2squared Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I have 4 grocery stores and 2 warehouse stores within two miles of me. :) My mom gives me her coupons because she gets the Sunday paper. Sigh. My Tinytown grocery is within 2 miles of me. I drive 45 min to the nearest Walmart in a big town of 5000 people. I drive over an hour for anything else. Tinytown groceries don't have fabulous sales or incredible coupon deals. Why would they? They are the only game around. I read a lot of the grocery information for fun since it doesn't apply to us. We have to cut our grocery bill in other ways. Couponing and comparison shopping stores just doesn't work where we live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowscreek Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Don't have anything to add as you have received GREAT advice so far! Just wanted to say GOOD LUCK and commend you for being disciplined about becoming debt free. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandellie4 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I am seriously considering making my own laundry detergent. A friend recently told me that she spent $40 2 years ago for all the necessary ingredients and just ran out of them for the first time. That is really cheap-just a pennies a load!! Plus she has 3 boys and a husband that comes home very dirty due to his job. It has no dyes, no strange additives... I would love to do this. We have to pay top dollar because my family has so many allergies. Is there a recipe online or somewhere? Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandellie4 Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Slight hijack....We make our own detergent. It is so easy! I just use 1 bar grated Ivory, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup washing soda. We add enough water to make 2 3liter bottles. It costs us about $20 a year, and it works better than store bought. Do a google search or I'll post how we do ours, if you are interested. I'm interested in how you do yours.... Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Here's the recipe I just used (it made more than 3 gallons) - 12 C. boiling water 1 bar Fels-Naptha soap, shredded, added to water and stir until melted (medium heat) Add 1 Cup Borax and 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda Mix until all dissolved 5 gallon bucket put 8 cups *hot* water Pour soap mixture into this and mix well. Add 40 cups water from tap. Mix well. 15 minutes later mix 1 hour later, mix 4 hours later, mix 8 hours later, mix You mix more early on because you're trying to keep it from congealing; it "learns" that it shouldn't do that so after awhile you don't need to mix as much. The mixing times build on each other -- i.e., it's 8 hours after the 4-hour time that you mix again (and at this point it's not hard-and-fast -- don't get up in the night to mix! Okay, it should then be thickened and ready to use as detergent. Use 1/2 cup per large load. I think I am going to try this as soon as I run out of the detergent I have stocked up. I am a little gun shy b/c I tried making homemade dishwasher detergent and it was a disaster. My dishes got dirtier and dirtier each week. I finally had to go through and scrub every piece of my silverware with straight vinegar to get the residue off...and I was using vinegar in the rinse cup. I tried 3 different recipes and they were all the same. It seems that others have had much better luck with the laundry detergent. And I am already a fan of washing soda added to my current detergent. It gets my whites so much cleaner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 I'm interested in how you do yours.... Sandy :iagree: Me too! I would like to compare a few different recipes/methods before deciding. :) Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 Don't have anything to add as you have received GREAT advice so far! Just wanted to say GOOD LUCK and commend you for being disciplined about becoming debt free. :) Thank you very much. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 You might want to get this cookbook...Family Feast for $75 a week by Mary Ostyn. She has a website www.owlhaven.net with lots of great tips as well. What an incredible blog, and the links...I could have surfed forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 I love our homemade detergent although I haven't made it recently. The kids esp love making it! It's one big bucket of snot before you mix it. Fun! I use fels naptha, I tried Ivory and Kirks Castille. I always come back to Fels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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