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Pinchin Pennies

I don't know about your household but this household is in major penny pinching mode. It has a little to do with the economy and a lot to do with the four growing children.

They need stuff. They need stuff all the time. They almost always insist on being fed. There are days that the only thing my 12 year old says to me is, "What's for dinner." I highly suspect saying, "Dinner, no dinner tonight" would not go over well.

Then they need things like glasses and shoes and school clothes and school fees and...

Well you get the picture.

I wonder whose brilliant idea it was to have four children?

Well what is done is done and we are really learning to the best of our abilities to save money where we can. Part of that money saving is buying certain household items like toilet paper, laundry soap and dish soap in bulk.

In fact until recently Costco sold a huge bucket of dishwasher soap for a very reasonable price. Then one day I went to buy it and they didn't have it. We checked around at other Costco's and other stores and have been unable to find it. Which had us buying other Costco soap but being a little annoyed that the cheaper version was gone.

After a little digging around on the Internet we found that dishwasher soap is actually very easy to make at home. Easy and did I mention very cheap! Yay Cheap! So here it is Krissi's first ever money saving tip.

Take these two ingredients:


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Mix them in equal parts (one cup/one cup)


Put them in a handy to use container with a one tablespoon measuring spoon.

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Fill your dishwasher with dirty dishes, put one tablespoon of soap in the pre-wash and one tablespoon in the wash container, and start. Total cost to wash your dishes 4.5 cents :)

Just in case your wondering the cheapest we are able to buy dishwasher soap now is Costco's liquid brand that cost about 9.5 cents a load. That is if you get every last drop out of the container. Brent also wanted me to mention that you have to have a Costco membership so those two things combined make the actual cost a little more.


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We also read that you can use vinegar instead of JetBlue in the dishwasher. We have tried it and the dishes are coming out clean and streak free.

What kind of tricks and tips do you have for saving pennies?

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jesussavesyeehaw said…
You know the duggars have a recipe for laundry soap on their website?
July 1, 2009 at 8:43 PM
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