Sort of debt-free but hope to be a super-scrimper in 2019

Lifeisforliving19

With regard to kitchen roll that you mentioned....I am trying to reduce waste as much as possible now and help the environment etc. I have stopped buying kitchen roll as I was using soooo much and it just ends up getting sent to landfill. So I now cut up very old T-shirts and towels etc, to supplement my large collection of cleaning cloths that I already have and I am using cloths for everything. Hoping it works out ok. Cloths can be rewashed loads of times as well. Thinking back to when I was a child, my mum used cloths as obviously kitchen roll didn't exist and then she had an old galvanised bucket and she boiled them on top the stove. I'll see how long it lasts and let you know.:)

elizabethhull

Lifeisforliving19 wrote: »

With regard to kitchen roll that you mentioned....I am trying to reduce waste as much as possible now and help the environment etc. I have stopped buying kitchen roll as I was using soooo much and it just ends up getting sent to landfill. So I now cut up very old T-shirts and towels etc, to supplement my large collection of cleaning cloths that I already have and I am using cloths for everything. Hoping it works out ok. Cloths can be rewashed loads of times as well. Thinking back to when I was a child, my mum used cloths as obviously kitchen roll didn't exist and then she had an old galvanised bucket and she boiled them on top the stove. I'll see how long it lasts and let you know.:)

I also rewash cloths until they fall apart ! But I'm never sure if I'm really saving the environment because every fortnight or so I do a v hot wash with a scoop of Oxi-action stain remover - surely this wash in itself can be construed as non-environmentally friendly ?

The whole thing is a minefield of compromises. But at least the landfill bit is ok, because you're RE-using fabric as opposed to buying it specially.
I also take a little pleasure in taking away that day's cloth and replacing it with a clean-smelling fresh one as I go to bed !!

beanielou

Kitchen roll here can go in the food bucket for recycling.

Lifeisforliving19

beanielou wrote: »

Kitchen roll here can go in the food bucket for recycling.

Unfortunately our local council doesn't do food waste recycling. I have just been talking to my friend who has go an allotment and I am going to pass my peelings, t bags, egg shells etc on to her.


I hate it how different councils do different recycling schemes. Why can't it be the same across the country?

Lifeisforliving19

elizabethhull wrote: »

I also rewash cloths until they fall apart ! But I'm never sure if I'm really saving the environment because every fortnight or so I do a v hot wash with a scoop of Oxi-action stain remover - surely this wash in itself can be construed as non-environmentally friendly ?

The whole thing is a minefield of compromises. But at least the landfill bit is ok, because you're RE-using fabric as opposed to buying it specially.
I also take a little pleasure in taking away that day's cloth and replacing it with a clean-smelling fresh one as I go to bed !!

I'm hoping that a 60C wash will be enough and I will put in half a cap of Dettol laundry antibac type stuff.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm glad the shedding went well, that must be a relief to have out of the way .

I hope you don't get any more snow.

We renewed our breakdown insurance recently with Start Rescue and paid £55 for roadside assistance, recovery and home start. We had to call them out in the autumn for a flat tyre and they came and sorted it for us within an hour. So it may be worth shopping around as the RAC and AA and even Green Flag tend to be expensive.

[Deleted User]

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

I'm glad the shedding went well, that must be a relief to have out of the way .

I hope you don't get any more snow.

We renewed our breakdown insurance recently with Start Rescue and paid £55 for roadside assistance, recovery and home start. We had to call them out in the autumn for a flat tyre and they came and sorted it for us within an hour. So it may be worth shopping around as the RAC and AA and even Green Flag tend to be expensive.

Thanks, HH:T

£55 is excellent value as I need that level of cover too. I tend to rotate my membership of the 'big 3' each year in order to get cashback or some other incentive. The £40 cashback last year was what decide me to go for RAC but they're expensive at normal rates, I agree with you. I also looked at your one last year too, Start Rescue, but I'd never heard of them and the customer reviews were very mixed so despite them being cheaper I didn't want to risk it:o. , Now you've recommended them after first-hand experience of a call-out I'll have another look. Thank you:T


OH can fix lots of obvious car-related things and if I broke down somewhere he'd gladly come out to try to fix things, tow me to a garage if necessary and get me home. It's just the thought of my breaking down in the dark, on my own, miles from anywhere and not being able to contact him if he was out with just his own basic mobile. The mobile signal round here is shocking:eek:. I even have to go right down the bottom of our very long garden to get any signal at all when I'm at home. Out in the country there are massive 'dead' spots. All the couriers who manage to find us complain about it:eek:. It's often easier to get a connection to somewhere like RAC HQ than to someone in a nearby village:eek:.

[Deleted User]

I've enjoyed the chat about kitchen roll and the cloths alternative. Thanks to everyone:beer:


I use cloths too, old T-shirts and suchlike make excellent all-purpose cloths:T



What do you use for draining the fat off grilled/occasionally fried food on? I always put my cooked things like that on kitchen paper before they go on the plate. I always wash fruit and veg before eating if it's not going to be peeled and wipe that dry on paper before it goes in the bowl or we eat it. I often use it to dry a single mug, glass or utensil instead of using a tea towel. I hate wet tea towels and with our kitchen being cold the tea towels seem to be permanently damp:(. It really comes into its own as hankies during a runny cold. Bigger sheets than loo roll, cheaper than all but the cheapest tissues and more hygienic than cloth hankies. I find there are several jobs where paper is so much better than a cloth. I don't think I could ever stop using it completely:o. The cost of it is a real issue with me though. The quality type is too expensive and wasteful too as it's too thick for what I need it for. The cheapie stuff isn't worth buying because it disintegrates when wet and I need to double up the amount I use.


We compost all our vegetable peelings etc and OH likes kitchen roll in with it as it makes a better mix. Not greasy kitchen roll:rotfl: but just wet stuff.

Karmacat

Things have to be really bad before I use a kitchen towel
Seriously, I used a few yesterday when I had my porridge accident all over the inside of the microwave and I use it for the odd place where I'm disinfecting something, otherwise its teatowels, sponges, whatever... and anything I can put in my burn pile, I do - at least my garden will get the ashes

redofromstart

I compost the kitchen towel too, it helps stop the compost from turning to slime if it has too much green stuff in.