Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Trinny

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

well done rigsby

I love those yellow stickers - i had two 4 pints of organic semi skimmed milk yesterday - both of them reduced to 95p each so for £1.90 i had 8 pints of milk - they are now in the freezer as we seem to be cutting back on milk lately - well boyfriend picked up the 2 for £2 ones the other day so have plenty of milk now.

I always look out for a bargain - was gutted did a shop the otehr day with boyfriend in tow - so had no time to check for whoopsies as he is a bit of a sell by date freak - so said after we'd paid 'oh hang on i forgot soemthing' so he went to pack the car and after id just spent allmy money saw loads of sausages / pies/ cuts of meat reduced - was not best impressed

although nwo i will go shopping alone so i can whoopsie shop my heart out.

also thanks for the tip abotu butchers and dog boens - we now have 2 in town so think i might ask them if they have any bones for the dog 9and yes i do actually have a pooch)

Hi Sammy

I have the opposite problem - my OH is brilliant at spotting yellow labels and whoopsies - but also brilliant at buying "extras" we dont really need. As we scan as we go - its difficult to control - i find if i go shopping without him - i rarely spend more than a tenner. If he is with me - we can easily treble this.

Trying to shop without him - for three out of four shops - using the excuse that i picked it up on the way home from work. We have cut stacks off our foodbill this way.

Trin

Gunna

Hey everyone

Am still catching up with all the cool tips lol... on the discussion of socks i was sick of buying OH good quality cotton socks as they always ended up with holes or rubbed heels etc(or 1 mysteriously gone in washing machine) so i tried Tescos value black socks 3 pairs for £1.00 and they are good they wash well and last just as long as ones triple/more the price, they are a simple basic black cotton sock that does a good job and at 33p a pair i aint complaining as OH goes through loads of socks lol.

Another great Tesco product.....their value boxers(the soft jersey ones) £3.00 for 3 pairs and they are super!!! MIL thought posh and splurged on Next boxers for him costing i think £15 for 3 pairs(shock ,horror) needless to say they were crap in comparison to my nice cheap Tesco ones......plus there is no buttons in them as ahem we had an accident with Primark boxers due to the stupid gapping hole where 2 buttons should be instead of cheapy one!!!!!! So no more accidents as there is no hole lol.

They wash really well and last ages and he says they are true to size and super comfy so thumbs up
Well it saved me a good bit as i was spending about £8.00 on a pack of 3 just because they had a fancy design or colour.

I can't grumble at 33p a pair of socks and £1.00 for boxers especially for the quality and fit.......Great work Tesco lol

LittleVoice

angela110660 wrote: »

I always use Fairy liquid and buy when on offer - however, I have just bought Daisy brand and that seems quite good too. Only prob is mil staying at mo - she always buys weak stuff at home and insists on doing our washing up - squirts my Daisy stuff in like it was her weak stuff. This bottle is running low already.

Top up the Daisy with water. When your MIL's gone home, just remember that that bottle's diluted.

Primrose

Angela - you could try decanting your Daisy washing up liquid into a liquid hand soap pump and just dispense a couple of pumps at a time. You use far less liquid this way as you don't have the force of gravity forcing a lot more liquid out when you hold the bottle upside down.

Trinny

Barneysmom wrote: »

Just a thought, it would be interesting to learn how to dry veg?

We found out how to "dry" chillis unexpectedly - we bought one of those whoops bags of chillis for 5p - and found they were drying out in the fridge. Put them on a baking tray - in the oven using the heat from something else which is cooking.

They dried in under 10 mins - now in a jar in the spice rack - and chopped and added to meals - taste just as good with a decent amount of chilli heat.

Trin

Trinny

FairyElephant wrote: »

If you just want squirty pump-action dispenser bottles (rather than foaming ones) I just bought 2 in Morrisons for 19p each last week! They are frosted plastic but look quite nice with coloured 'hand wash' (which is actually Lidl's 16p shower gel, mixed with the end of a bottle of blue coloured foam bath at the moment - DH & SK's will never know - LOL!).

I put body lotion in the other one as I have really dry hands and need to moisturise after each wash at the mo - it takes me too long to take the lid off the aquaeuos (sp!) cream every time I wash my hands after going to the loo, so a quick squirt is ideal!

My OH refused to use regular hand wash which had been given for a present - and insisted on using a "no germs" style foaming hand wash - which cost 2 quid. As a newbie and after reading the tips here - have topped up the "no germs" foamer with the original handwash - He has noticed no difference - and we are using up an unwanted christmas gift - win win!!!! Will be trying old shower gel in the handwash dispenser shortly.

MSE is clearly going to change my life!

Trin

grandmasam

hello everyone,spent the last three days reading all! finally finished at 11.30pm! and have found likeminded peeps,at last!i bulk out meusli with 1/2 fine oats and add chopped fruit in season{or whatever whoopsie fruit have stashed in the freezer]cover with lidl apple juice and leave overnight in fridge yummy!was inspired this am to defrost and list all in freezer[yuk] now i know i have at least 2 weeks meals without having to spend.many thanks i dont feel alone for being frugal!

Palm_Centro

I started buying the cheaper stock cubes rather than the crumbly oxo ones.

Takana

Wow this thread is so long! Here are some things I do to save a few pennies.

I like to take home extra sachets of mayo/ketchup/brown sauce etc you get in cafes and restaurants as staff always give you too many. I never use up a bottle before the use by date so doing it this way saves money.

At work (a supermarket cafe) I would take home food that was meant to be thrown out that day. We aren't allowed to do this, but if it's going to waste, I don't see harm. We can also buy sandwiches for like 20p if they are to be thrown that day and they are fine for lunches the next day. This can't work for everyone, but if your local supermarket has a cafe, go in there about a hour or so before closing in case they reduce things.

I always buy the large packs of toilet rolls and try to get the ones which have 'extra rolls free'. I will stand there ages working out the cheapest price for the most rolls! The brand doesn't bother me although it's never the very cheap brands that have these offers.

I do a similar thing with toothpaste/soap/shower gel/washing up liquid etc. I only buy the ones that are on offer when I go shopping, ie: bogof. Even if I don't 'need' some one week, it's worth getting some as you know it won't be on offer when you do!

I've switched from dolmio pasta sauce to cheap brand pasta sauce and found it tastes just as good. I weened my OH onto the cheap stuff before telling him! And they are usually lower in calories :T I will only by dolmio if its on offer, and only as a treat. I also hope to make my own pasta sauce if my tomato plants take off this year! That should save a bit more.

I tend to cook too much pasta/rice so will use it to make lunches or another dinner the next day.

I buy bread when it's on offer and freeze it in portions (2 slices at a time). Same goes for rolls and burger buns. Just thaw out the amount you need each day. Saves a lot of waste in my house.

Thats about all I can think of that I do. It's not a lot but it helps me a little.

I like the tips about people putting cheap products into brand name packaging! I am tempted to try and do this with butter. My OH loves butter, esp lurpak. He always knows when I've sneaked him marg so I'm wondering how hard it would be to buy cheap butter and cram it into an empty lurpak tub :rotfl:

daska

The lurpak should be easy - buy blocks instead of tubs and start using a butter dish but leave it out so the butter is soft. Then you can fill the butter dish with another brand and because the butter won't be wrapped he won't notice!