Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

Uniscots97

I've just got the new Kleeneze catalogue through and I'm astounded by the prices. I saw a bag for storing toilet rolls and it was about £10. Anyway it got me thinking, what's to stop you using an old pillow case and putting a coathanger under the flap (create a hole for the hook) an then hang it on the back of your bathroom door, keeping the single side of fabric towards you and store your toilet rolls in that?

Uniscots97

Ok this is a very sneaky one. Watch out for the 'free' item given away with magazines. Generally these are a good buy and full size if not for yourself then for presents. My family/friends have oooh'd and aahh'd over their L'Occitance hand cream (normally at least £8) or Elemis cleanser (about £12 I believe) which have been cleverly packaged with maybe a little nail varnish and emery board or a little box of chocolates. Its up to you if you read the magazine, I have in the past when there's been a free listing on Ebay listed the magazine (as I bought it for the gift as soon as it came out) and made a couple of pounds back (I made sure the person buying knew it was just the magazine no 'free' gift). As for sending the magazine I generally cut up a thick carrier bag and wrap it in that! Recycling at its best.

Tillytrotter1

unixgirluk wrote: »

Ok this is a very sneaky one. Watch out for the 'free' item given away with magazines. Generally these are a good buy and full size if not for yourself then for presents. My family/friends have oooh'd and aahh'd over their L'Occitance hand cream (normally at least £8) or Elemis cleanser (about £12 I believe) which have been cleverly packaged with maybe a little nail varnish and emery board or a little box of chocolates. Its up to you if you read the magazine, I have in the past when there's been a free listing on Ebay listed the magazine (as I bought it for the gift as soon as it came out) and made a couple of pounds back (I made sure the person buying knew it was just the magazine no 'free' gift). As for sending the magazine I generally cut up a thick carrier bag and wrap it in that! Recycling at its best.

That's old style at it's best, very clever. Thanks for the idea

Uniscots97

Tillytrotter1 wrote: »

That's old style at it's best, very clever. Thanks for the idea

My OH now finds my penny saving ways quite funny. At first he found them infuriating until I showed him it actually saves money!

I am that person that will pick up the really dried out oranges in the reduced section for 10p, get them home, slice them up and place them on a baking tray (sometimes with a sprinkle of cinammon on them) and let them dry out in the airing cupboard. Then package them up as pot pourri at Christmas.

Tillytrotter1

I think what you're doing unixgirluk is very clever and resourceful also. I am relatively new to money saving and have been trying to bring my shopping bills down considerably, which I'm having difficulty with. I was doing pretty well and managed to save quite a bit one month then I joined a slimming club and found that losing weight costs quite a lot but now that I'm well into the swing of things (and 2 1/2 stone lighter) I am back trying to cut back again and back on moneysaving for inspiration. I am also starting to think about Christmas to try and spread the cost so I really liked the magazine idea. Any more tips from you would be greatly received!

iris

Instead of paper napkins we use fabric napkins at the table. We also use a different type of napkin ring for each person, so that everyone knows which napkin belongs to them, so it doesn't have to be washed every time:D

Using paper napkins can work out quite costly.

Uniscots97

Aww thanks Tilly. That really cheered me up (I'm having a bad day!!!).

Beware of boxed gift sets as they generally (not always) contain smaller sizes of things. I prefer either making up my own sets or if you can get boxed gift sets cheap (try Semi-Chem, Home Bargains, B&M or supermarkets after christmas) break them up and add a candle/chocolate/other items from the range/nice soap etc (watch out for items in the likes of Poundland), it looks a lot more and shows more thought. Home Bargains are currently selling a Kylie Minogue gift set with a small body lotion and perfume. Walk round into the shower gel aisle and you'll see the large version of the matching shower gel (if you buy the gift box with the shower gel which I've not seen in HB you'll end up paying £10 more. The shower gel on its own was £2 in HB). Also keep an eye on freebies during the year to see what other matching or co-ordinating items you could get.

If you're a fan of Aldi get to know when they do their reductions. The smaller stores have limited space so will move things on quicker. For example the large Aldi store near home had Grass seed and feed for £6.99 (I'd seen the same in garden centre for £11.99), where as the small Aldi in town had the same product marked down to £5.99. Sometimes it pays to have a wander where ever you end up!

Aril

To save money on cat litter I have just started to cut in a bag of the cheapest fuller's earth type litter from Tesco or Sainsburys with a more expensive one to make it go further as I find the cheaper one on its own doesn't clump properly. It would of course be a whole lot better if the feline would use our garden instead but there you go.

On a whole different topic if you haven't yet come across this blog it's full of very cheap and inventive recipes [I am not associated with it in any way]
http://agirlcalledjack.com/

Arilx

Becky_2

The 1 litre soup plastic pouches are brilliant. After each use I wash them and use them again, they have been re-used for several years now. I don't use them to freeze soup though. I freeze my home made muffins in there since the bags takes less space than a container. They are also brilliant to freeze berries with, this year I am buying loads of British blueberries that I am freezing and will eat for breakfast in the winter.

marmiterulesok

iris wrote: »

Instead of paper napkins we use fabric napkins at the table. We also use a different type of napkin ring for each person, so that everyone knows which napkin belongs to them, so it doesn't have to be washed every time:D

Using paper napkins can work out quite costly.

I also use cloth napkins.I hate the idea of wasting paper on napkins.