Great 'Isn't it obvious?' MoneySaving Hunt revisited

tenuissent

Has anyone mentioned putting washing machines on only at night when (in our case) electricity is much cheaper. It takes some planning to fill it, then use the delay button, but it is worth it. On diluting washing up liquid: I use very little anyway (scarred from living with a septic tank for 20 years) and it is easier to use if less thick and gungy. I always dilute it. It is only really necessary for very greasy things. No tube or bottle or jam jar or ketchup gets thrown away here until the very last scraping has been diluted and used.

[Deleted User]

I decant w/up liquid into a pump action bottle ,one pump is more than enough.My washing machine has a 30 minute wash on it ,more than enough for my needs as my clothes are never that dirty and it saves on electricity.I too am a half the amount user,and it works brilliantly After all manaufacturers want us to use as much as possible to make us buy more Its a ploy to get us spending.One last tip my late OH used to use a cut up pencil if he ran out of rawlplugs when fixing stuff to the wall.Screwing down into the lead of the pencil with the fixing screw and it holds just the same.I have shelves up in my house that have been up for 15 years and they are as solid as a rock.

janejamie

lovebargainshatewaste wrote: »

I don't use fabric conditioner, shock horror . Saves me a fortune, I reckon. Also, you shouldn't use conditioner on towels, as it stops the towels from being absorbent to their max capacity.

Move to the country If you're far away from shops, it's not so easy to spend money.


If you find it difficult to control your spending on your credit card, freeze it. Seriously. Pop it in a tub of water and put it in the freezer.

I never use fabric conditioner either - waxes up the clothes and in a soft water area we really don't need it.

I never use salt in the dishwasher either because our water is already soft and can't understand people who buy 3 in 1 tablets which must have the max dose of salt, rinseaid and powder therefore the max cost per wash! :eek:

My machine repair man suggests putting loose washing machine powder in the bottom of the drum instead of in the dispenser - saves making gunge around the dispenser which is just wasted powder anyway. In his humble opinion, tablets for washing machines and dishwashers take longer to dissolve, so you are losing out on some of its effectiveness before it gets rinsed out anyway. Also undissolved tablet gunge can clog up your machine.

Move to the country? Well, by the time you've factored in driving costs to every trip to the shops for milk etc. at 45p/mile ...... However, makes a good bargaining tool for the kids, "yes, of course I'll make an extra trip to the shops so you can buy (insert toy here) as long as you pay the £9 for the return trip"!

LOVE the idea of credit card in its own little block of ice, tho as we have good scottish water, could probably read the numbers through it - at a pinch! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Dammit, see the time. Another one - don't be late for work!

foxgloves

A tip to save washing up liquid from my partner. He was washing up one night & i couldn't believe how much washing up liquid he'd used. It was so bubbley......then he showed me how much he'd actually used which was a tiny blob barely the size of a 5p. His trick is not to put it into the water, but to put it on the washing up sponge then add a bit of water to the sponge & keep squeezing it till it foams up. We've got one of those big belfast sinks & the suds are ample to do a whole sinkful. If he thinks he needs a few more bubbles, he just squeezes the sponge again. It definitely works. He doesn't post on here, but he's proud of this one, so I'm adding it to the list.

foxgloves

And while I'm on the subject of washing up sponges, once they are too grotty for the kitchen, they go into the bathroom for cleaning sink, bath, etc. After that, they still don't go in the bin, as I rinse them really thoroughly & cut them into pieces which I put in the compost when I'm planting up hanging baskets instead of buying water-retaining gel. I saw this tip a while back on 'Christine's garden', and it does seem to work.

teamburnett

Never using a whole dishwasher tablet unless VERY heavy dirt! I buy the Daisy brand from Tesco and use half per wash. Washes just as well!

Trinny

Hi Op

My tip is stock rotation - plan meals around what you know is close to use by date - i move the stuff that needs to be used into a prominent place in the cupboard or fridge so that each time i open the door its right in front of me.

I hate waste - so i cook according to what needs to be used. Means you need to check your dates regularly - but the fridge and freezer stuff is obvious

BW

Trin

GreyQueen

ceridwen wrote: »

Me neither - ie I dont use fabric conditioner either. I dont really see the point and it certainly put me off it the other day when I read that its one of those things that is some sort of byproduct from something else (summat to do with oil - ie oil oil - not vegetable oil iyswim) and they were trying to think of a way to dispose of it - and decided to flog it to us as "fabric conditioner" and essential for our washing.

Well - thats one way to dispose of an oil byproduct - tiny bit by tiny bit - ie as peeps use it as "fabric conditioner".:cool:

Well - at least I can avoid that particular thing easily - wishes it was as easy to avoid the "Now how do we dispose of that poison? - fluoride - I know....we'll put it in toothpaste...and tell them its necessary to help their teeth...":cool: (you should see the cost of non-fluoride toothpaste...resigned to spending £2/£3 per tube:().

Ceridwen, I have a vague recollection of it being possible to mix bicarb of soda with a few drops of peppermint oil into a very acceptable toothpaste and am wondering if this would be cheaper that the fluoride-free branded product. HTH.

Thats_Me_3

Already do most of this,(50% rule, no fabric conditioner, NEVER wasting food, cutting tubes open to extract the very last bit of toothpaste etc. etc.) although its always good to be reminded of some. Having been out of work for 6 months (redundancy from council and JSA ends this week) we are having to be even more frugal than ever. The great thing about being frugal (or, if you insist, tight! LOL) is that you very quickly get used to having less and out of the habit of spending. Its like giving up smoking, difficult for a little while but then you wonder why you ever did it in the first place. (ex smoker here). It was my birthday last month and I asked for circular knitting needles for my present. I am completely in love with them! i have got back into knitting, I didn't bother with it for years but now find it really relaxing, as well as practical. I have so far this year knitted a cardigan and hat for new grandson, a monkey for him as well and 4 hats for Mr TM (well, he's not got much in the way of hair now bless him!). I think everyone will get something knitted this Christmas. Charity shops can be brilliant places for wool, our local hospice charity is selling brand new 100gr balls for £1.50! Also, you can sometimes find donated wool, or knitted items to unravel! I have also bought my *new* summer wardrobe from charity shops, crop trousers, skirts, t shirts, tops and a jacket. We have been planting up our vegetable garden which helps greatly with food bills and we have already started to pick up wood for the log burner ready for the winter. As I am posting this, I have elder flowers in my food dryer so that I can make cordial, wine etc later in the year (have to go out and collect some more later), I have already dried dandelions. We make our own wine, jams, pickles etc so we are fairly self sufficient. Now, if only I could grow a money tree to pay the council tax!

Saturnalia

I only use fabric conditioner as I get lots of static shocks and clingy clothes and the conditioner does seem to reduce this quite a lot. But it only takes about 1/3 of the recommended dose, a full cap makes the clothes feel slippy and weird, and builds up on the fabric.

If you wash your hair every day, only use shampoo twice a week and rinse hair with hot water and conditioner only all the other days. That will clean any surface dirt off without taking off the natural oils - the more oil you wash out, the more the scalp produces.