Getting Creative!

Every magazine I read has a ton of tips on budgeting, cutting back, saving. I grew up poor, these tips are so old news to me I do them without thinking.

I am on a quest this year to find new and creative ways to cut back on the spending. You see, I'm now a shopaholic. There are some things I'd like to do in the next few years that require a lot of money...My best friend lives in London. I have to go visit her, cause really? When am I going to have that opportunity again?
Here's where the creativity comes in. I know I have to cut back on the shopping and stick to a budget. No prob...well, on paper anyway. But, I really wanted to think of new ways to save money. Just for the heck of it. Like I said, I'm tired of seeing the same ole tips. I'm going to think outside of the box!

So, I started looking around my house. What do I buy that just gets thrown away? I started making a mental list...which I think I'll post tomorrow. One of those things was laundry detergent. All the time I see recipes for homemade laundry detergent, and I could just see myself in the kitchen for hours slaving away making a huge batch. I decided to give it a try though. I am on a quest after all. And the cost-holy cow! A tiny fraction of what I spend now.

Before I post the recipe I used let me fill you in on another concern. In addition to how time consuming I thought it would be, I was scared that my clothes would stink.
Let me tell you, it took 15 minutes TOTAL to make this. I was confused as to what I was going to do for the next 2 hours that I had planned to be in the kitchen making laundry detergent. And, I just happened to make it on laundry day, so I used it right away. My clothes smelled great.
I'm in love.
Here's the recipe:
(I used half, it's just me and the hubby)

Grate a bar of fells naptha soap (I got mine from amazon.com) into a saucepan filled with water. Heat until the soap is melted.
Fill a 10 Gallon tub half full of hot water. Add the melted soap, 1 Cup Arm and Hammer washing soda, and 1/2 Cup Borax (found on the laundry isle). Stir. Fill the rest of the tub up with hot water. As it sets it will gel. Use 1 cup per load. Stirring with each use.

I used an old detergent bottle and didn't fill it all the way, give it a good shake before pouring.

I should note that this is for liquid detergent. I hate powder.

So, for next year I'll be blogging about my quest for creative cutbacks in addition to everything else!