I am always on the lookout for ways to save money. As a soon-to-be family of nine, I try to be as frugal as I possibly can. I consider it a privilege to be able to stay at home and raise my children. But, as many of you know, it sure does mean some changes have to be made in order to live on one income.
Over the years, as our family has continued to grow and grow and grow, I have had to learn the art of thrifty living. Gone are the days when we could afford to buy our children brand new clothes. I have learned to shop at Goodwill…and do it well. I find the most amazing bargains. I love the feeling of coming home with a whole bunch of gently used clothing, instead of a just few items had I shopped for new clothes. So rewarding.
Wherever possible, we shop used. Every now and then, if something is impossible to find used, we’ll buy it new. But those times are few and far between.
God calls us to be good stewards of the things He has given us–most definitely our finances.
So a few weeks ago I was doing our grocery shopping. Our blender had decided to call it a day. I picked one up on sale. While paying, my brand new blender lay on that conveyor belt thingymajiggy right next to my bottle of laundry detergent. As the lady scanned my goods it suddenly struck me! My laundry detergent was a complete and utter rip off. How could it be that I was paying $22.95 for laundry soap and just $12.95 for a brand new blender? How in the world does that even work? So not right.
Forget that, I thought. I started purchasing the $12.99 laundry detergent. The results were awful. The stuff just did not do the job with my kids dirty clothes.
And so my quest began. I became a woman on a mission. There had to be a better way. Surely I could find a way to a.) save money, and b.) get our clothes clean without paying an insane amount of money.
I love to research different things. I did just that. I read and I experimented. I finally found it–a recipe to make my own laundry powder at a fraction of the cost…that works. But does it really work, you may wonder. You bet it does.
The fabulous thing is that it is so economical, and because it’s super concentrated I use just a small amount in the wash. This stuff will last us a very long time. It’s so easy to make, smells pretty darn good, and cleans our dirtiest clothes well.
I love a win-win situation.
The recipe is so simple. Just four very cheap ingredients.
Grate the Ivory soap.
I grated mine pretty fine.
Add the other three ingredients in a large container.
And get some little hands involved in mixing it all together.
The kids loved helping mommy.
It’s as easy as that!
Here’s the recipe in case you’d like to give it a try.
12 cups of Borax (equals a 4 lb box)
8 cups baking soda (equals a 4 lb box)
8 cups washing soda
8 cups Ivory soap
Mix all the ingredients together and store in a sealed tub.
I use 1/2 a cup per load.
Do any of you make your own laundry detergent (or any other household product)? I’d love it if you shared your recipe.
** I had never heard of washing soda before. It look me a while to find it. Apparently not all stores stock it. Look in the laundry isle. I found it right next to the Borax.
