DIY Dishwashing Detergent–A Collaboration

Over the last year and a half, my grocery/household item spending has gone like this:
1-shop at Wal-Mart and stretch food as far as I can/eat lots of cheap stuff like spaghetti
2-delve far into the world of couponing, save tons of money/save a little less but have way more food than we used to and purchase lots of cheap food like instant mashed potatoes, pasta, frozen pizza, etc. and get most of our toiletries for extremely cheap or free (toothpaste – always free, razors – frequently free, shampoo – really cheap, etc.) shopping at Wal-Mart, Publix and CVS mainly
3-realize the benefits for Bob (at least) from eating a gluten-free diet and begin purchasing WAY more produce and meat and WAY less packaged “cheap” food – also begin to spend a whole, whole lot more in this category than we were spending
And so now, we find ourselves in #3. We are eating healthier, that’s for sure. But we’re spending quite a bit more than we were in #2, on groceries.
I’m constantly looking for ways to cut cost, especially in this category. It makes me feel like I’m contributing to our household financially. I guess that sounds silly since I’m not actually bringing in any money, but saving it is almost the same thing, right?
Anyway, I’ve seen lots of stuff about DIY detergents and really, in the past, and just brushed them off thinking these concoctions probably don’t clean as well or smell as good. The jury is still out on laundry detergent (we bought the ingredients but haven’t yet made our mix), however, I can tell you that most dishwashing detergent stinks anyway and this recipe cleans just as well, if not better, than what we have been buying.
If money were no object, I’d probably stick with these little guys. Since it is, money, an object, we recently switched to this.
I hate it.
That’s probably why I’m typing this post right now. If I’m going to use powder detergent, it’s going to work and be really cheap.
So here’s the recipe we’re using:
1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda or Arm & Hammer Super Washing soda (the DIY laundry detergent recipe I found uses both so I have both - we're currently using baking soda)
1/2 cup table salt
1/2 cup Lemi-Shine
Rinsing agent: white vinegar (just fill up the reservoir with this stuff)
Not pictured: table salt and white vinegar

Now if you’re looking at this picture and judging how dirty my stove is, shame on you. Just shame on you.
It’s a mix of a few recipes that we found online with this one being the basis. You can make a much bigger batch if you want but you only need to use about a tablespoon for each load.
I can’t take credit for this. I found lots of recipes for DIY dishwashing detergent (as well as laundry detergent) on the internet and after my first attempt left tons of hard water spots, Bob found some too. In fact, he made the final adjustments to my initial attempt.
So, DIY dishwashing detergent?
I’m sold. A believer. A convert.
Now, on to the laundry detergent.