Well, we got some snow this year. Thanksgiving was the best snowman snow of the week. So, while the adults worked on dinner, the kids made their very own snowman. Good job, huh?
Friday, November 26, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
The end of $20 at Rite Aid
Well, I am done with my $20 at Rite Aid experiment. I have so far accumulated $225 worth of products, and I now have $21.50 left to spend. However, it is starting to get difficult to track the exact $20 I started with, so I am ending my experiment. I think I have more than proved the merit of Rite Aid's coupons/+Up Rewards/Single Check Rebates.
However, I am now a confirmed deal shopper. So, in the spirit of my "place for everything" blog, I have created a new blog. You can visit www.tarasplacefordeals.blogspot.com and there find my continued saga of deals and steals ('cause sometimes the deals are so good, it feels like stealing. Like this week, I got a $85 item, and after the sale, coupons, mail-in-rebates, and single check rebates it only cost me the tax!)
I hope you have enjoyed this as much as me! See you later!
Homemade laundry detergent
Although it seems that I am just obsessed with coupons/deals these days, that is not actually the case. I am simply learning to be more frugal. The art of finding a good deal is just more exciting than some of the other things I have been doing. However, I came up with a pretty intriguing one a few weeks ago that I got to try out today.
Have you ever heard of homemade laundry detergent? I hadn't. But, in talking to my sister, she mentioned it. Since the price was right, I got the ingredients and waited to run out of the detergent I was using. Today was my lucky day!
How do you make your own laundry detergent? Easy. Really.
Get a big can (I used a #10 can left over from Costco peaches) and add 6 cups of water. Put that in a big pot of water and bring to a boil. (This "double broiler method may not be necessary, but I didn't want to cook in the same pan I was making laundry detergent.) Then, grate 1/3 of an Ivory soap bar and add to the heated water in your can. The goal is to melt your bar soap in the water. When the soap has melted, add 1/2 cup Borax (found in the laundry soap section) and 1/2 cup washing soda (this is made by Arm and Hammer, and I found mine in the laundry detergent section at Ace Hardware. Walmart failed me on this one.) Mix until the powder dissolves. Then, pour 1 quart of hot water into a 2.5 gallon bucket. Add soap mixture and then 22 cups (11 pints) cool water. Stir and let sit until cool. When the mixture cools, it turns to a gel. When you are ready to use, just mix detergent (so that the gel breaks up a bit) and add 1/2 cup to your washing. Done! Mine looked like this:
One batch makes 2 gallons, which means 128 loads of laundry. The super amazing thing about this stuff is the price. Let me do the math here:
Borax - $4.29 for 76 oz - 19 batches in a box - $0.23 per batch
Washing Soda - $3.79 for 55 oz - 13 batches in a box - $0.29 per batch
Ivory bar soap - $1.50 per bar - 3 batches per bar - $0.50 per bar (of course, if you get a good sale, this is MUCH less)
price per 2 gallons of detergent - $1.02
price per load - NOT EVEN A PENNY!
So, as you can see, it is fairly economical. To be mild.
How does it work? Well, I will have to post more about that later. I just washed the sheets that got wet on last night, as well as some assorted kids clothes, and they came out smelling and looking clean. So far, so good. However, I will use it for a bit and post some more opinions. And, since I want to give credit where credit is due, I found the recipe here! Thanks, Tipnut!
Have you ever heard of homemade laundry detergent? I hadn't. But, in talking to my sister, she mentioned it. Since the price was right, I got the ingredients and waited to run out of the detergent I was using. Today was my lucky day!
How do you make your own laundry detergent? Easy. Really.
Get a big can (I used a #10 can left over from Costco peaches) and add 6 cups of water. Put that in a big pot of water and bring to a boil. (This "double broiler method may not be necessary, but I didn't want to cook in the same pan I was making laundry detergent.) Then, grate 1/3 of an Ivory soap bar and add to the heated water in your can. The goal is to melt your bar soap in the water. When the soap has melted, add 1/2 cup Borax (found in the laundry soap section) and 1/2 cup washing soda (this is made by Arm and Hammer, and I found mine in the laundry detergent section at Ace Hardware. Walmart failed me on this one.) Mix until the powder dissolves. Then, pour 1 quart of hot water into a 2.5 gallon bucket. Add soap mixture and then 22 cups (11 pints) cool water. Stir and let sit until cool. When the mixture cools, it turns to a gel. When you are ready to use, just mix detergent (so that the gel breaks up a bit) and add 1/2 cup to your washing. Done! Mine looked like this:
One batch makes 2 gallons, which means 128 loads of laundry. The super amazing thing about this stuff is the price. Let me do the math here:
Borax - $4.29 for 76 oz - 19 batches in a box - $0.23 per batch
Washing Soda - $3.79 for 55 oz - 13 batches in a box - $0.29 per batch
Ivory bar soap - $1.50 per bar - 3 batches per bar - $0.50 per bar (of course, if you get a good sale, this is MUCH less)
price per 2 gallons of detergent - $1.02
price per load - NOT EVEN A PENNY!
So, as you can see, it is fairly economical. To be mild.
How does it work? Well, I will have to post more about that later. I just washed the sheets that got wet on last night, as well as some assorted kids clothes, and they came out smelling and looking clean. So far, so good. However, I will use it for a bit and post some more opinions. And, since I want to give credit where credit is due, I found the recipe here! Thanks, Tipnut!
Friday, November 19, 2010
$20 at Rite Aid continued
Well, this week's trip was a little late in the week, sorry! However, I am including the link to Hip2Save where I found all the deal info for the items purchased today here.
Today I got all this, a $52.03 value, and I only spent $3.43 out of pocket. You can't pay for tax with +Up Rewards, so that has to be paid cash. Fortunately, many of the items I purchase have Single Check Rebates, so I am able to continue my original $20 cash flow that way. I actually spent $0.50 of my original $20 today, so my total stands at $225 worth of products, and I still have $19.50 to spend! Previous posts on this strain here.
Today I got all this, a $52.03 value, and I only spent $3.43 out of pocket. You can't pay for tax with +Up Rewards, so that has to be paid cash. Fortunately, many of the items I purchase have Single Check Rebates, so I am able to continue my original $20 cash flow that way. I actually spent $0.50 of my original $20 today, so my total stands at $225 worth of products, and I still have $19.50 to spend! Previous posts on this strain here.
On a fun side note, a month or two ago I got a free subscription to Martha Stewart Living. My December issue had a card for $5 off your total purchase at Hallmark. So, today I swung by and picked up two rolls of 45 ft Christmas paper for $1.87, and then they threw these two cute little coin purses in for free! Score!
I heart vinyl!
I LOVE vinyl! There are so many options! Yesterday I flipped my halloween word blocks over and made some for autumn/thanksgiving. Thanks, Erin, for cutting these out for me!
One day I will be the happy owner of a Silhouette and not have to beg cutting favors from my lucky sisters...
One day I will be the happy owner of a Silhouette and not have to beg cutting favors from my lucky sisters...
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Yummy and Chocolate
Mmm, don't they look good?
I taught Activity Girls tonight. We were doing manners, and I decided that hot chocolate served in china and petite fours (sp?) might persuade the girls to behave a little more mannerly. It worked!
I taught Activity Girls tonight. We were doing manners, and I decided that hot chocolate served in china and petite fours (sp?) might persuade the girls to behave a little more mannerly. It worked!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Giving Thanks Tree update
Why is it that pictures NEVER turn out looking like you want them to? Ah well. We have been working on the Giving Thanks tree for two weeks now, and it is looking really cool, so I wanted to share. My biggest problem has been getting the leaves hung, it takes a lot of time to put the string through the holes, tie them and hang them with the colored side out, on the tree. Thanks Celeste for the great idea to just put them on paper clips! It takes a fraction of the time!
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