The Great "Extreme MoneySaving" Hunt: How far do you go?

de263

Buy big cheap bottles of 'bubble bath' (Aldis or Tesco) and decant into liquid hand-wash dispensers or shower gel dispensers.

ladyjill

Well, I have never had a clothes dryer. Instead, we dry our clothes in winter on an old-fashioned wood and metal clothes dryer, which is on a pulley and is hung in the upstairs bathroom.
I used this even when my two children were in nappies- the cotton kind.
In summer we dry the clothes outside if possible.

I always wash my hands in cold water, summer and winter, unless they are very greasy.

We have two compost bins which we keep quite full with compostable waste from the kitchen and garden - although it's not a large garden.
The resulting compost is used on our garden, which is organic. My daughter now grows summer vegetables and some flowers in the flower beds.

We have two water butts which soon fill up after one rainstorm, to water the garden.

When I boil eggs, I only fill the pan about an inch in depth with water, so that the eggs cook in the steam. This is from an old wartime recipe book.

These measures not only help the planet, but all of them save money as well.

I commend them to you.

Cisslan

OK, this may not be extreme but it’s a good money saving tip for anyone who has an apple tree, or likely to be offered apples from a friend with one (people with trees are often happy to give away fruit as they frequently get more than they can use themselves).

Last year, we had loads of apples and quickly got sick of having apple crumble every night, so I decided to try making apple sauce instead.
I chopped a bowl full of apples, zapped them in the microwave with a couple of tablespoons of apple or white grape juice for 3 x 3 mins (stir inbetween), then pur!ed in a blender and froze in 100 mL portions. These small portions are easily thawed and I’ve used them throughout the year. My favourite is for thickening smoothies – the sauce goes perfectly with all red juices (red grape, raspberry, etc.), as well as orange, pineapple (makes a lovely light, frothy drink) and apple/mango juices. It tastes great and is really healthy as it’s all organic (provided pesticides weren’t used on the tree) and compared with apple juice (bought or home-made), still has all the fiber left in it!

rizla01

Actually, an old ice cube tray is ideal for freezing sauces. just take out the number required and thaw when needed.

Been doing it for years - Goes back to when I was single.:)

polka.dot

Make your own breadcrumbs. I dry any bits of bread that are going stale and then zap them in a food processor. Crumbs keep in a tin indefinitely and are great for coating fish, meat, lining greased tins for baking, as an addition to meatball mixture or for use in puddings. Try frying the crumbs in butter and use this as a topping for cooked cauliflower - yum.

It reduces waste, saves money and doesn't have the nasty yellow colour of commercial breadcrumbs.

rockabilly_raz

Buy tinned soup for luch at work and use the work's microwave to heat it up.
I also buy a bag of apples from the supermarket for dessert.

It means a hot, minimal preperation, low cost (about 65p), healthy lunch.

polka.dot

rockabilly_raz wrote: »

Buy tinned soup for luch at work and use the work's microwave to heat it up.

Even cheaper, make your own soup.

Reading through things listed on this forum it struck me that most of them are the kind of things our parents used to do as a matter of course - anything else would have been considered unnecessary waste. It's sad that they are now thought of as extreme moneysaving measures. They are common sense in any society but a throwaway one that has got more money than sense.

lotstolearn

I went back to using good quality tea leaves instead of "everyday" or cheaper tea bags (about 2 years ago now) and have been surprised how much less tea I am buying even though friends seem to be coming round and drinking more of my tea! Also, about 6 months ago I started just adding half as much tea again to the drained tea pot the next time I made tea during the same day. The tea is still the right strength for me, even though some of the tea is being reused, doesn't taste any less good and I'm saving even more money on tea. Plus, I empty the used tea leaves and any left over tea on the outside plants and they seem to enjoy it as much as I and my friends do.

Loopy_Lewis

My husband and I both cut off the tops of the toothpaste tubes and use our toothbrushes to use up what's left inside. Can get at least 3 - 4 days more use then. Also, when you think you are finished with shampoo bottles / washing up liquid bottles etc, add a little water and swish them around, you can get several more uses from them.

We also use old 'Fruit Shoot' bottles for the grandchildren, and re-fill them with ordinary dilute juice. So far, they haven't noticed!

We also have an old fashioned 'airer' in our kitchen - no tumble driers in this house.

Daniella500

I save the leftover wine by freezing it into cubes and using it later in cooking.