What's the most extreme example of effort to save a few pennies you have heard of?

This is my favourite thread ever! Bookmarking and taking notes. Nowt wrong with watching the pennies.

MycatsaPirate - but doesn't your dh use a knife to cut it up in the kitchen anyway ? Or does he use yours?

The saving water when running the tap is excellent. Will be trying that one in future.....

I do know of a family who only flush the toilet when is brown, anything else they let it stay until unbearable.

misspilly why needless to say you didn't leave a tip? Your uncle being a prat didn't mean the waiting staff hadn't done a good job.

netball we used to use the same advent calendar every year. I don't think our doors were blu tacked though.

"hey said that one over-riding thing about the very rich is their ability to watch the pennies. So true"

No, it completely varies imo. Some rich people are stingy, but many aren't.

My DM used to BluTack the doors closed on an old advent calendar (from the days when they only had pictures - No chocolate).

That one calendar did for a family of 6 for at least 10 years.

Some of these are good ideas, I tried filling up a 4 pint milk container tonight, when running the hot tap to wash up, inspired by a prev poster. It started getting hot just I filled the container up and I used water I would normally just tip down the sink to water one of my outdoor pots.
Great idea, I'm going to do it every time I wash up.

This is in response to revising matches not asking for a refund for bags lol

I do this just good sense lol

I'm a member of a group on Facebook that helps people reduce their supermarket bill. Once woman recently posted that she got home and mistakenly found that she had been charged 5p for a carrier bag that she didn't use (as she had taken her own). So she walked all the way back to the shop to claim a 5p refund.

'I knew a family who used newspaper to wrap xmas and birthday presents.'

I've done that when caught short and it can look really lovely with the right ribbons and accessories.

I knew a family who used newspaper to wrap xmas and birthday presents. I also know someone who washes and reuses cling film and isn't at all fussy what it has been used for previously.

I once read an article by a journalist who regularly interviewed rich people and they said that one over-riding thing about the very rich is their ability to watch the pennies. So true-SIL shops in M&S Food all the time and has major financial problems, colleague shops in Aldi, Lidl, Poundland etc and can afford a flash car and shiny new house. Go figure...

Lisa I don't have quite the number of rolls as you but I have a fair few. I got some Christmas wrap from card factory when it was 6 for £1 after Christmas. In the new year I walked past and it was 12 for £1. I had to really resist, but it is mainly because at some point I know I want to move and it is more stuff to have to take.
A few years ago I was parked behind a shop when the bin lorry was emptying the bins (we had to wait as we were blocked in) the shop was throwing out rolls of paper and he handed some of the bags to us. We gave loads away and are still using it. Most of it now is generic Happy Birthday but we had rolls of branded character paper as well. Scandalous that it was being binned in the first place.

I used to pinch loo roll at a very bad time in my life too! It saved a bit. Feel guilty now.

Whenever I buy melons of any kind I slowly fry the seeds until they crisp up with a splosh of olive oil and salt.

I sprinkle them on my salad to save on bought packets of seeds from Holland & Barrett.

MIL cleaning cocktail sticks!

"It does annoy me in the UK that we use "good" water for toilets. It must be possible to devise a system where the grey water from washing machines, dishwashers and showers/baths is diverted for use in sewage systems. It really is a horrendous waste of water."

I agree. I've tried flushing with used bath water, but it tends to just create a mess when I'm transferring with the bucket.

Agreed, LisaMed1 you need plenty of storage space!

"My friend used to womble at tescos, Its when you collect receipts from the trolleys and car park that have unclaimed points on, On her next visit she would get them added to her clubcard claiming she had left her card at home on her last shop" = great idea. The guy who collects the trolleys at my local Tesco goes to the same church as me though, so I don't think I'll have the guts to do it. I got a double points coupon this week though and will make sure I use it.

I think the things I do to live up to my user name have all been mentioned:washing & re using sandwich & freezer bags, using empty plastic bags as dog poop bags (bagel ones are the ideal shape, I've found, for small dogs' poop) When I cut the end off my tube of moisturiser to get the last bit out, I reseal the top with one of those clip it pegs for resealing food packets. I wash & re use J cloths & cut up old cotton clothes for rags. I boil up everyone's chicken bones & the carcass for stock. You have to boil it for 90 mins minimum, long enough to kill germs! The tights idea is great if you have to wear them for work every day. You could experiment with where to cut the laddered leg off for the comfiest fit. I find suspenders uncomfortable and the fastening shows as a lump under tight fitting skirts, so prefer tights.

I started buying stuff that doesn't go off in bulk when it's on offer: any detergents, loo roll etc, after working out that this is what Costco does to keep things cheaper.

I'm taking some of these as aspirational.

Wrapping paper - a few years ago I collected every bit of wrapping paper in the house to keep in one place. For years I had been going into the shops on Boxing Day, first week in January etc and buying up the plain gold and silver wrapping paper that had been marked down. I did once pick up some Christmas themed stuff - it had been marked down to 10p a roll and I bought an armful. So I had stocked up on extremely inexpensive wrapping paper, some of it extremely good quality and fit not just for Christmas but also for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries etc.

When I rounded them all up I had fifty rolls. I haven't bought any since. I probably won't need to buy any more this Boxing Day coming, but I may have to the year after. Or possibly the year after that. Or I may start reusing it.

On a similar note, back when Approved Food was good I bought a large supply of small sandwich bags. I've never stinted using them. They've been used for packed lunches, stuff in the fridge, yeurk rubbish, what neighbours' cats have left in the garden etc etc. After about ten years I no longer have a stash and I am looking sadly at the end of the last roll that was 50p for 300 bags (and sturdy with it!). It was totally worth tearing my hair out about where to put the dratted things.

I also cut my dc's hair, no previous training and. I proper equipment except a beard trimmer but DS always looks smart and presentable and it saves the embarrassment of being somewhere where people are trying to relax, with a screaming nearly 3 year old.

I have a couple of stingy traits. DS is no longer a baby but either gets bathed after me (and DH) in the big bath or he gets bathed in the baby bath.

I sell as much clutter from my house as I can and I return any unwanted gifts in exchange for a store voucher. This might seem ungrateful but it's far more wasteful to receive something, never use it and never get any pleasure out of the gift. With gifts that I can't take back I will regift but strictly only if I think the person receiving it will like it.

I shop around for everything I can and use vouchers, coupons and Tesco points if I can. Me and DH love eating out as a family so if we can save elsewhere, we spend on a meal out.

I do a lot, if not most, of my shopping at Lidl, just buying one or two branded items from other supermarkets. Quality has been good, and I've been saving money. I've also done a number of the things mentioned here, but I have never crossed over into those extreme examples.

I used to have a little giggle about the lengths some people go to to save a few pennies, like extreme coupons, but having seen some people spend a few pounds on what is hundreds of pounds worth of food every week, I realised they're not so silly after all