30 MoneySaving household hacks to avoid waste

oystercatcher

Gemmie57 said:

Like other forumites, whenever I come across tips of how to save money, I find I have been doing most of them for years.  One job I had to do when a teenager in the 1970s which I found tedious, was 'sides to middling' sheets.  Being from a large family we used a lot of sheets which sometimes got worn in the middle.  My Mum asked me to cut the sheet up the middle, place the two old sides on top of each other and sew them together with a flat seam, then hem the new sides.  This was a job I often did during the Summer holidays and swore I would never do as an adult, but found myself doing it on a number of occasions as our sheets wore out.

I remember doing this and also using old flannelette sheets to make cot sheets .

Now I use worn sheets to make pillowcases. I sleep with six pillows for medical reasons so extras are always welcome!

marionmgcars

I remember doing this when recently divorced & short of money.  A friend came to stay and was amused by this !  I was so annoyed with her, since then I only share my money saving moments with like minded people.  That’s why I love these forums. 

annieb64

My mother made cot sheets for my first baby out of old flannelette sheets. My grandmother used to run the handicraft stall at church fetes. She also ran the jumble sales. If there were cotton dresses left at the jumble sale she'd take them home and make them into aprons to sell at the fete.
She always cut up old sheets for pillowcases. Any scraps of cotton were put to one side .If any of us had a cold we'd be presented with bits of worn sheet to wipe our noses. Much softer than tissues.

Siebrie

p00 said:

I have lived in my house for 44 years so there is quite a bit of stuff. I  have started to regularly begin to minimise after seeing 2 people having to clear houses recently when people have passed away. Most of it ends up in landfill. I also know several people who's houses are full of collectables 'to pass on when they are gone'. What a waste if those things are not wanted or worse still not really worth anything in the future.
I would say that if you are 'saving' things for family members etc give it to them to save. Let them choose whether to sell now or keep for later.

My parents are clearing out their house as much as possible while still having a comfortable life. They are 86 and 80, and have several health conditions. My sister is estranged from me, and is recovering from estrangement with them, so their legacy is to leave everything as streamlined as possible, to save me the stress of dealing with my estranged sister on top of the bereavement.

shallyali

Save the slivers of soap, grate them into a pan, add a little water, heat until the soap has dissolved/melted. Pour into biscuit cutters/rings, leave to set and dry out.Great for hand washing after gardening/cooking etc.

nobler

Re heating up crystallised honey... just wanted to add it is important to cool it down quickly otherwise more likely to recrystallise. I stand the jar in jug/bowl of cold water. And I try to buy honey in glass jars, rather than plastic squeezy bottles which warp when you try and heat them in microwave or hot water.

cinch

Herbs, I love herbs, I use a lot of parsley on soups and rice salads, coriander on rice salads and curries, mint not so much on tzatziki,

Mint is the only one I grow on my window sill, the other 2, I can't grow as much as I need.

You can freeze them but they lose most of their flavour.

This trick keeps herbs fresh for about 2 weeks: I buy cheaper at the market stall, lots for 50p.  I clean and wash them, wrap in clean wet towel, put in the fridge.

cornishchick

Diana2014 said:

The best 'cane caps' for stick supports in the garden are empty snail shells. Anyone who has a garden in the UK has snails, which leave empty shells lying around when they die, so I collect those and reuse them.

in the never-ending war on these beggars, this feels equivalent to putting the skulls of my enemies on a spike to scare off others lol