Make your own laundry soap

My friend, A, mentioned something about using Michelle Duggar's recipe for making laundry soap, but then she got busy buying a house, so this week-end I got all the stuff and made a batch.  It's super easy to do, takes about 30 minutes and uses three ingredients (a bar of soap- I used Castille's hard water soap, borax, and A&H super washing soda) and it makes 10 GALLONS!  You can find the recipe here.  I also started using about 2/3 a cup of vinegar instead of softener and dryer sheets.  I did that mostly because we have well water and the washer is always orange from all the mineral residue and Michelle Duggar says it keeps the hoses on your washer clean and it takes residues off your clothes.

Well, so far I've washed 3 loads and everything is coming out great!  You use about a cup per load plus the cup of vinegar.  The cost for the laundry soap is about $2 for 10 GALLONS!  I need to look at Sam's club for a bulk price on vinegar, because I will start going through that pretty quickly.  So, that is one expense I won't have much of anymore and one batch of coupons I won't need to clip!  Yeah!

Anyone know of a homemade recipe for dishwasher soap... that stuff is pricey!?!

OAMC meets extreme couponing

Today I did a cooking day.  That's where I take the better part of a day and make up a bunch of meals that I can freeze and easily reheat during the week when we are so busy.  I've been doing this since I went back to work after having Lexi and it has changed our lives!  Not only are we spending less money eating out, we are eating way healthier since we are skipping all the junk food. 

I'd like to illustrate how stockpiling good deals when you find them on sale is a good thing... no matter what my buddy Adam says!

Today I made chicken pot pies.  The recipe is from "Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer" and I made it one other time when my friend, Laurie, and I did a shared cooking day and split the meals.  It's yummy!

It uses:

• refrigerated pie crusts (I just bought some pillsbury ones at GE on sale for 2/$5 with a $1 off 2 coupon=$2 each)
• chicken breast (used 2 bags of frozen chicken from GE on sale for $5.31 a bag)
• chicken broth (on sale at GE for $2 each with a $.50 off two coupon that GE doubles=$1.50 each)
• frozen veggies (used green giant lima beans I got free when on sale for $1 with a doubled $.50 off each coupon and some birdseye mixed veggies I got for 3/$3 with a $1 off three coupon=$2 for 3 bags)
• Land O lakes spreadable light butter (on sale for $1.25 with a $.55 off coupon doubled =$.15)
• fresh mushrooms (got 2 large packages at GE this week for $1 each)
• onions (used most of a $1.99 package of white onions)
• probably about $.50 worth of flour and assorted spices

So for 7 homemade chicken pot pies big enough to serve 5 adults and a picky kid or two I spent:

• Pie crusts = $14
• chicken= $10.62
• broth=$1.50
• veggies=$2
• butter=$.15
• mushrooms=$2
• onions=$1.99
• misc=$.50
• TOTAL=$32.76 or $4.68 per pie or $.93 per person

Now that's practical!

I want my formula coupons darn it!

So, as every new parent knows, when you have a baby, the formula companies start sending you lots of coupon "checks" that range from $2-$20.  I got some great ones after Lexi was born and I used them all.  (If you are a new parent and haven't done so, go to the Similac, Enfamil and Nestle Good Start sites to sign up for their parent programs RIGHT NOW!  You'll be amazed how much free stuff you get!)

Well, after a couple of rounds of coupons, they dried up.  I've been breastfeading almost exclusively, so I have a nice stockpile of almost free fomula just waiting for Lexi, but I know it won't be enough to get her through the first year.  With Samantha, the coupons kept coming well into the 2nd year.

My friend, Amy, tried signing up her Mom, pretending she was a new mom, but they must verify birth records because nothing came... Boo... I was all set to sign up my Mom!

So, I followed in my Mom's footsteps.  She will write a "strongly worded" letter to just about anyone and manages to get satisfaction and more from many companies.  So, I e-mailed all three companies from their websites, referrenced my membership numbers in their little clubs, and told them how I had to switch to a generic brand because they weren't sending me coupons anymore. The result was....

I got e-mails from all three saying coupns are in the mail!  Yeah, now my baby can eat!  (Not really, she can always eat directly from me... but it sounded good!)

Woo Hoo, I'm a blogger!

Hello out there in blog land!  My good friend and Mommy to be Samira said I'm so full of advice I should write a blog, so I decided to do it!  I work for the Federal government and with the impending shutdown, what better time.  I'll probably blog on lots of different things, from parenting (I have 3year old and 5 month old girls) to extreme couponing to Once a Month Cooking.

The hubs and I have settled into a very nice life and if anything I share helps others do the same, then I've made some kind of difference.  Thought I'd introduce the world to me...

I am a Mom
I am a wife
I am a Human Resources Professional
I am a daughter, daughter in law, granddaughter, cousin, aunt, niece, sister in law
I am a friend
I am an executive coach
I am a trainer
I am an overachiever
I speak my mind, sometimes getting me in trouble...
I am a coupon clipper
I am a chef, but only when I have to be
I am a play date organizer, tear wiper, boo boo kisser
I am a human milk machine
I am the one who hands out time outs in my house
I am the boss (only sometimes)
I am also a worker bee
I am a leader and a follower

I am a Practical Mommy!