Money Saving gone TOO far?

GreyQueen

A few years ago, I'd agreed to house-sit for a couple of friends. Was around theirs as they were readying for the off and giving me last minute instructions on care of the house and the cats when one of them spotted a banana in the fruit bowl which had a very slight bruise; I'm talking a small grey smudge on the skin.

Anyway, he immediately discarded it into the kitchen bin, from whence I retrieved it before their car had even left the drive. Bruise hadn't even penetrated into the fruit; it was perfect.

Plus I can't pass a skip without having a quick glance and possibly a rummage. And I have retrieved discarded goods from alongside other people's dustbins to titivate and sell on. Would do it now but I don't have the space........

anguk

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

I washed out a wheelie bin and used it as a barrow to move house with.

Our second house move was done on the open back of a friends milk truck, the nieghbours must have thought the Beverly Hill Billies were moving in! :rotfl:

vic1

MY LAte Dad moved several of his friends with his cattle lorry.One of them from Carlisle back to the welsh borders- he did I hasten to add disinfect and wash it out well prior to use.
As for going in the bin I do that loads especially as my family do the oh ,its out of date by 20 seconds ,lets throw it thing- and its usally my stuff.!!!

Oog

Showered standing in a trug to save the water for plants?

My friends were appalled...
I thought it was a great idea. Plus you have to stop once the trug is full otherwise you can't carry it downstairs. Double MSE!!

kathie1101

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

WOW! That's the spirit! :money:

A blog I read (I'm almost certain someone on this board recommended it some time ago..) is called Penniless Parenting & she has some extreme money saving tips..I can't recommend her blog enough - she's young & on an extremely tight budget which obviously made her come up with family cloths instead of loo roll & banana peel chutney . I might try the chutney but not quite brave enough for the family cloths..!:embarasse

I've just had a look at those family cloths on that site. I'm always having ago at DS1 (15) about how much loo roll he uses. Anyway just told him that we have to make cutbacks and loo roll is one of them, showed him the site. As you can imagine he was not best pleased and has gone off in a strop. Guess he didn't like my little joke then. If my sewing skills were a bit better I'd run a quick family cloth box up as a joke for him :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

wearside_2

When I did Mystery Shopping I had to visit the well known Drive Through "Scottish" Fast Food Store and purchase a burger, fries, drink and a Donut. I took them back to work and ate bits of each before throwing them in the bin. A colleague said that I must have eaten them so fast. I explained where they had gone and immediately she got the leftovers out of the bin and ate them for her lunch:eek:

Justamum

GreyQueen wrote: »

A few years ago, I'd agreed to house-sit for a couple of friends. Was around theirs as they were readying for the off and giving me last minute instructions on care of the house and the cats when one of them spotted a banana in the fruit bowl which had a very slight bruise; I'm talking a small grey smudge on the skin.

Last week one of my children (and I don't think I'm wrong when I blame my 6 year old :rotfl:) had taken a couple of bites out of an apple, then thrown the rest away. I noticed it snuggled down in the bin when I went to throw something away - so I fished it out, rinsed it under the tap and ate it! :rotfl::rotfl:

Justamum

Angelfeathers wrote: »

I personally love the idea of family cloths.

That's money-saving gone a bit too far for me I'm afraid. If I lived on my own then fair enough, but I don't want to have to deal with anybody elses LBJs!

ETA - I've just looked at the link for banana peel chutney. _pale_ I'd rather do without chutney - it looks like something that's already been eaten and has come back to say hello. :eek:

GreyQueen

Oog wrote: »

Showered standing in a trug to save the water for plants?

My friends were appalled...
I thought it was a great idea. Plus you have to stop once the trug is full otherwise you can't carry it downstairs. Double MSE!!

Most excellent idea. There's a lovely lady who blogs as frugal-in-cornwall who is always coming up with great ideas and this is one of hers as she lives in a very high-cost water area.

I love those rubber trugs, truly excellent things for home and garden.

Hey, and carrying it downstairs will be giving you exercise without the expense of a gym. That's TRIPLE MSE.;)

foxgloves

Well, peeing on the compost, obviously, as why would you waste money on buying compost activator when you produce ample supplies for free? :-)

Also, unblocked a seriously horrible outside drain a while back. It was completely solid with some unidentifiable substance. I got down on my hands & knees and stuck my arm as far down the drain as I could manage (and no, I didn't even have any rubber gloves at the time.....) I managed to get a handful of whatever it was & pulled it out to investigate and it was absolutely solid rancid meat fat!! Must have been building up for years. Couldn't move it even with boiling water. Husband just getting phone out to get plumber......I said 'No, let me try just one more thing & if it doesn't work, we'll pay for a plumber'. Went out to get some soda crystals which cost 64p at the time. Chucked the whole bag down followed by about 6 kettles of boiling water. Problem solved!! Could tell husband 'There's no way we're going to be able to sort this out ourselves without a plumber' was quietly impressed at the modest 64p expenditure compared with a bill.