Guest Post: 8 Ways to Save Money While Eating Out

Eating out, who doesn't enjoy a nice evening out with good food? It's one of my hubby and I's favorite things to do! We love eating good food; however, I do not make good food. I make mediocre food. So we enjoy eating out. ;) But when living on a budget, it can get tricky. Here are some of my tips and tricks to eating out:

1. Never eat at a restaurant unless you have a coupon. So many restaurants have coupons available that it's silly to eat out without one. For example, here's an easy e-club to sign up for that will score you a free chips and queso right now! Just click here to sign up for Chili's e-club. Many restaurants have e-clubs that you can sign up for on their main homepage.

2. If you have kids, eat at kid friendly restaurants. Many places have kids eat free days or special hours. Check their websites, or call ahead to find out when kids eat free. Go during those times! Why pay for your child to eat when they could be eating free?

3. Buy gift cards, when they offer a bonus gift card deal. We've all seen the deals most restaurants offer around the holiday season, which lucky for us, is coming up pretty soon! The next time you're at your favorite restaurant, ask if they have any specials going on. Many times the deal will be buy a $50 gift card for someone else and get $20 gift card for yourself. If you take advantage of that deal and use it as a gift, or for yourself. If you eat once a month at Applebees without fail, then invest in the gift card bonus when it becomes available. It will save you money in the long run.

To read the rest, click on over to Frugally Marisha!  Make sure to thank her for sharing this post with us!

Money Minute: Homemade Laundry Detergent

I'll admit it.  A lot of my friends started using this detergent a long time ago.  At first, I thought it would be too hard to make (I was mainly looking at liquid recipes).  Then I got a new washer and thought it wouldn't  be safe to use in the high efficiency machine.

BOY was I wrong!

A friend (thanks Deborah) gave me a recipe for a home-made powder detergent that is just awesome.  It is simple to make and works well in high efficiency machines.

1 cup Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

1 bar soap shredded (any kind works - I wouldn't use the super moisturizing ones though)

Mix them all together.  Use 1 - 2 Tablespoons per load.

So, how does it work? 

I am quite a fan.  The only downside I have seen is that over time, the brighteners from regular detergent wash out of the fabrics.  Whites aren't quite as bright.  You can remedy this with an occasional cycle with regular detergent or with bleach.

I love it because:

1. It's VERY inexpensive.  You can find all of the ingredients in your local supermarket or online through Alice or Amazon.
2. Even if the soap you choose has scent, your laundry won't.  This is important to us as the Hubs has very sensitive skin.
3. It gets out even tough stains and odors.
4. You can use a little remnant of the bar soap as a pre-treater.
5. Use vinegar in the bleach port (instead of bleach) to freshen clothes even more and make them nice and soft.

Have you used homemade detergent for you?  What recipe did you try?  How well did it work?  Have you tried homemade dishwashing detergent?  I'm searching for a good recipe that doesn't leave a film on dishes. Please share if you have found one!