Mumsnet Talk

I freeze nearly everything, very few things can't be frozen. I'll often google 'can I freeze...' and somebody will have tried it and will say how it freezes and if not so well, any changes to taste or texture.
I keep all wrapping paper, birthday card etc as good for DDs glueing and sticking, as are old magazines (not that I buy them much now, but ones that come with the Sunday newspaper)
Yes to breadmaker.. it will pay for itself and the joy of home baked bread can't be beaten.
Sometimes I will have a cupboard / freezer week, where we must eat up stuff. Eg, I sometimes freeze the sauce from an Indian takeaway as they are always swimming in sauce and make my own curry with it. This might be a step too far, DP does not know I do this!!!!

Just thought of another one...if its a really sunny day I put my bread in the car to rise. Works brilliantly

cereal totally see where you are coming from. Me too, I freeze everything. Amazing how just a couple of tablespoons of spag bol can be made into a chilli once everything is added.

Oh I love typing in 'can I freeze...' into google - if only to see the pre-emptive suggestions.

The answer is nearly always yes

<except lasagne made with quorn mince - I shall never forget ye!>

I buy all my wrapping paper in the January sales. Quite often Christmas wrapping paper isn't actually Christmas-themed so stripes/ spots/ stars/ plain metallic can be used all year round and is much cheaper bought this way.

I only ever buy silver wrapping paper. ever. I can't think of a single occasion where it'd look odd... old/young, male/female, wedding/birthday/christening.



The only time people will see a different one is if it's recycled.

I buy asda bath essentials bath foam, decant into 3 empty liquid hand soap bottles but only fill 2/3 of the way. top each up with water and add a few drops of tea tree oil. one for bathrooom basin, one for bath/shower (use as shower gel and bath foam) and one for kitchen sink. put an elastic band round the plunger part on each dispenser to shorten the length of the pump meaning less comes out for each pump.

You know the ribbon handles from fruit containers? Yep, save those too

Buddy80 noooo to the name tag thing! My mum did that and I had years of people at school sneering and laughing and saying 'why does your name tag say Smith J instead of J Smith?'

I agree about the bin bag thing, but my DH prefers the white drawstring bags. When I say to him 'black bin liners are so much cheaper!' he says 'but they don't fit the bin properly'.

The long winter nights fly by in our house, I tell you.

Couple of things I do: freeze egg whites in ice cube trays if they are left over (ok probably everyone does that), but I also freeze chilis. I was given a chilli plant but every time it fruited I had to either use the chilis then or waste them...until I read you can freeze them fresh & defrost when you need them.

I don't get the name tag thing, because you still need as many.

i thought that too fright but maybe it's so they can be unpicked and transferred to younger DC's clothing when older no longer needs uniform? only really useful if your dcs are years apart and wont be in uniforms at the same time though.

All our name tapes are just our Surname. Not wasting 4 lots on 4 kids.

I cut/unpick name tags to re-use.
Cut up ds's old vests/old sheets/towels for cleaning cloths.s

Fabric softener, 1 litre of softener put in a 3 litre bottle, a third of a bottle of viniger, couple of drops of essential oil and top up with water. Lasts for months.

Nametags are usually cheaper if you buy in bulk. So one pack of one hundred which can be used for 2 kids is cheaper than 2 packs of 50 which can each only be used for one child. And yes I do also unpick and recycle name tapes. It's partly a cost thing but also I tend to give old uniform to charity shops and I don't want some stranger knowing my child's name and what school they go to just by looking in an old jumper.

I have gone from using a shed load of Persil along with Vanish and fabric conditioner in my washing,to about half the amount of Ecover, with washing soda as a stain remover/brightener if needed, and no fabric conditioner. I really can't see it's made any difference to what gets clean and what doesn't.

I now barely iron,so saving on electric.

I sort food scraps between the dog and chooks,and compost.

And cereal I do the curry sauce thing too. We're having it tonight.

I make a soft furnishings and air freshener spray with a couple of drops of tea tree and lavender oil in an old spray bottle filled with water.

We also barter with friends - excess eggs for excess tomatoes - that sort of thing.

Booyhoo I'm definitely going to try your pump dispenser thing,specially seeing as so much disappears with the kids giving Barbies and My Little Ponies baths and hairwashes

I do now remember to tell DH not to throw out left over curry so I can have it again the next day...but invariably when trying to cook my own basmati or Thai jasmine rice I end up having to scrub out a pan of burnt rice. So money saving yes, but time & effort saving, no....

cereal i had never thought of saving the curry sauce! fab idea
and the pump dispenser one is good as well...

The long winter nights fly by in our house, I tell you
lol, marshmallow!

Loving these!
Have some old lemons in the kitchen and wil this very night chop 'em up and freeze with water for drinks - brilliant idea!
I buy frozen garlic and use instead of fresh, saves the smelly hands and just as good as fresh.
Name tags, yep, our DC are DC1 Montalbano X and DC2 Montalbano Y.
Re the fabric conditooner - DH suggested we just did not use it. I was horrified - I like my towels soft . But then we tried without, and using a tiny quantity of wash powder, and they were fine.
So now we use just a small amount of powder and no softener.

ooh love the brand & basic mixing idea. will try that.
always make soup or pasta sauce from sad veg, never throw away.

Marking place, some great ideas here!

I have a thin permanent marker and just write on DS name instead of name tags doesn't fade

I don't use fabric conditioner at all

I only wipe the counter tops with water, we seem healthy enough, use cleaning spray every couple of weeks but I only ever cut food on a board or plate

I shop on the way home from work so no extra petrol.

I rarely buy anything that needs dry cleaning, I wash inside a pillowcase anything that is supposed to need dry cleaning and hold case ends together with an elastic band. So far no shrinkage or ruined clothes