Sneaky ways to save the pennies

helen_jelly

Hi

I've just spent 3 weeks reading this forum - we are doing so many of the tips now as we are really really hard up!! So a huge thank you for everyone that has suggested something and a big thank you for all the laughs I've had whilst reading it.
My tip is this.. if you are growing your own veg and need to buy trough planters then get hold of a couple of pallets [freecycle is great for this]. Ask OH [or DIY] to break them down and then rebuild them as trough planters. My OH did this one Saturday afternoon and made 2 great planters for me from one pallet which now have tomatoes, onions and radishes in them. Next year we'll be doing the same but have more of them.
Once again thank you to all - you've been a great help to us
Helen :beer:

oystercatcher

helen_jelly wrote: »

Hi

I've just spent 3 weeks reading this forum - we are doing so many of the tips now as we are really really hard up!! So a huge thank you for everyone that has suggested something and a big thank you for all the laughs I've had whilst reading it.
My tip is this.. if you are growing your own veg and need to buy trough planters then get hold of a couple of pallets [freecycle is great for this]. Ask OH [or DIY] to break them down and then rebuild them as trough planters. My OH did this one Saturday afternoon and made 2 great planters for me from one pallet which now have tomatoes, onions and radishes in them. Next year we'll be doing the same but have more of them.
Once again thank you to all - you've been a great help to us
Helen :beer:

I asked DH to do this with some of the wood in the garage but it hasn't happened yet

helen_jelly

Give him a nudge LOL - its really worth it as the troughs are far bigger than the ones in the Garden Centre that would of cost me £19.99 each if I was daft enough to buy them!!!! I'm considering getting OH to make loads for the start of the growing season next year and car booting them but I'll have to ask him very nicely
Helen

Aril

This one won't exactly save you millions buy hey ho! When lighting several night light lights my husband lights the first couple with a match and then uses the other end of the match and other spent matches [the non match end] to light the other candles by lighting them from the original candle. Makes us sound like a really squeaky pair doesn't it:rotfl::rotfl:
Aril

ceridwen

More downright obvious than sneaky - but, having just read the latest post, from the blog "Little Blog In The Big Woods" - I thought I just had to add this one - a moneysaving tip invented for a much more extreme climate than ours (as in his location in America) - but you might like it:

http://littlebloginthebigwoods.blogspot.com/2009/06/beating-heat-and-cold.html

Confuzzled

thanks for posting that blog link, i have a feeling i'll be a regular reader!

i've been pondering buying some clear tarpaulins to staple to the wood window frames i have in this house to add another 'pane' of glass this year.

the back of the house stays relatively warm as it's south facing, however it's unfortunate thta the back of the house has the kitchen (if you need to heat your kitchen you arent cooking enough!) the bathroom and a small bedroom with the boiler in it so to me thats quite a waste of passive solar heat.

the living room and largest bedroom are in the front of the house and even in april i could feel a vast difference in temperatures between the two halves of the house.

i have an extractor fan in the kitchen and i rarely open the windows in winter anyway so i'm seriously considering the clear tarpaulin idea for ALL the windows of the house. the cost of those and the staple gun shouldn't be too bad but i suspect it would save me a fortune

has anyone else tried anything like that?

i like the idea of the space blankets for perhaps the bedrooms (we spend most of our time in the living room and kitchen anyway) but i wouldn't even know where we could buy them and i'm in rented accomodation so whilst i can get away with a few staple marks (hardly noticeable) glueing velcro strips to the frames probably would be frowned upon

helen_jelly

Another way I heard of once, was to get some cling film to cover your windows and heat the edges where the cling film and frame meet with a hairdryer so that the cling film sticks to the frame, I haven't tried it but will this winter as my daughters bedroom gets really cold as it faces the front of the house and is over the garage and I'm trying not to have the heating on upstairs this winter as I can't afford it!!

Helen

ceridwen

Confuzzled wrote: »

thanks for posting that blog link, i have a feeling i'll be a regular reader!

i've been pondering buying some clear tarpaulins to staple to the wood window frames i have in this house to add another 'pane' of glass this year.

the back of the house stays relatively warm as it's south facing, however it's unfortunate thta the back of the house has the kitchen (if you need to heat your kitchen you arent cooking enough!) the bathroom and a small bedroom with the boiler in it so to me thats quite a waste of passive solar heat.

the living room and largest bedroom are in the front of the house and even in april i could feel a vast difference in temperatures between the two halves of the house.

i have an extractor fan in the kitchen and i rarely open the windows in winter anyway so i'm seriously considering the clear tarpaulin idea for ALL the windows of the house. the cost of those and the staple gun shouldn't be too bad but i suspect it would save me a fortune

has anyone else tried anything like that?

i like the idea of the space blankets for perhaps the bedrooms (we spend most of our time in the living room and kitchen anyway) but i wouldn't even know where we could buy them and i'm in rented accomodation so whilst i can get away with a few staple marks (hardly noticeable) glueing velcro strips to the frames probably would be frowned upon

I may be wrong on this - but I think "space blankets" are basically blanket-like sheet thingies of silverfoil type appearance - but rather thicker. I think they are those "blanket" things that mountain rescuers and the like wrap people in to avoid hypothermia. If I'm correct on this - I have 2 anyway - bought from a Poundshop:D

(On another note - re the LittleHouseintheWood blog - I suggest reading back to the start of the blog - his first entries. The entries on a blog are often best at the start (where they say the main gist of what they have to say) - certainly the case on my main one...hmmm...and he has some pretty interesting stuff wayback at the beginning methinks.

Stephen_Leak

Use basic line-powered phones, instead of mains-powered ones, like cordless phones, which use electricity 24/7. OK, maybe not much, but it all adds up.

Confuzzled

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Use basic line-powered phones, instead of mains-powered ones, like cordless phones, which use electricity 24/7. OK, maybe not much, but it all adds up.

i agree that's why i use the dodgy old thing that came with the flat vs the sleek new one that came with my bt broadband package

old one still works and at least it's not rotary :rotfl: