in cold water using home made laundry liquid.  Everything is hung in the sun to dry and brought in that evening.  Nothing fancy, just very simple.  That first night the sheets are pulled tight and tucked in and, depending on the season, covered with a doona/duvet and a quilt, or what we have now that we're moving to Autumn, cool cotton sheets, a blanket and a quilt.  Soon we move further towards our winter bed - an electric blanket on Hanno's side, fluffy flannel sheets and a few thick and cosy layers to cover us.

Every morning after that first night, I strip the bed down to the bottom sheet, smooth out that sheet with my hands, then make the bed by tightening the bottom sheet, making sure the corners are anchored and the sheet won't slip during the night.  The top sheet, pillows and blankets are removed and shaken, then replaced.  The same applies to each top layer.  During the day the windows are left open to allow fresh air to circulate.  The windows are closed when it's very cold, late in the afternoon.  Every so often I leave the pillows outside in the sun for the day, and hang the quilts and blankets on the line.  It's also a good idea to use a mattress protector and to vacuum the bed every couple of months.

Simple clean cotton sheets and a homemade quilt can nurture the soul as well as aching bones and a stressed mind.  Allow your bed to do what it's there for - to keep you warm, safe and secure until you wake.  When you think about it, sleep is a strange concept.  We go about our every day activities and once a day, we get tired, lay down flat and lose consciousness.  Weird!  No one knows why we do that, but all animals, birds and reptiles do.  

It is easy to believe it's too simple to be an important part of the day but those two or three minutes you spend smoothing, tucking and folding back, care for you during the eight hours you sleep.  The time-expended-to-benefits-created ratio is in your favour.  If you've never thought about this, or don't think it's worth while, make your bed every morning for a week and I think you'll quickly slip into the made bed camp.  Beds are more important than we think.  We're usually born in one and we will probably die in one.  All that time in between that you spend in bed sets you up for your active life by allowing you to relax into sleep, to dream and to wake refreshed and ready for the busy day.  Those three minutes are a sound investment.

This is probably not the post you're hoping for today but I need to say something before it makes my head explode. 

What I choose to write about on my blog is my decision, no one else's.  Blogging appeals to me because it's uncensored, independent and raw and I hope that my writing about how Hanno and I live will help and encourage others who want to simplify their own lives.  Any of the millions of bloggers throughout the world only have to type their message and click "publish" for it to be available world-wide for everyone to read.  In the world of paper publishing there are a number of filters applied to the words you eventually read.  In blogging there are no such filters, as I said, it's raw and uncensored, and I love that.  

One of the things I really hate about the internet is that it gives cowards - they're ALWAYS anonymous - a platform to judge and criticise people they don't know. It's another form of bullying.  I don't stand in judgement on anyone.  No one. I am not perfect, I make mistakes, I am flawed, just as many people are.  What I hope for is that I am not judged at all, but if I am, that you judge me in the context of what I do everyday, and have been doing here for the past four years.  Why do you forget the two thousand days I wrote what you liked, and criticise the one day I didn't write what you expected to see? People seem to be quick to judge one mistake on the internet without taking the full measure of someone's history into consideration. One strike and you're out. It's like they're waiting for you to trip up. What causes that?  What's happening to kindness, grace and tolerance?  Are the qualities of consideration not necessary on the internet?  

If I leave a comment on anyone's blog, I do it proudly under my name and not as "jackie" or "anna". Frankly Anna-Jackie (I think you're one person), I'd prefer not having readers like you. The people who comment here are part of a community of positive and friendly folk who seek to live well and with an open heart.  They don't look for things to criticise.  Life is too short. 

I don't want to be neatly boxed up in a conveniently described package. I don't want to be predictable. I rarely go along with what everyone else is doing.  And whenever I am touched deep to the core, my reaction is private and unspoken, not part of a meme on the internet. 

I'm sorry everyone had to read this but I felt I had to say something - otherwise I'm accepting what they say about me.  Tomorrow I'll write about making a cosy winter bed.  It will make me feel better.

This book is on my mind.  It might look like an ordinary book but this book, my friends, is the dummy Down to Earth book.  It was sent to me by my editor, Jo, a couple of days ago.  It shows me the size, paper, board cover etc. I loved having it in my hands; suddenly it made the whole thing real.  The paper is certified as meeting the PREPS 3 standard (PREPS - Publishers Database for Responsible Environmental Paper Sourcing).  That blue colour will change.  The design elements and colours will be chosen later.  :- )

I want to clarify something after a couple of the comments: the book is completely blank.  It's to give me an idea of size, paper and board stocks.

Last week, Raspberry wrote:  I don't know if you previously did a post about wise economy and what that means, but I would love to see you do one. Wise economy doesn't always means buying what's cheapest, but it can sometimes be difficult to know when it's wise to buy what's cheapest and when it's wise to pay extra, especially when it comes to quality. I would love your thoughts on this issue.

Raspberry was commenting on my knitting post when I wrote:  I use to think it was a wise economy to buy the cheapest wool; I no longer believe that. The cheapest wool comes with its own invisible price attached. Fibres - even natural fibres like pure cotton and wool, are often processed with harsh chemicals you don't want on your skin. Paying a few dollars more for a better quality yarn will give you a better quality garment and peace of mind, knowing it's not tainted.

As Raspberry said, the cheapest isn't always the best value for money.  What good is a scarf that you buy the wool for, knit and start to use, only to find that it irritates your skin, is too scratchy or leaves a rash.  You won't want to throw it away because you spent all that time and money on it. That scarf will sit in your cupboard and not be used. Saving a few dollars not buying the yarn you really wanted will turn into a total waste of money.

There is no rule that covers this.  Often when it comes to making a decision on what to buy, you have to try it first. For instance, I thought buying embroidery cotton would be simple and straight forward so I bought a slightly cheaper brand. I discovered when I'd made the cover, embroidered and washed it, one of the red colours ran.  Since then I always buy the more expensive cotton.  I think the best advertising is word of mouth from someone you trust.  If you're going to buy something, ask your friends what they know about it.  If you can't find anyone who knows and it's a small item, buy the smallest amount you can to try it.

If you're learning how do various things, ask those you're learning from about how they choose their materials or ingredients.  If you're starting a new craft, learn as much about the materials as you do about the techniques.  Do your research, read good books on your topic and be selective about what you find on the internet.  There will be differing opinions on just about everything.  

I can't give you recommendations for various products but I am firmly convinced of the wise economy of:

I guess my overall recommendation is to know about what you buy. Otherwise you're at the mercy of the manufacturers and we all know that's not always the best position to be in. If you go into the shop to buy something, go armed with as much knowledge as possible.  When you buy something that exceeds your expectations or disappoints you, tell your friends about it.  Making the decision to buy is never easy but if you're aware and have done some research, you'll be better placed.  Don't be one of the uneducated sitting on the side lines thinking that everything you should know will be on the label.  It won't be.  I think there are many good manufacturers and ethical retailers out there.  The problem is, generally, we don't know who is who.  

What are your wise economies?