What do you see?

 

What do you see in this photo?  I can share with you what is in this photo. So the horseprint rolls are hand towels for the main bathroom. The blue check fabric in the bowl in the back left are cloth napkins, the two tissue boxes have cloth tissues (only for me), the other rolls are kitchen towels, the crocheted items are dish scrubbies, and the jar contains small squares of fabric that I use like cotton balls.

The two yards of fabric in the bottom right corner are going to be new cloth "paper" towels for the kitchen. 

Here is how the rolls work when in the kitchen. I place them on a standard paper towel holder and use as one would use paper towels except that I do not throw them away after a use. 

So my answer to what do you see, could change. You could actually see a way I have (for nearly 16 years) saved money in the home. So I see tremendous savings when I look at the first image. 

Bill has been the primary income earner in the past 35 years and I have done all I can to ensure that the work he does is not seen as expected but appreciated. I work very hard to spend as wisely as possible. And paper towels years ago were roughly $15.00 for about 15 rolls(I can't remember but you get the idea). Now paper towels are far more expensive. I couldn't see the value in an item that I tossed immediately after a few seconds. So I bought some flannel and began this journey. I have no real idea how to sew much more than lines etc., so my squares are just edged with a triangle pattern! 

With the left over flannel, I made the squares to use as cotton wipes. I also cut the large squares and sew again the edges, when they wear out a bit. I use them for cleaning the bathroom or non-kitchen cleaning jobs. 

Cloth napkins were easy to make. When the kids were at home I actually had clothespins with their names on them to attach to their napkin, as the napkin would be used for the day if not totally messy. 

I bought two new yards of flannel for $6.00 and will update the kitchen towels and rotate down any old wore out "paper" towels to other zones in the house. The bathroom towels were an upgrade from the hand towel as I found horse flannel to match my horse themed bathroom. 

So I see money in that first image. Out and out money that one could calculate in savings. A thing I love that I learned is that I like creating things for my home. They are items of  my handiwork and made for the specific purpose of the success of our home, our marriage, our family and it may not be something another would consider but to me even the cloth towels I make are priceless.
 

 Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor but I can stretch a dollar more than it deserves to be stretched.