Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

karren

So if marvel milk is 99p for tin in home bargains etc I'm better off bulk buying that and using for cooking Tec, as my teenage sin drinks pinks of milk at a time , which I don't mind but when I go to cook there's never any here!!

Eenymeeny

I've used dried milk for years since Weight Watchers insisted that you used your daily allowance because it was a concentrated form of calcium and other vitamins and minerals. I seem to remember they had a recipe for peppermint creams made with dried milk, water and peppermint essence!
I make my own yogurt (much cheaper than the bought stuff) and add a couple of spoonfuls of dried milk to make it thick and creamy.

Chi-me

Even though I'm new to this I have always saved the butter wrappers for covering roasts, oiling baking sheets, and using instead of parchment to blind bake quiche or pie crusts. I also reuse tin foil that hasn't been in contact with meat or dairy and freezer bags that are untouched by raw meat (they can be washed). I'm not a baby boomer either, just resent the cost of the alternative products

Frugalsod

Chi-me wrote: »

I'm not a baby boomer either, just resent the cost of the alternative products

I am a baby boomer but I also have switched back because it is also greener. Many of the new techniques and solutions are not green or cheap.

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

I am a baby boomer but I also have switched back because it is also greener. Many of the new techniques and solutions are not green or cheap.

I am a lady from the 1940s and think the cost of some stuff in the shops is just prohibitive and most of the junk is just been invented to 'save time' I wonder what folk do with the 'time saved' I'd rather save my pennies ans spend them on things I enjoy,like my grandchildren and my two lovely DDs.:):):)
As a rule before I buy anything I think can I make it myself, or use an alternative that I already have indoors :):) Being brought up with rationing and a fairly frugal feisty little Scots Mum (5ft wet through :):)) who could make a shilling do the job of five I have learned its often not that hard if you put your thinking cap on to jig up an alternative.

Recycling wasn't invented recently, WW2 made sure of that :):), and make do and mend is the best maxim I know.Cooking from scratch isn't rocket science its common sense, and as most folk can read, then find a library (free of course) and even if you say you can't cook look at the children's cook books to start with I feel its not can't cook more CBA to cook.

I make several meals that are divided up and frozen for later.I think that todays folk have such a benefit with fridges and freezers My late Mum never owned one, but I bet she would have revelled in the ability not to have to shop daily and queue for hours for small amounts of food.

A fridge freezer is your best friend in the kitchen and take-aways can be things of the past if you bulk cook stuff and freeze it.The only time I ever eat a take away is on the last night of our family holiday when we usually have fish and chips if we're a bit broke and all the stuff in the holiday house has been used up ,or if we have spare cash we will have a treat of a pub meal out.I holiday every year with DD and her 4 sons and OH and we have a great fornight in August by the sea which we all save for during the year.This would not be possible if I bought ready meals or take-aways.My DD and her OH work full time and yet the family all sit down to home cooked food every night and take-aways are reserved for occasions like the boys get to choose on their birthdays what they want to eat.

No, I am happy to do things the way my late Mum taught me and yet I also love to learn new recipes to try out.Why would you need to stick a 'conditioner' into your washing to make things soft.I use a handfull of washing soda along with a lesser amount than it says on the box of detergent and a small capful of white vinegar job done and no horrible artificial smell on your clothes I don't even know what ylang ylang smells like :):) or for that matter what it is :):) Fresh air from the washing line is cheaper and better if you can get it I have never owned or wanted or needed a tumble dryer and I managed to bring up my two DDs and work full time without one.I also don't own a dishwasher I have a washing up bowl and a squirt of liquid and that's a fraction of the price of running a machine and jacking up your 'leccy bill.I think we should all take a good look at how previous generations managed .I don't have rose-tinted specs about it though and embrace things like a slow cooker or F/freezers and I even have a Remoska that I find cooks things for me and saves me putting on the big oven.I also use my microwave to re-heat things so I'm not a dinosaur in that way but an awful lot of the stuff in the shops is totally surplus to a lot of people's requirements I think.
I too reuse greasproofed wrappers in cooking and use clean empty ice cream boxes for storage and lots of other odds and ends so a mix of old and new ideas are good,but I must admit I could find it hard to buy a tin of custard for a quid when I can make a pint of the stuff for half the price :):):)

Frugalsod

I was always very green and recycled long before it became the norm nowadays, though it was the addition of plastic micro beads into various cleaning items that made me rethink what I was using. So now I try old school techniques as much as possible and will be making my own laundry detergent before too long.

I do use the microwave a lot, and many old techniques are just as good as modern products that they were replaced by.

Pyxis

For the last 10 years I haven't used any fabric conditioner, as I couldn't stand the synthetic smell of them. Now I haven't used detergent in my machine at all, either, for the last three years.I found I was becoming intolerant to the scents used in the powders and liquids, and after weeks of trying to find a detergent with a scent that that didn't give me a headache or just make me go 'yuk!',I discovered washballs.

These are little mineral balls held in a perforated plastic ball that you put in the machine without detergent. They change the pH of the water, so that any dirt is loosened and is rinsed out. As detergents only really change the pH too, the only difference between them and the washballs is that the detergents contain the ghastly perfumes. These are put in to disguise the horrid smell made by the build-up of gunk in the pipes, caused by, wait for it, the detergents!!

I've read in several places that it's the mechanical action of the drum that really cleans the clothes. Most clothes aren't 'dirty', they are just not fresh, and maybe a bit sweaty, so only really need a good soak,tumble about, and rinse.

It took a bit of a change of mindset to wean myself off the lifetime of brainwashing that only soap can clean clothes, and a few hot soda-crystal washes of the machine to get rid of some of the gunk already there, that does smell when you stop using detergent perfumes. But I find that there's no difference to my clothes now, than when I used detergents, apart from the fact that they don't stink of horrid perfumes.

Sometimes, I forget to put the washballs in as well, and there isn't really any difference there either.
So I think it really is just the hot water, rolling action of the machine, and good rinses that cleans the clothes.
So why spend a fortune on detergents and fabric softeners?

Bublin1

Orange peel in the washing up bowl. The hot water brings out a strong orange scent.

hollieinbloom

My nan has given me plenty of tips over the years to help me save a few bob here and there! Use old clean underwear that was destined for the bin for cleaning the windows or bathroom. I always cut the gusset out for extra hygene purposes. Can do this with holey socks and old t-shirts too

I use 2L pop bottles and re-use to put diluted squash in. I can then manage how much juice it being used as sometimes OH will use too much in just a glass and we then go through it too quickly.

xx

kackleful

JackieO wrote: »

I am a lady from the 1940s and think the cost of some stuff in the shops is just prohibitive and most of the junk is just been invented to 'save time' I wonder what folk do with the 'time saved' I'd rather save my pennies ans spend them on things I enjoy,like my grandchildren and my two lovely DDs.:):):)
As a rule before I buy anything I think can I make it myself, or use an alternative that I already have indoors :):) Being brought up with rationing and a fairly frugal feisty little Scots Mum (5ft wet through :):)) who could make a shilling do the job of five I have learned its often not that hard if you put your thinking cap on to jig up an alternative.

Recycling wasn't invented recently, WW2 made sure of that :):), and make do and mend is the best maxim I know.Cooking from scratch isn't rocket science its common sense, and as most folk can read, then find a library (free of course) and even if you say you can't cook look at the children's cook books to start with I feel its not can't cook more CBA to cook.

I make several meals that are divided up and frozen for later.I think that todays folk have such a benefit with fridges and freezers My late Mum never owned one, but I bet she would have revelled in the ability not to have to shop daily and queue for hours for small amounts of food.

A fridge freezer is your best friend in the kitchen and take-aways can be things of the past if you bulk cook stuff and freeze it.The only time I ever eat a take away is on the last night of our family holiday when we usually have fish and chips if we're a bit broke and all the stuff in the holiday house has been used up ,or if we have spare cash we will have a treat of a pub meal out.I holiday every year with DD and her 4 sons and OH and we have a great fornight in August by the sea which we all save for during the year.This would not be possible if I bought ready meals or take-aways.My DD and her OH work full time and yet the family all sit down to home cooked food every night and take-aways are reserved for occasions like the boys get to choose on their birthdays what they want to eat.

No, I am happy to do things the way my late Mum taught me and yet I also love to learn new recipes to try out.Why would you need to stick a 'conditioner' into your washing to make things soft.I use a handfull of washing soda along with a lesser amount than it says on the box of detergent and a small capful of white vinegar job done and no horrible artificial smell on your clothes I don't even know what ylang ylang smells like :):) or for that matter what it is :):) Fresh air from the washing line is cheaper and better if you can get it I have never owned or wanted or needed a tumble dryer and I managed to bring up my two DDs and work full time without one.I also don't own a dishwasher I have a washing up bowl and a squirt of liquid and that's a fraction of the price of running a machine and jacking up your 'leccy bill.I think we should all take a good look at how previous generations managed .I don't have rose-tinted specs about it though and embrace things like a slow cooker or F/freezers and I even have a Remoska that I find cooks things for me and saves me putting on the big oven.I also use my microwave to re-heat things so I'm not a dinosaur in that way but an awful lot of the stuff in the shops is totally surplus to a lot of people's requirements I think.
I too reuse greasproofed wrappers in cooking and use clean empty ice cream boxes for storage and lots of other odds and ends so a mix of old and new ideas are good,but I must admit I could find it hard to buy a tin of custard for a quid when I can make a pint of the stuff for half the price :):):)

Love reading Jackie O, s comments!