Ingredients:
1 bar of Fels Naptha soap or soap of your choice, grated
1 cup of borax
1 cups of washing soda
1 large bucket to hold at least 3 gallons of liquid, I got my bucket at Home Depot for $2.95
Directions:
· In a saucepan heat up 4 cups of water, do not boil the water.
· Grate soap (I bought a grater at the dollar store and keep it with my laundry supplies)
· Add soap shavings to the hot water
· Simmer on low until the soap melts completely into the water.
· Take of the stove
· Add borax, washing soda and baking soda to the hot water and stir stir stir until dissolved
· Add 3 gallons of hot water to the bucket.
· Add the mixture to the hot water.
· Stir until well combined, I use the handle of an old Dollar Store broom J
· Let cool overnight.
· You will notice that it turns into a thick gel or in most of my cases “curdled milk” consistency; the
consistency will not impact the cleaning power.
· Use 1 cup of this homemade laundry detergent per load of laundry
This is a low suds recipe, so you won’t see lots of bubbles!
This recipe yields 50-52 loads of laundry detergent.
Cost per load ranges between 2-5 cents depending on your local prices for the ingredients.
Average price with store bought detergent is around 25 cents per load.
My bucket
Grated Soap
Dissolved soap
Stir Stir Stir
Finished laundry detergent
Frugal Choices this week:
- All meals and snacks cooked at home and mostly from scratch
- Air dried as much laundry as possible
- Mended some torn sweatpants and pajama pants instead of buying new ones (can't even tell where I fixed them)
- Created Lenten crafts with inexpensive salt dough
- I won't be adding any change to our change jar, spare change is going in
Frugal Deal of the week:
I am not an Extreme Couponer, I think my highest coupon count was 20 coupons used once, cooking from scratch is still cheaper for us. BUT I read about this great deal for deodorant at Walgreens.
I bought 4
Regular Price $4.49 each
On Sale Buy 1 Get 1 Free + my coupons $3/2
Final Price: 75 cents each
Frugal Choices this week:
- All meals and snacks homemade
- Cooking from scratch, cheaper than shopping with coupons for us
- Air dried as much as laundry as possible
- Lowered the thermostat by 2 degrees during the day
- Donated some goods and received a coupon worth $5 for the Thrift Store :)
- Started taking online surveys again, earned $5 for 2 surveys, time spent answering questions 35 minutes
- Bought 10 pounds of organic onions on sale for 39 cents/lb, chopped and froze them in small batches
- Received a nice loyalty discount and a free pack of soup bones from our Rancher for our grass-fed/finished beef :)
Frugal Tip: Grow your own
Growing your one fruits and veggies is cheaper & healthier than buying them at the store.
The best part you do NOT need a large garden to grow them, many fruits and vegetables can easily be grown in containers on your porch, patio or balcony.
To save even more $$$ start your plants from seeds, it is easier than you think.
I always use heirloom seeds, since they are not genetically modified.
Here are my Heirloom Tomato Seedlings :)
Frugal Choices this week:
- Air dry as much laundry as possible
- Replaced all "old-style" light bulbs with new energy efficient ones
- Turn off lights when leaving a room
- Used 1/2 recommended amount of laundry and dishwasher detergent, same results when using the recommended amount
- Cooked all meals and snacks at home, no eating out
- Stuck to menu plan
- Saved all spare change in January & made a deposit $20.89 into our Change Jar account
Frugal Item of the Week: Coconut Oil
So many different uses and a little goes a long way:
-Baking
-Frying ( In olny use 1 teaspoon for a big pan when stir-frying)
-Hand Lotion
-Body Lotion
-Baby Lotion
-Facial Cream
-Chapstick
-Hair Conditioner
-Frizz Tamer
-Ointment for scrapes and cuts
-Smells Yummy :)
-Antioxidant properties
I keep one jar in the kitchen and one in the bathroom.
Make sure to buy Extra Virgin coconut oil!
Frugal choices this week:
- Air dried as much laundry as possible
- Used only the minimum of laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, dishwasher detergent etc.
- No eating out
- Cooked all meals at home and most of them from scratch
- Enjoyed some free story-time at the library (along with lots of books)
- Stuck to our menu plan
- Saved all the change and added to the Challenge Jar
Bargain of the week:
Our local Children's Consignment Store had all their Fall/Winter clothes from last year on sale
for $1 !!!! Including sets, dresses, sleepwear and shoes!
I had saved up $100 to buy 2012 Fall/Winter clothes for Miss Munch, I was just waiting
for a good sale.
I walked out of the store with 10 pairs of shoes and 53 Outfits/Dresses and Sleepwear for the next two years for a total of $66.78!
Savings: $373.50
On January 1st we started, once again, our Change Jar Challenge. We save all of our change and deposit the coins once or twice a month into a bank account, which we opened just for the change deposits.
We have no checks and NO ATM card for the account to avoid the temptation of a quick withdrawal of the funds.
Our fund is intended for Birthday and Christmas Expenses.
Balance as of Jan 13th: $24
Frugal Choices this week:
- Air dried as much laundry as possible
- No eating out
- Lights off when leaving the room
- Turned down thermometer whenever possible
- Baked and cooked from scratch when possible
- Dried apples and made applesauce for a quick and healthy snack
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