Precious over at Frugal Makes Cents has been hosting a Money Saving Challenge for quite awhile and I’ve been doing my best to participate but I’ve fallen a bit off track lately.  So I’m getting back on the horse now with Shawn going back to school and life getting back into a routine it should be much easier.

So here’s what I’ve done this week to save some money:

I refilled my Dawn Foam Dispenser yesterday with a homemade version.  I love the foam soap when washing the dishes but it’s soo expensive so instead of going out and buying a new one or pouting because mine was empty and I have a cabinet full of regular dish soap I made some new foaming soap.  After looking around online for a recipe I found that most people use either 2 TBSP or 4 TBSP of soap and then fill with water so I used 3 TBSP of Dawn and filled to the line with water (which required waiting and squeezing out some bubbles so I suggest filling it 3/4 full of water and then add the soap).  I’m happy to report I haven’t noticed a difference in anything other than the smell since I used the purple one.

I’ve been doing pretty well at cooking out of the freezer and pantry.  Today I have to go pick up some more bread and snacks for Dave and Shawn since they will be going to a convention for the next 4 days and the food there is really expensive.  Hopefully I can pack them enough food that they won’t have to spend any extra money.

We’ve been practicing lunchtime with Shawn so that when he goes to school he knows what to do.  He’s never eaten lunch without it being served to him and I don’t intend on paying for school lunches so we’ve been working on making sure he can open all the packages of his food.  It’s funny to watch because I tell him to pretend like I’m not here to help him and he still waits till he’s done with his sandwich before he has his treat.

I received a rebate check in the mail yesterday but am waiting until Thursday to take it to the bank since I’m expecting a couple more to come and would like to make just one trip.  I also received a “rebate” from a Star Wars promo, DS has made it very clear that he wants a Clone Trooper Helmet and Blaster for his birthday or Christmas.  So I picked up a build your own blaster on clearance at Target for $25 and sent in for the Helmet for free with a $25 purchase.  He’ll get both of those plus a costume that I found for 75% off for his birthday and since his birthday is a week before Halloween he can be a Clone Trooper for Halloween and I’ll save on buying a costume too.

So what have you done to save this week??  I’ll be printing a ton of Target coupons and heading there either today or tomorrow and will be sure to report back on all the money I saved there.  Please feel free to leave a comment or a link back to your money saving tips.