One frugal tip I want to share with you this week is in regards to Dawn dish soap, which can be used in several ways around your home. Today I'm going to share two ideas with you.
The first tip concerns washing laundry. When you go to put your laundry in your washer be sure to squirt a small amount of Dawn dish washing detergent into the machine. This will help get any stains out of your clothes.
The second tip I want to share is to take a reusable plastic bottle and squirt a small amount of Dawn into it and fill the rest of the way with water.
This makes a great cleaner for counters, cabinets, stoves, and washing one or two dishes.
Stretching your Dawn out this way will definitely save you money in the long run because one bottle will last much longer when you stretch it out this way.
Speaking of laundry, we are quickly coming to the end of our stash of laundry detergent, which we bought when my daughter was couponing back in 2016. We have not bought laundry detergent or Soft Scrub in all that time.
This month I bought my first bottle of Soft Scrub in three years. Now we are going to have to start buying laundry detergent again or find another way to wash our laundry. Stayed tuned for updates on this process.
Speaking of being frugal, while I was wrapping Christmas presents last week I made sure to use something up before I opened a new one.
For example, I made sure to use ALL the gift tags on a sticker sheet before I opened a new package. I made sure to use all the bows before I opened a new pack.
And I do that with other items all year long. I make sure to empty a container of something before I open a new bottle.
My Mother had a bad habit of opening new bottles before she used up the older bottles. As a result, she had her bathtub lined up with multiple bottles of half filled shampoo, which was very wasteful. Use up those items and save yourself some money.
My Hamilton Beach hand mixer, given to me by my exdh for Christmas in the early 1990s, bit the dust while I was making a cheese ball last week.
Holiday cooking always makes me nostalgic especially when I use appliances like this and remembering people who are long gone and it made me a little sad.
To the rescue was my Mom's Dormeyer hand mixer (100 watts) from the 1960s, which didn't have as much power as mine had (290 watts), but it got the job done.
We did go out on Friday after Christmas to get some wrapping paper and bows, which were priced at 50% off. We have plenty to add to our stash for next year.
The other days this week we've been staying home and working a few hours in the morning and then playing games in the afternoon and watching a Christmas movie in the evenings. It's been fun & saves us money by staying home and using what we have to entertain ourselves.
How was your week? Any frugal wins you'd like to tell us about in the comment section? We would love to hear about them.
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~
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My Hamilton Beach hand mixer, given to me by my exdh for Christmas in the early 1990s, bit the dust while I was making a cheese ball last week.
Holiday cooking always makes me nostalgic especially when I use appliances like this and remembering people who are long gone and it made me a little sad.
To the rescue was my Mom's Dormeyer hand mixer (100 watts) from the 1960s, which didn't have as much power as mine had (290 watts), but it got the job done.
We did go out on Friday after Christmas to get some wrapping paper and bows, which were priced at 50% off. We have plenty to add to our stash for next year.
The other days this week we've been staying home and working a few hours in the morning and then playing games in the afternoon and watching a Christmas movie in the evenings. It's been fun & saves us money by staying home and using what we have to entertain ourselves.
How was your week? Any frugal wins you'd like to tell us about in the comment section? We would love to hear about them.
Thank you for using my Amazon affiliate link when placing your Amazon orders. I earn a small percentage that doesn't increase what you pay and it helps me to earn a living here at Frugal Workshop.
I love Dawn. I use it for stains and for cleaning as well. I also learned to mix it with water in a spray bottle to kill box elder bugs in the summer/fall. The cover the sides of the garage and get all over the windows and doors - just a pain. They die almost instantly when sprayed with the Dawn mixture. (It doesn't need to be super strong).
ReplyDeleteHope you get some deals on laundry soap. I haven't bought in several years either. I keep seeing good deals at CVS.
The Christmas cactus is beautiful.
Have a good week.
Thank you, Cheryl. Good to know they kill the elder bugs. I wonder if it works on stink bugs. We've had them this year and are tired of them. Hope you have a good week too.
DeleteMy discounted coffee was probably the biggest. Full pound bags for $3.26 I believe, even cheapaer than Aldi and bigger bags. I also got 1/2 price gifts (though to tell you the truth would not have paid more than $8 for these anyway) Discovery Kits for my niece and nephew that will turn 10 in August, and 12 year old nephew for an April birthday. These with some $ for the 12 year old, and a new sweatshirt for school (hopefully bought on clearance as well) makes a nice gift that doesn't break an aunties budget.
ReplyDeleteYou found some great deals this week, Sam. Way to go. Great deal on the coffee.
DeleteSo interesting. Happy 2020
ReplyDeleteThank you, R. Happy 2020 to you too. :)
DeleteI like the DAWN tips; I love dawn too!
ReplyDeleteWe do too, Penny. It works so great to cut grease and grime. :)
DeleteAs we are downsizing, I did not buy anything for wrapping but tried to use up what we had. We still have some left, but a manageable amount. When I combined my things with my moms it was an unbelievable amount, she was a Christmas nut.
ReplyDeleteOh no, Kim. Glad you were able to use up what you had on hand to a manageable amount.
DeleteExcellent reminder to finish things off before opening new. Sometimes it's these simple reminders that will put us right back on track again.
ReplyDeleteFinding your post today was such a boost of encouragement and joy Belinda!
Blessings on you and yours this coming year!
Pam
Thank you so much, Pam. You are always so encouraging to me. I hope you and your family have many blessings in the new year. :)
DeleteDollar Tree has Fab laundry detergent (40 ounces) for a dollar. I got one but I'm thinking about going back for more. The shelf was getting bare so I will try to go tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteThat is a fantastic price on Fab Christine! i would be going back for some more of that too.
DeleteI add enough Dawn to a full 32oz bottle of peroxide to bring it nearly to the brim, then add and spray top. I use this for everything from cleaning counters, tile, tubs, and showers to getting almost any stain out of laundry. Love it, and so cheap!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fantastic cleaner, Nichole. I'm going to have to try this one too. Especially in the bathroom.
DeleteThank you for the Dawn tips, Belinda. I buy Palmolive (only because I get coupons for that brand), but I’m going to try to suggestions.
ReplyDeleteSounds good, Nil. I hope you like it.
DeleteI'm glad you had a great Christmas and hope you have a Happy New Year too. I liked your story about your mom's mixer. Just goes to show you that older things are as good as, and sometimes better, than newer ones. Have you ever tried making your own laundry detergent? I started doing that about 5/6 years ago when I needed to really tighten the budget. It is easy and takes very little time. I haven't noticed any difference in the cleaning either. Just a thought. Once again,, I enjoy your blog and appreciate all your work both on it and in your substitute teaching.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Frances. I thought some of you might enjoy that about my Mom's mixer. I thought the same thing that they were made so much better back then and made to last. We have done the homemade dry laundry detergent and liked it, so we may do that again I've not made the liquid homemade laundry detergent though. We are going to experiment and see what we can come up with. THank you so much.
DeleteI stopped buying wrapping paper and bows. I give reusable bags. I do not use all my tags. I actually like those sticker sheet tags, lol. I pick & choose which ones I use and then use them in my journals to. I pack them away next year and take them out and admire my used "sticker" pack. Sticker collector's love doing this. We use them until the pack is gone. We can keep a pack of tags for a decade, lol.
ReplyDeleteI love Dawn. It is really good for bathing your pets. It is a flea killer and safe for your babies. I also use it on my rescue animals, especially my birds. When I got an influx of "tar" birds several years ago from Texas. I bathed them in Dawn. It is gentle enough for hummingbirds. Don't get into their eyes or nose.
I like the sticker sheet tags too, Safyne. Your comment about the Dawn on pets reminds me of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and how they used Dawn to clean many of the birds up there. Do you remember that? It's a great product. I don't think I knew that it killed fleas. That is terrific.
DeleteI LOVE Christmas Cactus and yours is beautiful. I keep a bottle of with Dawn and vinegar mixed with water to keep my kitchen countertops clean.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa. I need to add some vinegar to my bottle too.
ReplyDelete