Over 50 Products You Can Make and Save Money

I have collected a lot of recipes for things I can make at home to save my family some money. Most of these work pretty well, but you may have to tweak some of them to get them the way you want.

Warning: Essential oils are mentioned in some of the cleaning recipes. You should use essential oils with caution. Not all essential oils are the same and some can cause allergic reactions. Also, it is recommended that you use glass when storing anything made with essential oils because they can eat away at plastic.

Cleaning products

Lysol Spray – This recipe is made with vodka, but you can use rubbing alcohol, vinegar or hydrogen Peroxide.

Clorox disinfectant wipes – You can make these with water, rubbing alcohol and Dawn dish liquid (or your favorite dish soap). You can get the exact recipe here

Laundry detergent – I like to make liquid laundry detergent because the powdered kind doesn’t seem to dissolve in my washing machine very well. I haven’t used the homemade powdered version, but the store versions would just clump up. I am not the best person to ask about washing laundry though so it may have just been me. If you would like to read about my first attempt at making liquid laundry detergent you can go here and here is my second attempt which I liked much better.

Bleach Alternative – This recipe is used in place of bleach for whites in your laundry. It is made with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide so it could still bleach colored clothes.  The recipe calls for adding 2 cups in with your usual detergent, but in the comments, it was mentioned that you could start with one cup. She also warns that you need to keep it in a dark place or in a dark bottle because it won’t last long if exposed to light. Evidently, hydrogen peroxide starts to break down when exposed to light.

Dishwasher detergent – I have used this recipe and I loved it. Using the vinegar rinse makes a big difference. If you decide not to use it, your dishes may come out cloudy. I don’t have a dishwasher anymore, but if I did I would still be using this version. This site also added a tablet version

Daily Shower Cleaner – This is that stuff that you spray in your shower or tub every day so that it stays clean longer. If you use this after cleaning your tub or shower, you won’t have to clean it as often.

Stain remover – This is a simple and easy stain remover.

Soft Scrub – This is recipe is made with Castile soap which I think is kind of expensive. It is mentioned in the comments that you can use dish soap or dishwasher liquid. Someone mentioned that they ran out of the Castile soap and used dish soap and it wasn’t as effective. It seems that the dishwasher liquid would work well, but isn’t as organic as Castile soap.

Dryer sheets – I have used the wet dryer sheets, but I haven’t tried drying them on the clothesline before. This site says the dry dryer sheets are reusable over and over again. The recipe calls for fabric softener, but it doesn’t use much. You can use a store bought kind or your favorite homemade version.

 Toilet Cleaner – You can use the toilet cleaner tabs, the liquid that you leave and forget until the next morning, or you can use baking soda and vinegar this way. I personally love the idea of pouring the liquid and forgetting it until the next morning.

Fabric softener – This recipe calls for Suave Rosemary and Mint Conditioner. I haven’t tried this one yet, but it sounds like it would smell wonderful. You can use any conditioner you have, but I would love to find this one on sale.

Hair and Beauty products

Shampoo – Have you ever heard of “no poo” shampoo? Well, it seems to be a big thing on the internet so I decided to try it.  I liked this one because I could lather it up and it was made with a delicate baby shampoo. It also left my hair feeling clean and didn’t dry my hair out like my regular shampoo. This recipe uses coconut milk and she even shows you how to make it homemade.  If you prefer a more natural shampoo, you can try this one.

Lotion – I haven’t made any of the lotions on this site, but they all look really good. If you would like to see a list of homemade lotions, go here and search on the site for lotions. Or try this link that might go directly to the search I tried.

Lip balm - All-Natural DIY Lip Balm

Easy Microwave Honey Lip Balm

Make Your Own Semi-Homemade Tinted Lip Balm

Body wash - How to Make Your Own Body Wash from a Bar of Soap

 

DIY Coconut Oil Body Wash

How To Make A Natural Body Wash With Just 4 Ingredients

Britta’s Natural & Nourishing Body Wash

Make-up remover wipes – recipe

Gifts

Mother’s Day - 13 Handmade Ways to Say “I Love You” This Mother’s Day

Father’s Day - 31 Handmade Gifts Dad Will Love, 50+ Creative Father’s Day Gift  Ideas for Every Kind Of Dad

Birthdays – 2 Inspiring Gift Basket Ideas That You Can Easily Copy

Christmas – 10 Unique Ideas for Easy-To-Make Stocking Stuffers, Top 25 Homemade 

Holiday Gifts Ideas with Essential Oils

Any occasion - Simple Handmade Gifts – Part One

Teachers - Simply Sensational Gifts for Teachers!

Processed and canned foods

Mac n Cheese - Top 10 Mac & Cheese Recipes

Hamburger helper

 

Baked beans - The Best Baked Beans Ever

15 Boxed Food Mixes You Never Have To Buy Again

Drinks

Frappuccino – My girls and I love this recipe. It is definitely better if you make her concentrated coffee from this iced coffee recipe. By the way, the iced coffee is delicious too.

Smoothies – Smoothies for Breakfast, Healthy Green Smoothie, Purple Resolution Smoothie, 

Pumpkin Smoothie

Frosty – My youngest daughter and I made this version, but we don’t have an ice cream machine so we just stuck it in a plastic container and placed in the freezer. It has been so long ago that I can’t remember how it took to get the right consistency in the freezer. I was thinking that it might have been about 2-3 hours. We left the leftovers in there overnight and it was just like eating ice cream from the store. Yummy!

Nesquick – This homemade recipe tastes pretty good, but the cocoa doesn’t dissolve very well. There are some tips for helping it dissolve on the site.

Condiments

Five-Minute Ketchup, Mustard, and Mayo

 

BBQ Sauce – Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ranch Dressing - An Ode to Homemade Ranch Dressing!

Candles

Citronella – Make Your Own Citronella Candles For Backyard Bugs!

 How To Make A Beautiful Mason Jar Water Candle

DIY Floral Candle – The Perfect Handmade Gift Idea!

Seasonings

Taco – Homemade Taco Seasoning

BBQ Rub - DIY BBQ Spice Rub Recipes

Homemade Seasoned Salt Recipe

Desserts

Candy Bars – 25+ Homemade Candy Recipes

Cake Mixes – Homemade Cake Mix – Chocolate & Yellow

Pudding – Homemade Pudding Mix

Dog Food and Treats – 

Homemade dog food may not save you money, but I put it here so that you will have some safe alternatives in a, “Oh, no we forgot dog food” moment. Or maybe the budget is tight and you are thinking about feeding your beloved pet some table food.

There are a lot of different homemade dog foods and treats out there. I have collected some of them here, but you can do a search or go on Pinterest to find more.

Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats, 

10 Home Made Dog Food Ideas, 

35 Homemade Pet Recipes Your Dogs and Cats Will Beg For

Baking Goods

Sweetened condensed milk – Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe

Powdered sugar - Homemade Powdered Sugar - 2 Ingredients

Miscellaneous

Bug Repellant -  Make Your Own Natural Mosquito Repellent

Poopourri – This is the stuff that you spray in the toilet before you go to cover any bad smells. I love this idea and it is so easy to make. It is made with distilled water, vodka or rubbing alcohol and essential oils. Here are the recipe and some tips. If you like using witch hazel, you can use this recipe.

You will notice that a lot of my recipes come from One Good Thing By Jillee. I love her website. It is full of homemade recipes that actually work. You could probably spend hours on her site and still not read everything.

Free Ebooks When You Sign up With Bookbub

I haven't posted anything in such a long time that I wasn't sure how to get started again. I was going through some emails yesterday and I came across one of my favorites. This particular email has saved me a lot of money and provided some nice entertainment at the same time. Bookbub emails me all kinds of deals on ebooks that I can download to my Kindle app. I see a lot of free ebooks listed in my daily emails and I love anything free. Who doesn't, right?  Check out the details below to find out how to get your own free ebooks.

My email from today had three free ebooks listed. They were Grounded by G.P. Ching, Fallen Gods: Sanctuary 12 by T.W. Malpass and  A Different Blue by Amy Harmon. I don't recognize these writers, but they look pretty good.

Sign up for Free

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Tell all your friends and family about this wonderful site and you can get together and talk about all the great books you've read 

Homemade Shampoo

This is a simple homemade shampoo that I love. I don't even need to use conditioner. I started using this shampoo to save money. One of the benefits I have noticed from using this homemade version, is that I no longer have dandruff on my scalp. I used to scratch my head and come away with my fingernails full of what looked like dried soap.

Breakfast Burritos and Calzones

I finally got around to making Breakfast Burritos and Calzones. These were so easy to make that I wish that I had made them a long time ago. It makes eating breakfast so easy. I tend to skip breakfast because I just don't feel like getting out the cookware and making a mess. I don't really like cereal all that well and milk makes me sick to my stomach.

I usually end up grabbing a snack cake and regretting it as soon as I finish eating it. Sweet things make me sick in the mornings. Pure laziness makes me continue to do this. Now, this is no longer a problem. I can get a burrito out of the freezer and warm it up in the microwave for about a minute and a half. I love it.

I also made some calzones for lunches through the week. These are perfect for the girls to grab and heat up for an easy lunch. I have to admit, I heated one up for snack last night and they were pretty good. I wouldn't say they are great, but you can change up the ingredients and make them the way you want.

Amazing Meatloaf

Update: If you don't have enough shredded Parmesan cheese and decide to throw in come grated Parmesan ( because hey, it's Parmesan), don't do it. I made this mistake today. It gave the meatloaf a funny flavor, almost like it was a little spoiled.

I have been stalking The Pioneer Woman's site again. I just can't stay away, it's a wonderful site with all kinds of deliciousness. Today, I made her favorite meatloaf. My family loved it so much and I think I heard someone sighs. I got "Yum", "Wow" and "You need to make this again". Even my oldest daughter loved it and she doesn't like meat all that well. My youngest was another story, but she has become a vegetarian ( a story for another time).

The meatloaf called for very simple and easy ingredients. I had all of the ingredients except for the Parmesan Cheese and the fresh parsley. I bought the cheese, but forgot the parsley so I used dried parsley flakes. I think I threw in a couple teaspoons of the flakes. Dried parsley is more concentrated than the fresh parsley.