Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

ceridwen

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

Hiya,

Most agencies take photos before a tenant moves in, but if you have been renting the property for 5 years it is a bit off for the landlord to expect perfect carpets. I have 2 properties I rent out and after that length of time I would expect to be putting in new carpets for the next tenant out of my own pocket.

Crikey - at the thought of only expecting carpets to last 5 years...

I would personally expect a cheap carpet to last 10 years and a standard mid-price range carpet to last me 20 years. I've replaced a lot of my carpets over the last couple of years and expect them all to last me WELL into old age now and am hoping that they will never need replacing again actually....I quite definitely would only replace them a maximum of once more ever in my life.

A friend of mine recently replaced her sitting room carpet - at about 30 years old - just because she had got so fed-up with seeing it for all those years - not because it actually NEEDED replacing (it was still good for some years yet).

lauren_1

ralloctiger wrote: »

oh my, I never gave it a athought I bet the small ones 15p would make great spud bags.
Hooray to you
xx

They do make excellent spud bags however i had to put 'darts' at both ends and secure with duct tape, makes it more rectangular and a bit more stable.

honeybun16

i love this thread,

I would never have thought of the ikea bags for potatoes, we use the old compost bags here and have had a couple of really good harvests from them.

Might try the ikea bags as we have a few of them knocking about

BitterAndTwisted

one_bill_at_a_time wrote: »

oh! on the carpet stains and rent deposits - carpet stains are "normal wear and tear" so unless it's anything drastic your landlord shouldn't deduct anything from your deposit.

I don't want to sound contradictory and like I'm looking for a disagreement but tens of thousands of landlords would seek to differ. Stains on carpets are damage not "fair wear and tear". Many, many tenants have been charged rather large sums for not returning carpets in the same state at the end of their tenancies as at the beginning for exactly that reason. I'd hate for someone on here to accept your opinion as fact and then have to pay the price.

As has been mentioned the only way to ensure that spurious deposit deductions aren't made at the end of tenancies are to have an accurate check-in inventory signed by both parties, the tenant takes dated photographs when they move in and then returns the whole property in the exactly same state. No check-in inventory equals no deductions.

lauren_1

I have cut baths down to once a week (they have a bath when they go to nannies too) so thats 2 really and one shower (shower sunday, bath wednesday, bath saturday)

I'm a meanie and make everyone have a sink wash morning and night (kids dont sweat as much as teenagers and adults)

running a bath every night really does cost a bomb.

calleyw

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

I've also done the same with the tesco value cheap buckets they were only a £1 each but quite tall, so I removed the bottoms and put in tomato plants, 1 in each.

I think asda give theres away but what about the black buckets that flowers come in.

Morrisons sells theres for 8 for 99p.

I have got cucumbers, melons and even planted out my 99p lavender plants.

They are not really thick but should last a couple of seasons.

Yours

Calley

Unity

lauren_1 wrote: »

I have cut baths down to once a week (they have a bath when they go to nannies too) so thats 2 really and one shower (shower sunday, bath wednesday, bath saturday)

I'm a meanie and make everyone have a sink wash morning and night (kids dont sweat as much as teenagers and adults)

running a bath every night really does cost a bomb.

I know there will be people who will literally turn up their noses at this idea, but I watched a programme on traditional British sea-side holidays in the 50's and 60's, where B&B's had a ridiculous ratio of bathrooms to bedrooms - like fourteen bedrooms to one bathroom - talk about packing them in!!! The documentary said that when you went on holiday back then, it was assumed you would have a bath before you left for your holiday and that would do for the fortnight - using the sink to freshen up your important little places .

Remember though a lot of these people had lived through a war and were used to rationing - including water. It is quite easy to stay clean and not smell, although my DS has been known to stay in the shower for close to an hour :eek:. I have subtle ways of reminding him, like turning on the hot tap downstairs , the resulting cold blast works wonders for turning his shower into an 'express' version :rotfl:.

stilernin

Unity wrote: »

my DS has been known to stay in the shower for close to an hour :eek:. I have subtle ways of reminding him, like turning on the hot tap downstairs , the resulting cold blast works wonders for turning his shower into an 'express' version :rotfl:.

Any chance of appealing to his macho side by suggesting 'Navy showers'?

1- Turn shower on, get wet and lather.
2- Turn shower off , continue to lather, wash, scrub etc
3.- Turn shower on, rinse.
4- Turn shower off.

Not a lot of water on a ship............;)

The closer to mid-winter you continue to do this, the more macho you are :rotfl::rotfl:

Vaila

instead of buying things like breathe right strips and other stop snoring aids, my dad uses a strip of masking tape....!

exlibris

stilernin wrote: »

Any chance of appealing to his macho side by suggesting 'Navy showers'?

1- Turn shower on, get wet and lather.
2- Turn shower off , continue to lather, wash, scrub etc
3.- Turn shower on, rinse.
4- Turn shower off.

Not a lot of water on a ship............;)

The closer to mid-winter you continue to do this, the more macho you are :rotfl::rotfl:

I have these in the caravan! When you carry every drop of water you become really frugal!!