This is a follow-up to yesterday's post about using coupons to save money on groceries.
Helpful Blogs:
- Money Saving Mom – Crystal Paine, believer, wife, mom of three, husband went through law school with NO DEBT. Paid cash for their home near the end of 2009. I love one of the things she said on her blog: couponing doesn’t need to take over your life and eat up your time!
It’s imperative, in seeking to be better home economists, that we value our time as well as our money. It is easy to get so caught up in trying to pinch every penny, that we lose sight of the big picture. We can become so focused on trying to save money that we end up spending hours and hours and hours of time to save a mere few dollars.
Also, check out her series: 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget.
(from the post, “Why I Don’t Make Homemade Tortillas”) - Common Sense With Money – Mercedes, wife, mom of three, originally from Honduras. This is a great blog to visit if you want to do the “Walgreen’s Game” (combine coupons + register rewards). She also has affiliated with other bloggers who match coupons with ads for the major grocery chains (the only one we have here is Kroger). She also does some Target and WalMart coupon/sale matching.
- The Krazy Coupon Lady - This is the coupon organization system I use now (binder with baseball card sleeves). She has a printable PDF for her organization system (in the right sidebar of her site, scroll down until you see “Free Downloads”). Eventually, I’ll reorganize this system to have my coupons in the order of the store where I do the bulk of my grocery shopping; but for now, this works. Also does coupon match-ups and “scenarios” to get the best deal(s).
Store/Manufacturer Websites:
- Kroger – Register your Kroger card, load coupons directly to the card (note: ecoupons do NOT double and cannot be combined with paper coupons), some special saving events where you can “play a game” for free grocery items (Deal of the Day currently going on); print paper coupons
- Procter & Gamble – Sign-up for coupon booklets (in addition to those that are in the paper), register for “freebies,” get samples
- Vocal Point – Procter & Gamble’s viral marketing site – “try and tells”; often receive samples and high value coupons
- Kraft First Taste – “Try and tells” from Kraft Foods – samples, coupons for free items or high value coupons
- Kashi – Also do “try and tells” some, high value coupons through the mail
Print Coupons at Home:
Note about printing coupons at home: all of the sites below require installing a plug-in to your computer. You will need to read over their privacy policy and decide if you want to do that or not. These plug-ins enable the ability for the manufacturer to set a limit for how many coupons you can print from a given computer (usually 2 per computer). You’ll also want to consider how much ink and paper you’re using by printing coupons at home.
- Target – has Target store coupons + manufacturer coupons (usually can’t tell which is which until you print them). Target store coupons CAN BE combined with manufacturer coupons for extra savings. Target also puts coupons on their site for Up&Up (store brand) products.
- Coupons.Com – great site for manufacturer coupons
- Smart Source – great site for manufacturer coupons
- Red Plum – great site for manufacturer coupons
Be aware: very few manufacturers use PDFs for coupons. If you receive an email attachment that is a PDF for a coupon, research it before you print and use it. A great resource is Coupon Information Center (the bar at top right called “counterfeit notifications” is the place to check). 3M Corporation is one of the few companies that does still use PDFs. Also, not all stores will accept internet coupons, and some have limits to what you can use.
A couple of other websites mentioning:
- The Grocery Game - Check with Karana for her email address to list her as the person who referred you if you decide to join.
- Hot Coupon World – This is a forum that discusses coupons and coupon deals. They also alert people about fraudulent coupons (as does the CIC listed above)
Laundry Detergent Recipe:
From the Duggar Family
4 cups HOT tap water
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
1 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ cup Borax
hot tap water
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with hot water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap is melted and dissolved. I add the soap in small amounts to keep it from lumping.
Fill a five-gallon bucket half-full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to the top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
The next day, it’s ready to use. Stir (I just stick my arm in) and fill a clean, used laundry soap bottle or other bottle with detergent mixture and water in a 1:1 ratio. (Yes, that 5-gallon bucket is the concentrate…you’ve basically got 10-gallons of laundry detergent.) Gently mix before each use (it will separate) – I just tip the bottle back and forth a couple of times. But, take my advice… make sure the lid to your bottle is screwed on well before you do that!
Optional: you can add essential oils to scent the detergent once the soap has cooled. Use 20-30 drops in a 5-gallon bucket. Be sure to use the oils made for soap.
Top-Load Machine: 5/8 cup per load (approximately 180 loads)
Front-Load Machine: ¼ cup per load (approximately 640 loads)
TipNut has compiled a great list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about homemade laundry detergent here. She addresses HE machines, washing diapers, sensitive skin, etc.
