Frugal housekeeping tips

[Coolminty]

As title suggests really, need to drastically reduce spending in all areas of our lives. Gone are the days of wasting £100 in home bargains on nice smelling cleaning products which isn’t such a bad thing. I’ll start :

amazon do 4 x 5l of white vinegar that can be used for all sorts, fabric softener, glass cleaner, getting rid of smells etc

Washing up liquid can be used in place of a lot of other soap cleaners diluted in a spray bottle. I sometimes add a few drops of lemon or eucalyptus oil to get my nice smelling fix

Keep meals simple, look for 4 ingredient recipes and such.

anyone else have any tips to share?

Lentils.

Freeze milk. Then you don't pop to the shops and buy extra stuff you don't need.

White vinegar is also good for descaling kettles.
When I wash the windows I make up a mix of white vinegar, hot water, and washing up liquid.
I cut up the DCs old stained popper vests to use as cleaning cloths.

When apples start to go a bit old and bruised I cook them on the hob in a little juice and lemon (add cinnamon or nutmeg) too if you like it and it makes a healthy pudding or tasty porridge topping.

(I remember when I was a kid thinking my gran was silly doing all these type of things)

I remember doing the same Camomila with kids popper vests, old worn towels are great too, imo so much better than these microfibre cloths

great tip for apples, I have some left from a soup recipe I’ll be doing that today

I was thinking of looking on Pinterest actually for old fashioned cleaning tips, they never had all these different cleaners for everything

Soda crystals are great for cleaning out the washing machine. Throw half a bag in to an empty drum then put it on a 90 deg wash. I do that once a month.

An old toothbrush is good for cleaning around taps and stained grout.

Always have bread in the freezer to save running to the shops.

Cereal bags turned inside out make good strong freezer bags.

I use nappy bags as liners for the little bathroom bins.

Love threads like this!

Nappy bags genius! I always pick up the wrong size for those little bins

5L white vinegar should last you a couple of years. The only other cleaning supply you need is baking soda.

Quit body wash/liquid soap etc, the whole thing is a con and grotesquely wasteful in environmental terms. Bar soap, bar shampoo, sunlight soap for stains. So simple, so effective.

I buy a huge cheap bottle of bubble bath or shower gel from Lidl and refill all the hand soaps in my house. Works out much cheaper.

I use half the amount of laundry powder that you're meant to unless stuff is really dirty.

Don't buy bin bags. We use charity bags and small take away and prescription bags for bins.

Save bath and shower water to flush the toilet and water plants

I think I’m going to start putting dinner in serving bowls so DH and dc can help themselves depending on their appetite at the time then any left can be used as leftovers for lunch etc , I’m forever scraping food in the bin from their plates, one of them is usually too full after a few mouthfuls

I don’t line bins. By the time you compost and recycle, there’s no mess. Just empty bins and rinse. No plastic.

Be careful with how much toiletries and cleaning products you use.

I've read on here about people using what to me seems like alarming amounts of shower gel (eg a bottle per person per week), fabric conditioner (a bottle every couple of weeks), bleach (a couple of bottles a week) that must be about 10 times what I use, so most of theirs is probably just being washed away without actually being needed. So if this is you, just use less.

Good cloths. I use minky cloths which clean the bath, sinks and shower perfectly just with a dab of wu liquid. Elbow grease is free.

The loos get cleaned with concentrated surface cleaner from Aldi. The little bottles cost around 80p and that makes 4 big bottles. I spray it on and leave as long as possible and wipe off with loo roll.

Hard water area here so I get bulk side crystals from amazon to descale kettle taps and washing machine.

I also use half washing detergent unless it's a really filthy wash. Liquid detergent srraight on stains them leave as long as possible before washing.

A dehumidifier is a big considered purchase but if you live in a house that suffers with condensation and need to hang washing indoors in the winter, it's an absolute must. Ours was about £150 and we've had it about 10 years so I'm sure it's paid for itself by now.

I always see this tip - do some people just have massive freezers? Or a spare freezer to accommodate this?

when people suggest freezing low cost bulky items as a money saving tip I wonder if they factor in the loss of space/cost of buying and running an additional freezer or fridge.

@Ivyonafence l bought one of the tiniest chest freezers when I needed a new freezer and it fits in understairs cupboard, less than £100. Despite taking up same space as the equivalent front opening type it seems to fit much more in it and perfect for 4 pint milk containers on the shelf over what I presume is the motor part. 👍

It's cheaper to buy white vinegar from the supermarket. 4x5l on Amazon cheapest I can see is £18.77 (correct me if I'm wrong), which works out at just over 93p a litre. Tesco feel white vinegar for 29p a bottle that's 569ml - so under 60p a litre.

Following!

If you do have a tumble dryer fold stuff as soon as it's finished drying. Saves on ironing / and or having crumpled clothes.

If you don't use a tumble dryer, hanging stuff straight onto hangers to dry makes them dry without, or at least fewer, creases. Also saves you transferring to hangers once dry from the clothes maiden.

If you've got a shampoo you hate or body wash you were given and don't like/allergic, they work pretty well for a quick bath/sink clean or toilet scrub and no worries about rinsing loads of chemicals or ventilating etc

Good tip!

Similarly use any disliked conditioners as shaving 'foam'

What do people use to mop their floors? I've been using Castile liquid soap, lemon juice and hot water, but the Castile isn't very cheap so looking for alternatives.

My skin prefers Dove or MooGoo body wash. But I’m perfectly happy with it at half strength so always have extra pump bottles ready to measure out and top up with water. It also works well with shampoo.

I bought a pack of huge yellow sponges. I now put a couple of inches of water into a bucket, use a few teaspoons of clothes washing powder and splash and swipe with gay abandon. Bath, showers, glass brick wall, I am working my way through the house doing the walls instead of sugar soap - you name it. I spent years slogging away in the bathroom doing the vinegar and bicarb and elbow grease but this is so much easier. I will be doing the security screens on the windows next before putting the hose over them. Everything here gets coated in thick dust so I have high hopes.

To mop my floor I use a slurp of methylated spirits in hot water.

Amazon is expensive for a lot of things outside it's core range of books and technology items, especially those which the delivery cost would be disproportionate, ie heavy, low cost items like vinegar by the gallon.

My tip is to always shop around and also use a cashback site or look for a discount code.

On the matter of freezers, I'm always surprised that people seem to think having a decent sized freezer that could store a bottle of milk, loaf of bread and still have most of it left for other items, like you would have in a standard fridge freezer is particularly unusual or aspirational.

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have one, and my circle is much less affluent than the Mumsnet demographic. I think that, apart from the lowest income households, people in temporary accommodation etc, ownership is almost universal, so a basic kitchen appliance for just about everyone.

As a New Zealander, we wash almost everything in cold water - sheets, towels, socks, underwear etc. I promise it does get stuff clean. A very large percentage of the New Zealand population does this and, no, we don't smell musty. Clothes tend to last longer as well with cold water washes. I don't know that our soap powders are specially formulated - we use Persil Ultimate. I am sure there is a UK equivalent. I was quite amazed to hear English people actually used warm water in their washing machines with the price of power being what it is.

I found something out by accident - the plastic bags that bread comes in are a great fit for a bathroom bin. They’re going to get chucked out anyway, so why not put them to use?