How thrifty are we??

I'm all of a sudden becoming a pioneer woman. We learned how to make our own laundry soap (thanks Alyson) the other night and it actually works really well. It's crazy cheap, we made all those bottles for about $8. They should last us all a good long time. It's kind of exciting and empowering learning how to do things for yourself. If you are intersted, here is the recipe. We added Lemon Grass essential oil to ours, and I love the way it smells.

Homemade Laundry Soap

One batch (about $2) equals 180 loads for top loading machine or 640 loads for front loading high efficiency machines:
You'll need:
4 cups hot water
1 bar of Fels-Naptha bar soap ( I found it in the laundry isle @ Fry's & Safeway)
1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda (can find it in the laundry isle @ Fry's) ** Looks like baking soda box but read the label carefully as you want the washing soda **
1/2 cup Borax (I use the brand 20 Mule Team)
1) Grate bar of soap in water. Stir on med-low heat continually until dissolved & melted .
2) Fill 5 gal bucket 1/2 full of water. Add melted soap, washing soda & borax. Fill bucket to the top with more water. Stir until all powder is dissolved. Put a lid on it & let it sit overnight. to thicken. If you like a scent to your soap use apprx 30 drops of essential oil. I use lavender.
3) Once mixture is thick, stir again & fill a clean laundry soap dispenser (I use my used Tide one which has a spout).
3) Fill fill dispenser 1/2 full with soap mixture & the rest with water. Shake well before each use. Mixture will gel into laundry soap consistency.
I put a lid on left overs and store it in a closet in my laundry room. You may want to cut the recipe in 1/2 if you don't want or have the room to store left overs. One batch goes a long, long way.
Top loaders: Use 5/8 c per load (for a total of 180 loads)
Front loading high efficiency machine: 1/4 c per load (for a total of 640 loads)