Went to a coupon class the other night . . . .

1 bar fels naptha soap (you can also use any bar soap you want dove, ivory ect)
1 cup borax
1 cup washing soda
1 cup baking soda (use this due to babies and teenage boys)
grate soap and mix with 2 cups water heat until soap is melted
fill 5 gallon bucket half full with hot water add other ingredients when soap is melted add to bucket then finish fill with hot water mix well let set over night then stir will be semi jelled. used about 2 table spoons per load it comes out to less then a penny a load I love this stuff my son has eczema and my daughter also has skin problems but can use this soap no problems. it last me 7 months, I have 11 people living here. it works great.
 
When I was first married, many mango seasons ago, I was really diligent about cutting, sorting, filing & using coupons. One of our local grocery chains would have Double Coupon Day and that also helped these savings go even further. But now I find it's really not worth the time & effort. Most coupons are for such miniscule amounts, can't be doubled, and are for brand-name convenience foods, specialty cleaners, or health & beauty products I have no use for.

I save the most by shopping the sales at our Florida-based grocery chain Publix, they have fantastic weekly sales. I buy mostly staples & generics of those. Walgreens also has great sales each week. I try to stock up on necessary items when they're on sale, and let the sales direct my weekly menu.

I use the laundry soap recipe in post #7 of the above mentioned thread, and use the same proportions minus the Fels for diswasher detergent. I put 1 teaspoon in each soap compartment of my machine.

The thing that has helped me save the most $$$ is a small spiral-bound memo book & a pocket calculator I carry in my purse. I've marked the pages of the memo book A-Z and I jot down prices of certain items I need to track. Over time I've learned where the best prices can be found for different sorts of things. I've also learned that the big warehouse stores don't have the best deals on everything. The calculator helps me figure out unit prices and helps when comparison shopping.

For example, you can divide the price of Item A by its units, then multiply that answer by the units in Item B. Compare that answer with the price of Item B. If lower, then Item A is the best deal, if higher, then buy Item B. I also can learn just how much I would save by buying a larger or bigger package, sometimes the savings is so minimal it's not worth handling the surplus.

I wish there were a website where you could just type in your grocery list & it would find coupons you could print wherever available.
 
I'd like the info too please...
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Organization is my biggest issue with coupons, there are just SO many of them, but both girls use a zippered binder, with baseball card pages. You rotate the coupons as they expire, keep them in whatever caregory is easiest for you to maintain, and it goes with you EVERY time you shop. I do my big shopping monthly, so this will work great for me. Their steadfast rule is coupon carrier ON TOP of your purse. That way you have to get through the coupons before you pay. I promise I will get this scanned and emailed or try to copy and paste. They also suggest if you are really serious, to set up a separate email account for just coupons. Keeps a lot of extra stuff being sent to your main one. YOu also need to buy two newspapers that carry the coupon inserts, and always check to make sure they are in there, because people are starting to steal them. Can you believe that!! To me, just saving $20 every shopping trip is a bag of Alpaca chow . . . so I am really serious about this!! The free samples they get in the mail is unbelieveable too!!!
 
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I got a dumb question!!! What is washing soda, and where do you buy it? And can this be used in front loaders too?
 

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