Hair Experiment

This year one of my goals is to search for ways to cut our budget down.  Though you would think (I sure did before I moved here!)  that living in a third-world country in Africa would be cheap...it is not.  There are a small number of things that are local and inexpensive, but the majority of things are imported at a high cost.  Some things are luxuries you can live without (nuts, juice, sodas, canned mushrooms, cereal, etc.) and some things you can not (toilet paper, feminine products, hair products, cheese, etc.).  It is a constant balancing act of what we can do without in order to budget better our own finances and so we can help others more.

In the U.S. I was good at cutting costs to help our family stay out of debt and save for some big purchases; sometimes needs, sometimes wants.  In the U.S. I could shop sales, clearances, and second-hand stores.  I could cut coupons (oh how I miss that!).  I could know where kid's eat free on what days to make a cheap family meal out for our family.  None of those things work here.  Over the last year and a half this is something I have struggled with here.  How can I help my family be better stewards of the money that God has entrusted us with?  What does this look like here?  How can I creatively cut costs while still maintaining a place of rest and comfort for my family?  I have had some small victories in this area, but I have mostly just been discouraged.  I'm hoping a new year will bring some new perspective!

A friend of mine shared this interesting article with me recently on natural homemade shampoo and conditioner and I was thinking this may just fit into my new goal (though it definitely has benefits other then financial!).  I know I can get baking soda here.  I don't know that I can get Apple Cider Vinegar, but I can get regular vinegar and lemon so I might need to do some experimenting with those.

I'll be getting the ingredients this week at the store and hoping to start the experiment this week or next.  I'll keep you posted!
What are your thoughts?  Have you tried this before, or something similar?