Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

chirpycheap

unixgirluk wrote: »

What appliances do you leave switched on overnight? Most of us leave the broadband switched on overnight. SS works nightshift (when he's not working he's a night owl) so I normally switch off the broadband before I go to bed.

We have always done this. My brother-in-law and nephew argued that it uses a negligible amount of electricity. I have no idea really how much switching off saves us but even if it's only a few pence I'm happy with that!
However my brother-in-law recently said that when he had BT around he asked the engineer about switching off the internet at night and he was told that when you switch off your broadband it is detected as a fault on the line and the broadband speed is lowered and takes fourteen days to get back to speed. I have no idea how true this is and quite honestly our internet is speedy enough for the stuff that I need to do. Would be interesting to know whether turning off the internet when not in use could cause any harm.

Uniscots97

chirpycheap wrote: »

We have always done this. My brother-in-law and nephew argued that it uses a negligible amount of electricity. I have no idea really how much switching off saves us but even if it's only a few pence I'm happy with that!
However my brother-in-law recently said that when he had BT around he asked the engineer about switching off the internet at night and he was told that when you switch off your broadband it is detected as a fault on the line and the broadband speed is lowered and takes fourteen days to get back to speed. I have no idea how true this is and quite honestly our internet is speedy enough for the stuff that I need to do. Would be interesting to know whether turning off the internet when not in use could cause any harm.

I used to work for one of the other broadband suppliers and no switching your router off at the wall is not detected as a fault. Its up to you how you run it. We're with BT and I've never noticed a drop in speed (I do regular speed tests on the line and had to for comparison for former work to compare it to others within my area on different providers).

angelaloveschocolate

This is just so easy, I'm growing spring onions, wish I'd done it years ago.

Check out this link for regrowing veg on your windowsill.

http://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/10-vegetables-herbs-you-can-eat-once-and-regrow-forever-0150343/

Broomstick

I'll try the onion thing too. Thanks.

Just so that we have easy access to bread when the fresh stuff runs out, every so often I buy a large sliced loaf and split it into smaller bags full 4-8 slices in each and freeze them. It makes it easy to defrost a small amount of bread for quick use without the risk of not using up a whole loaf.

Also, when they are cheaper, I buy and slice lemons to freeze. A slice of frozen lemon in a glass of iced water is cheaper than juice and just as nice.

B x

Uniscots97

If you need a quick makeshift curtain you can use a duvet cover. No sewing required, put the curtain pole through one end (where the buttons/snap fasteners are) and underneath the fasteners to the other end past the last fastener. Voila, a quick curtain.

Uniscots97

if you've finished a bottle of shampoo/shower gel then add a small amount off water and shake the bottle, this should give you enough for one more use.

anotheruser

• If you take sandwiches to work in sandwich bags, keep the bag. It's good for dog walking or cat litter emptying.
  
  
• Use the loaf of bread bag as a sandwich bag for the day.
  
  
• Save serviettes from McDonalds and other such places for the car. If you ever need to quickly wipe the wiper blades, your hands, the little ones mouthes, you will always have a supply. This can also work with the wet wipes from KFC.
  
  
• When going out to a restaurant, take the thin sauce packets. DON'T use them at home! Instead, take them away on holiday (abroad) with you. If you're self-catering then you will have "British" sauces for your breakfast.
  
  
• When going abroad, wear something "summery" under your clothes. Wear joggers or something on the top. Then, when you get to your destination (or on the plane!) you simply need to strip one layer of clothing off and you're ready to go.Do the opposite for on the way home.

Use common sense.
That's the best way I have found to save money!

Skinnylatte

Use a rolling pin to every last drop out of tubes, toothpaste, tomato puree etc

anotheruser

Have a carpet washer?

Use (clothes) washing liquid instead of the expensive liquid they sell. It means you can change the scent and works just as well.
Just add a bit of extra water.

Janvier

I have just taken a few days to read through this thread and I think there are some great ideas around! The bidet conversation made me laugh though

My moneysaving techniques are:

Use nappy bags for cleaning up after my dog. The supermarkets sell a pack of 200 for less than £1; while dedicated poo bags are something like 50 for £1.

In summer if I go out somewhere and it's hot, but I can't have a wash where I'm going, I use baby wipes to clean up and refresh myself. Cheaper than buying body wipes.

Probably people do this already, but out of date food items aren't necessarily dangerous or inedible. 'Best Before End' food should be fine well after its stamped date. Cheese is fine to eat well after its expiry date. So are eggs, just put them in water first. If they float, bin them, otherwise they are edible. This week I ate three from a pack which was out of date at the beginning of November. One was still really fresh! I would be cautious with yoghurt and meat though.

If you don't have a water meter, it's worth doing the quiz on your water co's website to check if it is cheaper or not without one. For me, it's actually cheaper not to have one.

I mix an expensive brand of cat litter (Catsan) with Tesco's cheap brand to make it go further.

I have a night light in the hall so that I don't have to switch on the main light if I go to the loo or get a drink.

I look online for dog and cat food (dry). There's a lot around that is much better quality than what the supermarket sells, and is cheaper too.

I buy in bulk online from the supermarket. So, for instance, I buy 12 or so cartons of the UHT SP 1 litre milk as well as a bit of fresh. Once I've used the fresh I then use the UHT and it lasts me months. It's cheaper than buying fresh milk all the time.

It's worth looking on the website MySupermarket for price comparison, especially if you want to buy something like chocolates as a present. Sometimes a supermarket will do a special offer on them and you will save money that way.

Be careful with the items pound shops sell. Some things are cheap and cost more than a pound elsewhere, but other things can be bought for less.

Look at the weight of items in cheap shops. A while back in HB I bought some Options hot chocolate for £2. I had seen on MySupermarket that Asda were selling it for the same price so I bought it to save me a trip to Asda. When I got home I found out that the Options I had just bought was 22g lighter than the one I already had at home. Not much, but still means that I have one drink less from the one I just bought.

When you want to buy something expensive, don't just rely on price comparison websites as they just list the websites they've been paid to list. It takes a while but clicking on individual websites can lead to good deals.

If you sell items on Ebay, weigh your items on a digital kitchen scale then use the Royal Mail Price Finder to find an accurate price. Don't forget to add a bit to take packaging into account. That way you don't lose out when you price the postage for the item, and alternatively you shouldn't get accused of ripping people off on postage either.

Buy decent brand rechargeable batteries (and charger). It's an outlay at first but you soon make back the cost by saving on the price of ordinary batteries. I say, buy a decent brand, because I bought some cheapies that had a very short life compared to my Duracells.

Don't buy expensive toilet roll. I'm aware there was a discussion on this about 20 pages ago, but I use the Nicky brand of toilet roll. You can buy 18 rolls for £4 from both FarmFoods and HB. It's decent quality so you don't need loads of it, and is way cheaper than that from a supermarket.

Probably one that everyone knows but ... don't go food shopping when you're hungry! You're more likely to buy junk food and more food than you really need (and the odd pack or two of biscuits ... )

Personally I find Tesco's Gold Blend coffee to be a nice taste and much, much cheaper than Nescafe.

If you want tissues, go to HB and get the ones in a plastic wrap for 40p. There are loads in the pack and they are soft too. Much cheaper than from the supermarket.

That's all I can think of for now! :A