Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Confuzzled

Aril wrote: »

Apologies if this seems a bit of simple pimple suggestion but it was a new idea to me. I occasionally buy [not make that's why I'm such an OS amateur:rotfl::rotfl:] dips which I serve with tortilla chips as an easy starter when I have friends over for dinner. Leftover dips then retreat to the back of the fridge not to see the light of day again until I "rediscover" them [complete with mould:o] For a change this time I have remember the leftover dip from Sat evening and had it as sandwich filling for today's lunch:j
Aril

leftover dips are also lovely over a baked potato or as a sauce for a tortilla wrap or even over a chicken breast or fish fillet!

Louba

Not sure if this has been posted already - there's so much to read, what a great thread! I use up left over normal long grain or basmati rice by adding it to risotto - I do the risotto as normal then stir it in at the end. It's much cheaper than risotto rice and as long as you don't have more long grain that risotto rice its difficult to tell the difference I've got much better at portion control recently though so not so much left over rice these days! I have a chinese bowl for rice wine (unwanted gift!) whch is a perfect measure of rice for one person. Now I only have extra rice if I want it.

Becky_2

Confuzzled wrote: »

leftover dips are also lovely over a baked potato or as a sauce for a tortilla wrap or even over a chicken breast or fish fillet!

Leftover dips could probably also be used as a base for a pasta sauce if you do it the way I do it. One of my favourite pasta sauces is really simple to make, I just mix some plain youghurt or sour cream add a bit of cesar dressing and black pepper and then whatever ingridients I fancy (for me this is normally tuna) and then put the cold mix in a bowl and pour hot pasta over it. Mix well and add some cheese. Cooking done! :T:j

Becky_2

I am saving money on my elecricity bill by being lazy and leaving my hair to dry naturally. I started this a few weeks ago and to my surprise my frizzy hair is easier to style now. Also, has promised myself that I will not buy any hair styling products until all 5 products I already have got are used up.

mavvysmum

Hi all, new to this forum and really love this thread! Think i've been focussing too much on ways to make extra cash rather than how to save the money I do have. I never realised there were so many ways of saving money, I do hardly any of these things at the moment so need to be a lot thriftier and make my money go further! Definitely going to try the loo roll thing & also buying value brand cleaning products and bulk buying things when they are on offer. I find because I'm not organised enough food in our cupboards ends up going off before we eat it and I always feel awful for throwing it away, so wasteful.... Definitely going to try some of these tips, thanks guys!

geordie_joe

rosemary54 wrote: »

just got an email from mr T about Christmas delivery slots now being available.I went to the site at once only to see the slots that supposedly came available at 1a.m today have all gone!!I used to get a prior email a week before for regular customers but not this year
Also noticed they are charging £6 on all deliveries that week:(

I read, today on another board, that delivery slots on Tesco are only kept for a few hours, unless the person adds items to their basket and checks out. I'm sure a minimum of £20 was mentioned too.

So it may be possible that some of the booked slots will become free tomorrow, if the booker doesn't add items and go through the checkout.

So keep looking, you might find a free slot. If you do then add at least £20 worth of items and check out. I am reliably told that you can amend your list at a later date and they won't charge you until the items are despatched.

mavvysmum

angelareid1512 wrote: »

Not sure if this has been listed before (so many pages still to read) but I make my own cleaning spray by using the cheap multi surface cleaner (28p a bottle) fill a spray bottle about 2/3 then top up with water - have been doing this for months and everything comes up shiny and clean

I also use cheap multi surface cleaner to clean the lino floor in my kitchen with, a lot cheaper than proper floor cleaner and does the job!

Becky_2

mavvysmum wrote: »

Hi all, new to this forum and really love this thread! Think i've been focussing too much on ways to make extra cash rather than how to save the money I do have. I never realised there were so many ways of saving money, I do hardly any of these things at the moment so need to be a lot thriftier and make my money go further! Definitely going to try the loo roll thing & also buying value brand cleaning products and bulk buying things when they are on offer. I find because I'm not organised enough food in our cupboards ends up going off before we eat it and I always feel awful for throwing it away, so wasteful.... Definitely going to try some of these tips, thanks guys!

Mavvysmum, welcome to this fantastic thread. Lots of great money saving tips on here. I am currently slowly reading through the whole thread. Somewhere between page 70 and 75 someone has typed up a list of her favourite money saving tips that she had seen on this thread.

Becky

Becky_2

I am so proud of myself this morning, I went up half an hour earlier and did my hoovering so that I could take advantage of the cheaper electricity rate (currently on Economy 7). Having read on a another forum that it may not be the cheapest to be on, I shall start looking into if it's cheaper for us to be on another type of rate. I find this thread so inspiring to help me save some money.Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.

Becky_2

Steph112 wrote: »

I am so addicted to this site and have made lists of all the great tips I've found in the first 40 pages of this article, so I thought I'd re-post them for easy use if you want them.
None of the below are my ideas and full credit goes to those that thought of them!!:

Money Saving Tips

Bathroom

• Squash toilet roll in half
• Turn off water when lathering up hair etc.
• When waiting for tap to warm up, catch water for watering plants/cleaning
• Collect the last bits of soap in a jar. When jar is full melt it in the oven after it's been on hot for cooking (carefully) and make a new 'free' bar.
• Water down bubble bath & Shampoo, shake well, and use half as much as normal.
• Put shampoo/conditioner into pump
• Use Pitrock instead of deodorant on not hot days (£5 Asda)
• Add water to soap dispenser and shake
• Buy big bottles of bath crème to use as soap in dispensers
• Save shower cleaning spray bottle and refill half with new stuff and half with water

Beauty

• Cut facial wipes in half and use to clean around sink
• Cut moisturiser in half and scrape out into pot
• Use Aqueous cream for moisturiser
• Cut toothpaste tube in half and use up
• Scrape ends of lipstick into bowl and mix to make new shade/gloss
• Lynx is called Axe elsewhere and in Poundland
• Use expensive shampoo/conditioner every other hair wash
• Add water to the last dregs or shampoo/conditioner/shower gel etc.
• Intensive conditioner: Warm a desert spoonful of olive oil (I do it in the microwave) and massage through dry hair. Keep it away from the roots though. Wrap your hair in a plastic bag then a towel. Leave for at least 15 minutes. Then wash it out but apply the shampoo to your hair BEFORE you wet it.
• Olive oil/veggie oil/ with salt or sugar use as a invigorating body scrub
• Cover feet when just moisturised them
• Big Hair IIRC – buy conditioner (Savers and maybe Bodyshop) (£1.89)
• Warm, used t-bags make excellent eye-pads to rejuvinate tired/ swollen/ infected eyes---sit quietly & allow to coo

Car

• Use a dash of washing up liquid and a splash of white vinegar in the water as screen wash

Food

• Portion control
• Pick up salt, sugar, pepper, etc. from restaurants (take amount you would use if you wanted salt on your food, etc.) and save in boxes
• Put fresh veg in water so it stays fresh
• Make two cups of tea with one tea bag
• Add water to full-fat/skimmed milk
• Ask for take-out boxes if you have left-over food in a restaurant
• Wash out jars to get the last dregs
• Put baked beans into mince – only need half the mince
• Buy valued powdered milk packets to use in cooking
• Do meal plans
• Freeze nearing going off veg to use in stews
• Add grated carrots to sauces
• Look through the freezer/fridge at the end of each week to see what needs using up
• If bread’s gone stale, make into breadcrumbs and use to cover chicken/mushrooms/fish/pasta breaks etc. Can be used to bulk out food, i.e. mince/stuffing. Can freeze too.
• Only use half an OXO cube
• See if you can cook some food in the same boiling water (i.e. pasta and vegetables)
• Use crumbles at bottom of cereal to mix into toppings

Gifts

• Use the silky hanging things from clothes as gift tag attachers
• Save freebies and put in baskets (Poundland) for pressies

Health

• Dissolve good heaped teaspoon of salt in a cup of boiled water. Allow to cool slightly & use as an antiseptic for cleaning eyes, cuts, grazes; gargle for a sore throat; mouth wash

Household

• Only turn on lights when needed
• Close doors to keep heat in if heaters etc. are on
• Cut up old clothes for cloths
• Use damp cloth for dusting, instead of expensive polish.
• Use coke for household cleaning
• Use a microfiber cloth for wiping down shower (attach clothes tags so u can hang it up)
• Cut off long-sleeves from old clothes and sew up end. Use as plastic bag holder
• Use boiling water for weed-killer
• Left over tea bags are good for the soil - rip 'em up, add water and sprinkle over plants.
• Cut up sponges etc. in half
• Reuse hoover bags
• tttt

Kitchen

• When waiting for tap to warm up, catch water for watering plants/cleaning
• When cooking, turn cooker/oven off five/ten minutes before stuff is done
• Cover boiling water and turn off heat once stuff is boiled (under 15 mins)
• Only boil the amount of water you need
• Always put the lid on any cooking
• Only use the right size ring for the pot on it
• Cut some kitchen towel into quarter and put in a box for small spillages/wiping hands etc.
• Buy a tube squeezer from Morrison’s

Shopping

• Always check your receipt for double charging and go to the customer service desk for a refund – you may get lucky and get more back than you bargained for
• If you’re just ‘popping’ to the shop, only pick up a basket – if you can’t carry it, don’t get it. If you’re only going for one thing, don’t get a basket – you’ll have to carry everything to the till, which will make you think. If you still think something you saw was a good offer, go back and get it the next day on your way home from work
• Check price per kg – buying a large amount of smaller stuff may be cheaper
• When in Boots check the clubcard machine
• Look in Poundland for bargains
• Start a savings jar for any obvious money saved
• Buy Christmas presents/Birthday presents over the year. Try and buy Christmas presents in the January sale

Washing

• Water-down fabric conditioner
• Use white vinegar (regular cap full from conditioner) instead of fabric conditioner/or a spoonful (??)
• Put washing-up liquid in a pumper
• Use half as much washing powder
• Turn off iron before doing last thing
• Watch the weather forecast to work out which days will be the best drying days and do the washing accordingly. Really windy days also blow away more creases saving on the old ironing!
• Hang clothes on washing line and bang back in tumble drier for five minutes at end to soften up
• When waiting for tap to warm up, catch water for watering plants/cleaning
• Hang things to dry on the shower rail
• Hair spray used on stained clothes usually does the trick to remove them before being washed- especially on hair dye!!
• Every couple of weeks, run an empty washing machine on the hottest setting with nothing but a capful of anti-septic disinfectant in the drawer----sssoooo much better than a commercially advertised product to prevent lime-scale

Things I do:

• It sounds silly, but I only tend to buy Sainsbury's Basics chocolate. It only costs like 27p a bar (100g) and does me just fine for my chocolate cravings!
• I switch between whitening toothpaste (which tends to be a bit more expensive) in the morning and regular toothpaste in the evening to make it last longer
• I won't buy clothes unless I actually want something specific (e.g. a dress or a top for going out in)
• I only have fruit juice once a day, for breakfast, and put it in a slim glass, so I don't use too much and it becomes like a treat
• I try not to buy brands but a shop's own stuff (if it works out cheaper of course!)

That's all I can think of at the moment for stuff I do.

Things I now do/will be doing in the future:

• A hell of a lot of the tips posted at the start (my handwash is now full to the brim again!!)
• I have set myself a budget for the week and section it out, so I know where money should go
• I am going to start saving up to pay back my student loan (I'm only in first year, but I figure if I put a little aside, over time I will be able to pay a nice amount of it off)
• Save seperately for birthday/christmas pressies and set a limit per person
• Buy no more kitchen towel and use old clothes etc. to mop up instead - if I make a mess when eating, the sink and soap are only a few steps away!
• Keep a note of how much I spend a day to keep on top of things

Thanks so much for all the tips and I hope to become a very savvy saver!

Here is the list that I mentioned earlier. A huge thank you to Steph112 for taking the time to typing it up.