Homemade is usually best, especially when it comes to saving money. Here are five things you can make from scratch to save money. They include homemade cleaners, food prepared from scratch, baby items and more.
Pizza
Pizza dough is quick and easy when you make it in a bread machine. Even with loads of toppings, two large (restaurant large, not supermarket large) thin-crust pizzas will cost you around $4. For a little more money, you can buy prepared dough, but of course making your pizza completely from scratch means a lower cost as well as a lack of preservatives and a better taste.
Here are some other tips for homemade pizza. Buy the shredded cheese in bulk, or shred it yourself from block cheese. You can freeze the cheese in portions and take it out as you need it, no need to thaw shredded cheese before adding it to pizza. Canned pizza sauce is fine, but to save even more, you can always use leftover pasta sauce or make your own sauce.
Cleaning Products
Baking soda, vinegar, and dawn dish detergent can make a wealth of cleaners for your home. You can clean your bathroom, kitchen, main living space and even floors with homemade cleaning products. Homemade cleaners will cost pennies to the dollar when compared to store bought cleaners. If you limit yourself to just the baking soda and the vinegar, you’ll have low cost effective cleaners that have the added benefit of not containing harmful chemicals.
Here is an all-purpose cleaner formula to get you started. Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda into 1/2 gallon of water.
Baby Wipes
Homemade baby wipes are one of the easiest and most cost-effective homemade items. Plus, since you control what goes into the homemade baby wipes, you can make sure that they are gentle on your baby’s skin.
First, let us start with the wipe solution. Take 2 tablespoons of of baby wash, 1 tablespoon of baby oil, and about 2 cups of water. For reusable wipes, place the solution in a spray bottle. To use, spray soft washcloths before wiping.
For disposable wipes, take a tube of paper towels (Viva paper towels are nice and soft but strong) and cut them in half using a sharp knife. Remove the inner cardboard and place half of the roll into a container, cut side down. Pour the solution over the paper towels. You can pull them out from the middle to use.
Instant Oatmeal
Kids love instant oatmeal in the morning, and it is a breakfast that most kids can make themselves. The individual packets of instant oatmeal purchased in the store can get expensive over time. Make your own packets (or a big container of instant oatmeal) by simply tossing some oats into a food processor and then adding in sugar, raisins, chocolate chips, cinnamon, or whatever you would like to include to flavor your instant oatmeal. The possibilities are almost endless, and the savings is significant.
Laundry Detergent
Imagine being able to have two gallons of laundry detergent for less than one dollar in cost? Incredible but possible when you make your own laundry detergent. There are many recipes available, and you can customize your own homemade laundry detergent by adding a favorite fragrance, such as lavender or rose. You can make both liquid laundry detergent and homemade powdered laundry detergent. It all depends on the ingredients and how you put them together.
Homemade laundry detergent can usually be used in High Efficiency (HE) washers, because, absent of chemical sudsing agents, it is naturally low suds.