How to make your own homemade liquid soap -- for 18 cents a bottle!

So I have been working through my copy of the September 2011 issue of All You this week, and there was a small article on how to make your own homemade liquid soap that caught my eye.  It's on page 146 if you want to consult your copy too.

Essentially, making homemade liquid soap is about the easiest thing ever -- and I was blown away when I did the math computations and realized how much cheaper it is than buying liquid hand soap at the store, even with a coupon.

Basically, all you need to make your own liquid soap is water, an empty soap bottle, and a bottle of castile soap.  Drop a tablespoon of castile soap in the bottle, fill with water, and shake a couple of times.  Presto change-o, hand soap!

Every ounce of castile soap translates to two tablespoons, so one 16oz. bottle will make a whopping 32 refills of hand soap.  Plus, I found a coupon for $1 off Shadow Lake castile soap, which is sold at CVS, Walgreens, and Whole Foods for around $6.99 each.

And the coupon is a PDF file, so you can print off multiple copies and stock up on soap-making materials for the foreseeable future if you want -- just shop before August 31st, which is when the coupon expires.

Here's the math:

• Buy a 16oz. bottle of Shadow Lake castile soap for an estimated price of $6.99.
• Use the $1 off Shadow Lake coupon to get yours for $5.99.
• $5.99 for 32 refills works out to a mere 18 cents per bottle.

I thought I was doing well to get a 7.5 bottle of Softsoap liquid hand soap for 65 cents after coupon at Target a couple of weeks back!  This is going on my list of things I don't buy at the grocery store, along with bread, toothpaste, and tortilla chips.

What do you prefer to make yourself rather than buy at the grocery store?  Share your suggestions in the comments section below or over on the San Antonio Budget Grocery Facebook page.