FRUGAL LIVING: HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT!!

January 22, 2017 by Joni

How many loads of laundry do you do in a week? How much money do you spend doing laundry? No need to stress anymore. Here is the homemade remedy that will save you a ton of money and this will last you about 6-12 months for an average family!!

What you need:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) Box of Borax- Found in the detergent aisle
1 (3 lb 7 oz) Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda- Found in the detergent aisle
1 (3 lb) Container of OxyClean- Found in the detergent aisle. (This is optional but I highly recommend adding it as it does get the clothes much cleaner!)
2 (14.1 oz) Bars of Zote Soap, Ivory Soap, or Fels Naptha soap* – Found in the detergent aisle (The pink Zote has a scent, the white does not)
2 (2 lb) or 1 – 4 lb box (if they carry it) Boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda- Found in the cooking aisle
1-2 (55 oz) Bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener- Found in the detergent aisle (This is 100% optional, but it will make your clothes smell SIMPLY AMAZING)

The most time consuming part is grating the soap (you will do this by using a cheese grater). You can also use a food processor, but I prefer the cheese grater. The soap does dissolves just fine, even in cold water. (People often worry about this) I highly recommend using a large mixing bowl to grate into and also recommend using the fine side of the grater.

All that’s left is to mix everything together. I used a 5-gallon bucket (you can get at Home Depot, Lowes, etc or even an old 5-gallon paint bucket) It is easier to do it in small portions – take a small amount of each ingredient and layered it on top of each other, then use a large mixing spoon and mix it together. This is easier than trying to mix it all at once.

This will probably last an average family about 6-12 months, yes, really that long! You only need 1-2 tablespoons per load depending on the size.

I always get asked where to store stuff or is there a way to get a smaller bottle than use the 5-gallon bucket. I am so glad you asked, because guess what? If you used the Purex Crystals then you have an empty bottle that you can now fill up with your “homemade laundry detergent”. And it gets even better, use the cap as your measuring spoon. There are 3 lines on the side and the middle one is approximately 2 tablespoons – now is that AWESOME or what?!

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I would absolutely love to hear your opinion after you try it. This will save you so much money and you won’t even have to worry about finding coupons and waiting for laundry detergent to go on sale anymore! Whatcha think? Try it, you truly may like it!!

If you want the liquid recipe, visit Michelle Duggar’s recipe here! I would love to have a review on both if you all want to share!

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How to stretch your money to the fullest for CHRISTmas!!

November 18, 2013 by Joni

As many of you know I am an overachiever and sometimes take things to the extreme and that includes EXTREME SAVINGS! Yes, I also LOVE CHRISTmas time. My absolute very favorite holiday ever!! Not because of gifts, but because our Savior was born – THANK YOU JESUS!! I was raised by parents that taught me at a very young age the value of money and how to stretch every dollar. For that I am thankful as it has made me a more frugal adult.

I am going to show you some of my secrets for saving for CHRISTmas. These are tactics that I use all throughout the year. I don’t believe in going into debt for anything, especially CHRISTmas. With my strategies outlined below, everyone should be able to implement one or two of these to save for CHRISTmas. Remember every little bit adds up and if you do these things all year long when CHRISTmas comes, you are ready to have a DEBT-FREE, STRESS-FREE CHRISTmas!!

1) My favorite thing is – Purchasing GIFT CARDS from Grocery stores that offer fuel rewards! Usually beginning the first week of November, if not sooner, both Kroger and Giant Eagle offer double points for gift cards. This means when you normally earn $0.10 per gallon for a $50 gift card, they will give you $0.20 per gallon for every $50 gift card. So here is the math:

If I buy, 1, $50 gift card and get $0.20 per gallon in fuelperks for 30 gallons that is equivalent to $6 ($0.20 x 30 gallons = $6), which in essence means my $50 gift card actually only cost me $44 now!! That is an instant 12% discount. That is why it is so important for me to plan my Black Friday shopping trips out. The average person spends $1000 for CHRISTmas (per online polls).

So here is the math for that:
$1000 worth of gift cards = 20 gift cards; 20 gift cards x $0.20 fuelperks = $4. Now take that $4 x 30 gallons = $120, so your actual cost for all those gift cards was $880!! Amazing savings! This is such an easy way to save money and most people don’t even think about it!! YOU SAVED $120!!

2) Start taking advantage of Ebates!!This is such an easy site, but so many people over-think it and determine they cannot really save money. I have earned over $1100 this year alone with Ebates. That pays for Birthdays, back-to-school shopping, and CHRISTmas for my family. You can receive your money back via check or directly deposited into your paypal account, which I always do and keep it in there until close to CHRISTmas when I want to use it (unless of course I find a killer deal before then). Anyone that does online shopping should Sign up for Ebates HERE now and watch your funds grow! Through Ebates you earn cash back for ALL purchases. Rather than going directly to the online site to shop, you will first sign in through Ebates!! and then type in the store you are looking for in the search box – see picture below:

It will tell what percentage you will earn in cash back (please note total is before tax and shipping. Once you click on “shop now” you will see the screen below showing you your purchase is being tracked so you receive your cashback credit –

Within 2-3 days your cash back will be deposited into your Ebates account. Every quarter (3 months) you will receive your Ebates cashback! Here is the best part for newbies, after you make your first $25 purchase you will receive a $10 gift card to Target, Home Depot, or many other stores you get to choose from so you are actually only paying $15 or a 40% discount. If you have not signed up for Ebates yet, I highly recommend doing it now and saving 40%! I have went through Ebates when I have rented cars and stayed at hotels. I rented a car and earned 8% cash back for a $60 rental, so that was $4.80. You may think ONLY $4.80, but over 12 months that adds up. Even if you only earn $10 cash back over 12 months ($10 x 12 months = $120) – Yes, $120 for taking one extra step by going through Ebates!! It is a win/win!!

3) Are you using Swagbucks yet? This is another easy way to earn gift cards, paypal money, etc for simply doing what we already do – search the internet. Most people use google to search for things on a daily basis, but if you use Swagbucks you will actually earn points for certain searches. 450 points = $5 Amazon gift card. Once again, as I earn these cards I put them in my Amazon account and keep them until it gets close to Birthdays, back-to-school, or CHRISTmas. You never know what searches will earn points, you just search as you normally would through google (but now use swagbucks). There are surveys you can take through Swagbucks and many other ways to earn extra points. On an average, if you switch to using the swagbucks search engine you will average at least 450 points every two weeks. Now let’s calculate that – 450 = $5 Amazon card. There are 52 weeks in a year divided by 2 weeks (since it takes about 2 weeks on average to earn 450 points) = 26 weeks. 26 x $5 = $130. So in one year’s time you could easily have $130 put aside just by doing what you already do, search the internet!! If you are ready, sign up for Swagbucks HERE and start earning some money!!

4) Yep, my absolute favorite. Survey companies. You all know my favorite is Opinion Outpost! It is the fastest and easiest way to earn extra cash!! It adds up very quickly. I would save the average person could earn about $50 from this site a month easily. $50 x 12 months = $600. The biggest thing with survey companies is if you do not do the survey within an hour of receiving the email notification, chances are you will not be eligible. They fill quickly. What I recommend for all survey sites is going to your dashboard (your home page) and click on the “take survey” tab. You will enter some of your demographics and it will hook you up with some surveys. The next important point is, if a survey is a long survey, but you are not earning many points, opt out of it. You DO NOT have to take every survey. I only take the surveys that I am earning more points for. You will be offered more surveys so just wait until you get a good one, which are frequently!! If you have not signed up for Opinion Outpost yet, I would highly recommend signing up now – CLICK HERE!!

I also have a blog post about all the other survey company sites that I recommend. CLICK HERE to be taken to that post!! I would NOT recommend signing up for every single survey company to start out with. If you are new to survey companies, I would pick 2-3 to start out with. Just because I love a survey company does not mean you will, so if you start out with 2-3, you will be able to see if they fit you. If you find that you do not like one of them, then unsubscribe and try a different one. I will tell you that everyone on my site so far loves Opinion Outpost so that is one I would strongly recommend joining first!

4) Lastly, when items are offered for a FREE trial through the blog, if you have someone on your list that you think would like the item, purchase it. Most of these offers are at least an 80% discount if not more. I had one reader tell me she felt bad because she only paid $8 for an item. The retail value was $100. The person receiving the gift is not concerned with how much you paid for it. Think about it, you can go out and spend $100 for that same item, but why would you when you can save $92!! Be creative in your gift giving. There are so many offers for the reusable grocery bags that can be personalized. I love to order those and fill them for my ones with coloring books and crayons, play-doh, etc. For my older kids, I fill them with bath and body stuff that I have gotten for FREE with couponing. The coolest part is they are personalized items and filled with things that each of them like. This is truly an easy way to be frugal and give some very wonderful gifts to your family while saving your family a TON of money!!

I hope you all found this helpful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I want to challenge each of my followers for 2013 to take advantage of the above items and see if each month we can ALL earn at least $100, so when CHRISTmas 2013 comes, we will have at least $1200 – THAT IS EVERYONE!! With that extra money, we can then PASS THE BLESSING ON and help some less fortunate families and have a DEBT-FREE, STRESS-FREE CHRISTmas with our own families!!

GOD IS GOOD. . .ALL THE TIME!!

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FRUGAL LIVING: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent – averages about $0.06 a load!!

December 29, 2012 by Joni

Since I posted about the homemade laundry detergent I have been looking up recipes to make the homemade dishwasher detergent and am proud to post how to make it. . I have done a lot of research and have tried a few but this is what seems to work the best. This is the one that was pretty consistently listed as one that worked really well. One common Disclaimer that I found was if you have hard water you might have to make some adjustments and the most common adjustment was adding more salt or using 2 tablespoons rather than just 1.

Ingredients you will need for homemade dishwasher detergent:
• 2 cups Borax
• 2 cups Washing Soda
• 1 Cup Kosher salt
• 10 packages unsweetened lemonade (citric acid)
• A container or glass jar to store it in – if you use a glass jar you will want to add a silica gel packet that comes in bottles of medicine or shoe boxes as this will keep the detergent from clumping. The glass jars are pretty cute to keep it in!
• OPTIONAL: If you like a scented experience, then dd several drops of your favorite essential oil–lemon is my favorite and it does make it smell super duper good!

You will want to add all the ingredients in the container you are going to store it in. You will want to make sure you break up any clumps and then shake very, very good. ..

It is nice to label it or if you are using a glass jar like I have chosen to just get a tablespoon and have it attached right to it.

Now just add it to your dishwasher and you are ready to go – HOLLA LUJAH!!

You will also want to add a splash of white vinegar as a rinse agent to prevent spots or the cloudy look. (Some people put it directly in the rinse aid dispenser and some splash it straight into the bottom of the dishwasher – I have bee splashing directly in the bottom of the dishwasher and it is working perfectly!!). This will make a huge difference so you will want to make sure to use the vinegar!

NOTE: One site mentioned that it can clog system so use a store bought detergent once a month to keep it clear. Also there were some comments that Borax was not healthy, but from my research I have found that it is not healthy if ingested just like regular dishwasher detergent would not be. Just wanted to give you a few heads up of concerns out there.

To see other frugal living recipes CLICK HERE!! I would love to hear your reviews after you try it.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my complete Disclosure Policy Here

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GOD IS GOOD. . .ALL THE TIME!!

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