The Secret Laundry Villains

(No clue how the first time this posted, it was just a draft! =/ Sorry.... here is the completed post...)

So it was getting to be about that time to buy another jug of laundry detergent and fabric softener,

and as we were planning our budget for the month, we weren't to thrilled that these products were on the lists of things to buy. Even with coupons, they aren't too "cheap."

The Mrs. remembered coming across blogs and websites in the last year or 2 of people making their own laundry detergent. She thought it was neat, but never really gave it a second thought.

Well, last weekend we decided to go ahead and "give it a second thought." We googled "homemade laundry detgerent" .... and were enlightened about a whole 'nother world out there we never knew existed! ha It turns out.. laundry detergents have paired up with fabric softeners and dryer sheets to form the #1 evil toxin villain team behind global warming and all other horrible things in life... whoa, snap out of it, sorry we were in "pretend" mode with Wyatt for a second (this happens all the time to Mr.). Seriously though, there are some pretty weird things (toxins and chemicals) in these products that enter our bodies through our skin via our clothes.

So when we learned we would 1) save money 2) change our whole laundry process to all natural and 3) help save the environment.... we figured, why not give it a shot?! So off we went to Target and HEB to gather ALL 3 ingredients we would need to make our laundry detergent. 3 things people, it doesn't get any easier than that!

All you need is Borax, Washing Soda, and Soap (Our grand total for these items was $7.68)

We mixed together 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of Washing Soda

Then added 2 bars of grated soap!

Just stir and store!

(Empty formula can wrapped in scrapbook paper)

This is the powder version but you can also melt the soap and add water and make a liquid version. We use 1-2 tablespoons per load. Based on our smaller (test) batch, it looks like this batch will last us about a month. And there is still plenty of Borax and Washing Soda! We will just need to buy more soap, that 3 pack of Ivory only cost $1.15.

As for the fabric softener, we just ditched it! No more fabric softener to be seen in this house! And the dryer sheets (the leader of the toxic villian team!)... never again will we fall into Snuggle's cuddly little trap! Instead, we just put a couple drops of lavender oil on a washcloth and throw it in the dryer with the wet clothes.

 The results..... We haven't had any issues with static cling, which is what dryer sheets are supposed to do. (But even if we did experience static cling, there are tricks for that too!) Our clothes are just as clean as before. The only thing different is they don't have the strong "laundry" smell that comes from all the extra

(; toxic) ingredients. We're never goin' back! So long Tide and Snuggle!

Here's a few websites that we used along the way:

The Family HomeStead

DIY Natural

10 Recipes

NOTE: Let it be known that we are NOT tree huggin' hippies, just penny pinching poor people. Hence, the reason we embarked on this crazy adventure of making our own laundry detergent.

-Mr. and Mrs.

Latest Deals

I just had to share the latest deal on Huggies Little Swimmers Diapers:

One package of these costs $9.99 ... crazy expensive when you only get 12 diapers in a package! Well I knew we would be needing these for our beach trip (2.5 weeks away!) so I've been keeping my eyes open for a sale on them. Last week, Babies R Us had them marked down to $6.99 and I had several $2.00 off coupons. They only had 2 packages left in Wyatt's size so I got both of them for $4.99 each. Basically half off, and I thought I got a really good deal! Well, then the Walgreens ad came out yesterday and they had them on sale for $6.99 also, but also had a $2.00 off Walgreens coupon, bringing it down to $4.99, which I could also stack my manufacturer's coupon on top of that... bringing it down to $2.99 !!! So I got 2 more packages at $2.99 each! Woo Hoo! If only I had waited a little longer, I could have gotten all 4 of them at Walgreens.

We got groceries on Saturday and I was pleased as punch to see that I had saved $31.50 in coupons on our grocery bill and my total savings was $44.00 ! Here is a picture of everything that we got FREE!

3 (HEB brand) "Gatorade", 10 Barbeque Sauces, Chipotle Mayo, Rach Dressing, 32 oz. Ketchup, Corn Nuts, 2 Mac N Cheese (1 big, 1 small), Croutons, and Bread... We don't eat white bread though, still not sure what I'm going to do with it. Any ideas? lol

As for the BBQ Sauce.... it was on sale for $1 and the Smart Source ad from last Sunday had $1 OFF coupons! FREE! I got 10 of them! I had 5 more coupons in the car for so I need to go back this week and get 5 more :) If you are able to.. try and get multiple sunday newspapes, for when a deal like this comes around! Mr. was doing some work for a guy last week who had tons of newspapers for packing material so he went through and got all the coupons for me :) What a guy ;)

Make sure you check out the latest Wyatt posts below if you haven't yet <3

Jackpot

I hit the JACKPOT at Walgreens this week and just had to share!!

For everything pictured above I paid $14.51 !!!

My total savings was $44.23 !!!

The best deal was the razor. See the razor on the far left. It's the Gillette Fusion Proglide originally priced at $12.99. It is on sale right now for $9.89 and they also give you $5.00 back when you purchase it, bringing it down to $4.89. Well then I had a $4.00 coupon so I ended up getting it for $0.89!!

Not every week is this amazing, especially since I don't buy something just because it's a good deal... I only buy it if it's something we really do use. I'm slowly getting my coupon stash back up so I'm starting to really get back into the game :)

On Saving Money And Such....

I do realize that all of my posts are about Wyatt. With eyelashes like these, how can I resist?

Hehe (had to throw a picture of him in here)

Anyways, as you all know Mr. is getting out of the military on June 2nd. I guess you could say he already is out and has been since March 18th. He has been using his "terminal leave" a.k.a. Not working but still getting paid his full paychecks, medical coverage for all of us, base access, Ect. This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The 3 of us are together all day, everyday with no financial worries. We are having an amazing time and soaking it all in.

However, it is quickly coming to an end. We are down to only 2 more paychecks. Mr. starts his flight program in August and we will be receiving some of the benefits that are still offered to us through the military, but the reality is that our income is decreasing drastically (and has been for several months now). We went from a 3 job household (for just the 2 of us) to 2 jobs (I quit one of my jobs during my 3rd trimester) and then to 1 job after I had Wyatt. And very soon, neither of us will technically have a "job."

We feel very strongly that it is important that I stay home with Wyatt. (and if you're familiar with daycare prices, you know sometimes it isn't even reasonable to work outside the home just for all that money to get paid to the daycare).

Since I am not working outside the home, I feel that something I can do to help us is SAVE money! I've gotten back into couponing and just wanted to share a little bit about ways I've been saving.

Walgreens is an awesome place to save! The idea behind (extreme) couponing is to match current sales with coupons to maximize your savings. For example, this week at Walgreens, they have all Covergirl cosmetics B1G1 50% off. And there is coupon out right now that is $2.50 off 2 Covergirl products. I shopped Walgreens deals today and ended up spending $11.67 and my SAVINGS totaled $12.22. So I saved more than I spent. (Everything I bought was on sale AND I had a coupon for it. I got 2 things of Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, Colgate toothpaste, Colgate toothbrush, Covergirl mascara, and Covergirl eyeshadow)

I get my coupons mostly from the Sunday newspaper. But there are also several websites online that you can print coupons from. The main one being http://www.coupons.com/. And then I also recently discovered the magazine All You. This month's issue has $85 worth in coupons! And it also has tons of recipes for meals on a budget, freebies and giveaways, ect.

I know I mentioned a few posts ago that I started meal planning again and grocery shopping only to the list. This helps tremendously in cutting down on the grocery bill. Last week we only spent $30 for groceries. (This is not the norm, we just happened to have several things in the panrty and freezer that could be made into meals and planned the week's meals based off what we already had.) But I will be working hard to get our grocery bill as low as I can.

I have tons more to share on this topic but for the sake of putting an end to this post, it'll have to wait until next time! (including sharing about our debt... or lack there-of :) )
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