How to survive on an absolute minimum income - Tricks I learnt :)

Roller_Derby_Girl

Buy a Flask. I always see people in lectures drinking takeout coffees when it's so much cheaper to just make up a flask at home before you set off. Extra advantage is that if you are in a long lecture you don't have to wait for a break to have another cup.

I would also second the idea of a hot water bottle. Great for cold weather, and for stomach aches.

MandM90

marvell-kid wrote: »

Unfortunately this is actually a misconception. If you keep bread in the fridge, it goes off quicker. In the freezer is the place you want to store your bread (if you have room) - But its not readily available.
This link will give you a good reason why you shouldn't keep bread in the fridge.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080703111220AAoftKB

I don't know if it's just me but I find that nice fresh bakery bread is much better left out but rubbishy supermarket bread lasts much, much longer in the fridge/freezer (we only really use it for toasting, anyway)...also if it gets dry, splash a little water on it and put it into the oven/grill, turn it into croutons or blend and freeze for homemade breadcrumbs.

twirly09

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

Thank you!


I argued with my flatmate for a year that you shouldn't put bread in the fridge! I was right! mwahahahah


Good idea for a thread OP

that makes me laugh, since both my flat mates keep theres in the fridge!

RosieBee_2

This is so good I did most of these while at university! Never once ran out of money or needed to use an overdraft. A lot of my friends were silly with money and ended up with £1000 + overdrafts :O!

rev_henry

RosieBee wrote: »

This is so good I did most of these while at university! Never once ran out of money or needed to use an overdraft. A lot of my friends were silly with money and ended up with £1000 + overdrafts :O!

Oh I use my overdraft, difference is I have my loan stashed away in a savings account as well so I am not in any net debt, apart from the loan itself of course.

forgottendreams

gabrielconroy wrote: »

Some good tips there. We should start a thread about meals suited to batch-cooking and freezing. I do it all the time with curries, bologneses, soups, stews and so on. It saves so much time and money, and most of them taste better after they've been in the fridge or freezer for a while as well. The one about going to the supermarket hungry is definitely something to keep in mind as well, a recipe for financial disaster.

Does anyone know if there is already a thread for batch-cooking ideas? I've been looking for one but with so many threads is hard to locate. Thanks

jennyjelly

Another vote for hot water bottles. I'm not a skint student but love cuddling mine under a fleecee blanket in front of the telly.

Surprised nobody has mentioned slow cookers - put it on in the morning, come home to a nice hot meal in the evening, costs pennies to run and the toughest meat melts in the mouth. I bought mine for £2 at a car boot.

There are loads of cheap and batch recipes on the OS board, and also loads of general stuff about living for less. Linky here.

ETA Batch cooking threads here, here and here.

Soubrette

Beetlemama wrote: »

The bread thing is probably ok for clean new houses, but left on our counter for a week it would be a big hairy green blob. We have so much mold swanning about, the fridge is the only safe place.

I agree, I think bread in the fridge gets stale more quickly than outside but the opposite occurs re mold - definitely quicker to grow mold when not in the fridge.

Owain_Moneysaver

Make friends with chemistry students then you can get home-made drugs.

You can get dozens of condoms free from the clinic - sell them in threes in the bars, 50p, cheaper than the machine. Put an 'out of order' notice on the machine to maximise sales.

Jo714

Charity shops are great for new clothes (some often have the tags still on) - especially in more 'up-market' areas - and also for Christmas/Birthday presents