Lots more Sneaky Ways to save the pennies

I have been switching off lights and plugs when I'm not in the room and I have noticed that it really does cut the energy bills. I didn't used to bother as I thought it couldn't make much difference.:o

We don't have gas but our electric is only £55 a month now and we were in credit so we got some money back. Did people on here know that if you call up to give the company a meter reading you can check if you are in credit? I didn't know that until the other day so we had a "free" month this month and they didn't charge us as they used the credit instead.

joolzred wrote: »

My sneaky water-saving tip if you're on a meter and have a shower - get a clean plastic bucket & old plastic jug, and when you're waiting for the water to get hot, either put the shower head in the bucket or if it's a mixer tap save the water running from the tap before it gets hot (do this nekkid so you can get in the shower asap!)

Good idea!:) It's just wasted water otherwise.

zoelb wrote: »

Thanks for all the tips so far - really useful. This thread is shaping up to be as good as the last

My tip is dying my clothes. Mainly my black jeans tend to fade after time, but still have plenty of wear in them - so I get a pack of black dylon machine dye (around £4 but you can find it cheaper I think) and dye them (throw in a couple of light tops too you want to revive to get the most out of it). I also dyed a pair of light wash jeans which I never wear, but love the fit, a lovely dark denim colour, and now I wear them loads!

Easier than scouring the shops for the perfect fit jeans, and cheaper too!

Fantastic idea!! Many thanks for this! I have a fave pair of black jeggings which have faded loads, so this will give a new lease of life!! :T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T:T

Old tights (clean obviously!) have many uses. They are perfect for storing onions. But they are great for making into shower scrunchies. You make them by roughly measuring a 10-15cm length and folding it back and forward until the end. Then tie tightly with a bit of nylon string (if you don't have any then take an elastic band and tie it in a knot and use one side of this to tie the tights and the other is a loop to hang it up), then with the ends tie into a loop so you can hang it up.

pamsdish wrote: »

I find I prefer to turn off shower soap over body then rinse.

The good ol' Navy wash, for when you have to conserve as much water as possible as you have a finite supply on a ship/sub.

you can do a something like it in an old fashioned tin bath (My mum has a snazzy thick plastic one that I used to sit in as a kid and pretend I was in a boat). Two/three big steel buckets of warm/hot water (or 4-6 smaller buckets more manageable buckets)

(I used the kitchen hot tap to fill the buckets)

Bucket 1 to wet and lather up, including hair.
Bucket 2 to wash body off, and light rinse out of hair.
Bucket 3 for final rinse of hair and rinse off any lurking suds.

What I called a 'Posh wash', for when mum was coming to tea or something else where I needed to be squeaky clean lol

Only need 1-2 buckets if you have short hair, mine is rather long now but could get it all done with 1 bucket when I had a shaved head. Half to lather, half to rinse.

Had to do this for a few months when my bathroom plumbing went funny (yes I know....heheheh....plumbing...)

Used the water to flush the loo for the next day

There is a bit of an art to it as first, if you're a bigger person and not very mobile I'd fill an extra bucket for missed bits

Best done in a warm room with towels close to hand as it can be rather nippy to say the least in the winter months if you go for the full wash. :eek:

A shower timer is a brilliant idea for saving electricity and water. It is possible to have enough of a shower to wash your face and body adequately in just two minutes, and if you want a longer, more relaxing shower then five minutes is loads of time! Try it and see.