Thursday, April 26, 2012

"Oops Paint"

Spencer's therapist told me this morning that most home improvement stores have what's called "oops paint". It's paint that consumers have returned for various reasons and has been steeply marked down.
I needed paint for a project and I went to check it out.
Menards Prices:
pint: .50
quart: 1.00
gallon: 5.00
five gallon bucket: 15.00

Brands and colors are all hit or miss. But it seems like people were more likely to return the expensive brands.

The therapist reports that some stores sell the gallon for $1! She also said that sometimes she's seen 50 choices. When I went there were about a dozen.

If you know the prices of other stores let me know! I have some major painting projects coming up. :D
I should mention the paint is non-refundable.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Homeade laundry soap

Has anyone ever made homeade laundry or dishwasher soap?  It's been on my to-do list for a long time, and I finally got around to it last week. Here is the link to the site I used.

http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html

I'm sure there are different variations out there, but I was happy with this recipe.  I also used her recipe for dishwasher detergent.  Because the two recipes use most of the same ingredients, what I did was cut each in half so that I could try them.  It still made so much that I won't need to buy or make more for months.  In addition to being economical, I like that you know exactly what is going into it and there are no fillers.  In fact, you only need to use 1-2 tablespoons, because there aren't any fillers.  The laundry soap doesn't have a strong scent, but it is pleasant smelling. I was using a hypoallergenic soap anyway, so I didn't really care about that.  You can still use scented fabric softeners. 

If you're like me, and have good intentions but think this might just be too much effort, trust me...it isn't!  The longest part was grating up the bar soap it calls for.  And that only took about 10 minutes.  Totally worth it.  If anyone tries it, let me know what you think!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Family Fun Subscription

I saw this deal and had to share!  It's for a FREE 20 month subscription to Family Fun.  We get that magazine, and I love it.  It's full of fun activities and crafts to do with kids.  You can't beat FREE!!!  Hurry, it'll go fast!

http://www.bargainstobounty.com/2012/04/family-fun-magazine-free-20-month-subscription-while-supplies-last/