Old style things that 'only you' do...

Mirtos

Confused_Jo wrote:

I keep loo rolls, cover one end with newspaper and fill with compost for starting seedling off. Especially good for peas, beans and corn.

I make and jar my own pasta and curry sauce in large batches so I have a ready meal that is preservative and colourings etc free.

I use bread bags for sandwich bags.
If the carpets look like the need a good clean, I borrow a friends Dyson. I have a hoover but don't need to pay for an industrial strength one.

For a nice luxurious soak in the bath, I put a handful of oats in a pop sock and hang over the tap while the bath fills.

I buy multi purpose cleaner and then put in a sprayer watered down, well it says multi purpose so use it for that. Bathroom, kitchen floors etc

I keep parmesan rinds in the freezer and add to home made minestrone soup for flavour.
I crumb stale bread and freeze it.
I make sure I go to the supermarket on the way home from work so I don't make a special trip.

A lady working in M& S recommended for white bras that have gone grey use a cold water dye. Not tried it yet but intend on doing this with clothes that have stains.:T

I hang up shirts straight out of the washing machine so there is less ironing.

I add the stuff from the rabbits hutch to the compost bin but any little poos that are left on the floor can be added stright to plants as fertiliser.

Exfoliator gloves are much better and cheaper than pots of the fancy creams.
Reuse junk cds as bird scarers around the veggie plot.

I reuse pots and plastic bottles as min green houses and planters.

My OH drew the line when we refitted the bathroom. He slipped with a lump hammer that he was using to take the skirting board off and hit the outer skin of the toilet. He wouldn't let me plant it up in the garden!

That's a shame! My mum used an old loo as a planter in our garden and it looked lovely!

Katyj_2

This thread has really made me chuckle!
Stuff I do.....
- I keep old toothbrushes for cleaning the taps in the bathroom
- Wash out and keep ice cream tubs and plastic chinese take away boxes (the plastic ones with a lid) to use as tupperware
- Keep sachets out of magazines with samples of moisturiser etc.
- Cut up old t shirts for rags to use for dirty jobs like car maintenance etc.
- Always re-use plastic water bottles
- Always swish out food jars with water to get every last bit of sauce out
- Turn shampoo and ketchup bottles upside down
- Cut pan scourers in half
- Re-use supermarket plastic bags as bin-liners
- My dad always used to re-use hoover bags
- My push bike is totally built from spare parts from other bikes
- My flat mate built his own computer from parts off ebay etc. (wouldn't reccomend this unless you know what you're doing!)
- Currently using a magazine freebie make-up bag

Nothing too odd really! - though this thread has certainly given me a few extra ideas!

pounds_and_pensive

Did anyone else see the Battersby's 'ice bucket' on Coronation Street when they threw a barbecue the other week? They had cans of beer on ice in an old toilet in their back yard, in the pan and in the lid-less low-level cistern. Stylish, lol

bluenose1

Hate wasting water so when I turn a tap on I fill an indoor watering can while I am waiting for the water to heat up. Then use it to water plants.
If I am washing salad/ veg excess water goes into my watering can. After I boil eggs water goes into watering can. You get the drift.

Hopefully will help when we get a water meter.

Regards
Anne

flowerofscotland

What a great thread. I have only recently joined but this site is addictive and so much cheaper than online shopping!

I do some of the more common money saving wheezes like rinsing bottles, cutting open tubes, using tights for plant ties, using carrier bags as bin liners etc but thought of these that I haven't seen mentioned so far:

The bags that provided with some washing powder tablets (and I only use 1 instead of 2) are great for washing tights, socks and "pop socks" in the washing machine - keeps them in pairs and stops them snagging on zips etc in the rest of the wash.

Use vegetable peelings, tea bags, dead flowers etc to make compost. Into the compost bucket in kitchen I also add the soil from potatoes (because I buy them from farm shops instead of the washed variety from the supermarket). Someone has mentioned polystyrene to aerate the compost - I also use broken plates etc in the bottom of flower pots to improve drainage when I am planting bulbs and bedding plants.

And still on the gardening theme now is a great time to stock up on supermarket's own label gardening products as they clear their shelves of these seasonal items.

I cut the top off empty tissue boxes and use them as drawer dividers in my make up and underwear drawers. OK they need replacing periodically but this is a good excuse to clear out these drawers.

Use a lip brush to get the last out of a lipstick – way below the level where it sticks out of the tube. I find this makes it last longer on my lips as well.

Put the scent sample strips from magazines into my drawers. I also use lavender bags to keep moths at bay – handmade using lavender grown in the garden of course. Maybe it’s because so many clothes use man made fibres that I found moths attacking my wools, silks and cottons until I remembered that lavender is what my grandmothers used.

thriftlady_2

flowerofscotland wrote:

I cut the top off empty tissue boxes and use them as drawer dividers in my make up and underwear drawers. OK they need replacing periodically but this is a good excuse to clear out these drawers.

Oh, what a good idea, I have actually been wondering about how best to make some drawer dividers for my kids' underwear drawers.:T

Loads of other great ideas too.

sophiesmum_2

hi flowerof scotland
I do the lavender bag thing in the wardrobe but use the bags from the washing tablets to put it in.the next year I empty it out and put fresh in.
Also useful for keeping small stuff in like hair bobbles etc. Or put all your left over bits of soap in and use in washingmachine.
sophiesmum:D

**purpleprincess**

I do a lot of what everyone does on here, but one thing I thought I'd mention as I haven't met anyone else who does it..................is that I eat oxo on toast something I've grown up with, my great nan used to give it to us for lunch and she said that's what they used to eat in the war!! My friends think I'm very strange!!! But it's yummy!!! Hot toast with butter and about half a cube sprinkled over it :drool:

MoJo

Chipps wrote:

Our local BBC radio station were doing that a while ago!

This has reminded me I was going to look for something to do with laggy bands! I'm a drop-off for Royal Mail and get loads of them - I have two large rubber band balls at present, must be something I can make with them?
Will hunt later

123xyz

sexymouse wrote:

yes 10 seconds is long enough, as long as the sponge is slightly damp when it goes in - don't do it with a dry one, or it will melt!

Yuk, reminds me of that film, what was it called? Green Mile or something.