Ten Ways to Save Big on Your Wedding

Want to save big on your big day? Learn how to save a ton of money on your wedding by taking advantage of these awesome tips!

The Homemade Soap Recipe You Need in Your Shower RIGHT NOW

Learn how to make scented, homemade soap the stupid-easy way.

Pumpkin spice homemade soap bars

I don’t know what it is about the scent of pumpkin spice, but it gets me in the mood for fall! (PSLs, anyone???) I recently made pumpkin spice scented soap and it turned out great. What’s great about this recipe is that is it soooooo simple and easy–it literally takes less than five minutes to make five bars of soap. The recipe is also extremely cost effective compared to buying natural, homemade soap bars in the store or online. One of the store bought bars will cost around $5. I made five bars for about $6, so just over $1 a piece.

What Do I Need to Make My Own Lathery Goodness?

Everything to make the soap minus the vanilla and spices came from Amazon. You will need to purchase a soap mold if you do not already own one. The good news is that this is a one time, upfront purchase that you can use over and over again. I have this one. It is silicone, which means it is easy to just flip it over and pop out your homemade soap. It is easy to clean as well. Next, you will need to purchase a soap base. I use this one from Amazon. It has a shea butter base, which makes your skin super soft. They have other options as well, such as mango butter or goat’s milk. Two pounds of the base run about $10-$15 depending on sales, and makes 10-11 bars of homemade soap.

The great thing about making your own soap is that you can create your own scents! I went with a pumpkin spice scent to get in the fall spirit. I made this by using a combination of one tbsp of vanilla and one tbsp of pumpkin spice seasoning. You can make pretty much any scent you want using essential oils and spices. Follow the directions below to get your suds on!

Ingredients

1 silicone soap mold (6 bar)

1 lb. of soap base

Kitchen knife

2 cup Pyrex measuring cup

Microwave

Scents–1 used 1 tbsp vanilla and 1 tbsp pumpkin spice seasoning

Directions for Homemade Soap

1. Use kitchen knife to cut soap base into 1 inch cubes and place in microwavable glass cup

2. Microwave 30 seconds at a time until base is melted

3. Add your scents of choice

4. Pout liquid into soap mold and let set until hardened

5. Turn over soap mold and pop out soap.

That’s it! Pretty easy, huh?

Don’t have five spare minutes to make soap? Pick up some cheap but quality body wash at your local Dollar Tree. Read about this and other good finds at Dollar Tree here.

What kind of scents do you use in your homemade soap? Feel free to share below!

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Quick and Easy Paleo Pasta

For over a year, I was on a Paleo diet as a way to control my autoimmune disease. After a few experiments, I transitioned to a less restrictive gluten-free diet, which seems to do a good job of controlling my symptoms. One my favorite meals during my time on Paleo was a pasta consisting of glass noodles, mixed vegetables, olives, and either turkey pepperoni, grilled chicken, or shrimp. I nicknamed it “Easy Paleo Pasta”, because it takes less than 15 minutes to put together! How many Paleo dishes can say that?!

10 Freezer Meals with Recipes and Shopping List

One of my favorite ways to save money is to create a meal plan that details exactly what we are going to eat for the next week or two. This helps prevent impulse buys at the grocery store and the purchase of unnecessary ingredients. Having a plan also helps to avoid food waste. If I know we have some particularly busy weeks coming up, I will make freezer meals ahead of time. It is soooo nice being able to just pull a meal out the freezer and either toss it in the Crock Pot or the oven, and know that we will have a healthy, easy meal ready for dinner that night.

Birthday Bargains!

Do you have a birthday coming up? Mine has long passed, but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t take advantage of these great birthday deals sent right to your inbox! Opt in for the emails from these companies, then sit back and enjoy watching the birthday freebies flood your inbox. I recommend signing up for the mailers during your birthday month so you receive the birthday coupons AND anniversary coupons around the same time. You may even be able to eat free your entire birthday week! Here are a few of the deals I received this year during my birthday month: