PocketCoinage

A few weeks ago I wrote about if the Sam’s Club Advantage Plus membership is worth it.  To recap, a plus account adds “eValues”, which are digital coupons, to your account.  You log into your Sam’s Club account online (or at an in-store kiosk) to see what’s available.  From there, you are able to email or print the items on the list.  All you need to do is buy the items and the discounts appear at the register.  According to Sam’s Club eValue FAQs, “eValues means $300 in guaranteed savings. With eValues, you have the opportunity to save an additional $200 a year on top of the savings you already enjoy.”

Checking back on the eValues page, I now have $378 in “savings”.  Unlike last month, I am noticing a few useful items that I would actually buy.  This would include $2 off paper towels and $3 off toiletry products; none of which I would have bought during my next trip.

I guess a $5 savings is a start.  I only $15 more in eValues to go before I recoup my costs and two more months until I renew my membership.  Will I choose the Advantage Plus membership again?  If the eValues do not become more relevant to my shopping; probably not.

Here’s a PDF of the eValues page.  Keep in mind, a lot of the items listed have restrictions such as “you may choose 1 of the following 5 eValues”.  An example of this would be the Pampers Cruisers diapers.  You can choose sizes 1-6 and save $3 on any one.  However, you cannot buy size 5 and 6 and expect to save $6.

I will be posting another update after I obtain some more eValues.  Have you found savings with Sam’s Club eValues?

You have to be careful when making principal payments on your bills.  Make sure you read how extra amounts are handled by each company.

For example, my Chase Auto account would take any amount over the current month’s minimum payment and apply it as the next month’s regular payment.  This would become a problem especially when making payments online.  There was no option box to check “principal payment”.  In order to just make a principal payment, I would need to write a check and send it to a specific address.  However, since I made my normal monthly payment via check, I had the option of checking “use remaining as principal” on the payment stub.  By doing this, any amount over my normal monthly payment was applied as pure principle.  If I did not check this box they would assume that I wanted to apply any amount over the minimum as next month’s regular payment.

On the other hand, with my Wells Fargo home mortgage, if I make a payment greater than the minimum they automatically apply the remainder as a principle payment.  I accidentally discovered this when I sent two payments out in the same month.  One was applied as pure principal!  Being paranoid, I called them up just to make sure nothing was wrong.  The representative explained the process to me and offered the option to make this payment a non-principal payment.  Since I had adequate funds, I opted to keep this one as pure principal.

What kind of principal or bill payment issued have you encountered?

For the past six months, I’ve been making homemade laundry detergent.  I found the original recipe here: Homemade Laundry Detergent – Simple, Easy, Fast, & Effective.

I started with this, forgot the exact ingredients, and went off on my own (but not too far) when creating this:

1 cup – 20 Mule Team Natural Laundry Booster
1 cup – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 bar – Ivory Soap

Shred the Ivory Soap using a hand grater into a large bowl.  Combine the Borax and Super Washing Soda and mix until consistent throughout (approximately 5 minutes).

If you do not want to mix thoroughly by hand, you can also send it through a blender to turn it into a powder.  Just make sure everything is combined together in a large bowl and mixed a few times before passing it through.  I personally like using the blender method.

This makes about 16 dry ounces and lasts about 16 loads of laundry when one tablespoon is used.

Tip: I also mix in a little Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (approximately 1/2 cup) while the basin is filling up.  This helps to make the laundry smell fresh.

Cost Breakdown

The cost of making your own laundry detergent is a lot less than buying it.  Let’s do a quick breakdown:

Prices from Alice.com

$3.50 – 20 Mule Team Borax, 76 oz (makes approximately 10 batches; $0.46/batch)
$2.76 – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, 55 oz (makes approximately 7 batches; $0.39/batch)
$2.43 – Four Pack Ivory Soap (makes 4 batches; $0.60/batch)

Initial up-front cost: $8.69
Approximate cost per batch: $1.45
Approximate cost per load: $0.09

If you are interested in adding baking soda to your laundry:

$6.16 – Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, 13.5 lbs at Sam’s Club (approximately 54 loads; $0.11/load)

Approximate cost per load with Baking Soda: $0.20

The ultimate goal is to get the clothes clean; not to smell pretty.  This could be perfect for someone (like me) with sensitive skin.  A lot of other laundry detergents cause me to break out; this does not.

Give it a try and let me know your outcome and suggestions!