CREATIVE SAVINGS TECHNIQUES in the LAUNDRY ROOM

CREATIVE SAVINGS TECHNIQUES?

  I buy sale/bogo/coupon laundry detergent and I get laundry detergent samples frequently and YES I use them when I can get a super deal but I can't do this ALL of the time ........... I love to save money and OH BOY  is this ever one of my #1 TOP TIPS that i frequently share and make it a point to share when I teach a seminar or a class on saving money........... its not always about clipping...........

This is another older article that I dug out to help the newbies and refresh the minds of the "pro" SAVINGS SPECIALISTS

 Laundry Savings

I am all about FRUGAL and saving money on things. One of the biggest savings that I have in my household (besides groceries) is Laundry Detergent. I hate the hiked up laundry product prices and have been disgruntled about the "cease in making the small box" that I used to get for pennies after coupon usage (doubled) in the grocery store. I live for laundry product free samples and would otherwise buy the $2.99 laundry detergent at food lion, if I didn't MYO (make your own) laundry soap. This saves me an incredible about of money and my clothes smell good for pennies.

PREVIOUS POST ON MYO LAUNDRY SOAP AND DRYER SHEETS
MYO............ Powdered Laundry Detergent
1 cup grated Fels Naptha Soap (I use 1/2 a bar for each batch and make 2 batches at a time)
1/2 cup washing soda
1/2 cup 20 mule team borax
Mix and store in airtight container or bag. For light loads, use 2 tablespoon. For heavy loads, use 3 tablespoons.
ANJIE NOTE: THIS RECIPE SAVES YOUR TONS OF MONEY! if you cannot find the ingredients locally you can purchase them here

MYO DRYER SHEETS : use a matchless sock and liquid fabric softener. Put a quarter size dab on the sock of the liquid softener. Rub the sock together until the sock is not wet but rather damp and throw in the dryer with a load of clothes. CHEAP softener is AOK, I love using free product samples to do this!

HA HA HA this was written in 2008 and the following paragraph makes me laugh because everything old is new again! .............


Now one of the draw backs of MYO laundry detergent is that the colors and whites are not as deeply colored or bright white if you do not use BLEACH of some sort. So then we start talking about the added expense of doing laundry one more time. I like for my clothes to last a long time. I am not a slave to fashion and tend to buy more of "what i like" than what is "in style." This drives my daughters crazy, and they threaten me with "what not to wear" from time to time! :) I tend to wear 70's style , gypsy-ish long dresses A LOT! :)


USING  stain fighters and color booster is a savings in the long run........... your clothes last longer and look "newer" too! The cost of a bottle for 33 loads is about $2- $4 without coupon at your DG or FD or Dollar store....... I have found that I can stretch a 33 load bottle into 40 loads further reducing the cost to cents per load. This is a small price to pay for the RESULTS in SAVING YOUR CLOTHING from the TRASH BIN due to stains and/or dulling color, dingy whites. Not only is it effective in treating stains it is also easy to use. It doesn't add but a couple of seconds to the time it takes to do your laundry and works most of the time! :)

SAVVY GREEN SHOPPING : Is that an oxymoron? Not Always!

Photo Credit:  shopperschoice.com

 "ITS WHAT YOU SPEND NOT WHAT YOU SAVE"
People always say "eating healthy" and "being environmentally conscious" is expensive and for the most part they are right.  There are exceptions to this rule and I attempt to buy & eat healthy when I can and within my "budget" of $200 a month or less for all consumable products in the household.   Most of the time I am "under that" and even have gone an entire month spending only $20 out of pocket but have also gone the other way and spent the entire $200 or more on a party or cookout.  I am always looking for ways to LIVE LAVISHLY FOR LESS and I try to educate others on how to do the same.   If you are a long time follower you hear my voice in your head saying certain phrases and the one above in red , should be one of them!
Many blogs and  SAVINGS SPECIALISTS (freelancers are otherwise known as) tout about all of the SAVINGS they have but they don't talk about their BOTTOM LINE .............. stick with me and I will show you the way! 

I DONT LIKE TO COMPROMISE LIVING or my LIFESTYLE  ............. TO SAVE A DOLLAR  and neither should you......that is like being on a BUDGET which like a LIFE DIET  & everyone knows that doesn't work.............

I made several orders with the $100 I won on this site.............
this is one of them.............
I actually paid ZERO for the $25 credit.......... (you can earn credit too, sign up,  enter the contests and refer your friends!)

GO HERE to sign up if NEWBIE TO DEAL PULP
GO HERE if you are already a member

this particular deal is expired but you will get the idea from this
I am using online sites for price comparison and there may be better deals at the dollar stores but ......... this is the easiest way for me to make my point........

I normally pay for Trash Bags for the kitchen,  I try to find GOOD DEALS on them but they are expensive (especially the bio/green ones which I prefer) I have over 100 bags in this order which if you are looking at walmart/glad bags they are $16 for 100 before coupons...........I got OVER 100 and bio/green in this order

Next I ordered the "to go" coffee cups with lids (environmentally friendly / not styrofoam for those that subscribe to that theory)
Comparably Walmart carries 50ct for $9.97 WITHOUT lids + s&h and are not bio/green   -  we do use the reusable travel cups too, but have problems frequently with "leaking, breaking, losing" them too so we would much prefer these

these 2 items above equal the amount I spent....... about $25 out of pocket.......... SHIPPED (save the gas money) and EARNED points on my CREDIT CARD for rewards later too.......  These are items that we normally use, pay for out of pocket and need to replace often at our house........

PLUS I got 200 jello shooter / disposable condiment cups 2oz each with lids for Summer Cookout and Lunch packing (bio/green) they are $10 for 100 of them here without lids (+ shipping)
like getting it for FREE when you consider the price comparisons, you can also look at this purchase in reverse....... we will need the souffle cups and would have to pay for them full price later 
so it would be like getting the coffee cups and trash bags free
comprende? capishe?


the trick to this is #1  use a reward site when you can (this one is not listed on the reward sites so n/a)  #2 use a reward card to purchase (earn reward points) or Paypal (get free paypal money to pay)  #3 compare prices and make sure to include your TIME & GAS in the equation  #4  get "free" items if you can, ship it for free when possible and  kick your "normal" up a notch by purchasing better quality at the same cost  #5  buy products you purchase ANYWAY or NEED for gift , not buy to get a "deal"  buy the deals to meet a need and live lavishly with the rest and most importantly #6  NEVA NEVA NEVA pay full price for anything!

HERE IS MY INVOICE! 

LetsGoGreen.biz
Your order no. 698-16565 has been received.
Order Summary:

Item	Qty	Description	Options	Rate	Amount
EP-PC200	2	Eco-Products 2oz Corn Souffle Cup 100pk		$6.88	$13.76
EP-PCLID	2	Eco-Products Lid for 2, 3 & 4oz Souffle Cup 100pk		$5.68	$11.36
EP-BHC10-WA	1	10oz World Art Eco Hot Cup 50pk		$9.98	$9.98
706173-020301	5	13gl Ecosafe Tall Kitchen Bags 15ct		$2.98	$14.90
Deal Pulp $25 OFF	1	Deal Pulp $25 OFF (Y2RJGKMCNQNWV)		($25.00)	($25.00)
Tax					0.00
Total					$25.00

Old Article Resurfaces! GET OFF YOUR LIFE DIET!

WELCOME NEWBIES - GET OFF YOUR LIFE DIET!

PREFACE:
I wrote this article in MAY of 2004 , long before Oprah "came up" with comparing Budgets to Diets (brilliant concept! tee hee) I wrote this article to introduce myself to a social network called BACKWASH. I only wrote a couple of articles and then stopped as the community was not really a "good fit" for me and the "process" of publishing articles was much more difficult than I was used to! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO without further ado......

HERE IS MY INTRODUCTION
Hi there, I am a resident friend in the frugal backwash arena that will be sending you the "Live Lavishly for Less" column. I thought I would take a minute and introduce you to "anjie’s world" before we get "officially" started.

"Anjie’s world" includes learning to enter contests that you can actually win, doing rebates, shopping online frugally, turning small change into dollars, getting free things, and getting off that LIFE DIET. Everyone can use this information, single moms, married dads, students reading from library computers to those in corporate offices using their laptops over lunch. Shop Macys, Nordstroms, Hechts (you can afford it, I promise) when you know how to shop "off season, with a coupon and free shipping" You may not be able to satisfy the common "gotta have it and gotta have it now" attitude that many kids are adopting today, but you will be able to have it, just be patient and you too will live lavishly for less.

I have always been interested in winning contests and won my first one when I was 8 years old. I inquired about "saving money" frequently from my limited resources, and always looked for ways to get things I was told we couldn’t afford. I sold greeting cards door to door at 10 years old, I formed a "ME" group with a few other preteens at 12, the ME stood for "money earners" we even had white tee shirts that we ironed the red letters M & E on the front. We babysat and we cleaned apartments. We lived in Goverment subsidized apartments at the time and no one had any money for luxuries but that didn’t mean we didn’t want them! I asked my mother once about a system that I heard about that you saved the labels from grocery items and could cash them in, she told me that was a ’scam’ and didn’t save you money. I was also told that there wasn’t any money but the finances were "none of my business" this was very frustrating for me and I didn’t understand how much things cost or the concept of a credit card at all. I didn’t understand how we could not afford for me to have the toys or records or clothes that I wanted but we could buy a new car. This concept just wasn’t clear, as children should be seen and not heard at that time.

My parents idea of "making it" was the KIDS doing without to pay bills. This sounded and felt to me like a "diet" you had to do without the things you want in order to achieve a goal. I never did like dieting, never saw one that you could actually stick to and frankly don’t want to live my life on a diet either. My little ways of making extra money and earning prizes paid off for me in ways that one could never imagine. Winning tickets to go to the movies and to go skating was very exciting for me at that time, and I proudly told my mother that there were ways that you could get the things you want without doing without if you really wanted them. She didn’t buy into that theory and never investigated this route because it was somewhat of a secret, people just didn’t share that kind of information.

I was totally unprepared for what life would deal me at an early age. At twenty years old I was a single parent, with no support system, no knowledge base on how to make it, no college under my belt and no real concept of "finances" "banking" "credit" etc. I had to teach myself, learn from others bits and pieces and put it all together like a puzzle and fit the knowledge into my life so that I could raise my daughter and provide her with a life that I never had. I wanted her to have everything that I could give her (within reason), food on the table, educational materials, toys, pretty clothes and to experience the world, of course, but I couldn’t afford it, so began my quest to "beat the system"

This may have been the catalyst for my dive into the world of frugality, but today I will tell you that even if I won the Lottery I would still be frugal and take advantage of the things America has to offer. There is no reason why there should be any Americans that don’t have enough to eat and there is no reason to be on a LIFE DIET. There are ways to enjoy your life, have the things you want and need, save money, invest small amounts of money that apply to all of us that will not compromise your enjoyment of life.

As you can probably tell I am very passionate about what I believe in and have learned through by life experiences. I am also a strong believer in RAOK (random acts of kindness), pennies from heaven, and KARMA the Law of Return that means, quite simply, that what you do affects what happens to you. If you do good, good is going to happen to you. You will see that there are ways to help others too in ways that you never thought possible, you will have excess in life instead of not enough, so there will be plenty to share!

That daughter is 24 years old 28 and I have another one now that is 16 20. I have two step daughters ages 22 & 12 that live with us and now have 3 grand-children. I have a college degree in Social Work and I have worked my entire life to perfect the science of being a "savings specialist." I have goals to create a proactive program (unheard of in government offices for the most part) to teach people what I do before they are in debt up to their eyebrows and / or have lived on a life DIET and begin to binge. I believe in the philosophy that you can help someone by giving them a fish if they are hungry but if you give them the fish and then teach them how to fish then you have changed their life. This applies to Everyone, not just the impoverished. Is there something that you really want to have or do that you tell yourself that you cannot afford or shouldn’t spend the money on? Well guess what? I am here to tell you that you can have anything you put your mind to and you will neva neva neva pay full price for anything if you apply some of my strategies to what you are already doing.

Well I hope that this introduction has helped you to get to know me a bit before we start our journey here. I look forward to making some friends, teaching you what I know and most of all to hear about your success in getting off your diets!