Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Mrs_Thrify

I read this today and thought I would share....

To others you may appear to be a cheepskate, but you are an an artist of your craft; you move as the moment takes you and by doing this, you'll achive more satisfaction and basically run a better home.

princesstippytoes

lizzyshep wrote: »

I really like this thread. One reason I got into debt in the first place is not really realising that every little bit adds up. For example, I'm a teacher and I take a packed lunch to work each day, but if I bought a sandwich from the canteen instead (about £2 each) taking holidays into account that works out around £400 a year - just on sandwiches! Whereas if I take in leftovers, or sandwiches made with homemade bread, that figure will be reduced considerably.

One thing that really helped me was to do a yearly budget instead of a monthly one, using the budget planner from this site. Expenses that don't seem a lot month by month are put into perspective when you look at it over the year. The biggest shocker was the money I was spending on beauty treatments (£480 a year) and haircuts (£270 a year) - I like to look nice but not at the cost of over £700! I've gone back to my natural nails and am growing my hair, and I've found a cheaper hairdresser for when I need a trim. I also realised the savings I could make by using cheaper products, eating/wasting less food, and generally being a bit more careful.

So yes, every little bit makes a difference, and for people who have a very tight budget, threads like this are really helpful. As for the value/branded debate, there are some value products I would prefer not to eat (such as bread), some that are a false economy (loo roll, washing up liquid) and others that are just fine (fruit and veg, biscuits, honey for example). I do think people are seduced by packaging - my partner always buys the expensive brands, even though he eats value stuff at my house and doesn't notice the difference

That's a very sensible post. :beer: Why do ther have to be such extremes on these threads? One side saying everyone is a skinflint and the other side saying they would have to commit suicide if they didn't have sneaky ways to save the pennies... (oh where has the confused emotion gone?).

I think it's up to anyone how they choose to spend or save their money but to the man/woman who mentioned suicide as the only alternative to scrimping :eek:..... Are you getting benefits? Don't they give you anough to live on? I think that was a very worrying comment to be honest.

Carolyntia

lizzyshep wrote: »

I really like this thread. One reason I got into debt in the first place is not really realising that every little bit adds up. For example, I'm a teacher and I take a packed lunch to work each day, but if I bought a sandwich from the canteen instead (about £2 each) taking holidays into account that works out around £400 a year - just on sandwiches! Whereas if I take in leftovers, or sandwiches made with homemade bread, that figure will be reduced considerably.

Lizzyshep thanks for that reminder. I was very lazy yesterday and bought a sarnie at the works canteen........seeing the costs in figures has put me back on the straight and narrow again

Gazing_On_Sunsets

This thread is brilliant, I'm writing some of it down to remind me next time I'm in the supermarket and I get blinded by the marketing and find myself thinking "but yes! how HAVE I lived without this wonderful new cleaning product with proteins and ions and alien wee?"

I have to respond to some of the stuff a few pages back about loo rolls. I did some army training many years ago and we were issued with a few sheets of loo paper in the ration packs. The men were unconcerned. We women were aghast. Even more so when the sargeant showed us how to make ONE sheet do for our needs. (I'mnot talking passing water here}.

1. Tear off a small corner and put it aside.
2. Push your finger through the middle of the paper.
3. Use your FINGER to clean yourself.
4. Drag the paper off the finger, cleaning your finger as it goes.
5. The small corner you put aside is for under your fingernail...

zippychick

Gazing_On_Sunsets wrote: »

This thread is brilliant, I'm writing some of it down to remind me next time I'm in the supermarket and I get blinded by the marketing and find myself thinking "but yes! how HAVE I lived without this wonderful new cleaning product with proteins and ions and alien wee?"

I have to respond to some of the stuff a few pages back about loo rolls. I did some army training many years ago and we were issued with a few sheets of loo paper in the ration packs. The men were unconcerned. We women were aghast. Even more so when the sargeant showed us how to make ONE sheet do for our needs. (I'mnot talking passing water here}.

1. Tear off a small corner and put it aside.
2. Push your finger through the middle of the paper.
3. Use your FINGER to clean yourself.
4. Drag the paper off the finger, cleaning your finger as it goes.
5. The small corner you put aside is for under your fingernail...

That's me put off my spag bol! :eek::rotfl:

Gazing_On_Sunsets

zippychick wrote: »

That's me put off my spag bol! :eek::rotfl:

I'm so sorry, I forgot it was tea time.

Gigervamp

ewwwwwww! :eek:

nikki2804

Brilliant thread guys :j

On the loo paper front, Farmfoods and Home Bargains do 9 rolls of Nicky toilet roll for £1.99. Its as good as, if not better than Charmin and Andrex IMO.

The best moneysaving thing I found this year though was using Jojoba oil as a cleanser. It costs £10 a bottle but compared to what I would normally spend on cleansers this was a great saving. Can also be used as a moisturiser!

plumduff55

Primrose wrote: »

Can anybody enlighten me on the issue of cooking "extra" things on the floor of your oven to use the fuel as economically as possible because I've often done this in the past but we recently had to replace our oven, and the instructions for our new model (a Neff) are specifically not to put any trays or cook anything on the base of the oven.
I'm completely mystified by why this should be and my instincts are to ignore it but before I ruin the oven, can anybody explain whether there's a genuine reason for this? Perhaps I should post my query on the Home thread but thought somebody on here might be able to clarify for me because I find it an irksome restraint.

Hi, I ordered an extra oven shelf directly from the manufacturers, it wasn't very expensive and means I have 3 interchangeable shelves.

This thread is brilliant and although I don't post very often I read it daily.

Keeps me motivated

InaPickle

Gazing_On_Sunsets wrote: »

This thread is brilliant, I'm writing some of it down to remind me next time I'm in the supermarket and I get blinded by the marketing and find myself thinking "but yes! how HAVE I lived without this wonderful new cleaning product with proteins and ions and alien wee?"

:rotfl: Alien wee! :rotfl: