Saving with Homemade Laundry Soap

Laundry detergent is expensive. I spent the past couple of years timing my detergent purchases for when I had a Target coupon, a manufacturer's coupon and there was a sale on Tide all at the same time. I cheered when I got my 92 load bottle for $16. Those days are in the past. Now, I get about 920 loads for under $20. I have been using this formula for a month now, and find no difference in the cleanliness of my clothing. I even love the scent!

1 bar Kirk's Castile Soap, shredded

1 c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 

1 c. Borax (20 oz. box - $4.86)

1 c. Oxy Clean (optional)

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

Use as little as 1 Tbsp. per load! 

Use white vinegar for fabric softener.

Some people use Fels Naptha soap instead of Castile, and this is okay if you don't have an HE machine. If you do have an HE machine, you need to be aware that Fels Naptha is made with animal fat, which can cause accumulation in your drain and lead to clogs. Castile soap is made with vegetable fats and will break down more quickly, especially with the use of vinegar as fabric softener.

I can hear you asking, "Vinegar? Isn't that going to make my laundry stink?" No, I promise you that you won't be able to smell it after the laundry is dry. The scent dissipates completely, and you will be left with the light fragrance of the Kirk's Castile soap.  

If you have heard about homemade laundry soap on other web sites, you may have read that people normally find these ingredients at the hardware store. If you are in Waconia, you won't find them there. I was able to find a miniature bottle of Borax that cost more than a large box should at Hardware Hank. The only place I found all three ingredients was at Mackenthun's. The Borax and washing soda were right next to each other (and the Fels Naptha - homemade laundry soap must be pretty popular around here), and the Kirk's Castile soap was in the personal care soap aisle near the checkout aisles. The prices were good. I happened to already have a box of Oxy Clean laying around, but I know they carry that, too.

I LOVE Kwik Trip

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Kwik Trip? Well, I do. Where else can you get four 1/2 gallon bags of 2% milk, a .5 pint of strawberry milk, an apple, approximately two pounds of bananas and an M&M cookie for $4.79? Not at Mackenthun's or Target; that's for sure!

How did I do this, you might ask?  First, milk prices there are the best. At the moment, milk is $1.99 per gallon when purchased in 1/2 gallon bags. This is a sale price, but it is always at least $.20 less than the other stores. If you aren't familiar with bagged milk, what you do is slip the bag in a 2-quart pitcher and clip the corner off the bag. They have pitchers at the store that is shaped like the bag, but I just use a normal pitcher that I have on hand. When purchasing milk, make sure you get a Gallons for Gallons card punched. For every half-gallon, you get one punch. When all 20 punches are filled, you get to use it for $1 off your next gallon of milk. I got four punches today, but did not have a full card today. Oh, don't forget to save your bag tops. They have Milk Moola logos on them, worth $.05 each when you give them to your child's school.

Banana prices are also wonderful. They are $.37/lb.

The other items were obtained for free. My children each have a Kid's Club card. When I buy a gallon of milk, the child accompanying me has his/her choice of a free cake donut, cookie, bagel, apple or orange. Any kids ages 2-12 can join for free. Check out this link if you want to sign up: http://www.kwiktrip.com/kidsClub/  On the child's birthday, they get a coupon for a free .5 pint of milk and a free cookie. We used the .5 pint of milk coupon today. We saved the cookie coupon for a later date, as it doesn't expire, and I had a coupon for a free cookie that does expire. I got this coupon from their circular.

In case you don't know about their circular, it comes in the Star Tribune on the first Wednesday of the month and also in the Gold Miner the first week of the month (or maybe the last week of the month? I can't remember the delivery day of that one). Also in the circular are several gas discount coupons. This month, there was one for $.10/gal, one for $.07/gal and several for $.05/gal. Frequently there are coupons for $.99/dozen eggs, free donut or cookie, free first lb. of bananas or potatoes and there are normally $5.99 car wash coupons.

The other way that I save with Kwik Trip is through their Kwik Card. There is no annual fee, and I pay it off every month, avoiding interest charges. The benefits to this are 3% rebates on gas (5% promotional rate for the first four months) and 10% rebates on in-store purchases. Quarterly, I receive a check in the mail of my accumulated rebate amount to use on a future purchase. So, you could say that my purchase today only cost $4.31, as I earned a $.48 rebate. If you are the type of person who is accustomed to paying off your credit card each month, having one of these could save you money. Go here to apply: https://www.kwiktrip.com/kcaccess/

4/11/2012 Mackenthun's and Household Energy Savings

This morning, I did two of those twice-a-year maintenance projects that save money on energy. I vacuumed out the dryer vent and the coils under the refrigerator. Not only does vacuuming out the dryer vent save on energy, but it also reduces the risk of a fire. If you don't have a good tool for getting all the way through the dryer vent, check out http://shop.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_dryer.asp. This kit works really well for me.

I went to Mackenthun's today for training pants and produce.

23 training pants - $5.99
2 avocados - $3.18
2 tomatoes - $3.84
head lettuce - $1.59
2 bags of croutons - $3.00

I brought a used paper grocery bag with me and got a nickel. The total was $17.55. Produce is expensive at Mackenthun's, but the gas to go out to one of the big chains would have evened the price difference out, and I just didn't need to go there this week. I could have bought Roma tomatoes and paid less, but they didn't look very good. I was surprised to find that the organic tomatoes from Iowa were the same price as the regular tomatoes that were labeled "USA." They were both vine-ripened. The cheaper tomatoes were all from Mexico, and I figured that the ones from Iowa, organic and grown so close to home (even if in a greenhouse, most likely), would be the more nutritious choice. I am up to $46.23 for the week. Even if the produce was expensive, I'm doing really well.

4/10/2012 Target & Walgreens

I went to Target today. There really aren't many terrific deals at any of the stores this week, probably because of the holiday. But I needed juice boxes for the kids' lunches. There were a couple of coupon match-ups to take advantage of while I was there.

Archer Farms Fruit Strips were on sale for $2.69 for a 10 pack. Normally, they are $2.99.  I almost always have a $1/2 coupon or two to use when I buy them, and this week was no exception. So, the boxes were each $2.19. That is about $.22 per fruit strip, which is nicely under the $.25 I try to keep school lunch items.

Capri Sun SuperV Juice boxes were on sale for $2.65 for a box of 10. $.27 each is about as good a price as I normally see, so I got four boxes.

I saw a great match-up on Aquafresh Fresh and Fruity. Target had a $1/1 coupon, and so did Coupons.com. They were $2.19 each. I had printed two of each coupon, so I paid $.19 each and got two.

I saved $.15 for using cloth bags and got 5% off for using my Red Card. The total was $18.61.

I also stopped by Walgreens for Keebler Crackers and trash bags. I also knew about a promotion on their store brand, Nice, so I thought I would check it out and see if there were any good deals.

The trash bags were $5 for 45 bags. They were Nice brand. The promotion on Nice products was for a $2 RR when you spend $10. Plus, most Nice products, other than the trash bags, had a B1G1 Free offer. The Nice 11oz sunflower nuts were $2.49 (and my husband had requested them for the next time we have chef salad), so I got two. I needed another $1.25 to complete the deal. The Nice 3oz gelatin was priced at $.69, so I bought three of those. After the 50% off on the second items, I had hit my $10 for the $2 RR. Looking back, I should have gotten one more gelatin to get another for half off. Duh.

Club crackers were 4/$10 with a $3 RR. I had one $1/2 off coupon. I really wish I had gotten more newspapers that week! In the end, they were $1.25 each. I consider this a pretty good deal anyway.

I used a $10 RR coupon, so my total bill came to $10.07, and I have another $5 in RR for next time.

I am up to $28.68 for the week.  I don't think I'll spend a lot this week, as I don't plan to go to the store for anything other than milk and produce for the rest of the week.

4/8/2012 Recap

I ended out the week making one more small trip to Kwik Trip and Target. I was able to pick up a circular at Kwik Trip, which will help me save a little on gas over the next six weeks. Those two trips had me about $12 under budget. Aaron then spent $12.50 at a meat market he went to with his dad. So, we spent $180.50 last week. That is really amazing, compared to how we have been doing with our grocery budget. That is $20 per person! I will continue with the plan for the coming week. The deals don't look as good, from what I have seen so far, but I will do my best.

Walgreens 4/4/2012

I got out to Walgreens when I had to drive by there to pick up my kids after their band rehearsal this afternoon. I bought two large eggs for $2, minus the $.55 Incredible Edible Egg coupon. I also bought three five-packs of Peeps for my kids' Easter baskets. They were $2. I had a $2 RR coupon, so all I paid for were the eggs and some tax on the Peeps. The total was $1.59.

Cub and Rainbow 4/4/12

Today, I hit the two grocery stores that are a little farther away, so I have to add Mapquest's estimated gas cost of $7.50 to my shopping trip. I'm not sure whether I am saving money by shopping 10 miles away or not, so I'm curious to see whether it seems like I am really saving any money doing it this way.

I started at Cub Foods today.

24 oz. Vlasik Pickles were 2/$4, and I had two coupons for $.75 off, which made them $1.25 each.

30 oz. Miracle Whip was $2.49, and my coupon was for $.50/2, which made them $2.25 each.

1.5 quart Kemp's Old Fashioned Ice Cream was on sale for B1G1 free, and the first was $5.99. I had a $1/2 coupon, so I paid $2.50 each.

Birds Eye Broccoli Florets were $1 each. I bought two, and had a coupon for $.50/2, for a total of $.75 each.

20 oz. Dole Pineapple Chunks were on sale for $1 each, and I had a $.50/2 coupon, for a total of $.75 each.

The sale on Marshmallows was 4/$5. There were coupons in the aisle for $.50/2, so I grabbed a few and used two. That made the 10 oz. marshmallows come to $1 each.

Asparagus was on sale for $1.88/lb. I had a $1/1 lb. coupon, so I paid $.88.

Strawberries were $1.88/lb. I bought two lbs.

Barilla Rotelli was $1.59/lb. I bought two.

Stove Top Stuffing was $.99, and I had a $.50/1 coupon, so I paid $.49.

My total bill was $27.50. The receipt says I saved $17.76, or $40%. The cashier told me "good job" after I was done checking out.

Next, I went to Rainbow, where it was Double Daze. This means that 5 manufacturer coupons can be doubled.

I bought 4-20 oz cans of Bush's Best Baked Beans, on sale for $1.68 each.

There was a coupon in the circular for $1.50 for 1 lb. of butter quarters.

I bought two Simple Orange Juice, which were on sale for 2/$6. I had two $1 off coupons that I printed online. They were both doubled, so the juices were $1 each. :-)

I got one dozen eggs free with the purchase of two Simply Orange Juice.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese had a coupon sale for $.98 for 1-8 oz package. I bought one.

Birds Eye Broccoli Floret Steamers were on sale for $1, and I had a $.50/2 coupon, which was doubled, so I got them for $.50 each.

Kemps Old Fashioned Ice Cream was on sale for $2.88 each. I had another $1/2 coupon, which was doubled, so I paid $1.88 each. I should have used both of them at Rainbow. I would not have been able to double all of my coupons, but it still would have been better if I had doubled a $1 coupon instead of a $.50 coupon.

There was a coupon for Oscar Meyer bacon for $2.88. I got one lb.

There was a coupon for $.99/lb on ham with a $25 purchase. I got an 8.91 lb ham for $8.82.

Roundy's All Purpose Flour was $1.89 for 5 lbs. That's .38/lb.

C&H Powdered Sugar was $1.89 for 2 lbs. I got two.

Emerald Trail Mix - breakfast blend was on sale for 2/$5.

McCormick Food Coloring was on sale for 2/$4. I had a $.75 coupon, which was doubled, bringing it down to $1.25 each.

My total purchase came to $42.62. My receipt says I saved $44.12. I also have a $.20/per gallon reward that I can use if I happen to get gas in Chaska or Chanhassen in the near future. I almost started to get grumpy in the checkout aisle today, as the checkers at Rainbow are extremely slow. I got in a line with two people in front of me and didn't leave the store until 15 minutes later, and I consider this to be a little too long. However, I thought about how much I was saving, and the fact that everyone there was doing the double coupon thing, so it is going to take longer, right? I set my mind to not being bothered and walked out of the store happy.

On another note, I don't really believe I saved as much as these stores claim on the receipts. For example, there is no way that a 1.5 quart of Kemps Ice Cream is really $5.99. This is a case of raising the price in order to have a B1G1 Free sale. But I still think this trip was worth the $7.50 I spent in gas.

I could have done better on a few of these items. I bought two newspapers, but they were from two different stores, and one was missing one of the coupon inserts. If I had had both, I would have had a few more coupons to use. Also, because I just started up again, there were a few items I paid way more for than I would have if I had been paying attention and stocking up. For example, the Rotelli noodles. I normally do not pay more than $1 per pound on noodles, but I needed them for a salad I am making this weekend, so I had no choice. In the future, I should be able to do better.

I am up to $135.37 for the week. I read recently on another blog site (I think it was MoneySavingMom.com - if not, it was another blog I linked to from her site) that a good grocer budget starting-point is $20 per person per week. I had thought I would try $200 for the family, but after reading that, I thought maybe I could try to do it with $180. If I'm going with that figure, I have $44.63 left for the week. I still need to go pick up baking chocolate for my French Silk pie for Easter, some pepperoni for a noodle salad for another family gathering on Saturday, and some milk. I will go to Kwik Trip for the milk, as it is $1.98/gal this week on sale. I also still have another egg coupon, and I could still stand to buy a little candy for the Easter baskets, and I have all of those RR's at Walgreens and their egg prices are the best right now, so I will probably head over there, as well. I may hit Target, too, as I want to get two laundry baskets to make the mountain that is always being dumped behind the current two laundry baskets to go away.

I need to put my bread in the oven now, so I'll write again later if I get out again today.