Which thrifty thing do you do that you're surprised that no one else does?

[Sizeofalentil]

Basically, that

I'm always surprised when people don't bulk buy things (toilet paper, store cupboard staples etc) or only buy name brands. How much tastier can a posh tinned tomato really be?

Dh is mortified when I reuse bath water to water the plants or make my own cleaning cloths from old pants. But he does love a charity shop bargain (most of his coats are from there).

What are your favourite thrifty tips or what thrifty things are you surprised that other people don't do?

£150 a year. I spend that each time, go every 6 weeks

Meal plan
Bulk buy cleaning/washing/toiletries
Grow own herbs/tomatoes/rocket/lettuce etc etc
3 chickens free range and usually get at least 2 eggs a day
Don’t flush every wee
Both me and DH have leftovers for work lunches
Home haircuts £35 for me and 2 DDs all in, colour out the grey myself
Dog walks/runs instead of gym/fitness class memberships
More jumpers less heating!

I think buying in small quantities is more economical - it means I eke things out more.
Drink tap water.
Azera coffee on offer
I run my cars into the ground
Have shoes repaired

Take lunch to work.
Bulk buy mineral water,ginger.take to work
Take own snacks for me & kids when go cinema
Bulk buy household items on amazon eg washing up,toilet roll,cleaning product

£150 a year. I spend that each time, go every 6 weeks

Use topcashback and Quidco for all my online purchases, I’ve made over 1k on stuff I’m planning on buying anyway, and always search for a discount code.

Buy secondhand good quality clothes on eBay and resell them on eBay when we’re done with them. If they’re ruined I give them to the charity’s shop - not because I think they can sell them, but so they can earn a little cash by selling them to the rag man or woman.

I buy car parts in the sale and either fit them ourselves, or the garage does it for us. I generally get 50% off parts which is a massive saving and cash back on top.

I do my food shopping online because I always seem to have a money off voucher for spending X amount which I’d spend anyway.

I do like the pricey but excellent Cirio tinned tomatoes - but they come on offer in 4s from time to time. so bulkish buy them then, causing my DH to wonder why ‘ this whole shelf is nothing but tomatoes......? ‘

My DH used to come home with things like super big bags of rice from the supermarket, because he worked out that the per kg price was cheaper - except that we don’t have rice that often and I like to use different sorts. Bulk buys can be a false economy if it’s not something that you consistently use.

No TV licence now - Netflix, Sky etc. cheaper and better.

No newspapers or mags - free online.

Waitrose free coffee saves me a tenner a week at work.

Only ever buying clothes on final reductions - this really, really saves because these days everything goes 70 per cent off after 8 weeks so you can get exactly what you like. Buy online so your lust object is still boxfresh.

Charity shop for going-out and occasion clothes - people give them away largely unworn.

A present cupboard - buy presents when you spot what the DC/adult would like, preferably in a sale, not when you are under pressure having forgotten their Big Number Birthday the next day.

Frozen mashed potato, peas, fish, etc. miles cheaper and better for you than fresh packets. Ditto freezing yellow sticker meat for rainy day.

Perfectly happy to be grey, wouldn’t dream of dyeing my hair . Must save a fortune in hairdresser bills.

I have my hair cut,coloured and a treatment
As a kid I had wonky haircuts my mum getting busy with blunt scissors
She sent me in with fringes like a Franciscan monk, granny perms,
I swore when I grew up I’d go to hairdressers
I don’t have any other vices,don’t smoke, don’t drink so I rationalise it as an essential

I’m sure it’s almost a human right (just kidding,I think😉)

Use water butts
Buy own brands in Aldi, unless they have a deal on Heinz beans.
Free Kindle books.
Interest free credit
Microfibre cloths. Use them in the bathroom, kitchen, living room.
Phone is bought outright second hand

I also save all the elastic bands from bunches of spring onions Me too.

I don't throw a bowl of soapy washing-up water away until I have cleaned everything I can think of with it, like the patio door frames, trainers, empty plant pots etc, the floor by the cat's bowl, whatever. In hot dry weather it is used to water the grass.

We cut up old envelopes and save the paper for shopping lists.

We have proper dishcloths that last forever and are just bunged in with the next wash.

We don't always flush the loo if it is just a wee

I cut up old plastic bottles and use them as mini greenhouses to protect seeds and cuttings.

DH is often delivering round and about village lanes so he keeps an eye out for roadside stalls with local veg, free range eggs, home-made jam and stuff like that. We also buy sacks of potatoes in the winter for about £12 - we keep it in the shed and one sack lasts for a couple of months. I am agog at the price of spuds in the supermarket.

Home-made sloe gin beats any of the fancy pink stuff they sell.

There's chives, rosemary, mint and marjoram running riot in the garden, so we have free fresh herbs. Buy one garlic bulb, split it up and plant the individual cloves around your rose bushes and tomatoes - the smell keeps the greenfly off and you get a new crop of garlic into the bargain.

We don't have food waste if we can help it, and when we make casseroles etc then we make a bigger one and freeze the extra in those plastic boxes you get with a chinese takeaway.

I have been known to use cut-up bits of cornflake packets and layers of gaffer tape to repeatedly mend holes in the soles of my favourite boots.

Buy Apple store refurbished products
Own phone out right no contract
No credit cards
I’m not in any debt

I accidently bought a premium passata and now i cant go back. It was so much nicer. Much thicker with a better flavour.
I take a thermos with tea in a lot of places rather than buying one

Topcashback - it really is money for nothing if you buy much online

I agree, except I use Quidco. It's really no extra effort and the cash back soon adds up, especially when they do their special offers of £2.50 extra back on a min £5 spend.

Agree with the ‘time poor’ comment. I’m sure I could save maybe £10 driving around to Aldi and Lidl versus ordering an online shop but time is precious.

I do buy loo roll/kitchen roll in bulk and always buy washing tabs/liquid tabs when they’re on offer.

Reuse packaging (jiffy bags etc), I don't think I've ever paid for a bag to post something in!

Reuse gift bags. It's a job amongst our friends that we all keep circulating the same gift bags but some people must buy them new!

Always post 2nd rather than 1st class

Keep a multipack of diet coke cans in my car boot to avoid paying silly price for an individual bottle or can from a garage or newsagent when out and about

*Joke not job

Ditto about cutting empty higher-end cosmetic/sunscreen tubes in half - I always get at least another good week of product out of them.

Using old tights to tie up fruit trees and plants to stakes (Boots support tights - still holding up an apple tree after 10 years 😀 )

Re-using the water in my floor mop bucket/ or enzyme washing powder after soaking clothes to wash (lighten) the patio stones (with an older mop kept for the purpose in the garage)

Instead of manicures/pedicures/ gel nails I use “Maybelline Stay Strong 7 days” varnish with a decent top-coat - can relax at home/save £ in the process/ and tends to last me nearly 3 weeks of varied active activities...

Getting about 8 weeks of quite premium activity holidays (4 x 2 weeks) but for the same price of 2 weeks high season - by monitoring the holidays you have earmarked for weekly price fluctuations and grabbing them when the offers are cheap.

Shopping in Aldi and Lidl - or even buying most of what we need there and going elsewhere for the things they don’t have. Meal planning. Buying secondhand phone/PlayStation etc. Birthday present shopping in Homesense. Charity shop books and clothes. Eating mostly vegetarian.

Don’t waste any food at all. Buy 90% of clothing in charities and wear the kids clothes when they outgrow them (they’re big now, obviously ). Walk everywhere I can (rather than drive), never buy branded food (except Branston beans and Heinz salad cream), make out bread/cakes and don’t buy ready meals.

My kids Equiptment, presents and clothes are 90% second. have saved £1000s over the years (4 kids) and none of them have ever mentioned it.
Holidays go self-catering. Means we have a today every year abroad and usually two camping ones in UK.

And always look on gumtree/schpock/eBay first for large purchases.

Use the same tea bag up to 3 times. Tea is cheap, I don’t need to do this, it is a habit.

Disagree about not using credit cards. If you use them for normal spending and pay off in full every month, you can make money from cashback and they make it much easier to hire a car abroad and give you protection if the supplier does a shoddy job or goes out of business.