Money Saving gone TOO far?

valk_scot

Miss_Piggy wrote: »

BUT tonight I actually asked my OH to cut the plug off the tumble dryer! I fugure I use it too much, its the easy option. So...no more!!!

Just out of extreme curiosity, why didn't you cut it off yourself? And what's to stop you replacing the plug any time you want???

My biggest OS act? Err, getting rid of my fabulous old Rayburn because it was costing me a fortune and was so worn it was getting tempermental and evil. (It was a gas Rayburn, one of the first made.) The Combi-boiler saves us a fortune but oh do I miss the Rayburn. It was so nice to look at for a start, it was cosy, the cats used to sleep against it, it dried laundry etc etc.

msb5262

I got rid of my tumble dryer. Just put it in the car and took it to the tip (put it in the "good stuff that still works" area) and bought 2 drying racks instead. Now our laundry is dried in the conservatory all year round, not least because an access road/public footpath runs alongside our garden so I don't wish to hang up my undies on the line for everyone to see!

Olliebeak

twiglet98 wrote: »

That sounds fab, please can I have a step-by-step recipe? New to grow-your-own and would otherwise compost all peelings, but filling tummies makes far more sense. What exactly do you do with the chicken carcasses? I have a big (preserving) pan but no slow cooker or pressure cooker, and the hob and oven are electric. Thanks

I had kept lots of veg peelings in a bag in the freezer (carrots, swede, parsnips, trimmings from broccoli, cauli, leeks, outside leaves from cabbage - you need to make sure that there's nothing 'yukky' about them though.

Same with the chicken carcasses, just keep adding them to the bag when I've finished with them after a roast meal. I wait till I've got about four of them, break them up into the SC and add boiling water and leave them all day. At the end of the day, I remove the bones and pick off any decent pieces of chicken remaining. Let the stock cool, put into large margarine tubs and then freeze till I want to use it. Some people like to roast the chicken carcasses for a while before boiling them, as it's supposed to intensify the chicken flavour.

When I'm ready to make my soup, I defrost everything overnight. Sweat the veggie bits in vegetable oil in a large pan to soften them/start the cooking process, then put the veggie bits into the SC (or a big deep pan), bring the chicken stock to the boil and pour over the veggies - you can also add any extra veggies that are going past their best - especially celery. If it's the SC I leave them all day (if it's on the hob you can check after about half an hour to see if everything is cooked). If it looks too watery, you can add some lentils to it as these help to thicken up any soups.

Worth checking the seasoning at this stage to see if it 'needs anything' added. Salt, pepper, peppercorns, dried mixed herbs (or fresh herbs) and my favourite - celery salt.

When it's all cooked, I allow it to cool and then 'whizzie' it in small batches.



Another soup that I make is Pea and Ham from the stock off a cooked gammon shank along with a box of dried peas (the kind you buy for mushy peas)that have been soaked overnight, half a pack of yellow split peas and a couple of chopped onions.

smufflemuppet

I bought a JML Dri Buddi when our dryer went off. It wasn't particularly good on the basis that the control dial eventually snapped off and the second one only lasted a few months. Towels did not come out fluffy and soft as the ad promised but rather starchy, hard and rough!

[Deleted User]

A wireless thermost saved loads for us. We got the simplest type and had it professionally fitted and it earned its keep in the first few months. We took it to the lounge, shut the door and it switches the boiler off as soon as the lounge gets to a comfy, set temperature. The 36" lcd tv saw to that and that was it for the whole evening. The trick is to get ready for bed whilst the bedroom is still cosy and to sit in your dressing gown. No probs for us as we like a cool bedroom

valk_scot

Olliebeak wrote: »

I had kept lots of veg peelings in a bag in the freezer (carrots, swede, parsnips, trimmings from broccoli, cauli, leeks, outside leaves from cabbage - you need to make sure that there's nothing 'yukky' about them though.

Do you use organic veggies? It's just that for crops which carry very high levels of pesticide in them, like carrots and parsnips, you're recommended to peel the vegetable and not eat the peel which is where all the nasties accumulate. And you can't wash it off.

nannyboo1

Miss_Piggy wrote: »

Ok, I've been scanning threads, picking up tips, asking questions etc. All in the aim of saving money in the coming winter. BUT tonight I actually asked my OH to cut the plug off the tumble dryer! I fugure I use it too much, its the easy option. So...no more!!!
xx

Very drastic but I think I may have to resort to that as since I have had a tumbler my electric bill has been huge over a winter and i am tempted to see it for easiness apart from in the summer as I hate drying on the radiators.

We went last year to Wales to the Centre for Alternative Technology and saw a brilliant thing a cover for the rotary dryer. I have a link but am not sure if I am allowed to post links to products so I won't but if I am trying to save money it seems wrong paying out about £40 - £50 but then I think of what I could save if I bought one

Penelope_Penguin

Miss_Piggy wrote: »

Just makes me wonder though....has anyone else done anything extreme to save money???

I try not to be extreme - jut lots of small savings :T As this has fallen from the front page of OS, I'll add it to the exisitng thread on extreme OS

Penny. x

valk_scot

Trinny wrote: »

Dont get me started on the "hedgerow is dirty" arguement - someone passed us blackberry picking and their child asked if they could do it too - the parent/ adult remarked that it was unhygienic and that it was best to buy germ free ones ( at 3 quid a packet) from Sainsburys! I ask you

Trin

As long as you pick them above the height of a large dogs crotch....:eek:

Also brambles growing next to busy roads and carparks are pretty polluted, ick. But as to the rest? Organic, pesticide free, growing on a fine nutritious mix of rabbit manure etc. Very healthy!

Which reminds me. A friend of mine once turned down a box of my finest organically grown vegetables from my allotment because they were not "clean". Further enquiry revealed that she had decided that as I didn't use insecticides etc then bugs and such must have been walking (and other things ) on the produce and thus rendering it unfit for human consumption. What's wrong with washing it, I ask myself? You can wash off a bit of dirt and even persuade hitchikers to leave by adding the ever-popular splash of vinegar and letting the veggies soak for five minutes, but there's little you can do about removing most pesticide residues.

jackieb

When we moved house 15 months ago my husband said I wasn't getting the tumble dryer in the kitchen (because of all the dust it made, so not purely for economic reasons). This house has detached garage and the dryer is in there. Since moving, i've used the dryer about a dozen times in total. It's such a faff to take the washing down to the bottom of the garden, especially when it's rainy and cold! There are 6 of us in our family and I often used to use the dryer out of laziness. I'm glad I still have the dryer for dire emergencies (but there hasn't been many of those). And surprisingly, the copious amounts of washing I
do still gets dried. I have a clothes horse, plus one that goes over the bath (the bath is never used in this house.)

I often iron damp clothes and hang them up on a Hangaway. It's good too because it's easier for the family just to take up their ironing as it's already on hangers. My sister had a cheaper version but she said it was rubbish and it broke. The Hangaway is very sturdy.


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