Great Tips... one liners

[Deleted User]

give up mobile phone
give up sky packages
plan meals ahead
budget for food and toiletries, they should come to way below £450 a month
always think `need not want`
cook large one pot meals and re-use the next day

valk_scot

Sue14 wrote: »

To save even more use bubble bath, which often has the same ingredients as shower gel, usually costs less per ml, and can be used as shower gel and handwash.

To save even more, use a bar of soap! Plain soap costs about 25p a bar in the supermarket, even less if it's value type, and one bar of soap will outlast a bottle of hand wash/shower gel and then a bit more. Also soap is far kinder to your skin than detergents and far less likely to cause dermititis. And unperfumed soap or baby soap is kinder still.

valk_scot

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

If you buy a coffee whilst out, but don't take sugar, as you have already paid a price which includes the sugar, take what you would have put in your coffee home and put it in the sugarbowl.

My late mother was terrible for doing this. If she was out for a coffee she reckoned she was due two sugars and two milk cartons per coffee. Burger? Two sachets of ketchup. Chips? One salt, one pepper and two vinegars. In fact she took her coffee black and unsweetened and hated ketchup, never used salt etc so every now and again she'd hand me half a carrier bag of this sort of stuff, plus napkins, plastic teaspoons and free single wrapped biscuits. I used to use it when we went camping.

Re pinching food at funerals? Two years ago we were at Hubby's great-uncle's funeral and I practically had to frisk my kids to check they hadn't filled up their pockets with these little packs of two shortbread fingers, which were being handed out with the tea and coffee. My kids adore shortbread! Fortunately Great-aunt thought it very funny and gave them huge bag of all the remaining shortbread packets at the end. She reckoned it was better than the folk that came along to funerals and had six or seven of the complimentary glasses of sherry or whisky as a cheap way of getting drunk that day.

chanie

ceridwen wrote: »

Some good ideas here - but charging up the phone at work is also theft and not a good idea if one wishes to keep ones job either.

QUOTE]


My employer does let us charge our phones at work. I wouldn't do it if we weren't allowed.

Rainy-Days

JackieO wrote: »

I saw in tescos yesterday how much the price of soap powder has shot up and couldn't believe I would see the day when a large packet would cost £20.00 !!!

That is what I most miss Netto's for. They used to always have special offers on the big 80+ wash powder boxes. I bought four boxes of the Ariel before they closed and they are out in the garage. Sainsburys the other week had the Fairy non bio powder (80 wash box) on half price to £10.00 so bought one of those. I just try and look out for all the offers on laundry products and when they are on offer I stock up, but it's like you say the prices have increased dramatically and if Sainsburys can put Fairy on half price then someone is making some serious profit somewhere!

rising_from_the_ashes

Rainy-Days wrote: »

if Sainsburys can put Fairy on half price then someone is making some serious profit somewhere!

I think that's part of the problem as nothing seems to have a "proper" value anymore - instead of things always be a reasonable price, they're inflated so they can be reduced in a month or so, or put on offer - whether it's BOGOF or 1/2 price etc, as you say, a profit will still being made by the retailer.

I would much rather pay say 70p for my crumpets every week than have them priced at 85p one week and then on a 2 for £1.20 offer the next.

quintwins

op i always go to the toilet in other peoples houses i don't usually pinch the loo roll, but i have none it before when my kids have had colds and i forgot to grab tissues on the way out the door

when shampoo/conditioner/handwash is really done put a tiny but of water in the bottle shake it and put it in your cistern it will work like a bloo block and your bathroom will smell lovely

i buy laundry liquid in bulk in makro but only when it's bogof and then i buy 4-6 big bottles which last us about 3-4 months so i get all my washing for the year for about £20, i use laundry liquid cause i think it smells more and it means i don't need fabric softener

adelight

ceridwen wrote: »

Some good ideas here - but charging up the phone at work is also theft and not a good idea if one wishes to keep ones job either.

Re the stocking-up at a wake - I would have gone straight up to her - taken the containers off her and said "I'll let you have them back when you go...and meanwhile 'show some respect' ". If there was any food left at the end of the wake I would ensure it was given out to everyone ELSE to take home with them and she would get nothing.

******************

....and I agree that the O.P. should not be stealing loopaper and I wouldnt have someone as a guest in my house if I could see they had that "on the lookout for a chance" look on their face ....

Taking from a wake is a bit :eek: but at the end of family functions I always take some leftovers. Long after everyone's finished eating and the staff start clearing up I always fill up a plate and pop it in my bag on the way out/in tissue. Most of my family do this and why not if you've paid for it? At my cousin's wedding we all (inc her parents) took some bits home as the food was delicious and they'd paid thousands for it.


One of my relatives is terrible for pinching things, over a holiday she will steal a whole dinner set piece by piece :rotfl: Awful!!

Graceless

Great post FairyFace :T I know it's easier said than done but try not to allow it to get you down too much, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Take comfort in the fact that so many of us are really struggling at the mo and you really are in the best place for help and advice. You may have been met with some criticism but we have all done things we're not proud of, that's just life

• If I have nothing to give to charity then I use the bags that get pushed through the letterbox and use them as bin liners.
• I use shower gel as bubble bath, I seriously have so much of the stuff that this is the only way I can get through them all.
• I buy the cotton wool roll as it is much cheaper than cosmetic pads and lasts me 4 times as long.
• In the supermarket I weigh loose bananas at the sticker scale machine rather than buy those that are pre packed and usually save myself about 40p - honestly try it next time you're in there.
• I make meal plans and write them down on the calendar so we always know what we are eating and saves making impulse buys.
• I use Quidco whenever I can.
• I thoroughly seek out the best deals and prices and shop accordingly, gone are the days where I buy all my items in just 1 place.
• I always try and recylce, reuse and upcycle whenever possibe rather than buying new.
• This year i'm making alot of the christmas presents myself from stuff I already had lying around the house.
• I always tell family and friends about any deals or offers that I think will interest them, good money saving should be shared

I feel like I have made good changes this year but there is still plenty of room for improvement, and find that I am constantly on this site picking up as many hints and tips as I can

ecodude

fairyface wrote: »

Hi thanks for all your tips it has been very helpful, I feel bad about the loo roll thing to be really honest I do not do it regularly, I have done it like at the end of the month when there has been no money left in the bank and I am down to my last 2, I promise I will not do it again, I feel bad now, please forgive me, I need support, and cannot take any criticism at the moment as I am so down, but anyway thanks and keep the tips coming.

Please don't give up, been in that dark awful place too but it gets better honest, not always quickly but better :-)