Sneaky ways to save the pennies

sarahf191979

Sorry if this has been posted.

My kids love them little jelly pots you get in asda etc..that are about 40p each (unless on offer) Well I save mine and wash them out fill em up with jelly and reuse, reuse, reuse...

Kids love it

HTH

Uniscots97

Very sneaky tip. Bread vans (the large vans that deliver to the medium sized stores) always carry an extra couple of trays of loaves. Reason for this is in case a loaf is bashed and can be replaced etc (Any excess they go back with is destroyed). But if you ask the driver (seen family/friends etc do this all my life) you can purchase it and its much cheaper. I got 3 Kingsmill loaves this morning all fresh for 30p each.
Obviously this takes a bit of guts to go and ask but worth it!

billybobberyl

hi am new here and has taken me about a week to read all these posts but have learnt a lot. Do have a question though. What and how can you freeze veg? we often buy it and end up throwing loads away but would love to be able to use it at a later date. Would save money and time i guess with preparing it for next meal. sorry if this is silly, not too sure of the rules etc yet!

strumpet

billybobberyl wrote: »

hi am new here and has taken me about a week to read all these posts but have learnt a lot. Do have a question though. What and how can you freeze veg? we often buy it and end up throwing loads away but would love to be able to use it at a later date. Would save money and time i guess with preparing it for next meal. sorry if this is silly, not too sure of the rules etc yet!

Hi,
You could do worse than try this link for freezing veg - it's a bit of a faff however. Probably better to not buy so much fresh veg and buy frozen veg to start with, which is often "fresher" than fresh if you see what I mean.

Strumpet
xxx

https://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/Storing_the_Surplus_Freezing.php

Primrose

Re freezing surplus veg - Only really worth doing if it's fairly fresh. Most veg can be chopped up into small pieces and blanched in boiling water for a couple of minutes to get rid of any microbes, etc. Then drain, cool in cold water for a couple of minutes and either bag it up when drained, or lay it out on a tray in your freezer to freeze in separate pieces, then put into bags. I prefer to open-freeze vegetables like beans, etc. because you can then put into bags and remove however much you need. If you put them into bags when moist after cooling and draining, they all frost up and stick together once frozen and it's impossible to separate them. Beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower etc can all be frozen in this way.

spandles

This is addictive!!!

Anyway my sneaky ways to save money are:

I re-use the plastic bags that supermarkets provide in their fruit and veg section (though not good for liquids as they have the holes at the bottom).

I switch off my kettle before it fully boils so saving money and a kitchen full of steam!

Lastly, I have a washing line in my garage for rainy days, and a bonus is that if the clothes have been in there a few days the creases hang out and I don't have so much ironing!! I met a woman on holiday who never ironed anything so since May I have taken the same approach - only work and school shirts get ironed now.:o

strumpet

This is SO SAD!

When my washing machine is on, the waste water goes into the drain outside the back door which is at the top of the yard. The yard slopes down to an iron gate.
I have a piece of slate that I use to cover the drain up so that when the washing machine discharges water, the yard floods with hot soapy water. I then chase the water down the yard with a stiff-bristled yard brush.

My neighbours think I'm stupid but mine is the cleanest shiniest yard on our row so they can think what they jolly well like!!!

Strumpet
xxx

Ps It's jolly good exercise too!!!

jennet1

sorry if anyone finds this gross but.... I give my little uns breakfast first some days my 17 month old wants milk in a bottle then messes about and only drinks half or changes his mind to what he wants. I pour the left over milk into the pan for mine and OH porrige and sometimes have enough to top up with just water. This is cows milk not formula! I do not tell OH as he thinks its foul!!

Valli

jennet1 wrote: »

sorry if anyone finds this gross but.... I give my little uns breakfast first some days my 17 month old wants milk in a bottle then messes about and only drinks half or changes his mind to what he wants. I pour the left over milk into the pan for mine and OH porrige and sometimes have enough to top up with just water. This is cows milk not formula! I do not tell OH as he thinks its foul!!

Just give him less to start with - or start him on a trainer cup!
It's not as gross as the playgroup that did this...
They would collect all the un drunk milk from the little cartons (remember littlies still get free milk!) and put it in a flask - and offer staff, and mums helping milky coffee the next morning!

Yes they reused the part drunk milk the following day. I drank milky coffee the first time it was my duty:eek: . Never again!
(That playgroup has closed down now!)

consultant31

I'm usually up by 7am and have found that an early trip to the local supermarket (a Co-op) yields loads of food which has reached it's sell by date and is drastically reduced. I buy everything I like the look of, take it home and freeze it (if it's freezable) or use it for that days lunch or dinner.

Today I got 2 packs of braising steak and a pack of stewing steak (½ price), a 4 pint bottle of s/skimmed milk, a lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and spring onions (all ½ price), a couple of Extra Special Curry Meals (again ½ price and they look very nice) and a tub of bbq'd chicken portions. The entire bill came to under £13 and the goods were price-marked at almost £26.

How's that for MSE :money: