Great Isn’t it Obvious MoneySaving Hunt: Tell us the secrets you didn't know you had

dursley.donkey

Peartree wrote: »

Wish me luck!

Good luck. I hope you find a good cheap source of fruit and veg. Last time I tried to buy bananas from a market stall I had to ask the price, and it was "50p a paahnd". I asked what it was per kg, and he said "dunno ma'e". Of course he didn't know! It was £1.10 - compared with 79p in the Sainsbury's over the road. Yes, I know Sainsbury's sell them below cost to tempt us into their stores, but being aware of that kind of thing is what money saving is all about?

BigMummaF

I have to agree with you DD, but I'm also trying to support local economy too. For instance, our little pet shop has a local supplier for potatoes & coming up to the 'old' season I'll probably invest in a scak at a time. They may cost a bit more but the taste is well worth the extra--I'm afraid we just don't like the varieties that often come in value packs & for something like this, I'd sooner pay for something we will eat & enjoy than spoil a meal. Sometimes there are local toms, onions, root veg & bits of fruit--again taste beats price

I'll buy from the market if I'm there, the stuff looks good & it's a reasonable price...which I have to say is not that often. I've found a rather good Farm Shop connected to a Pick Your Own & we passed another that we'll investigate soon; both require transport & the first is definately only viable if we are going on to the next big town for something else. Not sure yet how the second one might work...it's bang opposite a burger chain that does wonderful ice cream sundaes so could end up costly in both cash & calories lol.

Angua2

Hiyas, just realised another tip - funny what you remember!

Don't get rid of old, wheeled TV stands if you don't have to - they make great dolly/trolley for moving stuff in the garden! Same goes for luggage trolleys!!

lutzi1

Make your own - mix flour (gluten free in my case) with natural yogurt and a dash of salt to make the base. Take a fist-sized lump of the dough for each person and press out onto a WELL OILED non stick tray (otherwise it will stick and be a disaster). Bung on some tinned tomatoes and anything else you fancy - my own Lutzi special is tomatoes, German salami, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, cheese and Italian herbs Bake at 200c till done - delicious! Make the dough earlier in the day and then it's really quick to top them and pop them in the oven when you get in.

foxyclobo

Have a shower at the gym or swimming pool after you've been instead of at home

Mary_Hartnell

Go brambling, pick some blackberries and freeze them on trays before bagging.

Just as good for you as those over promoted blueberries.

Better do it in the next few days as the old country saying is "The Devil p1sses on them at Michaelmas".

tightasanats

A whole 400g tin of baked beans is too large for my hubby and I (small tin too small) so I freeze whats left over and add them to soups to thicken ,shephards pie mince, chili etc.
:cool:

troglodyte

On the subject of uses for shower curtains - my daughter was born at home in the living room with a shower curtain to cover the cream carpet. You would never know anything so exciting had happened there!

Taffybiker

Charis wrote: »

I have owned quite a few Hotpoint appliances over the years but the quality is nothing like it used to be. When my washing machine died this year I bought a Bosch. So far, so good.

Odd that you should mention this. I also had a Hotpoint condenser dryer that left the clothes damp. However, a look in the manual revealed this was intentional and for the benefit of the clothes. The final drying should be "natural".
But my machine wasn't reliable either, and three different engineers failed to repair it. The (Hotpoint) washing machine didn't last long either, but was out of warranty. I also switched brands to Bosch with no problems to date.

Nicoll

DuggyMak wrote: »

Any needless business letters, or junk mail, that are blank on the back I use for notelets.

Save the hot water drained from cooking vegetables, potatoes, pasta or rice and, immediately, fill any other dirty pans so that when it comes to washing them they are easily cleaned. Also, boil only sufficient water in pans to wash the dishes rather than turning the immersion on. (I admit this is maybe not practical for large families but for one or two people it should still be possible.) For showering, turn on the immersion for only 10 minutes in the summer and a maximum 30 minutes in the winter. Immediately after showering, use any left-over hot water by doing a washing. Use the slowest spin cycle, on the washing machine (400rpm), and either dry the clothes outside, on the washing line, or inside on the screens. It saves money and there aren't so many creases!

I don't have central heating but even in the coldest winter it's surprising how little I need to turn the gas fire up when wearing a good quality body warmer. I am amazed at the number of people sitting in tee-shirts etc with the central heating going full-blast rather than putting on extra layers and turning it down a few degrees!

Buy olive oil in 2 litre bottles and decant into an old 500ml bottle for easy use. Buy a ! litre bottle of soya sauce and decant into an old 375ml bottle. It works out so much cheaper, but the large bottle of soya sauce has to be kept in the fridge after opening, unlike the olive oil!

Use 5ft wide "raised bed" vegetable plots so you don't need to walk between the rows to gather the crops. By not compacting the soil you don't need to spend hours "turning it over" in the spring. Each plot eventually gets dug, in rotation, when you harvest the potatoes. Keep any unused packets of vegetable/flower seeds in an old ice-cream tub in the fridge, they keep much longer.

Use an on-line broker to book hire cars prior to going on holiday, their prices are always much cheaper than the companies who actually provide the car (Hertz, National etc).

Just reading through this whole post, but had to say thanks for low spin advise, I always dry clothes on line outside and then hang on clothes horse on my landing to finish them off, I always whack them on a fast spin in the machine, never thought of turning it down unless they're delicates. This would definitely make sense for me, not so good if you're a tumble dry person though!