Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

milasavesmoney · 12 October 2016 at 5:34AM

JackieO wrote: »

Around the late 1990s my late husband bought me a beautiful Christmas card one year, it was so nice with beautiful words and not at all like him to buy as a rule, the following year I told him not to buy me another one as I would put his previous one up on the mantlepiece at Christmas.

Every year I would get it out and put it up and on the back of the card I would write the date and year

I sadly lost him in July 2003 to a heart attack, but still every year I put his card up on the mantlepiece and write the date on the back.

To me its as though he was still around laughing and saying 'Oh JackieO (his nickname for me ) what are you like :rotfl::rotfl:My two DDs always look for their Dads card every year as well

I absolutely love this precious tradition you have imparted to your family. So so sweet.

Slowly57 · 12 October 2016 at 8:48AM

As most people love crossing things off a list - I have one on the fridge door of things that need using up soonest (half jars/tins of stuff, leftovers, fruit etc). Brilliant reminder and actually uses up all those things that otherwise end up in the green bucket or get shoved to the back and forgotten about

I also decant my jumbo containers of clothes washing liquid/fab conditioner/washing up liquid into smaller bottles as a) they fit in under the sink better and b) the bigger the bottle, the more that gets used!

EmberJ · 3 December 2016 at 5:53PM

I'm not sure if this was mentioned on the first one but I've not seen it on this one, and I've spent the past few days reading from start to finish.
I crochet a lot, and am teaching myself to knit, my mum knits and crochets tlk, but I realised she throws away oddments of yarn after projects, sometimes as much as half a ball. I've always kept oddments and either crochet granny squares, or crochet all of my oddments into stripes on a blanket, and add the squares on. Mum now gives me all of her scraps, and my nan and aunt often pick up any yarn they see in charity shops for me, all to be added into my squares or oddmemt stripes unless there is enough for another project I fancy.
The blankets don't necessarily look particularly nice (I do think they look quite homely and will be very grateful for them when I move into my partners very old very cold cottage) but are really rather warm

Sometimes I'll crochet two or more strands together as it can help the colours sit together a little better, and makes the blanket extra thick. I've made cushion covers this way, and though I can hardly knit, I'm sure you could knit this way too.

Really do hope this thread hasn't died as I've loved reading through it and I plan on reading through the first soon,but really must get on with the house work I've neglected due to being absolutely absorbed in this thread.

Em xx

Siebrie · 3 December 2016 at 9:31PM

For st. Nicolas we give dds one main present of about €15 and a few smaller gifts to fill it all up. DH and I get useful stuff, e.g. any kitchen equipment that broke in the last two months will be replaced on 5 December. Good quality curry paste, coffee, specialty tea. Not ott gifts, nothing that will clutter. The whole event costs about €120/GBP105 for four, including simple dinner and snacks. We don't do gifts at Christmas, saving us a lot of money. We do join the religious celebration, giving us a lot of enjoyment, and this year dds and I are in the musical, giving us a lot of fun.

muffin_man_7 · 3 December 2016 at 10:36PM

EmberJ wrote: »

I'm not sure if this was mentioned on the first one but I've not seen it on this one, and I've spent the past few days reading from start to finish.
I crochet a lot, and am teaching myself to knit, my mum knits and crochets tlk, but I realised she throws away oddments of yarn after projects, sometimes as much as half a ball. I've always kept oddments and either crochet granny squares, or crochet all of my oddments into stripes on a blanket, and add the squares on. Mum now gives me all of her scraps, and my nan and aunt often pick up any yarn they see in charity shops for me, all to be added into my squares or oddmemt stripes unless there is enough for another project I fancy.
The blankets don't necessarily look particularly nice (I do think they look quite homely and will be very grateful for them when I move into my partners very old very cold cottage) but are really rather warm

Sometimes I'll crochet two or more strands together as it can help the colours sit together a little better, and makes the blanket extra thick. I've made cushion covers this way, and though I can hardly knit, I'm sure you could knit this way too.

Really do hope this thread hasn't died as I've loved reading through it and I plan on reading through the first soon,but really must get on with the house work I've neglected due to being absolutely absorbed in this thread.

Em xx

As i was reading your post i thought maybe if you wanted to you could put the blankets you are making inside a quilt cover you would then have the warmth and it would look nice too and washing would be much easier because you would only need to wash the cover hope this helps
Yes you can knit with 2 strand of wool i used to knit a lot not done any for a while maybe it time to start again thank you so much for this post

muffin_man_7 · 3 December 2016 at 10:39PM

Slowly57 wrote: »

As most people love crossing things off a list - I have one on the fridge door of things that need using up soonest (half jars/tins of stuff, leftovers, fruit etc). Brilliant reminder and actually uses up all those things that otherwise end up in the green bucket or get shoved to the back and forgotten about

I also decant my jumbo containers of clothes washing liquid/fab conditioner/washing up liquid into smaller bottles as a) they fit in under the sink better and b) the bigger the bottle, the more that gets used!

Thank u for this post need to do this myself would save me so much again thank you

EmberJ · 3 December 2016 at 11:32PM

Muffin man 7 I tend to use just acrylic yarn a lot so most of my scraps are acrylic. Much easier to just pop in the washing machine. I do like the idea of popping them into a duvet cover though, would keep a few together.
Thank you for the suggestion, one I've washed some I'll try that out
Em xx

[Deleted User] · 4 December 2016 at 8:54AM

I knit for The Linus Project and have done for over 10 years and small knitted squares are excellent for using up oddments of wool. My friend crochets and left over bits from her blankets get used up in striped blankets with mine, thirty two squares are all sewn together, to make a square then I knit around the whole lot in white and batches of these little blankets get sent off to Guildford via my friend who collects them and are sewn into single blankets by another group of ladies that get sent all over the world for children who often have nothing but the clothes they stand up in. When the dreadful Tsunami happened a few years ago at Christmas, the charity sent 68 tonnes of these blankets out there its nice for me to think that somewhere in the world a child is warm because of my small scraps of knitting and absolutely nothing is ever wasted.These blankets are specifically sent to children because of their often bright colours and go to all four corners of the world where there are children in need I have 7 healthy warm well-fed grandchildren and I hope that somewhere a child goes to bed a bit warmer than the previous night because of all the ladies like me who enjoy knitting and want to help a little

VfM4meplse · 4 December 2016 at 2:59PM

I love this thread and hope we can keep it going this month. I predict a serious re-surgence in the New Year!

I had applied to take part in the next series of BBC's Right on the Money. Unfortunately Ihaven't made it through to 5 minutes of fame, apparently there are not enough savings to be made in my lifestlyle!! Which on reflection is a good thing

Siebrie wrote: »

We don't do gifts at Christmas, saving us a lot of money. We do join the religious celebration, giving us a lot of enjoyment, and this year dds and I are in the musical, giving us a lot of fun.

Carol services, candles, mince pies and the odd tipple are one of the best aspects of the season. They bring so much pleasure but don't cost a great deal. I have dug out a list of local church services and am looking forward to them!

Primrose · 4 December 2016 at 4:07PM

For the last two Christmases we have found ourselves just a duo for Christmas lunch so the most economical way of handling the meal to get "the full Montty" was to buy two chicken breasts, slice them lengthways along their middle, stuff them with savoury stuffing,and roast them with a rasher of bacon wrapped round them. Takes a fraction of the time it takes to cook a whole bird and there's no wastage. We normally cook an extra breast to eat cold in sandwiches.

Often in the past there has been so much food left over at Christmas that we've ended up eating it when it is past its best to avoid wasting but this way there is no wastage.

Any left over stuffing mix can be mixed in with mashed potatoes and cooked sprouts to make some savoury colcannon type rissoles which make a tasty Boxing Day breakfast treat.

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Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

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