Penny Pincher

I come from a long line of penny pinchers. My Grandpa Harry's mom, Grandma Great (no, that's not a typo. that's what we always called her), she washed her aluminum foil and reused it. My Great-Grandma Jean, who is 93 and lived during The Great Depression, never turns on her air conditioner unless it's 95 out. And only then if you ask her to because you're about to have a heat stroke. She still has the same dishes, furniture, carpet, clothes and hairbrush she had when she got married. My Grandma Darlene has a pantry full of Cool-Whip containers, butter tubs and take-out boxes that she saves for who knows what. And she never wants to turn on the overhead ceiling fan lights because they use too much electricity. My mom washes and reuses her ziploc bags. She uses aluminum cans, cardboard velveeta cheese boxes and cottage cheese containers for drawer organizers. So it's no wonder I am also cheap, a tight wad frugile.

While Adam finds this character trait annoying at times, it comes in handy when you're stretching a teacher's salary to provide for a family of four. A task I take seriously and am very proud of. I do a lot of things to save money. Some of which include making my own laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. I've had several people ask me for this recipe recently so I thought I would share it. Please feel free to re-share, I don't care. :)

It is actually shocking how easy and CHEAP making dishwasher detergent it. Everyone should try it. Unless of course you hate money or have so much of it that you're already using it for toilet paper.

HOMEMADE DISHWASHER DETERGENT

2 Cups baking soda
2 Cups Borax

- Add 1Tbs to the prewash compartment and 1Tbs to the wash compartment

........that's it folks!!

 A box of Borax at Wal-Mart or Rural King is about $3.50. This box of baking soda was about $.40 at Aldis. You will use the whole box of baking soda and just a fraction of the Borax. So for you can make this recipe for about $1!! I run my dishwasher everyday, sometimes twice a day, and this lasts me about a month. So for $1 you can make dishwasher detergent for a month! If you buy it at the store I think it's usually $8-$9. I'm not really sure about that, since it's been a long time since I bought detergent.



Just measure it, throw it in whatever container you want to use to store it and you're done. Takes less than 5 minutes. And that included going upstairs to get the Borax. Notice I use an old coffee container to store mine. Thrifty is my middle name.

Then I just put my beloved detergent back in it's home under my sink. Another bonus I should mention is that it is 100% all-natural. And it's good for the environment. If you're into that kind of thing. Not that I'm not into saving the environment, I just think that saving money is the best part.

But does it work you ask?? Yes. I have never noticed a difference between store-bought powdered detergent and my homemade stuff. If you're worried about water spots you could always pour vinegar into the bottom of your dishwasher before you run it.

Try it. You will be amazed.