Sneaky ways to save the pennies

sammy_kaye18

My sneaky ways are few but moneysaving.

Tea bags - easily make me two cups of tea as i dont particularly like storng tea so it saves an extra tea bag.
milk - full fat stuff is watered down and put in a green bottle - been doing this for about 2 months now and OH is still none the wiser.
use vinegar as fabric condiditoner.
bedding - have a fleece blanket cunningly hidden under the bottom sheet - OH is none the wiser but did comment on hwo snuggly the bed was and whinged that the bed felt funny when it wasnt there.
heating - we are the bottom floor flat - so i try to keep our heating off as much as possible to stop upstairs stealing it! so i got cavity wall insulation fitted.
draft excluders - keep the heat in nicely.
dog food - dog has a bag fo value food and a bag fo value mixer - mixed together they are nice and filling for him although looking to change it for him soon to a bigger bag as am having to buy every two weeks for him at present and think a giant bag will be better.
veg - cut it up and freeze it for quick vg or soups or casseroles etc
stretch a chicken then with all the brown meat - i ony like the breast meat - i make bf a chicken curry with it.
nappies - value work just as well i find
wipes - i use an old cut up pack of cheap wilkos flannels.
cleaning - micrfibre clothes - have got abotu 8 of them and they are a god send - love looking at them all hung up on my airer in the sun,
kitchen roll - i buy the giant rolls of kitchen paper in wilkos - (think they are about £2.50) because with a 3 year old who is no where near neat - its handy to have lots on hand and a regular kitchen roll would be used in hours in my house

i will be doing the tescos bubble bath into the empty radox bottles. Wonder if OH would notice if i did this.

as for the stealing toilet rolls - we dont get toilet roll just the sheets of loo paper but i know a few of these have *coughs* gone walkies and have oh magically appeared in my toilet. Funny that there always seems to be tea bags in my house too - Ive only done this really when we were super skint though after all they are there free for the staff to have drinks - im staff - and no where does it specify that i have to have the drink in the canteen.

Aril

I very sadly sat down and went through my stash of old clothes which were in the rag bag. Some of these I cut into different sizes and they are now stored in a bag under my sink where I can get to them easily. Since doing it [ooh took me all of 10 mins and had only been talking about doing it for 6 months] I've used less than a roll of kitchen paper this year so far. As they are easily accessible I'm now in the habit of using them.
Great thread by the way....keep the tips coming please
Aril

Pitlanepiglet

bellaquidsin wrote: »

sandy2 - don't think mashed potato would do the same job as potato flour which is very fine, you might get lumps and would never be forgiven.

The potato flour is a throw back to when I was trying a wheat free diet. I get it from Holland and Barrett. It's quite economical as you only use a little at a time e.g. 2 teaspoons will thicken half a pint of gravy. I'm sure cornflour would work just as well but it takes more cooking.

HTH
Bella.

I thicken things with instant mash and it works fine! I can't eat corn so cornflour is out and wheatflour always takes ages to cook out, I can't be bothered to buy potato flour just for thickening so I just use instant mash!

potsofmoney_(I_wish)

brill thread, hope I haven't repeated anything but here goes:

I buy bicarb, white vinegar and some essential oils in bulk. People have commented on how nice my cleaning spray smells.
I (not every time) try and make my own body butters and body scrubs, I really want to learn to make traditional soap when I have more time. My daughter sees it as our special cream, as she sometimes helps with smells. (even at 4 she's scarily brand aware)
I buy soap and bath bombs in bulk, it lasts for ages and I also use it in gift baskets for b/day, xmas etc. People thinks it's really expensive soap. My daughter has her special bath balls.
I do avon, I only have a small customer base but I don't pay for my cosmetics anymore or when I do I get a good discount. (I used to spend a fortune in boots on stuff). Again use in gifts.
I've joined a local community allotment, we get to take veg and salad home, it's free and there is a creche for the kids. I can also ask lots of gardening questions as I'm a bit of a novice. It's my weekly therapy. Not really sneaky but it saves pennies.

That's some of it, thankfully nowadays I'm obsessed with saving rather than spending money.

maria340

As a 'treat' I buy lamb neck fillets, marinate in soy/worcester over night in a bag, then grill. Far cheaper and tastier than the steaks we used to have. (And Hubby thinks I've made a big effort).
My children love asda 'super noodles' but without the sachets, so I buy the ones with soy sauce sachets to use with other things.
I buy joints of Brisket/pot roast, cube ,marinate (soy/worcester)and stick in a caserole. A lot cheaper than stewing/casserole steak.

I also find that when you dispense big bottles of anything into smaller bottles , less gets used everytime, must just be pscological!

Olliebeak

I buy the Asda SmartPrice Toilet Cleaner (around 29p). It doesn't come in a container with a curved neck for getting under the rim though. But I've save two (extra one for downstairs lol) of the old bottles with the curved neck (Asda'a own not quack quack!) for decanting into.

taplady

shandypants5 wrote: »

Oh My God...
What a devious lot you are..

All us poor husbands are off to work thinking that we are energized and full of top brand name breakfast and smelling of expensive shampoo.

BUT we are ACTUALLY virtually dying of malnutrition due to eating "shop brand" breakfast... And no wonder no one will sit by us if we smell like the bargain isle of poundland.

I allways wondered why I feel weak and ill all the time.. I am not getting my POSH food..:eek:

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

thanks you made me smile!:T

Mrs._Irwin

Haha! Last night I was bulk cooking some mince for shepherds pie and DH caught me grating a carrot into it! His face was priceless, he doesn't do veg, but I pointed out that I was saving HIM money, and did put plenty of hot sauce in (rinsed the bottle out to get the last few precious drops of Gringley Gringo!). Not sure if he noticed the porridge oats mixed in.
It was very, very tasty.

Mrs. Irwin
xx

cwp500

if you are a hand wash fanatic (soap is cheaper) then buy the Boots value range of handwashes, it smells really nice.

When the dispenser is empty, simply buy the same colour Boots bath creme in a litre bottle which will fill the handwash bottle up to 3 times!

Its the same stuff, read the label, smell it and touch it.

You save a fortune. They make money by packaging it in smaller bottles.

Never buy the branded makes, its a rip off. Boots is best, more expensive than cheapo ( but crappo) Asda and Tesco makes and lasts much longer.

cwp500

p.s. to last posting

In general, search out the Boots value ranges. They are good value as well as giving you points on your Advantage card.

If they are well hidden by shop management, look in the baby section.