Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

blackcrow

awesome thread all,

I have a confession though... I was born in 1978 and in the back of beyond west norfolk and the fens we had the sunday night bath ritual with mum and the tin bath in front of the fire at nannys! I remember being a little girl and having outside loos at first school and nanny's house until well into the late eighties!

Also, my nan had an axminster carpet in her little livingroom with every single colour under the sun in it that was aparently bought new in 1955 when she and grandad moved in, and never showed the dirt or toast crumbs! I have many happy memories of running toy cars over the line markings of design pretending they were race tracks and spent lots of time on the floor as there were never enough chairs for all and only adults were ever allowed to sit in them ;-)

bc x

ps... forgot to say that carpet was still in very good clean condition when nanny and grandad died and the house was sold 5 years ago, but the carpet was the first thing the new buyers ripped up and replaced.

lilac_lady

When I replaced my stair carpet the salesman told me that when most young couples buy a very light carpet they come back 6 months later for another one in a slightly darker shade and so it goes on. I can't imagine having a carpet replaced within 6 months.

meanmarie

I can't bring myself to get rid of the carpet in my living room, it is too busy for my taste, chosen by my late mother in about 1992, DS3 can't understand why I won't change it, but I belong to the generation that only changes carpets etc when they are worn out, would feel guilty doing anything else as there isn't a worn spot on it...maybe if I won the lotto, but then I don't do the lotto.....

Marie

icelandic_queen

I moved to a house 18 years ago and the lady had lovely green Axeminster carpet in her living-room and Venetian blinds that was only 5 years old. I was there for 5 years and also the people that I sold too where there for 5 years after me and neither of us replaced the carpet or blinds! That's when the interest rate was a bit erratic and went up and up before coming down and that was all in the one day!

Patchwork_Quilt

We feel very guilty about replacing Mum's carpet when we bought her house. Dad had insisted on hotel standard wool so there was no wear whatsoever. However, it was a terrible design and patches of it had faded to a nasty green colour from tawny brown. We were paid back, though, when we moved into this house. Someone had replaced a lovely wool carpet in all the right colours with a kind of plain bristly felt that showed everything. We know, because the old one is still in the downstairs cupboards.

Money saving tip-have saved two T-shirts recently by rubbing liquid washing powder onto stains with a cloth, then washing as usual.

smileyt_2

This has probably been posted already but - to save a bit of gas I boil the kettle and pour that water onto pasta, bring the pasta to the boil on the hob, then turn the hob off and leave the pasta to cook in just the hot water. Takes a bit longer but means I can get my nose lost in a book without having to dash into the kitchen to rescue pasta that's boiling dry!

Thats_me

Re tin baths, they were flipping scratchy on your bum weren't they! I didn't have a proper bathroom until I got married in 1974. Then it was too cold to have a bath in the winter and I used to wash down at the kitchen sink! Haha, happy days!

Mismatched

Also a big fan - anything in this house that is due to be thrown that can be made into cushions/bags/blankets will be

I recntly inherited some old RAF blankets from my dad's parents - bit scratchy, worn and not that attractive, but works wonderfully instead of commericial wadding in patchwork quilts or cushions. Also makes the quilt lighter, but it's actually warmer because of the wool content - very pleased with the result Made 3 bed-size quilts from these blankets, clothes remnants, bedsheets and old buttons. Nice

Also found a good way to colour your hair (if you are so inclined), or just brighten it up is to use the blocks of henna rather than commercail dyes. These canbe bought from Lush or online. While they are expensive-ish (£8 a block in Lush i think), i can get 3 treatments on shoulder-legnth hair out of a block, and only needs 1 treatment doing every 6 weeks or so (so £2.65 a go for 6 weeks isn't bad).

I usually grate 1/3 block with a cheese grater in a big pan or pot, mix with hot water to consistancy of cream, cool until it's lukewarm, strip, stand in bath or shower and just keep scooping it on your hair until it's all on there. Then quickly wrap your head in clingfilm, rinse off extra with a jug or shower hose. Make sure you get all the dye off your skin - it WILL turn you orange :P Leave for 1-4 hours - depends how bright you want it and what colour your hair is naturally. I usually rinse it off - does take a while but be persistant - then apply a good handful of olive oil to my hair and wrap it in an old towel. Give it 20 mins and wash your hair.

Sorry this is long winded but it saves a fortune if you regularly dye your hair (vs. spending £5-£10 every 4 weeks on chemical dyes), and gets it in really nice condition.

Another good one - people have suggested a lot of similar things i think - but i buy the small, liter size bottles of Flash or similar (cheaper than spray-top ones), dilute half and half with water and use. Works just as well but goes quite far. Although now considering buying stardrops )

psso

meanmarie wrote: »

I can't bring myself to get rid of the carpet in my living room, it is too busy for my taste, chosen by my late mother in about 1992, DS3 can't understand why I won't change it, but I belong to the generation that only changes carpets etc when they are worn out, would feel guilty doing anything else as there isn't a worn spot on it...maybe if I won the lotto, but then I don't do the lotto.....

Marie

That`s like me. The carpet in my bedroom went down when we moved in here in 1992, it was DD`s choice, then when she moved out DS1 went in, still same carpet, now I`m there and my excuse is that no-one sees it except me and I`m only there sleeping so what`s the point spending good money changing it ?? Wasn`t a dear carpet either, cheap as chips but still does the job.

purpleheather2810

psso wrote: »

That`s like me. The carpet in my bedroom went down when we moved in here in 1992, it was DD`s choice, then when she moved out DS1 went in, still same carpet, now I`m there and my excuse is that no-one sees it except me and I`m only there sleeping so what`s the point spending good money changing it ?? Wasn`t a dear carpet either, cheap as chips but still does the job.

In our lounge there is an 80s beige carpet with little fleur-de-lys type things all over it. Not my cup of tea but quite neutral, not too offensive and it is still going strong after at least 10 years (I reckon, we've been here 7) of being down. It must have been an expensive one as it shows very little sign of wear. The previous owners must have scotchgarded it too, as with cats and small children I am often scrubbing it - and it always comes up lovely and clean There's no way I will change it until it falls apart, which I doubt will happen any time soon!