We are signing off

Hi All,

After much thought and deliberation, we've realized it's time to say goodbye to the Saving 4 Change blog. I've decided to go back to school and finish my Masters Degree, and spend more time with my toddlers. It was a tough decision, but I am sure that all of you will understand.

We will continue posting deals and coupons, along with helpful articles and tips on our Facebook page. We might occasionally do giveaways too.

Thanks to all that faithfully read our posts for the past 2 years. Lots of love to you all!

xoxoxox

Katie

Sales to Watch for in February

Well, we hope that you all enjoyed a lovely, (and love-y!) Valentines Day!

One of our fellow readers asked the question "What sales should I be looking for in February?" and I thought it warranted a blog, all to itself!

The obvious first category will be all-items for Valentines Day! You can stock up on some great deals in stores meant to woo and wow your honey! Look specifically for mark-downs or coupon-pairing for chocolate, paper products, or clearance/markdowns on toys, such as stuffed animals. It's also a great time to price check wine cases! Also, staring on February 15th, you can get these items at 25%, 33%, even 50%/75% off! The closer you wait til the end of the month, the better the percentage off as stores make way for St. Patricks Day and Easter.

Spring items and gardening supplies typically go on sale this week, keep a look out for online coupons or store specials by signing up for exclusive deals via text or electronic mailings. Health foods, such as vitamins, whole-grain cereal or excerize equipment is generally discounted too. Been waiting to get a gym membership? Join the crowd. Memberships are generally running "specials" January-March to encourage you to keep your New Year's Resolutions.

Some other one's we've noticed? Diapers and dog food! I recently scored a case of size 4 disposable diapers at Fred Meyer (Kroger Brand!) at $13.99/ 84 diapers, no coupons required. That beat out Costco bulk pricing! Keep an eye out, and you can score some great deals this month.

Happy shopping!

Help Save the Adoption Tax Credit in 2012

Hi Everyone,

Normally I don't push causes on our blog, facebook etc-- but this one is incredibly important to us, and I'd appreciate you considering to sign, and sharing with other families and friends that will sign too.

In 2012, the tax credit is still available, but no longer refundable as it has been in years past, making a WORLD of difference for low-moderate income families that already have little to no tax liability. This will literally be the reason why thousands of special-needs and children in foster care will not be adopted.
This is highly personal to us too--as we move forward and carefully weigh the possibility of Joseph's adoption in this coming months. If you've been looking for a way to support our family in this journey..here's your chance!

http://www.change.org/petitions/make-adoption-costs-fully-refundable-in-the-2012-2013-tax-years

Lots of love,
xoxox

Katie

Homemade Play-Dough

What does your family do on a snow day? Today, I went off to take our boys to daycare and SURPRISE! No power. So, we are having an impromptu "snow party" at home!

In celebration of all things home-made, I wanted to pass along my recipe for making homemade play-dough!

Photo Courtesy of frugalcouponliving.com!

You'll need:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

2 tbsp. cream of tartar

2 tbsp. oil

1 cup water

food coloring (optional, but makes it more fun!)

Scent, if desired (cinnamon, mint, etc)

Directions:

In a saucepan (no heat) mix salt, flour, cream of tartar, scent if included and oil. Slowly mix in the water until everything is smooth. Turn heat to medium/medium low until a ball of dough begins to form. I highly recommend using a spatula for this!

Once its a ball, just plop onto some wax paper to dry. If using any food coloring, mix it in slowly with a few drops, and kneed to get it soft and pliable. Kids are having a blast!

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Hi Folks,

I am happy to report that several of you have already made the homemade detergent tutorials! It really makes our day when we hear your success stories.

Today, I wanted to share our secret dishwasher detergent recipe. It's been passed down from generation to generation, and its very complicated and top-secret. Are you ready for this?

You'll need:

Borax
Baking Soda
White Vinegar
Container

To create, mix equal parts of boarx and baking soda. Combine well, pour in container and use 2tbs per load. For extra rinsing power, add white vinegar to the second "rinse" compartment, about 1/8 cup.

That's it!! But trust me, it works just as good (if not better) than Cascade. You can find baking soda for cheap in most bulk sections of the grocery market, or for cheap at mass bulk stores like Sam's Club or Costco. Borax comes in at $2.00 for a large box at most family stores like Target, Walmart, etc. I prefer the 20-mule variety.

Let us know how this works! May soon post the link for homemade febreeze (already featured on our facebook page) and keep following for new recipes to come!

Homemade Clothing Laundry Detergent

As promised, I experimented with making homemade liquid clothing laundry detergent, and I now have the recipe and results to share with you!

This was taken directly from the Duggar Family Website, though I found very similar variations on the web. A direct link can be found here:

You'll Need:

5 Gallon Bucket

Stirring Stick

4 Cups - hot tap water

1 Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*

½ Cup Borax

Essential Oil (optional)

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

I used a hand-held cheese grater to do the soap, took maybe 3 minutes to complete. A food processer or grater could also work on this semi-soft soap.

You'll want the soap to completely dissolve. The Fels-Naptha bar takes approximately 12-15 minutes of continuous stirring!

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

If the bucket is too heavy to hold, try using an extension from your facet or adding the water slowly.

Make sure it foams, and the powder has a chance to fully dissolve.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Doesn't it remind you a little of flubber? That's what my husband wants to call it! :)

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

So this bucket will come out to around $0.01 per load, and the nice thing is....the next load, I'll you'll have to get is another soap bar, running you an additonal $1.50 at most. In our home, we do maybe 4-5 loads per week (being generous) so this bucket will last a long, long time.

A few tips I learned:

Use a funnel to move the gel soap (once cooled) and place into the gallon containers. If you don't have the space to store a 5-gallon bucket, you can split it up into 10 milk jugs that you'll need to collect for a few weeks. But, it will keep for quite some time, you'll just need to give it a good shake and stir. Mine turned out REALLY thick and even a funnel couldn't do the job, so I slowly poured the mixture in by hand, using the cap to an old laundry bottle. It took some time, but the savings make it all worth it in my opinion.

But how did it work you asked? In our family, we have a LOT of sensitive skin. Previously, I couldn't use much besides Tide Free and Clear, and our little one could only use Deft. We gave this homemade batch a try on some towels, and they came out soft and smelling great: but the best part? No rashes! There has been a little debate on using borax to clean, especially with small children, though I feel confident with how diluted this recipe becomes, and the fact that it will be double-rinsed at the end of the cycle. The truth is: worse chemicals are in your store-bought cleaners, and half the time you won't even know what they are! Now that's REALLY scary.

What are some other recipes you'd like to learn about?

Homemade Cloth Diaper Detergent

After taking a few weeks off to get ready for the holidays, we are back and ready to start making things all homemade!

By popular request, I decided to post our recipe (taken with love from the Eco-Friendly Family Blog, who's website can be found here: (I also have a similar recipe for clothing, and will post tomorrow as soon as it is done setting!)

You will need 4 supplies:

Storage tub or tin

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

Borax

Oxi-Clean

* *The wonderful thing about this recipe is it does NOT call for soap, so it does not create suds in the wash. Please mix the following:

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

1/2 cup of Oxi-Clean

Mix it all together, and there you go! Total cost for this recipe is $16.50 (55 oz Washing Soda = $3.50, 76oz Borax = $3, Large 96oz Tub Oxi-Clean $10) You will NOT use all the ingredients for the above recipe, and I tripled the amounts to fit inside an old Nelly's Detergent Tin (my previous love in the cloth diapering world).

I estimate you'll be able to get a total of about 7X's the recipe above using the ingredients purchased, for a grand total of 280 estimated loads----which breaks down to $0.058 per load!!! Comparing to Nelly's at $0.20/load, this is a huge savings! The big money breaker is the oxi-clean, which makes a huge difference for dingy diapers.

If I was going to do this again, I would look for a cheaper oxygen cleaning agent, such as Sun or Kirkland brand found at Costco. Still, I am feeling very good about this!