Sneaky ways to save the pennies

rosemary54

Reverbe wrote: »

Rosemary yes it used to be free if you picked them up before travelling but now not only do they charge you - I think it was 50p last time i bought some - for that, they also charge you for using a debit card. I can understand a credit card charge but as with debit it comes out of your account right away and they get the money right away, I don't see why this incurs a charge. You don't seem to have the option of feeding cash into the ticket machines either.But I think you can still pick them up yourself at a cheaper rate.

mmm its like Ryan air also charge for debit cards(altho cheaper than credit) as special delivery was only £3.50 they made an extra £4 on the transaction :mad: next time will make sure son has money in his account!makes you wonder what the price would be just to buy at the station.

cuddlymarm

Hi

Personally I's freeze whats going to be left over and just reheat what you want to eat tonight (does that make sense?)

Sounds yummy I might have to do that for my tea now:T
Cuddles

ampersand

Beware even paying Ryanair by Electron - I opened a Halifax Step a/c precisely for this purpose, then queried the £1.50 I found on my Statement.
I then learnt that it wasn't Ryanair who had applied it, but Halifax, because the payment to Dublin counted as an International txn!

juno

Reverbe wrote: »

Rosemary yes it used to be free if you picked them up before travelling but now not only do they charge you - I think it was 50p last time i bought some - for that, they also charge you for using a debit card. I can understand a credit card charge but as with debit it comes out of your account right away and they get the money right away, I don't see why this incurs a charge. You don't seem to have the option of feeding cash into the ticket machines either.But I think you can still pick them up yourself at a cheaper rate.

If you use a different train site, you can get the cheap fares but without all the extra fees. They're not all on Quidco or similar cashback sites, though. But unless your journey is really expensive you probably save more than you'd earn in cashback.

I use Virgin, although some people prefer Nationsl Express East Coast. You can use them even if your train is a different operator.

oystercatcher

juno wrote: »

If you use a different train site, you can get the cheap fares but without all the extra fees. They're not all on Quidco or similar cashback sites, though. But unless your journey is really expensive you probably save more than you'd earn in cashback.

I use Virgin, although some people prefer Nationsl Express East Coast. You can use them even if your train is a different operator.

That's really useful thank you.
Will they still post the tickets to you?

buses7675

oystercatcher wrote: »

That's really useful thank you.
Will they still post the tickets to you?

Hi All,

I've done the same, but booked with First Great Western.

The tickets are all sent from the same place and the website is still the same as that used by TheTrainline.com, it just doesn't have the card fee! Ticket costs are exactly the same!

You can also, as with TheTrainline.com pick up your tickets from your local station with a FastTicket booth, if you don't have time to wait for posting!

Cheers

buses7675

Confuzzled

blue-kat wrote: »

Cut dishwasher tablets in half and use your cheapest dishwasher cycle for your normal dishes.

add slightly less than perfect fruit (that wouldn't get eaten from the fruit bowl ) to crumbles

.e.g. nectarine is lovely in a forest fruit + apple crumble

i do something similar but make what we call 'dog's breakfast'

basically i put in some milk, a touch of veg oil, soak some raisins or other dry fruit in the milk then crush up any sweet biscuits that are going a bit stale and/or add in any biscuit crumbs, mix in some fruit like apples or plums that are not so nice for eating just as they are and some porridge oats then some mixed spice and a wee bit of sugar, i cook it at 200C for about 20 min and it's lovely!

chutney is another wonderful use for not the freshest fruit and/or for using up any tins of things that have been in your cupboard for ages (i've even used fruit cocktail with reasonable success but it's better for dogs breakfast!)

don't forget you can make savoury chutney too, it's a rare day that i waste much fruit or veg anymore.

i love eating my chutney in a bowl with crushed cream crackers and shredded cheddar or red leicester (same as eating it ON the crackers only less messy!) and it's a good way to get some extra vitamins into me that would have wound up in the bin instead.

gemmam_4

Great tread I've book marked it,I'm planning on reading it all when I've got time. I've got a few money saving tips myself, I'm not sure if they've already been mentioned and I haven't read them, sorry if they have. When I buy cola I buy Lidl's premium brand one (42p for a 2 litre bottle) alot cheaper than the bigger brands from the corner shop (which range from £1.50-£1.80 for a bottle of the same size). It tastes the same to me and doesn't have that cardboardy taste alot of cheap colas tend to have. I also have a look in the pound shop in my town centre for bargins. They usually have quite a few brand named products in such as saintry protection, deorants, shampoos and conditioners, shower gels, body lotions, baby toiletries etc the only difference is that the packaging isn't in English.

ampersand

Mmmm, last point often true in Thingmebobs, too.

Confuzzled

don't know if these have been listed so far but thought i'd throw them out there just in case

i always save my butter wrappers even if they have just a wee scrape on them, i fold them closed and store them in the door of my fridge. when it comes time to grease a pan i simply pull out a butter wrapper and use it to butter the pan (tastes better than oil too) no dripping oil, no paper towels use and little or no mess. if i don't use all the butter thats on the wrapper i fold it up until next time.

i do this instead of oiling and flouring bread and muffin tins and it makes them taste sooo much better!

another thing i do is to save all onion skins, tops and tails of carrots,garlic, celery and other veg, peelings, bones and skin (either raw or cooked) etc etc in bags in the freezer until i have a sufficient amount built up. i then chuck them all in the slowcooker, top it off with water and cook until it smells delicious!

place a colander inside a large pan/bowl and slowly pour the contents into it, then allow all the liquid to strain out into the bowl. allow the solids to cool, if you have any meat left no the bones you can pick this out and add it to your stock.

this makes some of the best stock you'll ever make with things you would have thrown away.

some tips for this:

if you don't add any meat products to this you can use the mushy remains for your worm bin and/or composter (i just pick the bones and meat out and use it in my composter myself, i've not had problems with rats or mice)

if you save your items in a freezer container you can also add the remaining 'juice' in jars such as from beets, olives etc, olive juice in particular is lovely and adds real depth to your stock and reduces your need to add salt later

to squeeze out a bit more nutrients add a few teaspoons of vinegar to the mix before cooking, this will draw calcium from any bones you have in the pot


we're bad about not eating bread ends or crusts in my family. however i've gotten past this guilt in two manners. i either make breadcrumb cookies http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf64866920.tip.html or i make sweet or savoury bread pudding using them.

rather than buttering all the crusts i simply melt a little butter and drizzle if over the bread crusts that i've torn into small pieces, then for a sweet version i'll mix in some jam for a savoury i'll mix in a bit of whole grain mustard or brown sauce then for either continue on with adding the egg/milk mixutre and cook as normal.


i rarely peel vegetables especially potatoes but sometimes i just want peeled spuds so when i do this i deliberately peel them with a little extra flesh on them. sometimes i will save these in a freezer bag til i build up enough for a meal or at least a hearty snack.

what i do is to coat them in a mix of seasonings and a bit of flour then shallow fry them (usually using the oil i've cooked chips in a few times and am about to throw out) you'll usually have to do this in batches but it's worth it.

to save on paper towels (and the environment) i've used an old well washed flannel pillowcase folder in half to drain the potatoes on, i usually salt this, place some onto drain and lightly salt on top, fold the case over and you're ready for your next batch. these are really tasty on their own for a snack but to really make a meal of them you can add a bit of greek yogurt, chives, top with cheese, chilli, bacon etc
whatever i've done with these i've never had a complaint!

ok that's it for now i'm sure i'll think of more later