Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

miss_empty_piggy

happydays89 wrote: »

We have fitted a lock on our tumble dryer,we are fed up of high electric bills.Our sons have a habit of putting things in the dryer and turning the dial on full then disappearing for hours,something that might need minutes to dry is left tumbling for hours.:eek:
They have been told to wash their clothes and put them on the radiators in the evening,we have the key to the dryer so we have total control over it use.:j

That is fantastic - the only people in our house who have EVER used the dryer are the young ones. And if I catch them they're in for an ear full. I suspect they wait until I leave the house. I have a laundry room with 3 full length hanging rails, a small hanger thing (with the little pegs on) - one for each person so I can keep their smalls separate for easier finding and other stand-up airer things. There is also a heated vertical towel-rail/radiator in there (as we will eventually make it into another bathroom). Most of the clothes that go in there generally dry overnight. My argument is that you should be organised enough to know what you need to be wearing in the next few days and give yourself enough time to get it dry. No excuses for the need to waste excess money and energy on drying.

I love this added layer of security though - priceless. I bet they were mortified!!!!

happydays89

miss_empty_piggy wrote: »

That is fantastic - the only people in our house who have EVER used the dryer are the young ones. And if I catch them they're in for an ear full. I suspect they wait until I leave the house. I have a laundry room with 3 full length hanging rails, a small hanger thing (with the little pegs on) - one for each person so I can keep their smalls separate for easier finding and other stand-up airer things. There is also a heated vertical towel-rail/radiator in there (as we will eventually make it into another bathroom). Most of the clothes that go in there generally dry overnight. My argument is that you should be organised enough to know what you need to be wearing in the next few days and give yourself enough time to get it dry. No excuses for the need to waste excess money and energy on drying.

I love this added layer of security though - priceless. I bet they were mortified!!!!

They weren’t very happy,it means they have to put cold boxer shorts on in the morning such a shock when they normally heat them up in the dryer for an hour first.

We have also told them the boiler is faulty and they can only shower for 10 mins max or it cuts out and they get blasted with cold water,they don’t know I switch the boiler off when they spend too long in there.......45 minutes in the shower is too long.

When I received really large bills last month I decided things were changing.

I am keeping the key to the dryer with me at all times. D

Primrose

I laughed. Few kids living at home realise the financial realities of running any establishment so this will teach them a good lesson and hopefully some personal planning skills.

Your future daughters or son-in-laws will thank you in due course!

Every house should have a laundry room like yours. How do architects think family washing is supposed to be dried for much of the year in this country when the weather is wet? I always say that architects of most homes never have to live in the properties they design. And provision of adequate storage is another issue that is often woefully under provided for but that's anither rant which diverts us away from the topic of this thread!

We,re fortunate enough to have a second bathroom which except when we have visitors doubles up as a laundry room with a double rollaway line over the bath and a decent radiator for draping damp laundry over. I just just shut the door, open a small window to eliminate condensation and laundry dries quickly out of sight.

In my childhood laundry was always dried over a clothes horse in front of the only miserable coal fire in the house and you'd sit behind it watching the condensation rise from it! Radiators do a much better job !

VfM4meplse

I've never used a tumble dryer for myself (I remembered when my parents got one, they found it very expensive to run and realised the value of their trusty washing line!).

But I really dislike drying clothes indoors, for health (spores) and damp (mould) reasons. It was a constant source of angst in my previous home; I was working ridiculous hours but if the sun was ever out on days off, the day would be consumed with washing / watching out for rain! All other times it would be indoors and I would wash clothes as infrequently as possible for that reason, preferring to have a large selection to choose from instead, picking my moment and having a washing binge.

In my present (and hopefully last) home, my south facing conservatory gets heated as soon as there is a spot of sunshine, March - October so most of the time I can stick the washing in there in the morning and come back to find it bone dry. Winter is of course different, my Dri Buddi (bought for £15 from the chazzer) positioned near a draughty door for maximum ventilation really comes into its own. I'm not convinced it is that cheap to run as is claimed, but it does get my clothes nice and dry. Its worth noting that my heated airer from Aldi does not!

Herbyme

Mistral001 wrote: »

I keep a jar of powdered milk or Coffeemate, so that when I run out of milk a few days earlier than expected and before I need to do a big shop, I can use it in my coffee and tea thus saving me a trip to the corner shop where the milk is much more expensive.

I never used to buy UHT milk because I didn't like the burnt taste of it, but I was told the red (skimmed) kind didn't have that taste, and I was surprised to find that's true (I think), so now I always have some as back up. I'm also trying to reduce dairy and I quite like Oatly too, after in depth research it's the one I like best, but not in tea. What I can't find is decent vegan cheddar. There's a smoked cheese called Applewood which isn't bad if you like smoked cheese, but it's about £11 a kilo so it's not cheap and you can only get it in big supermarkets so it's a special trip (when I'm passing, but it takes time). And it's no good in mac'n'cheese which is a fave in our house. Nutritional yeast is a bit cheesy but if you use too much of it, it's not nice. Any other tips very welcome!

And btw about tumble dryers, the only reason I use mine is for towels, they go so stiff dried indoors without tumble drying. Fine in the summer on the line, but I like a soft towel not a sandpaper one, which mine seem to be if dried hanging up!

Siebrie

That's an area where I don't save pennies..... I tumbledry as soon as I have washed a load of laundry that can't go outside or on the inside washing lines (in the laundry room/garage and over the bannisters on the landing). Sometimes we need something urgently, or it's just so humid that clothes take forever to dry.


That said, I took advantage of Sunday's blue skies and line dried 3 loads of laundry while I worked in the garden.

VfM4meplse

carolinerunner wrote: »

There's a smoked cheese called Applewood which isn't bad if you like smoked cheese, but it's about £11 a kilo so it's not cheap and you can only get it in big supermarkets so it's a special trip!

Wishing I hadn't read this - haven't had this for ages but I'm craving its smokey taste now! I guess I could save a few pennies by avoiding all supermarkets today

ToastLady

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Wishing I hadn't read this - haven't had this for ages but I'm craving its smokey taste now! I guess I could save a few pennies by avoiding all supermarkets today

You and me both. I've got a craving too, but unfortunately no chance of getting any. Best I can get is smoked Gouda, which is nice, but not the same thing at all. One of these days I will attempt cold smoking some cheddar in the outside wood fired oven.

Gem-gem

Hubby and I had our valentine meal (date night) at Loch Fyne. In January, they have 50% off mains. He had a a seafood mixed grill - from £26 down to £13 and I had mussels and chips £16 down to £8. A delicious meal for half the price plus it was much quieter then it would be in a couple of weeks time.
We then came home we had the last of our reduced fruit cake from F&M.

As we were in Bluewater we also popped down to John Lewis Food Hall (Waitrose) and bought a 20cm football celebration birthday cake for £2.15 (it was originally £15). I have wrapped it in foil. Tomorrow it will go in the freezer until hubby's birthday. (Normally I would make him one).

Hubby's and my birthday are only two days apart. We normally share a cake. We light candles on one half for my birthday and then candles on the other half for his birthday.

For Valentine's Day, hubby has bought me 3xhot chocolate drinks from £11.85 down to £2.70. I have bought hubby a bottle of beer. £3. We will reuse a Card from a previous year and write a new message in them.

Crafty_Lisa_Hampshire

I was doing this the other day and I wondered whether this was a tip that anyone else would be interested in. I descale my kettle using white vinegar but instead of just using it the once and pouring it away, I pour it into a jug to descale my shower head and then after that I poor it into a bottle to then use in the washing machine as fabric conditioner. It seems to work okay and saves a few pennies on having to keep replacing the white vinegar.