Saving money with homemade products

[Deo_Gratias42]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been looking lately for creative ways to save money by using homemade or reusable products. I haven’t completely taken the plunge because often you have to experiment and fail a lot to find good methods and you end up wasting time and money just in that process. For example, experimenting with a homemade laundry soap recipe and finding it’s a huge pain to make and it doesn’t get your clothes very clean after all.

So I really want to hear your tried-and-true methods instead of relying on unreliable google results! Have you ever made your own of any of these and what recipes worked for you?
–laundry soap Despite being a poor student, my mother taught me never to cheap out on laundry detergent. I will go hungry before I switch to anything but Tide
–dishwasher soap You can’t really make this, and you risk damaging your dishwasher. I don’t have a dishwasher, but I have managed to stretch out my dish soap by rarely doing dishes
–shampoo or conditioner I have been known to combine free samples/hotel samplers
–counter cleaner Bleach/All purpose cleaner
–floor cleaner All purpose cleaner
–deodorant ** Again, one of those things you don’t skimp on. I don’t smell, but I do swear…a lot. I just watch prices and buy in bulk when it goes on sale. It’s not like it won’t get used.**
–clothes/accessories I shop at fashionable second-hand shops for the most part

I’m also really interested in ways you recycle or reuse items. I’m considering switching to reusable feminine products. Another area I’d rather go hungry than to compromise on

Thanks for contributing

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Coconut oil makes not only a great moisturizer, but it is a good make-up remover as well. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and is good for some skin conditions. I use it to help treat my seborrheic dermatitis. It is great in cooking, it doesn’t add any flavor to food and isn’t chemically extracted from the plant like corn, vegetable, and canola oils.

I have a jar that has been sitting around because I don’t like it in cooking… I think I will use it for make-up remover when my Ponds runs out, thank you for the idea!!!

 

[sweetpetunia]

–deodorant Again, one of those things you don’t skimp on. I don’t smell, but I do swear…a lot. I just watch prices and buy in bulk when it goes on sale. It’s not like it won’t get used.

Wouldn’t that make it anti-curse-spirant?

 

[KnitNut]

Good advice! What other types of things specifically do you prepare in huge batches and freeze for the winter?

I freeze homemade pizza crusts - partially bake, cool & stack separated by parchment & store in a gallon zip lock. I shape mine as rectangles to fit 1/4 sheet pans. Fill snack-sized ziplocks with toppings - shredded cheese, sliced veggies, sliced pepperoni, mini meatballs, all your favorites. I make pizza sauce (easy to do - I make batches in my 6qt crock pot & freeze in muffin tins - pop 'em out, bag & store in freezer by crusts). Whenever someone wants pizza (when the hoard of teens descend, or if it’s a super busy day), just grab a “kit”, assemble & bake! I also make chocolate chip cookie dough, which I scoop into balls & freeze. I keep a gallon bag of cookie balls by the pizza, so they can bake a pizza and toss a dozen cookies on another 1/4 sheet pan - dinner & dessert, quick & no mess.

I second a previous suggestion to try canning. I can chili, stews, soups, meats, sauces…things that can be opened & reheated - this makes up a store of emergency food, great for power outages, storms, etc. It’s comfort food, has no additives/preservatives and it tastes like “Mom’s cooking”, which is great in stressful situations. I also can fruits & veggies, and make pickles. Your state’s cooperative extension service will have plenty of info, and there are great sites online, too.

I’m pretty sure someone else mentioned homemade mixes - bisquick, pancake mix, cake mixes…you can save $ and avoid preservatives, colors, etc. Think about foods your family enjoys, then look at ways to make them from scratch, in bulk to preserve, or how to prepackage for convenience (example - homemade instant oatmeal packets, homemade hot cocoa mix packets - stored in snack size ziplock bags).

Finally, consider purchasing bulk provisions - take some time to browse at the stores in your area. Jot down prices of items you purchase regularly. Keep a notebook (your “price book”) comparing the sizes/prices available. Update it from time to time. Also browse the warehouse clubs (they usually offer free one-day trial passes) and compare prices there. Be careful to note product package sizes/weights so you can compare apples to apples A great option for bulk purchasing of some staples is a nearby LDS cannery - some bishops allow non-members to purchase. I buy our wheat, oats, dried beans, powdered milk & more (my family LOVES the fruit drink mix) in 25lb bags. We get 5-gallon pails with gasketed lids free from our local supermarket’s bakery department. Perfect, airtight storage for the bulk goods. The LDS storehouse prices are very low. The LDS church members have been always kind and cheerful when helping us - the subject of faith has never come up on any of our visits to the cannery.

 

[triumphguy]

My wife and I also bake our own bread, in batches of 5 at a time, twice a week.

We reckoned that we save $100/month doing this.

We also enjoy it, and love eating it too.

I made some very nice rye bread last week!

 

[Peanut7949]

To mop I just use white vinegar and environment friendly dish soap (both from cosco) mixed together,

to clean windows, buy food grade (about 30 percent) hydrogen peroxide (be careful, dont let it touch skin until heavily diluted, but valuable stuff)… mix with vinegar (light kind) and mostly water. Good spray for any surface or reason.

Sweep instead of vaccuum… you will get a work out, a silent prayer time, and better at it than vacuuming. So worth it.

Hail Mary while you wash the dishes… if you plan it you will be able to use less water and less time! Not for everyone

Buy at a small organic store if you can, and you will be inspired !! if only they were more common!!

buy organic food items, less bills at the hospital later guaranteed! And will help your brain work better… conventional foods don’t give a body the chance! Plus you’ll be doing our current society ignorance a good example, we don’t need no gov health care, we eat our organic veggies! Yeah.!

This is fun Thanks for posting! For the intricate products, I just found the organic ones that work well, aren’t fancy… and then I don’t have to wash my hair as much… saves money, time, and it’s good for my hair< Aim for a lemon one that you can use every other week to get rid of grime I also use a SKIN BRUSH when I can in the mornings… cuts my need for water in half or more. Take a cold shower, the fluride and other chemicals in most city water is bad and absorbed more readily thru pores if warm. Google the skin brush and get a soft haired one… I use giffy I think… wash with water and a little hydrogen pero sometimes. brush to heart. research it! You can print this if you want, hehe I’m so humble.

Check out www.foodandthought.com – you will save SO MUCH from learning what is on there… plus there are recipes and such for making homemade from scratch

Don’t use sunscreen, reasons in above website, just go in sun daily or often as much as you can before you burn. 15 minutes all the way up to 2 hours… Easy way to improve … well… everything !! Health, happiness, your TAN! haha

Food really is the main thing here… that helps me… with my endeavors of this sort…
veggies juices… buy a juicer, a great investment, aim for a good one, ask a place that serves juices if you want.

Garlic, quickest and surest way to scare the bad bugs away… probiotics in fermented products, a better buy than an antibiotic, and buy after if already to reestablish beneficial flora in la tummy.

Okay so I don’t clean as much as I eat. I’m defamed!

GOD BLESS

Love JESS

 

[SonCatcher]

My wife and I also bake our own bread, in batches of 5 at a time, twice a week.

We reckoned that we save $100/month doing this.

We also enjoy it, and love eating it too.

I made some very nice rye bread last week!

My mom made bread at home whenever money got tight but was uncertain whether we actually saved any money. It seems one loaf got inhaled the minute it came out of the oven and the rest went much faster than the store bought loaves (thicker slices from shorter loaves).

 

[Gordon_Sims]

Despite being a poor student, my mother taught me never to cheap out on laundry detergent. I will go hungry before I switch to anything but Tide

We had a repairman tell us earlier this week to never buy Tide, especially for front loaders. He said it’s probably the worst thing you can do and the easiest way to make sure you have to replace your washer ever 4-5 years. He said most other brand name detergents will dissolve better and not leave as much residue. One he recommended was Arm & Hammer, but what he recommended most was the homemade recipes the Duggars have on their website. I need to look it up and try it out.

As far as dishwashers go, he didn’t recommend any specific brands but said the gel-tab things (any brand) are better than any powder or liquid you can buy due to them dissolving better. He also said that the best way to prolong the life of your dishwasher is to make sure your water heater is turned up high enough. He suggested 120 as a minimum but said 140 is best. According to him, this will dissolve your detergent better, leave much less residue, and clean your dishes properly.