Proper old-fashioned saving the pennies

16011996

yeah i collect them too. drives the kids mad. ::)

buses7675

Hi All,

When I used to do a paper round, the shops only supply of rubber bands were those found whilst out and about!!!

Best day was Saturday mornings when the postman was earlier than I was, so I could pick any up - Street corners are a favourite place to find them all!

On the subject of pennies being thrown away, the children who buy things from the newsagents often refuse to accept change if its anything less than 10p, so for any pack of chewing gum that is 28p (which they no doubt eventually thrown on the floor) they pay 30p everytime - These children are not MSEs!!!

All the odd coins though go to a good place though, a Marie Curie Cancer Care collection box in the shop!

Cheers

Steve

soupqueen

this is my very first post, so bear with me! :

I used to sometimes stay with my grandad in a very frugal household. Thought I'd share some of his energy saving tips:

When the butter is solid at breakfast ( it was freezing most of the time) rest a knife in your hot cup of tea until the metal is hot and the butter carves off easily. Better than having those chunks of butter with holes in the bread.

for boiled eggs, he left them in the teapot whist the tea was brewing and fished them out a bit later. He liked them half cooked. For me, who likes her eggs hard boiled, he placed them in the kettle when he was boiling for the tea. I am sure that I read somewhere that there was a good reason for having a separate egg pan. But it hasn't harmed him or me! (some might disagree about that) He lived to his late eighties.

Because we had to get water from a well, he said it was dearer than gold. You really think about how much you use when you have to carry it over a hill. I used to brush my teeth in a mug with a few cms in. Any non personal or non food use had to use the rainwater barrel- I washed my hair in it. He considered this a waste of good rainwater.

He did have electricity in some of the rooms and a small black and white TV which was allowed to go on for a given amount of time each evening, because of the "units". Whenever, I used electricity for what he considered trivial, he would shout "the units, the units" as if it pained him! He did make a really good point, though. When I asked him why we couldn't have the TV on for longer or during the day, he said that the presenters couldn't go hoarse because they were plugged in!

Things we could learn from him!

Tim_L

When I make soup in advance (usually lentil and root veg, but I am sure it would work with other soups too) I heat it till it is boiling rapidly, then I switch off the heat - there is enough heat to cook it so that it needs a max. of about 5 minutes on the hob (usually less) when you are going to eat it.  It saves a good 10 minutes of gas/electricity.  I use gas but I think it would work even better with an electric hob.

Couple of things spring to mind here.

Firstly always use a pan lid when bringing things to the boil - this is obvious to many, but I've had the devil of a job persuading my wife to do this.

Another obvious one - don't use too much water - veg like potatoes will sink into whatever water you have and raise the level. For other veg (particularly things like brocolli, it's often better not to have much at all - I sit the brocolli stem in the water with the rest of the plant sitting out of it, which effectively boils the stem and steams the rest - delicious). I always boil veg for roasts in the same water (actually the same water as I parboil the potatoes), which saves space on the hob as well.

Then (on an electric hob) if you need more boiling water later on in whatever you're doing and you've just boiled something (for example when making soup and you want to do some veg later), put the cold water in a pan on the now extinguished hob, which will start pre-warming the water.

Last one - cooking rice (which I always do if I get a takeaway curry, because the price they charge for rice is ridiculous) which is basically the same method as Trow's. Very simple - about 1/2 a cup of (Asda Basmati) rice per person into a pan with a heavy lid, and a little more cold water by volume (say 2 cups for 4 people). Put the lid on and pile full heat on until just about to boil. Then turn off the heat, leave the pan on the hob, and in 20-30 minutes you'll have perfect rice.

16011996

like the idea of doing broccoli like that, i hate it too soggy, but steamed the stem is always a bit hard.
thanks, will give that a try.

Mrs_Thrift

Like the sound of the brocolli like that, too.

Someone mentioned darning socks earlier in the thread - also paint clear nail varnish around a hole / at the ends of a ladder in tights to stop the holes or ladders getting bigger. You just need to re-apply the varnish every few weeks.

Which also reminds me - keeping your toenails trimmed, especially your big toenail, means you make fewer holes in your tights in the first place.

I still wear tights I've had for.... must be close to ten years! ;D

Lillibet_2

Thanks to all rubber-band collectors, they drive me mad 'cos my dog eats them if he finds them on his walks & they cause all sorts of stomach problems!
Re the Brocolli (sorry, can't remember the original poster) I treat brocolli head & stem as 2 diffrent vegetables, the head is the steamed veg & the stem is great sliced into stir-frys or roasted.
When boiling veg & potatos, don't just use the hot pot or hob to start your soup but also the water too, I save mine for a day or 2 as the basis for my soups. With a bit of seasoning it's a vegetable stock!

gritts

I save loads on books. I don't buy them, I just use my local library.

If the local one does not have the book then you can typically find it in the county. If you still can't find it you can make a suggestion for the library to stock it.

For instance my library now has Martin's book available for lending

I hope it not the case that I'm blessed with good libraries and other aren't.

sonia1963

I keep spare loo rolls and cotton wool in the airing cupboard cos the heat makes them puff up therefore you take less to use each time.

Never heard of that one before rushing to put bulk buy loo rolls and cotton wool in airing cupboard ;D

carrottopsuk

this is my very first post, so bear with me! :  :D

I used to sometimes stay with my grandad in a very frugal household. Thought I'd share some of his energy saving tips:

When the butter is solid at breakfast ( it was freezing most of the time) rest a knife in your hot cup of tea until the metal is hot and the butter carves off easily. Better than having those chunks of butter with holes in the bread.

for boiled eggs, he left them in the teapot whist the tea was brewing and fished them out a bit later. He liked them half cooked. For me, who likes her eggs hard boiled, he placed them in the kettle when he was boiling for the tea. I am sure that I read somewhere that there was a good reason for having a separate egg pan. But it hasn't harmed him or me! (some might disagree about that) He lived to his late eighties.

Because we had to get water from a well, he said it was dearer than gold. You really think about how much you use when you have to carry it over a hill. I used to brush my teeth  in a mug with a few cms in. Any non personal or non food use had to use the rainwater barrel- I washed my hair in it. He considered this a waste of good rainwater.

He did have electricity in some of the rooms and a small black and white TV which was allowed to go on for a given amount of time each evening, because of the "units". Whenever, I used electricity for what he considered trivial, he would shout "the units, the units" as if it pained him! He did make a really good point, though. When I asked him why we couldn't have the TV on for longer or during the day, he said that the presenters couldn't go hoarse because they were plugged in!

Things we could learn from him!

Lovely post !!!!! =especially liked the egg boiling in the kettle