Book Review~Faithful Finance

About the Book: 

From the back cover: Learn how to handle your money so you can have more of it. Financial advisor Emily G. Stroud is a mom, businesswoman, and entrepreneur who has two decades of experience helping people make smart choices about money. In Faithful Finance, she shares ten secrets she's learned along the way and will help you to: 

*Develop a personal savings plan based on your unique goals

*Make a monthly budget that actually works for you

*Reduce your overall debt burden

*Plan for your children's college years

*Insure your life without fear

*Leave a lasting and generous legacy

*And most important, discover the source of true wealth

With engaging stories and practical examples, Emily empowers you to make choices that will give you and your loved ones financial freedom for years to come. 

What I Thought:

Written from a Christian perspective with plenty of scripture throughout, Faithful Finance:10 Secrets to Move from Fearful Insecurity to Confident Control, is a great all-around lesson on finances. The author has many years of experience as a financial planner and touches on everything from insurance to retirement. Although I didn't feel the author went into any subject very deeply, she gave the basics on a lot of topics. I feel like I have quite a bit of knowledge on finances, but it is always good to get a refresher course on things! As a Christian, tying finances in to my life biblically is important to me as well, and the author does delve into this. Ms. Stroud included great information and I would recommend Faithful Finance. I look forward to checking out the resources at the back of the book, with several websites to help with different areas of your financial life. 

*I received a copy of this book from Handlebar Publishing in exchange for my honest review. 

Purex Detergent on #Cartwheel!

Have you tried Cartwheel at Target yet?  I use it, and it is a great way to save!  You can use it with an app on your phone, or with your computer and print out a barcode with your savings.  Right now with Back to School shopping, we can use all the savings we can get!!  Now through the end of August, get 10% off any Purex detergent at Target stores with a #Cartwheel coupon!

Click here to start saving with Purex and #Cartwheel!

A Plentiful Day of Samples!

All of these samples were in my mailbox the other day!  Usually the samples trickle in during the week, but every once in a while-BAM!  A bunch come at once and it's like Christmas! Samples are much more fun to open than bills!!

Here is what I got:
*Tide Pods
*Everpure Shampoo, Conditioner, Leave-in Treatment
*Feminine Hygiene products
*Clean & Clear Body Wash
*Beneful dog treats
*Origins Weil Skin Correcting Serum
*Coupons

 There are several reasons I do get samples, and here is a post about why I do and my favorite sites to get samples.  Go take advantage of all the free samples out there!

AWESOME 99% savings at Walgreens today!!!

I am SOOOO excited, and set for hair styling products for a long time!  Walgreens is currently offering a buy 1/get 1 free on all got2be styling products, which are $5.99.  I scored a bunch of $3 off coupons, so here's what happened.....

12 assorted got2be styling products @ 5.99 each=$71.88-(6) free=$35.94-(12) $3 off mfg coupons= -$.06 (but Walgreens won't do overages, so $0.00
Gillete Fusion Proglide razor bonus pack $9.99-$5 mfg coupon-$4 register reward=$0.99
St. Joseph aspirin $2.00-$2.00 register reward=$0.00

Total regular price=$83.87, total paid* =$0.99=99% savings!!! 

This deal is going on at Walgreens with the got2be products through 2/25, and you should have received a $3/1 coupon in the Redplum ad that we in Utah get delivered in Tuesday's mail, but others I know get with their Sunday paper.

I usually don't include taxes in these, so just so you know they made me pay tax ($1.64) on the products I got free, which brought the percentage down to 98%. Still great! I'm going to be doing a happy dance for days over this one!! 

Awesome Target trip #2!

So yesterday I showed you my first Target trip, when I saved 71%.  This second trip was a great savings too!  I hope this isn't horribly boring to you-personally, I love seeing what deals people score!  My big dream is that they would double coupons where I live, so I could have 90%+ savings trips to the grocery store!  Oh well, maybe some day.

The Breakdown:

Kids winter knit hat $12.99 reg, clearance $3.88

Ladies Merona top $16.99 reg, clearance $8.48-$3 Target coupon=$5.48

Hanes Boys Sweatshirt(stocking up on bigger sizes)  $6.99 reg, clearance $2.08

(2)2pk. ceramic bowls, that match my nice dishes that I love!!! Soooo excited, they didn't have them when I got the dishes a few years ago!! $6.99/set reg x 2=$13.98, clearance $3.98/set x 2=$7.96

(3)Purina One dog food 6lb. reg $6.49 x 3=$19.47-(3)$5 mfg coupons=$1.49/bag x 3=$4.47

Total regular price=$70.42

Total price paid=$23.24

% savings=67%!!

I paid with my Target red card (debit comes directly from your bank, not a credit card) so I got another 5% off=$22.68, a 68% savings!!

Tulip the puppy is set for food for quite a while (very inexpensively!), and Chad will have a bunch of bigger sized sweatshirts for the next few years!

My suggestions: Study your ads, clip coupons, go online to get manufacturer and Target coupons, stack store and mfg coupons together on sale/clearance items, check out the clearance areas of the store, and use your Target red card!  Fyi, Target does have a system to how/when they mark down their clearance items.  Of course I can't find that info right now, but I will post it as soon as I track it down!  Happy Saving!

UPDATE!!!! Christy at Thrifty and Thriving has graciously shared her Target markdown and clearance items schedule with us.  Might I suggest you also check out her 20 Days of Target Training, which is jam-packed with all the info you need to get the best deals at Target!!  Check out the rest of her site while you are there-I get a lot of my information on deals from her site, emailed right to my mailbox daily!

Awesome Target trip #1

I've gone to two of our local Targets to score some clearance deals and stack manufacturer and Target coupons.  You can really get great deals that way!  Here is my haul from the first trip:

The Breakdown:

Woman's Merona shirt $14.99 reg, $7.48 clearance-$3.00 Target coupon=$4.48
(3) Hanes Boys Sweatshirts $6.99 reg x 3=$20.97, on clearance $2.08 each=$6.24
Toddler girls sleepwear $5.00 reg, on clearance $1.26
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs  $14.99 reg, on sale $7-$3mfg coupon=$4.00
(2)Krave cereal $4.25 reg each=$8.50, sale $2.50 x 2=$5, stacked $1/2 Target and $1/2mfg coupons, $1.50 each=$3.00
(3) MP tomato soup $0.64 reg x 3=$1.92-$1 Target coupon, $0.31 each=$0.92
Up&Up liners, 64 count * $1.97 reg-$1 Target coupon=$0.97*
*I can usually get a box of 20ish liners for less than .50 with sales and coupons, so although this is more than I'd usually spend, it is a large quantity so an awesome deal!

Total regular price of products: $68.34
Total price I paid: $20.87
% Savings: approx. 70%  Woohoo!!
Then I pay with my Target redcard debit card (goes straight from your bank, not a credit card) and got another 5% off, bringing my total to $19.83, a 71% savings!

I can't stress enough going to Target's website and print out their coupons, stack them with manufacturer coupons and sales!!

Another Target haul coming tomorrow.........

Great Budgeting and Couponing Tool!

Angela over at The Coupon Project has released the Savings Tracker for 2012.  Click here to learn more about it and download.  This is an awesome budgeting tool that tracks coupons and savings from your receipts.  She put a lot of work into this and it shows!  I played around with it some last year, but didn't use it faithfully.  Now that I've revamped our budget, I'm ready to use it consistently in 2012. 

Also on the Savings Tracker download page you will find a manual you can print out to help you use the tracker, and a webcast from January 2011 where she goes step-by-step and shows you how to use it yourself.

Even if you don't have interest in the Savings Tracker, I highly recommend checking out Angela's website, The Coupon Project.  She has great tips and ideas to help you save money!

A debt-free Christmas!

It's the worst feeling to go into credit card debt buying Christmas presents!  I don't know about you, but with the way the economy has been the past few years, our salaries are shrinking more each year with budget cuts and increases in insurance premiums, etc.  We've cut back a lot. The best way to handle Christmas is to put away a little money every month.  We've tried that.  Then guess what happens?  The car breaks down or there is a dental emergency. Gone is the Christmas savings. 

In mid-2010 I started trying something different.  This year (2011) was my first full year of using this method, and I think it was a success!!  Here's what I did:  I am signed up on several survey sites and sites where you collect points in exchange for money or gift cards.  I also scan all my purchases for Nielsen. All year I took every opportunity I could, and as I redeemed points for gift cards I tucked them away for Christmas.  I only got cards to places I knew I would use, like Amazon and Target.  I also used the Target promotion when they would have something on sale that we use, and I had coupons for it as well (often both Target and mfg coupons), and if you bought a certain amount during the sale week you would get a $5 gift card.  I did this all year with toilet paper and paper towels, as well as a few other things. By the end of November, I had just over $300 in money and gift cards!!  I was SO excited!!

My husband and I don't usually do gifts for each other for any occasion, including Christmas (except cheap stocking stuffers). After almost 23 years of marriage we both know we love each other, we both hate wasting money, and would rather put that money away for ours and our kids' futures. It just works for us.  This year we made gifts for our parents, and we are also making our neighbor gifts which will be a minimal cost.  So, getting a handful of neices and nephews a little something, our homemade presents, and then with our three kids, $300 was plenty of money for gifts!  We don't go crazy on big expensive gifts for our kids, and everyone is still just as happy!  Another lesson learned from years of experience.

A word of warning:  You may think all these surveys and clicking on things would be very time consuming.  It isn't. Maybe 3-5 hours a week at the most.  But-I must say at this point I am a bit burned out, and I'm taking a break from surveys.  I will be back at it soon though!

Here are some of the companies I've been using.  These are all companies that I have used all year, and have received gift cards/prizes from them all, so I know they are legit. They worked for me, hopefully they will for you too!

Swagbucks  (I have a button on the right sidebar you can click as well)
MyPoints
Valued Opinions
MySurvey
Synovate
e-rewards
Campus Fundraiser Surveys
Mills Advisory Panel
Nielsen Homescan
Recyclebank

I just joined JD Power and Associates, they are taking applications now.  I've heard good things about them.  I've been trying forever to get into Pinecone, but never fit the criteria they need.

*I will not get any compensation for you clicking on the above links, with the exception of Swagbucks.  If you go through my link, I will receive bonus points*

I also want to stress requesting free samples as there are many that could be stocking stuffers, or just use them to save a little more money toward your savings goal!

I have tried many survey/points websites, and some I didn't care for. There are so many out there!  Some are hard to get into (Pinecone!).  Have you had any success with survey/points websites? 

Well, that's how we paid for Christmas this year.  Of course presents are fun, but  I want to make sure my family remembers and focuses on the real reason for this Christmas season: our saviour, Jesus Christ.

Freebies and a Win!

I get a lot of free samples in the mail, that I have requested.  I have three reasons for doing this:
1. The free samples save us money.
2. We get to try products  we haven't tried before.
3.*The most important reason-there are often coupons along with the samples! Sometimes they are high value coupons!

The picture above shows what came in the mail one day last week.  A coupon for Free Jif peanut butter at Target, a free Glad trash bag and a bunch of high value coupons, a sample of an industrial strength wipe, Miracle Whip samples, and my win-a years worth of Secret clinical strength deodorant!!  Not too bad for very little effort on my part.  I even get samples I wouldn't use such as diapers or pull-ups, to pass along to friends or keep at my house if a friend has an emergency while visiting. 

How do I get all my samples?  My *favorite* site is Free Stuff Times-you can find all sorts of great stuff on this site, not just freebies!  I also subscribe to several money-saving blogs.  Here are a few of my favorites (but there are many more that are great-let me know if you want a more extensive list):
Money Saving Mom-this site is incredible.  She has everything from recipes to financial advice on here!
Thrifty and Thriving
My SLC Mommy
Cuckoo for Coupon Deals
Utah Deal Diva
Now, at these sites you will have a wealth of information-notification of freebies to get, great coupon deals, coupon education, and giveaways, to name just a portion of what these incredible ladies do!  Speaking of giveaways, the Secret Clinical Deodorant pictured above was a giveaway I won at another of my favorite sites, Free stuff, Fun sites, Contests & More!  Thanks to Angie for the opportunity!

Target deal-mittens!

So, last night I did a quick trip to Target to check clearance items.  I didn't find much, but what I did find was a great deal-mittens!  These are just your regular black mittens that are one-size-fits-most.  They had a lot of them, so I decided to stock up.  Each set had two pairs of mittens, and was originally $1.50, now .37.  I got five sets, so ten pairs in all, for a grand total of $1.85! That was a 75% savings!  I figure these may last a year or two-it seems mittens get lost so easily.  I was in an artistic mood, so here is my '$1.85 Mitten Wreath' for your viewing pleasure:

                                                                            
                                                                                     

Another good clearance trip to Target

The other day I went to Target, armed with coupons that would make several items either free or very close to free.  Well, some items were sold out, a few were there that I was able to use both my Target and manufacturer coupons on, and then I checked on all the clearance areas.  I found a bunch of winter tools/items on 75% off.  I know snow shovels and ice melt are not what any of us wants to be thinking of right now.  It would be much nicer to be thinking of gardens and flowers, but it is the perfect time to stock up for next year, or, for us in Utah who had snow until Memorial Day last year, for later this Spring!

Let me clarify the reason I am posting these deals is to encourage you to regularly check your clearance sections of stores, and in stores that allow you to 'stack' store and manufacturer coupons, do it!  You can come away with some incredible deals!

Here is my first transaction:

                                               

Kellogg's cereal, sale $2.50 x 2=$5.00-(2)$1.00 mfg coupons-(2)$1.00 Target coupons=$1.00 (.50 each)
Clorox 96oz splashless bleach, sale $1.66 x 2=$3.32- (2) $1.00 mfg coupons=$1.32(.66 each)
Kite   reg. $7.00 clearance $1.76
Windshield de-icer reg. $2.79 clearance $1.38
Window scraper reg. $5.99 clearance $1.48
Snow Shovel  reg. $8.99 clearance $2.24
Set of 3 Snapware heavy duty Christmas  cookie keepers-I got 2 sets of these clearance $3.48x2=$6.96
(I don't know the regular price of the Clorox or the Snapware)
My grand total was $16.14! The regular price of all items, using the sale price for the Clorox and Snapware as I do not know their regular price, was $40.05.  Just this is a savings of over 60%, but I imagine I really saved about 75% as I know the Clorox was more regularly and the Snapware was in the 75% off section. 

While I was pondering the snow shovels, I called my husband to ask if he wanted me to get one.  He said yes, and then just as I was finished at the cash register, he called me to ask me to get two more snow shovels and two more window scrapers for his co-workers.  I went back to get them, and while I was there I noticed a great savings on ice melt for the sidewalks/driveway, so I picked that up too.  So here is my second transaction that day:

                                         

8 lb. salt-free pet-safe ice melt regular $12.99, clearance $3.24
Snow shovels for co-workers regular price $8.99x2=$17.98, clearance $2.24x2=$4.48
Window scrapers for co-workers regular price $5.99x2=$11.98, clearance $1.48x2=$2.96
My grand total was $10.68!   The regular price of all items was $42.95, a savings of 75%!

Now we need some good kite weather to try out that new kite!!

Target clearance and coupon deals!

I do a lot of coupon-clipping, clearance and sale shopping to save money.  I find lots of deals, many free or almost free with mfg and store coupons and sales. I do plan to do a few blog posts on my coupon/shopping method soon. I have lots of ideas and methods that have evolved over 22 years of marriage, and want to share them, along with plenty of blogs and websites that help me out. There are so many awesome people out there who have very helpful sites!


This was my haul from Target:
                                                               

Here is the breakdown:

Lampshades-we have needed them in our bedroom for a long time, but $30-$50 for  two lampshades just seemed ridiculous to me, and wasn't in the budget.  There were only two of these left, in the EXACT size/style we needed!!  I was SO excited.  So anyway...
Lampshades reg. $14.99 ea. clearance $3.74 x 2=$7.48
Quaker Oatmeal giant 22pk reg. $4.64 ea.  clearance $3.24 ea. -$1.00 ea. mfg coupon=$2.24 x 2=$4.48
Ladies shirt reg. $10.00 clearance $2.50
Colgate toothpaste 6 oz on sale for $2.19-$1.00 mfg coupon-$1.00 Target coupon=$0.19
Carefree pantyliner $.99-$1.00 mfg coupon=$0.01 overage
Jif Peanut Butter-this is the big 2-pack of 80 oz (40 oz each) you would buy at Sam's, etc. for around $7-8.
$6.99 reg. $1.74 clearance x 2=$3.48.
                                                   
Total regular price of items was $70.88, my price (before tax) was $18.12!!!! That's a 75% savings!  

But, the Target savings don't end there!!!  After I left, the incredible savings on that peanut butter kept nagging at me.  I have a 19yo son who just moved into his first apartment and would live on peanut butter.  So.... I went back and bought 10 two-packs!!!

                                                                     
                                                                 
                                     
10 x $1.74=$17.40.  That is a lot of peanut butter-twenty 40 oz. jars.  But when you consider the regular price was $70 (75% savings), that is a huge savings and Nick will have peanut butter for a long time! Actually, I'm not sure about that 'long time' part.  You wouldn't believe how fast that boy can go through peanut butter.  Let's just say this: he will have peanut butter for a while, thanks to Mom and Target!
                                                               
                                                               

Happy New Year!

January 3, 2011-My first post of the New Year.  I'm hoping to post more this year, I'm thinking shorter but more often.  This past year I've linked up with several encouraging homeschooling Moms who blog, and they have been an inspiration. 

Our holidays were nice and quiet-ahhhh.  We of course would have loved to spend them with our families in California or Minnesota, but it didn't work out this year again.  Times are tough and it is expensive for a family of five to travel!  So, it was just the five of us.  Nick came home from school in mid-December for a 2 1/2 week break!  He just went back to Clearfield last night.  It is looking like he may finish up his certification within the next month or so, then hopefully a job and an apartment will be next for him. 

So, today was back to the regular routine of homeschooling and activities.  I didn't make any resolutions this year, just loose ideas of what I'd like to do better.  With chronic illness, I think I beat myself up enough throughout the year when I can't do what I planned to, so why make it worse on myself with resolutions?  Some things I"d like to improve this year are:

Food/menus/meals: I already started this last year, and I've done pretty well.  I'm trying to make home cooked dinner from scratch most nights.  We stopped eating fast food (except for the occasional big treat) a few years ago, and aside from frozen pizza and leftover nights, I'm trying to not use any prepackaged, processed foods for our dinners.  I'd love to make out menus far in advance, but I buy each week based on what is on sale, so it doesn't work out well to plan too far ahead. 

Budgeting/couponing: I'd like to get a tighter reign on our budget, and keep better track of my savings using sales, rebates, and coupons. I don't want to have to use Credit cards at all (had a few emergencies last year that we had to), and work on using Dave Ramsey's plan to pay down debt and increase savings.  I'd also like to completely pay for Christmas gifts with earnings of gift cards, etc. from rebates, surveys, points earned in various programs.  This past year, I earned about $200, which was just a little short of my goal of covering everything. 

Exercise:  This is a very vague one.  I'm really not supposed to exercise in any way, except pool therapy, which is too expensive. The fear is all the hardware in my neck and upper back and base of skull-there is just way more than there should be, and the neurosurgeon worries something will break.  But, I can handle very short walks or pedaling a stationary bike for short bursts.  So, I'm going to try to do that more often.  My semi-regular diet of steroids puts on about 5 lbs. each round, and in the past few years I've gained about 25 lbs. from my normal weight.  That may be a losing battle, but who knows? 

Reading/Bible: I want to continue reading more and watching TV less.  I'll continue reading one fiction book at the same time as at least one non-fiction book (mostly bible studies).  I also want to spend more time in the bible this year, and I think I'm off to a good start!  I'm participating in The Bible in 90 Days!

Today was the first day.  I'm on a team of several other women and one man, many of us are homeschooling moms. Many have blogs. Some are living in other countries-China and Africa are where two participants live. We have a mentor, who is encouraging us and I'm enjoying getting to know her as well. We check in with each other and are getting to know each other along the way. It is a lot of reading to get this done in 90 days, so obviously not much 'studying'.  What I'm looking to get out of this, aside from reading through the bible completely, is to make a better habit for myself by spending a large chunk of time daily in the bible.  I'm really excited about this!

That's all I can think of at this time, not that there isn't a lot more rolling around in this head of mine!  This year should be an exciting one in our family, with lots of changes, especially for our oldest two, Nick and Alyssa, as they navigate these older teen/young adult years!

                                                               

Six weeks down............

So, I've been busy the past six weeks. I've neglected lots of things, one of them being this blog. What was the big change six weeks ago? I started homeschooling my youngest, who is seven years old. Now, I have been homeschooling for 12 years so you would think I'm a pro at this by now. No. Every child is different. Also, my oldest two are much older-one has graduated and is in technical college and the other is a sophomore in High School. Technically I am still homeschooling the High Schooler. But her program is different-she has teachers for each class and live classes through the internet. I am basically a supervisor, or 'learning coach' as they call it in her school. I help her when I can (if my brain cells can recall the high school days, that is), but she is mostly independent. So, it has been several years since I have homeschooled a child who needs my one-on-one teaching all the time. Wow-I forgot how that is!

The other difference is that curriculum has changed-there are still the old tried-and-true curriculums out there, but also a lot of new stuff. I bought some new curriculum, and I must say I absolutely LOVE All About Spelling! I put a banner at the bottom of the blog if you want more information. Chad learned very little in public school last year, I think it was for several reasons, but he just seemed to get lost in the shuffle. So he is at a kindergarten/early 1st grade level in reading and math. This program is making a huge difference.

Thanks to my friend Amy at Life's Little Crazies for her help and direction with this newer curriculum, and also for heading me in the direction of Homeschool Creations. Jolanthe has great ideas, downloads, and is just amazing with all the information she puts out. I don't think she sleeps!

Back to being busy this past six weeks! As all of us Moms know, being a Mom itself is a full-time job. Taxi-driving for the teens is major, getting everyone to music, sports and church activities. Throw in a handful of chronic illnesses (some with fatigue), lots of meds daily including narcotics that make one sleepy, and then homeschool a seven-year-old. He is now with me 24/7. He is high-energy. It's not easy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. He is halfway through some of our 1st grade curriculum, so it is obvious that he needed this one-on-one time to catch up. Aside from the academics, we are creating an even stronger bond than we had, one that I have treasured with my oldest two as well. I also noticed he is not coming home with the sassy-mouth remarks that he would learn in school. So, it's difficult at times, but totally worth it. I must add that I couldn't do it without my wonderful husband, who is willing to jump in and help out when he is home. Over the years, we have scrimped and stretched and gone without pretty much everything 'extra'(i.e. eating out, entertainment, new clothes, etc....) on a social worker's small salary to be able to homeschool, and it was and is worth it all. That topic is for another post though-I've been asked by several people to post how we do it on our income, so I am planning to post on that soon, promise.

I said at the beginning of the year that I would post our curriculum choices for the year, so here they are:
All About Spelling
First Language Lessons(Grammar)
Explode The Code(phonics)
Horizons Math
Abeka History and Abeka Health, Safety and Manners
Peterson Directed Handwriting
God's Wonderful Works(Science)
Writeshop Primary(Creative Writing)
Leading Little Ones To God (Bible)
He also is part of the Awana program, which I highly recommend!
Throw in some art and music, field trips, sports and that about covers it. Whew. Thank you Lord for your strength and grace!
Here's to the next six weeks and beyond!

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been 'passionate' about different ways to save money-I do all I can to help stretch what we have. I'm going to do a more detailed post on that later, but for now, this is one of the ways we have found to save money. We started making our own laundry detergent back in September, using a recipe found on the Duggar's website, www.duggarfamily.com. We loved the results. Then our church, in need of a building, started a fundraiser where they gave each family $50 to invest in something, to then 'grow' the money into more for the building fund. We decided to make laundry detergent! It was a big seller, and even after that $50 challenge ended, we continue to make and sell it on our own, giving all the profits to the church building fund. I'm not sure how much we have raised, but for sure we know it is several hundred dollars. The thing is, this detergent is SO INEXPENSIVE to make-like 1-2 cents a load! It is fairly easy to make as well. We make the liquid version, but you can surf the web to find other liquid recipes, and powdered versions as well. My friend Amy at lifeslittlecrazies.blogspot.com makes the powdered, and shared some with me. I really liked it as well, but prefer liquid for my HE machine. It is low/no sudsing, which is perfect for the newer machines, but fine for the older ones as well.

We mix ours up in a big 5 gallon bucket, then fill up smaller containers-old detergent containers, apple/orange juice jugs, milk jugs, anything you can think of. One thing that was mentioned on the Duggar's website, and that we noticed as well over time, is that your whites can start to look dingy. This is due to the lack of phosphates in the detergent, and adding Oxyclean will take care of it. The other thing you can do is increase the Borax, which is what we decided to do, and it helped as well.

Here are the directions:

Ingredients: 4 cups hot tap water, 1 bar Fels-Naptha soap, 1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, 1/2 c. Borax (we have increased to 1 cup). You will also need a cheese grater, a 5 gallon bucket, a tall spoon for stirring, and your clean, smaller containers for storing the detergent.

Directions:
*Grate the bar of Fels-Naptha and add to saucepan with 4 cups hot tap water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap is melted.
*Fill a 5 gallon bucket half-full with hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda, and Borax. Stir well until powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.
* Using a clean plastic container, fill half-full of the soap, then fill the rest of the way with water. Shake well before each use, as it will thicken.
*Optional-you can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons once soap has cooled. Ideas-lavender, tea tree (my favorite).
*Yields 10 gallons of laundry detergent.

Other useful info:
*Recipe costs approximately $2.00 for 10 gallons!!
*Don't buy Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, it must be Super Washing Soda.
*You can add any laundry boosters/additives with this soap.
*Can be used to wash in all temperatures.
*Can be used as a pre-treater for tough stains.
*For regular washing machines use 1/2 cup per load, for front-loader He machines use 1/4 cup.

My next adventure: homemade dishwasher detergent!