What small things do you do to save money?

[Teadrinker11]

I fear I've turned into a desperate cheapskate the last few weeks to save as much money as I can. I never charge my phone at home, always in college or in the car. I carry my own cup around and teabags with milk instead of buying a takeaway. I'm also doing cheeky things like nicking toilet paper and teabags which I know is awful. Also reusing matches, another desperate thing. What small and seemingly miserable things are you guilty of to save the bobs?

@Teadrinker11 stop buying candles, then you will be able to afford loo roll and won't need to steal it

@MistySkiesAfterRain

Turning TV off at the mains = £36 a year saved! I found a website that had the average cost of using appliances.

Turn broadband off overnight = £24 a year

@MistySkiesAfterRain what website is this please? And how does switching it off at the mains make a difference if it's already switched off? Thanks

[quote KateLumley]@Teadrinker11 stop buying candles, then you will be able to afford loo roll and won't need to steal it [/quote]
Good point! I’m all for saving money but stealing loo roll and tea bags is just skanky behaviour

For those mentioning re-using teabags - using a teapot is an easy way to get several cups from one bag. If you don't have a teapot, you can get them in charity shops for a pound or so.

This doesn't actually save you any money but I do a 'council tax save' so when I get the CT bill I have a look at the weekly / monthly payments, and they I add on to them.

So if I am due to pay £100 a month, I pay £150 a month, once the CT bill is paid I switch the standing order to pay £150 into a savings account.

I use a cash back site for just about everything.

I use saver spots on deliveries or order from Iceland, they deliver for free if you order £40 worth.

I plan meals using left overs, so I have potatoes in the oven now, but I have twice as many as I will eat, so for lunch but tomorrow the left over potato will become gnocchi.

I buy bottles of lemon and lime juice instead of buying lemons/limes, the juice lasts ages.

When I have my oven on for a couple of hours, say to roast a chicken, I always cook mince at the same time, then divide and freeze it to use at a later date.

@Norgie

When I have my oven on for a couple of hours, say to roast a chicken, I always cook mince at the same time, then divide and freeze it to use at a later date.

This is a good one, I'd forgotten about that. Thanks for the reminder!

@MistySkiesAfterRain

Turning TV off at the mains = £36 a year saved! I found a website that had the average cost of using appliances.

Turn broadband off overnight = £24 a year

I'd question that first statistic unless your TV is very old. For about 10 years it's been the rule that standby appliances use less than 0.5 W, which is only about 4 kWh per year, so about a pound a year.

I naturally do most of the things suggested anyway (not stealing toilet paper, but taking drinks and packed lunches, shopping around and using all product in a container) so don't see it as miserable, more being sensible with money and environmentally sound - each container seems to have 10-20% of the product remaining when it starts to feel empty.

Use all of it by rinsing/scraping out and you have an easy reduction in the number of plastic bottles you throw away for a start.

I ignore the 'preheat' instruction in most recipes because it's really not necessary any more. I don't turn the oven on until I know I'm about 5 minutes before needing to put something in it, because that's how long it takes to warm up.

If you preheat the oven at step 1 of making a cake or similar, you've probably got a good 10-15 minutes of it sitting there empty, using electricity.

Eco setting on the washing machine saves a fortune. Same on dishwasher.

Certain aldi products that I swear by save us a significant amount - their dishwasher tabs, laundry products, and loo roll.

I've also been selling old clothes on vinted, lovely to have a bonus £10/20 every week or so!

OP, are you the same person who started the thread about taking your teabag to the cafe and asking for hot water a couple of days ago? That was a long thread of ideas if it wasn't you have a look and you'll get all kinds of ideas.

Oh and I always use kitchen cloths for spills and wiping down instead of buying kitchen roll. Then I chuck the cloths in with the wash and they're good as new. Last ages and I'm not spending on kitchen roll every week.

I shop in Lidl’s. If you spend £100 and scan the Lidl plus app you get £2 off your next shop. If you spend £200 you get £10 off your shop. I also buy lots of meat to freeze that has a reduced sticker on it. I once came across salmon that was 20p, I took 3 of them and froze them. Good old Lidl!

What you've described - hilariously - isn't 'reusing' a match. And what on earth are you casting around to find to light before the match burns down? And if you really do do that very odd thing - I'd light the candle last.

I reuse tea bags. I also nab the individual ones from the tea tray in the room if I am staying a hotel for work, various friends and family prefer green tea / decaf etc but I don’t want to buy whole boxes for the occasional visitors cuppa so that way I have a selection available.

If I am working from home and it’s chilly, I empty whatever is left on the kettle after making a coffee into a hot water bottle. I also do the same with the water if I have boiled eggs!

I once came across salmon that was 20p, I took 3 of them and froze them.

It's worth checking in the reduced to clear of any supermarket for things you can take home and freeze. Bread is a good one. Often things are RTC because the packaging is damaged and the product is fine. As long as you don't fall into the trap of buying things you don't need just because they are a bargain, it's a good way to shop.

@Longdistance

I shop in Lidl’s. If you spend £100 and scan the Lidl plus app you get £2 off your next shop. If you spend £200 you get £10 off your shop. I also buy lots of meat to freeze that has a reduced sticker on it. I once came across salmon that was 20p, I took 3 of them and froze them. Good old Lidl!

In case you're not aware or others aren't, with the Lidl Plus app you need to spend £200 within a month to get the £12 discount (split into a £2 and then a £10 voucher), you don't need to spend £200 in one go.

It's quite good as loyalty schemes go, 6% back plus other coupons (usually between 10 and 20% off specific items) go on there every week.

I’ve stopped using detergent for washing dark clothes and towels. Mostly use washing up liquid as stain remover. Use clothes for cleaning instead of kitchen towel.

I also like week tea and switched to loose leaf tea so use about half a teaspoon to make tea for myself and DH.

Cleaning, I dilute disinfectant in a spray bottle and use that rather than pouring too much for floor cleaning etc.

Food, more veg than meat in most meals, for bolognaise/chilli/curry add red lentils to bulk out the meat.

Now make my own sandwiches for work instead of buying from supermarket, not using the oven except for family meals, thinking twice re: value of everything buying/activities, not making long journeys unless really good reason e.g special occasion or staying for a couple of nights, repairing what we can, trying to waste less food!

I use top cash back to buy other purchases and save my earnings until Xmas. I always use a bone china teapot to make a whole pot of tea from one teabag and I use a tea cosy to keep it hot too. When cooking a roast meal pop a tray of sausage rolls or a cake in to bake too.

I like to see string bags of lemons or limes in the cheap stickered bay. I finely grate the peel, squeeze the juice into a freezer pot, save the pips for planting, wipe the taps and such like with the flesh and throw the left over rinds onto the garden to deter cats(not sure the last works). The grated peel gets folded flat into grease proof paper and labelled and frozen until needed. The house smells lovely after too.
Slice the lemon in half from top to bottom, you rarely cut a pip that way.
And I am saving the string nets for my squashes later in the year. They will support the veg on the vine.