Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!

mombot: Sep 28, 2010; mmmmmwah - Trophy kisses!

Coupons again! Google coupon blog *your state or city* and people near you have done most of the work for you, will keep you updated on advanced postings of what coupons and sales will be available when and where to shop for the best bang for the buck, even free or money makers. Pasta, cereal, deodorant, and toothpaste should never cost you anything if you do it right.

Also, bread outlets, like Wonder Bread. You can get a ton of bread for cheap and freeze it.

# ¿ Oct 12, 2011 01:20

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 13:00

mombot: Sep 28, 2010; mmmmmwah - Trophy kisses!

I know many have mentioned vinegar for cleaning, and wanted to add that you can save a ton by making your own laundry detergent. My kids have really sensitive skin and we switched to homemade soaps and cleaners and it's great for the environment, your skin, and works great.

This is from a blog and is a variation of what I've used (I use Fells Naptha, which is a laundry bar soap). You can add essential oils for fragrance.

quote:

* I use these utensils for detergent making only. They all stay in the pot until I make a new batch.

You will need:

1 bar of soap (any kind you want)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda
a big pot ( that holds more than 2 gallons)
a grater
a funnel
a long spoon
2 empty gallon jugs/containers

Grate your bar of soap into your pot.

Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Cook until the grated soap dissolves.

Add the Borax and washing soda.

Bring to a boil. It will coagulate.

Turn off the heat. Add 1 gallon of cold water. Stir well.

Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container. (one gallon recycled milk jugs are good for this) A funnel helps tremendously.

Now you have 2 gallons of homemade laundry detergent. I use 1/2 cup per load. With the prices of detergent being outrageous, I feel really happy every time I make a batch of this.

This won't make many, if any, suds. Suds don't equal clean. It took a while to get that into my head. This detergent cleans wonderfully! Fine for front loading HE machines.

****** edited 8/8/2011 to address those of you with the issue of the detergent becoming too thick. Try using 1/2 of a bar of soap instead.

***** edited 7/2011 to add that the detergent should thicken / coagulate when it cools. Usually within 24 hours! ****

* Edited 1/2011 to add comment from below about cost/savings!

estimated cost is $6.00 for 576 loads (depending on soap used and amount used per load, One BOX of Borax and Washing soda)
The savings is incredible.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2011 10:28

mombot: Sep 28, 2010; mmmmmwah - Trophy kisses!

Noricae posted:

What's washing soda? Baking soda, industrial grade? That looks pretty neat, especially for people that have allergies.

No, it's different. You should be able to find it in the laundry aisle or online.

Oh and it really is awesome for allergy and asthma sufferers.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2011 14:39

mombot: Sep 28, 2010; mmmmmwah - Trophy kisses!

My Little Puni posted:

This all has been good help. I hope everyone else is getting as much out of as I am.

I recently got a pretty nice paycheck (72 hr weeks will do that) and went to stock up on bulk foods and jars. I now have a shelf full of jars of rice, beans, pasta, flour, sugar and spices for the coming weeks and I'm pretty excited.

My plan is to work on this no-knead bread thing. I would love to just freeze a shitload of dough (can you freeze dough?) and then just take it out when I need more bread.

I cooked a whole chicken for the first time the other day and let's just say it didn't last long with how my bf eats. But if I can find a large amount on meat for cheap, I can have sandwiches for a week. I just need to splurge a bit on cheese, but other than that lettuce and onions are total of 1.50. That plus little vinegar and oil, you can have some bomb loving sandwiches.

My rice creations could still use some work, they end up quite bland... so a LOT of salt is used, and I would rather avoid that.

Really my only big expense has been cheese and I'm not willing to give that up. I loving love cheese and almost no meal is complete without some form of cheese.

Try using stock to make rice instead of water.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2011 04:52

mombot: Sep 28, 2010; mmmmmwah - Trophy kisses!

Admiral Snuggles posted:

Did you know you can make a dish using garlic, olive oil, and angel hair pasta?? (OWNAGE)

This is a great quick cheap meal. And you can add sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, pine nuts, etc. very fast and simple and yummy.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2011 03:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Help! I'm poor and want to make good food!