Frugal is such a nicer-sounding word than "cheap." I was reminded by a close friend that "cheap" indicates a lack of quality. Frugal indicates well-researched and financially beneficial. Therefore, we will be a frugal family!
Our newest adventure in frugality is home-made laundry detergent. It is a recipe I found out Pinterest. And, as with any good plan, I headed out to find the ingredients (with coupons, of course!).
Once we had gathered up the supplies, it was time to get to work. I pitched it to the kids as a "most exciting" and "wonderfully interesting" family evening activity. While the 13-year-old quickly saw through my sales pitch, the rest of the crew joined forces to shred the zote soap and begin stirring the remaining ingredients.
The first recommendation from "the workforce" is that it may be best to repeat this process in the future OUTSIDE. It is a smelly, smelly process. Don't get me wrong. It is a very good smell...just STRONG.
The large 5 gallon bucket worked well for mixing. And, the containers from the dollar store worked great for storage. We are using the scoop from the formula container since we only need 2 scoops/tablespoons per load. If all goes according to the recipe, we are washing clothes at about 7 cents/load!!
With this intial success under my belt, I'm feeling pretty good about leaning towards frugal and have begun researching other DIY cleaning products. Do you have any recipes you'd recommend? How do you and your family save money? I'd love any tips you might have for our growing, frugal family!
