Sneaky ways to save the pennies

carlislelass

I buy Co-op concentrated softener, decant into a regular bottle then fill with water.

iwanttosavemoney2008

the best one i do is to buy multi purpose cleaners (adsa own £1big bottle) the ones that are designed for pouring in to your mop bucket and i put a capful into a spray bottle and add water to the top. it cleans just as well as cif sprays leaves no residue and 1 bottle lasts all year:money:

iwanttosavemoney2008

i know this sound disgusting but for those on a water meter in our house the toilet rule is
If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush straight down

also we put a brick in the cistern

Sian_the_Green

In Tesco at the moment they seem to be having a clear out of some things. Sesame bars, in the same section of our seupermarket as Asian and Polish ingredients are 2p Bought 'em all

DdraigGoch

Buying dog food is a constant challenge. If I find "cheap" but nice looking dog food, such as "chunks in jelly/gravy" from Mr A L Dee's new emporium the dog adores me, but due to the added F*rt Powder that seems to be an obligatory ingredient in it, I don't like the dog nearly as much as I should :rotfl:


The rural solution - go to the local Farmer's supply shop/warehouse - you can buy anything from fencing and gates for an entire estate to a packet of pegs, heaven! - and get a certain dog food. I don't know if I'm allowed to say which one, but I'll risk it! Dr John's Working Dog Gold, or words to that effect. It took about 3 days for the aforementioned pampered hound to realise that he wasn't getting anything else and now he's as happy as can be with it. The food is a complete biscuit [I have no connections to the company:rotfl: ] and is VAT free, since it's for working dogs. My dog is both my guard dog and my companion, he keeps the chickens safe from the fox, sees off the crows and magpies [mostly :rolleyes: ] so that's "working" in my book:D

I too can get an unfeasible number of cups of tea out of one teabag. We drink Earl Grey tea, not strong, so if I put said teabag into a teapot, pour on two cups of water, pour out, top up again - by the time you're ready for the next cuppa it's brewed properly, then this is the crafty bit, I top it up again, leave it on the stove and have another 2 cuppas out of it about half an hour later. Because it's so weak it doesn't have chance to stew:rotfl: Anyone beat 6 cups of tea from one teabag? :j :rotfl:

I dry marked down mushrooms for later use, dry my own herbs, make mi-cuit tomatoes in oil, make mixes up ready for instant use - soups, sauces, pastry, scones, bisuits, own muesli etc. These are longstanding practices and a favourite pastime. Another is banking up the fire last thing at night with newspapers. Don't unfold them, just lay them carefully over the embers and tamp them down a bit, shut up the fire and in the morning you'll have a warm bed of ashes with a few live embers to start the fire again easily, plus the room's a lot warmer. Put your porridge in a saucepan on a trivet on the stove overnight. It comes out creamy and perfectly cooked [takes a little trial and error before this, porridge lolly anyone?!] with no extra heat or attention. I cook casseroles and veg like this too. Pasta is cooked in the good old T*pp*rw*re cooker, and a halogen oven [£40-ish, got it for free from the recycling years ago] cuts down the use of my electric oven no end.

I'll stop now. I'm beginning to feel stingy ....:rotfl:

ubamother

I'm sure many already do this, but i have nearly halved our general meat costs by simply cutting our meat servings in half. i.e. I roast a chicken and immediately put half of it away for use another day, and cut and serve half a chicken. Half a pound of mince in bolognaise instead of a pound, which I would automatically buy and use (or again, take half away before serving). A corned beef pie (northern husband!!) doesn't need the whole tin that I used to put in. I'm absolutely serious when I say nobody in the house has noticed! The meat from a whole chicken went in our mouths in one meal just because it was there not because we weren't full! I don't always add bulk by adding oats/lentils etc. and they still don't notice - I am amazed. I'm feeding 3 adults and an 8 yr old with hollow legs. And I've lost half a stone in a month without trying.

Lesley_Gaye

ubamother wrote: »

I'm sure many already do this, but i have nearly halved our general meat costs by simply cutting our meat servings in half. i.e. I roast a chicken and immediately put half of it away for use another day, and cut and serve half a chicken. Half a pound of mince in bolognaise instead of a pound, which I would automatically buy and use (or again, take half away before serving). A corned beef pie (northern husband!!) doesn't need the whole tin that I used to put in. I'm absolutely serious when I say nobody in the house has noticed! The meat from a whole chicken went in our mouths in one meal just because it was there not because we weren't full! I don't always add bulk by adding oats/lentils etc. and they still don't notice - I am amazed. I'm feeding 3 adults and an 8 yr old with hollow legs. And I've lost half a stone in a month without trying.

In my childhood, my Mum used to say that going on a diet always saved her money and I think it may have been much the same kind of thing where she was much more aware of portion control, and we used to eat a lot of bulky carb fillers (cakes, puddings etc) and when she was dieting, we didn't get so many!

Butterfly_Brain

missphant wrote: »

hi, i've been out of the loop for ages on this site and have just spent a good while working through this thread... it's brilliant!! thank you so much for the time you've all spent putting on great tips and i shall endeavour to return the favour

I don't think I recall seeing it on here yet but something i do every now and again is log onto google, then type in words like 'free samples' or 'free stuff' and click on some of the sites that brings up... have received all sorts of freebies in the post ranging from perfume samples, to shower gel, to tea bags...

I have done that but I save all the little freebies and buy baskets from poundland or wilkinsons and make gift baskets out of them for Birthday and Christmas Pressies

Butterfly_Brain

missphant wrote: »

hi, i've been out of the loop for ages on this site and have just spent a good while working through this thread... it's brilliant!! thank you so much for the time you've all spent putting on great tips and i shall endeavour to return the favour

I don't think I recall seeing it on here yet but something i do every now and again is log onto google, then type in words like 'free samples' or 'free stuff' and click on some of the sites that brings up... have received all sorts of freebies in the post ranging from perfume samples, to shower gel, to tea bags...

I have done that but I save all the little freebies and buy baskets from poundland or wilkinsons and make gift baskets out of them for Birthday and Christmas Pressies:D

tramps

hi first post can i add something that i have started doing - just grated some cheese for lunch and saved some to eat tonight when i use it tonight the cling film covering it in the bowl will not have touched the cheese so i will put this onto fridge door ready to use again