I hate buying laundry detergent.

It's true. I absolutely hate it. I hate the fact that I am paying someone else between $14 and $16 each time - so that I can wash my own clothes. Yes, I realize that's pretty cheap when you think about the per load price, but it still irritates me. At $14 a box, I think that should include someone else to do the folding/ironing. :-)

For a while now, I have been following this genius lady over at The Grocery Cart Challenge. While my money-saving abilities are nowhere near her level, I do try. You may remember a while back, when I posted about making my own fabric softener. That was another of her genius ideas. That worked really well, and I plan to do it again soon. The only reason I haven't made another batch is that I happened across a bottle stashed in the back of my cabinet that I had somehow forgotten.

Anyway, back to my original point-

Last week I decided to try a new grocery store to avoid some impulse spending at Wal-Mart. (I have a weakness for craft supplies.) While I was surprised by a few good deals (bananas for $.69/lb), I was annoyed when my normal laundry detergent brand was not carried in the bigger boxes. I was even more annoyed to discover that the smaller boxes were sold out and on sale! After checking out and examining my receipt, I realized that $52 worth of groceries would have been less than $38 without the laundry detergent! I never win with laundry detergent. Oh, and did I mention that yesterday I found a brand I have been wanting to try (but couldn't find at Wal-Mart) on sale for $4.99/48 load box at the pharmacy! I'm telling ya, the laundry people are spying on me and laughing hysterically...

This lead me to have a discussion with Steven over the weekend. I found it a bit humorous.

Me: I hate buying laundry detergent.
Steven: Why?
Me: It's so stinkin' expensive. It drives me crazy. This may sound crazy, but I think I'm going to start making my own.
Steven: You can do that?
Me: Well, yeah...the factories figured out how to make it somehow. Besides, Google knows everything.

I guess he just figured the recipe came to Mr. Tide in a dream? haha, who knows.

Ok, I'm rambling again. I say all of this to say that as soon as I use up the two small boxes in my laundry room right now, I'm making my own. I have not decided which recipe I'll go with yet, but I'll post it when I make a decision.