I am going to go ahead a post tomorrow's Food For the Spirit since I will be at work tomorrow.
Today's Food for the spirit comes from my new devotional that I have on my iPhone entitiled "Experiencing God's Renewal." The passage is Colossians 3:1-17. It speaks about the fact that when we are born again as Christians, our old sinful ways die with our old self. We must see our lives here on Earth as simply what they are, Earthly lives. I have been struggling with this a bit, as I have been putting some Earthy things ahead of my Christian walk. This is not something I am proud of and it will continue to be a struggle each day. We must all remember that we cannot take anything from this Earth with us when we leave, and we ar eonly passing through. I am vowing to try to live my life with that belief, and to live like I know that death isn't the end, but only th beginning of something much greater, an eternal like spent with my Father in Heaven!!
Love in Christ!!
LeAnn
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
The Golden Years?? Where is the Gold??
Hey everyone!!! This is post number two for the day (I know aren't you so lucky!!) but it is one that is near and dear to my heart. My mom, Betty, is on a mission to get senior citizens added to the WIC program in order to provde them with the necessary nutrients that they need to live happily and healthy in their golden years. She has shared the story of my grandmother on the facebook site Help Our Senior Citizens that she created. She, along with many other friends and family, have emailed and petitioned local and state government officials to assist in this endeavor. I know from working in the medical field how many seniors have to choose their medication over food and bills, and this program would provide them with dairy, bread, and other food that is important in the prevention and control of osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, and many other illnesses. Mom is currently looking for anyone who has a story of a senior citizen who has been in these type of situations. Please visit her facebook page at the above link, or email her at brlchild@bellsouth.net with your story or ideas of how to help.
Our government has already taken so much away from them. It is time for us to help. After all, they have protected and cared for us and helped us be halty and successful.
In Chrisian Love.
LeAnn
Our government has already taken so much away from them. It is time for us to help. After all, they have protected and cared for us and helped us be halty and successful.
In Chrisian Love.
LeAnn
Back with a new resolution.... Save more money in 2012!!
So, I have been couponing now for a little over a year, not including my little hiatus I took over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have found that I can save around 50-60% on my weekly grocery bill by using coupons. But I still end up spending more money on things that are necessary, but not what I would call "great" savings. Things such as laundry and Dish detergent rank at the top of my list of these items. Today I want to share a couple of recipes that I have found (thanks to Pinterest, my newest addiction) to make these two items.
The laundry detergent is the most complicated of the two, but is still fairly simple. I will be sharing a recipe for the liquid as well as the powder.
First, Liquid Laundry detergent.
Ingredients:
2. Put in a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until all of the soap flakes have dissolved and melted (about 10 minutes). Make sure your are over medium-low heat, and you watch the soap continuously, or you will have a boiled over mess!!
3. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half-full of hot water.
4. Pour in the soap mixture. Add 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and 1/2 cup Borax. Stir.
5. Fill the rest of the 5-gallon bucket with water until it is full. Stir again.
6. Cover and let it sit overnight.
7. When you open the top up the next day, it should have gelled and thickened slightly. Stir again.
8. Use a funnel to fill a clean laundry detergent container (or gallon-size milk jug) and fill it HALF way with the soap mixture. Fill the other half with water and shake.
I have only made this one time, but it seems to be similar to our All and arm and hammer that we buy.
Recipe thanks to http://www.icanteachmychild.com/. She has lots of neat stuff there!!
Now for the powdered version.
Ingredients:
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle
You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.
1. Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap. Don't worry the Fels-naptha will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water.2. Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. Mix Well. Once everything is mixed store soap however you like.
This recipe courtesy of http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/.
And now for the Dish Washer Detergent:
Ingredients:
Dishwasher Detergent ingredients:
1 box Borax (4lbs 12 oz or 76 oz ) (2.15 kg) found in the detergent isle
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55 oz or 3 lbs 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix, like kool-aid. (**Note: lemonade will stain soap dispenser yellow, another option would be to use citric acid instead of lemonade. You can usually find citric acid in the canning isle )
3 cups Epsom Salt
LemiShine rinse aid (this recipe does not work very well without it) Sprinkle about a Tablespoon in the bottom of the dishwasher before you start the load.
Mix Borax, washing soda, salt and lemonade together in a large, very large, bowl. When ingredients are mixed together well put soap in a container of your choice. I bought a pitcher at Walmart for around $4 to store mine in. This recipe makes a little more than will fit, so I put the rest in a ziplock bag. It does get hard, so you have to mix it up every once in a while, but so does the bought stuff.
Total Spent:
Liquid Laundry Detergent: $10.95 (I took out the price of the bucket since it can be used over and over.)This should equal about 180 loads for a top loading washer (like mine). That is $0.06 per load. (It is around $0.01 for a front loader because you use less!!)
Powder Laundry Detergent:About the same as Liquid, but it will last anywhere from 9 months to a year. That equals about $0.03 per load if you do one load of laundry per day!!
Dish Detergent: $10.80 will last for about 5 months, as you only use one Tablespoon at a time. With a little estimation: That is $2.16/month, $0.54/week, or, if you only do one load per day, $0.08 per load!!
Price Comparison:
I am going to compare the Laundry Detergent to my favorite Brand, ALL.
You will pay about $12 for a 96 load container of ALL. That is before coupons, which rarely save ou more than $3. So lets just say $9. That equals $0.09/ load and that is IF you can find those coupons that are $3. Make it yourself and Saver $0.03-0.06 per load.
Have fun Saving!!
LeAnn
The laundry detergent is the most complicated of the two, but is still fairly simple. I will be sharing a recipe for the liquid as well as the powder.
First, Liquid Laundry detergent.
Ingredients:
- Borax ($2.99 at Walmart)
- Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (NOT Baking Soda–$2.99 at Walmart) For those of you near the Mid TN area, the only place I found that was in the Florence AL Walmart. You can also google and buy it online.
- Fels-Naptha Soap Bar ($0.97 at Walmart)
- 5-gallon bucket with lid (around $8 at Home Depot; 4 for lid, 4 for bucket)
- 10 gallon milk jugs (or other containers) that have been cleaned and rinsed ( I am using the old laundry containers that my loving hubby has tossed around the garage when they are empty, cleaned of course)
- OPTIONAL: Essential Oil Drops for fragrance (We used Yankee Candle Company oil. You have to be careful of what kind you buy, because certain oils will actually stain your clothes)
2. Put in a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until all of the soap flakes have dissolved and melted (about 10 minutes). Make sure your are over medium-low heat, and you watch the soap continuously, or you will have a boiled over mess!!
3. Fill a 5-gallon bucket half-full of hot water.
4. Pour in the soap mixture. Add 1 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda and 1/2 cup Borax. Stir.
5. Fill the rest of the 5-gallon bucket with water until it is full. Stir again.
6. Cover and let it sit overnight.
7. When you open the top up the next day, it should have gelled and thickened slightly. Stir again.
8. Use a funnel to fill a clean laundry detergent container (or gallon-size milk jug) and fill it HALF way with the soap mixture. Fill the other half with water and shake.
I have only made this one time, but it seems to be similar to our All and arm and hammer that we buy.
Recipe thanks to http://www.icanteachmychild.com/. She has lots of neat stuff there!!
Now for the powdered version.
Ingredients:
1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle
1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle or detergent isle
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle
2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle.
(this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better)
You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.
1. Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap. Don't worry the Fels-naptha will dissolve in your washer even if you only use cold water.
This recipe courtesy of http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/.
And now for the Dish Washer Detergent:
Ingredients:
Dishwasher Detergent ingredients:
1 box Borax (4lbs 12 oz or 76 oz ) (2.15 kg) found in the detergent isle
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55 oz or 3 lbs 7 oz) found in the detergent isle
24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix, like kool-aid. (**Note: lemonade will stain soap dispenser yellow, another option would be to use citric acid instead of lemonade. You can usually find citric acid in the canning isle )
3 cups Epsom Salt
LemiShine rinse aid (this recipe does not work very well without it) Sprinkle about a Tablespoon in the bottom of the dishwasher before you start the load.
Mix Borax, washing soda, salt and lemonade together in a large, very large, bowl. When ingredients are mixed together well put soap in a container of your choice. I bought a pitcher at Walmart for around $4 to store mine in. This recipe makes a little more than will fit, so I put the rest in a ziplock bag. It does get hard, so you have to mix it up every once in a while, but so does the bought stuff.
Total Spent:
Liquid Laundry Detergent: $10.95 (I took out the price of the bucket since it can be used over and over.)This should equal about 180 loads for a top loading washer (like mine). That is $0.06 per load. (It is around $0.01 for a front loader because you use less!!)
Powder Laundry Detergent:About the same as Liquid, but it will last anywhere from 9 months to a year. That equals about $0.03 per load if you do one load of laundry per day!!
Dish Detergent: $10.80 will last for about 5 months, as you only use one Tablespoon at a time. With a little estimation: That is $2.16/month, $0.54/week, or, if you only do one load per day, $0.08 per load!!
Price Comparison:
I am going to compare the Laundry Detergent to my favorite Brand, ALL.
You will pay about $12 for a 96 load container of ALL. That is before coupons, which rarely save ou more than $3. So lets just say $9. That equals $0.09/ load and that is IF you can find those coupons that are $3. Make it yourself and Saver $0.03-0.06 per load.
Have fun Saving!!
LeAnn
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