Sure it's cheap, but is it wise?

I am the mommy of two little boys. My husband and I are teachers. When you add these things together, you get a tight household budget. Being the research-oriented awesome woman that I am, I started looking all over the internet for ways to do things healthier, greener, better, but mainly cheaper. Man, the interwebz sure have a lot of people jabbering on about how incredibly superior their ways of doing stuff are! I have read a lot of articles and blogs with advice on living frugally, including everything from home made laundry soap to extreme couponing. Sure, there are lots of ways to do stuff on the cheap, but are they good ideas? My sister has assured me that her attempts at saving money have often resulted in having to spend "buckets of cash" to undo. I know that I am experimenting by trying these things. I have decided that if I am going to try this stuff, I might as well share the results of these potentially ill-advised experiments. Think of it as Consumer Reports for stuff you find on Pinterest. Maybe you folks can learn from my mistakes. Wish me luck!