Sneaky ways to save the pennies

Primrose

CoD - You might find that a very hot oven temperature (i.e. that used for cooking a roast) might be a little too severe for drying fruit. I've previously dried apple rings and halved herbed tomatoes in the lowest heat on the oven and both have taken several hours. With current electricity prices, I'll probably abandon this practice and purree & freeze them instead. I think there could be a risk of the fruits burning at higher temperatures, rather than slowly drying but if anybody tries it as an experiment, perhaps they could report back to us ?

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

I never buy greetings cards anymore; I print out my own. It costs £30 for recycled ink cartridges and about £5 for 50 sheets of strong paper. I get 50 cards out of that, so works out to about 70p each (I normally get more than that out of the ink). I use images from the internet etc and I can make something personal. I make an envelope then from A4 paper, if I need one for posting - costs a few pence.

I only send a paper card if it's really neccessary, too - otherwise I send an e-card.

CoD_2

Primrose it would be about 60degrees by that point, is that still too warm? i could use the simmering oven (setup is rather like an aga but can be turned off easily)

Zenjen_2

This thread is great! I have read the first 15 pages but am itching to post mine. As ever, apologies if any of this is a repeat of a good tip previously posted.

I have tried to include some tips on my ‘special subjects’ as well as general tips, so sorry if not relevant for most people.


Sneaky money saving tips for Musicians

I am a musician by trade so some tips I have picked up along the way….

If you are a guitarist invest in an adhesive guitar pick holder, which you stick to your guitar. Since buying mine I have actually kept the same plectrum for about 10 months rather than replacing lost ones once or twice a week! :rolleyes:

Get chords, lyrics and tab off the internet- much cheaper than busking books. Then as your repertoire grows print them off and keep them in a folder.

Also use the public library for sheet music of many styles and memorise or photocopy- for private study this is fine in terms of copyright.

The classified advertisement site Gumtree has a section for ‘skills exchange’- if you want to learn an instrument or a language, often in exchange for your skills you can get lessons for free!

For free live music open mic nights are a lot of fun, and surprisingly high quality and save money on expensive gigs.

There is at usually at least one musicians cooperative in each major city, hunt yours out and you will find a lot of support and many skilled people who are interested in grassroots music and will often offer to help you with recording/equipment or songwriting skills at a fraction of the price.

If you are a singer, record CDs of you singing your friends/OH favourite songs, or a song about them you’ve written yourself- it’s easy to record these days with PCs etc. You will make people very happy, with a special present and all for nowt!

Kareoke nights are often a good source of extra pennies or beer money, especially if you go to a ‘local’ one where the standard ain’t that great! If you can sit through endless drunken renditions of lady in red and wonderwall, :rolleyes: then often the money is there for the taking.


Money saving in illness and disability.

I have been living with a chronic illness for nearly a decade now and have a couple of tips, especially for those of us with mental health problems.

In terms of medication- better than a prepay certificate, if you have a good rapport with your GP or Shrink, get them to prescribe in bulk, I get 4-6 mouths tablets at a time and it works out much cheaper. If your doctor knows you are genuinely struggling money wise through illness they will often be glad to help.

If they won’t do this for whatever reason etc then another medication saving tip is to get bigger doses prescribed than you need (usually double) and then if the medication is suitable (some tablets aren’t) you can chop them in half with a pill cutter and they will go further.

If you have a multitude of health issues, or even better suspect that you have health issues then do investigate health scheme plans. I pay £30 a month and for that all my dental, optical, outpatient and inpatient treatment is covered. I am an NHS patient but every time I go to hospital for a stretch, (about once a year at the moment) I get paid £55 pounds a night.:eek: My last stay I got a £1600 pay out which sure took the sting out of being sectioned! However, this would be better for people who haven’t had an official diagnosis yet, as many don’t accept pre existing conditions.

Also, if you have MH problems, do keep hold of old medication. Consultant psychiatrists often retry drugs at a later date and if they’re still in date it will save you the cost of a prescription or two.

If you are suffering from a ‘severe and enduring’ condition, then you are entitled to have many off your appointments, CPN etc at home which for many people saves a lot of time, money and stress.

Also, if your needs are fairly long term you may be able to access day care services. Some of these are horrendously patronising, but are worth investigating as some are excellent in terms of money saving potential.

For example my local day care service offers swimming for 50p and a mini bus there, free yoga, walks in the local countryside, use of an allotment, tai chi, computer and music classes as well as a subsidised caf!. The instructors are often people who the MH services employ from the local community, for example our tai chi teacher teaches in the community and charges over £5 a lesson, but us nutters get it for free!

If you are a student with mental health issues you might not know you are entitled to DSA (disabled student allowance) because MH problems are not usually called ‘disabilities’. However I and many others have claimed for this, and got lots of equipment and extra support to help with our needs.

General money saving:

I am stuck on a crappy phone/internet package right now. With my friends who get all day free calls I will ring once and then ring off- they know its cheeky old me and ring back (usually saying hello scrooge).:rotfl:

I save up vouchers that I get for presents and put them to one side, then use them at Christmas to buy my pressies. As my OH is a private tutor, we get a lot of ‘thank you’ vouchers and often by the end of the year we have quite a lot of money to get other people lovely presents we wouldn’t normally afford.

I Accept any bags of hand me downs gratefully, take what I want, then flog the rest on ebay ….well it was just going in the bin otherwise!

I shop at charity shops in the ‘rougher’ side of town= they’re usually much cheaper than the centre of town big branded charity shops etc. For example the charity shops near my towns dodgy bits sell bestseller paperbacks 2 for 50p, whereas Oxfam sells them for 2.99 +. You might not as many designer labels but things like crockery and odds and sods are just as good and much more like a bargain.

I wear makeup occasionally, but not every day. This makes it more special when I do, saves me loads of time and money on cosmetics, and is really rather freeing not feeling I have to do it to be confident like a lot of my friends.

When defrosting your freezer and don’t know what to do with your odds and sods just bung what ever is remotely feasible into the slow cooker, whack a jar of sauce and put it on low for the day. I’ve had some great results and some...erm…interesting ones but at least nothing has gone to waste!

Finally...

My OH and I like a wee tipple now and again, but with our monthly shop we will buy 1 bottle of spirits a month and it has to last. We usually get value gin, or whiskey. In doing this I found myself running low towards the end of the month, so when OH wasn’t around I watered it down by a fair amount. As we use mixers you really can’t tell the difference and it lasts so much longer. I wouldn’t recommend drinking neat though! :beer:

I know I've rambled somewhat, but hope this post helped someone,

Jx

sandy2_2

CoD wrote: »

i then popping a sponge or two in to use up the residual heat. i guess will also be beneficial for drying fruit in the summer?[/quote
could you use the spare heat to dry peppers and tomatoes

Jojo_2-2

Anyone have ideas on how to clean an oven out, cheaply and quickly?

Lesley_Gaye

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart wrote: »

I never buy greetings cards anymore; I print out my own. It costs £30 for recycled ink cartridges and about £5 for 50 sheets of strong paper. I get 50 cards out of that, so works out to about 70p each (I normally get more than that out of the ink). I use images from the internet etc and I can make something personal. I make an envelope then from A4 paper, if I need one for posting - costs a few pence.

I only send a paper card if it's really neccessary, too - otherwise I send an e-card.

I try and use Jacquie Lawson ecards (a few pounds a year subs) on all feasible occasions, I love them!

Have you tried refilling your ink cartridges? I can generally get at least 6 refills before a cartridge refuses to work, and it is much cheaper than buying recycled pre-filled ones. I'll post the contact details if anyine is interested.

I have Serif Pageplus, a DTP package, and that is excellent for producing really professional looking cards.

Lesley_Gaye

Jojo wrote: »

Anyone have ideas on how to clean an oven out, cheaply and quickly?

I splashed out on one of those silicone oven liner things for the base of the oven from Lakeland and haven't had to clean the oven since. The sides deal with themselves.

Hell_Dans_Un_Handcart

I've had my cartridges refilled twice now and the photos just don't come out right though I think it's ok for just black/colour. It's a pain because you're right, it's half the price.

I like ecards.com for e cards - they have some really amusing ones. I just sent my friend one that says "I have mixed feelings about the Genesis reunion tour." :rotfl:

sillyvixen

Primrose wrote: »

Karenlaura - and maybe we can try frying our supper eggs & bacon on the hot metal of our car bonnets after they've been standing in the hot sun all day!!

being the black sheep of a steam train mad family (my dad and bro drive and fire steam engins on a preserved railway) i have had many a childhood experience of meals cooked on a shovel on the dying embers of a steam train fire. mine wad first (toasted cheese sandwich as i have a meat protien allergy) and then bacon and eggs for the rest of the family!! tea was made in a teapot from hot water from the boiler. tourists loved watching the scene - comleatly oblivious to the fact we were staying in a caravan with all mod cons including a fully functioning oven, frige,kettle and microwave:rotfl: