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?

A steradent tablet in a small quantity of water will clean any burnt on saucepan if left to soak overnight. Also great for cleaning decanters and awkward shaped bottles etc.

Green lentils are a great substitute for mince in cottage pie/bolognese etc. Add a teaspoon of marmite if you want a meaty taste.

Batch cook tomato sauce and freeze in small portions. You can create quick pizzas on a pitta bread base if you defrost the tomato sauce in the microwave. Toast each side of the pitta under the grill, and pop the sauce and some grated cheese on and grill until cheese has melted - quicker and more fuel efficient than sticking the oven on. Also cheaper than supermarket pizza.

Me neither although I do use supermarket own brand version of Calgon as we are in a hard water area.

Going to try the vinegar in the shower. I already use it to descale the kettle and clean the sink.

My tips are food related.
Lettuce Buy the double packs of cos/little gem/romaine for about a £1. Shred wash and spin 1 lettuce at a time and keep in the fridge in a Tupperware. Lasts for 2-3 days once prepped and is cheaper than bagged salad.

Grate and freeze cheese - you can use it straight from the freezer in cooking and when making sandwiches for later.

Turn left over bread into bread crumbs and freeze to use with fish or chicken.

Do jacket potatoes in a slow cooker to save energy if you are not using your oven for anything else.

I have cress growing on the window ledge and have pots with herbs and chives outside. I'm not green fingered enough to grow much more (and frankly not enough time but these are easy to do.

I was told many years ago, by a Bounty rep ( the past natal people, not the chocolate people) that washing powder has softeners in it, that you don’t need fabric softener.

Costco for bog roll, Mr muscle, long life milk. Their dinner rolls are berluddy delicious but just get eaten too quickly.
Packs of wraps, tinned tomatoes and beans and occasionally chickpeas. Boxes of chocolate bars save money if you can resist eating them all in one go.

Not going to the shops for milk means you eliminate temptation of buying stuff you don't need. Bread in the freezer takes room but prevents waste if you don't eat much bread.

No liners for kitchen bin. It's plastic and can be washed out. No one puts yuck in other bins so none needed there.

Don't pay for those companies to wash your bin out either. They tip the dirty water on the road which leaves any rubbish there. Add a scoup of washing powder to the bin if it smells.

Following

We used to do all our shopping in Tesco/Asda each week, but now we make lists and go to B+M and Home Bargs first. We’ve found you can get probably 90% of your stuff in these 2 shops (they’re just across the car park from each other) Also there’s far less ‘treaty’ stuff in there so we tend to stick to the list. Wizzed into Farm Foods last week for freezer top-ups. Much cheaper than big-name shops for branded frozen stuff. I always split loaves of bread into 3 or 4 for freezing. The ‘Nicky’ brand of loo-roll (Home Bargs) is thicker than Andrex, I compared them side by side last week… Andrex was always my favourite, but it doesn’t seem as good as it used to be, thinner and really expensive.

Wash on 30°, and use no more than 1/3 cup (american measurements) of powder.
I use a white vinegar substitute for cleaning, just called non brewed condiment, from my local cash and carry. £1.99 for 5l! My only cleaning products are that and thin bleach from ASDA, about 35p for a massive bottle.
Try to find a cash and carry near you. They do out of date food, mainly dry goods, which is still perfectly fine to eat. I am lucky because I have two near me.
I use the supermarkets basic range items for many store cupboard / freezer / toiletry staples. Try them - you may be surprised. Some are dreadful, of course, but many of them are perfectly fine.
Try to bulk buy staples such as rice, if you have room to store things.
I reuse water as I am on a meter, so I put the plug in the bath whilst in the shower (mine's over the bath!) and reuse the water later on the garden
I only boil a kettle once a day now - I fill up the kettle totally first thing in the morning then fill a few small thermos flasks with the rest. That does me for hot drinks all day.
I only use my gas oven now when cooking multiple items at once. So I had soda bread, baked potatoes and a cake all going at once the other day.
I try to "bulk cook" enough for three days - boiled veg for example I will do in a quantity to go with three meals then I just plate up and reheat in the microwave.
I am trying not to use the tumble dryer anymore. I have rigged up two washing lines from the bathroom ceiling and use the extractor fan to help dry it if it's wet out.
I have got rid of a mini fridge that I had for storing things like cold drinks. The fewer appliances, the better nowadays!

Love this thread.
Almost nothing gets thrown away in this house. If it can't be re-used I keep it until it can, then if I end up with too much of something, I know to stop buying those things (I'm looking at you, empty coffee tins!).
I google everything to see what it can be used for, or to find an alternative for something e.g. "DIY alternative for dry shampoo" ...talcum powder (much cheaper!).
Plastic trays from mushrooms and grapes etc get used as drawer dividers, or pots to grow lettuce etc. The nicer ones can even be used as containers for crisps etc at a buffet or bbq.
Jam jars are kept for disposing of old oil and nicer ones are used as drinking glasses.
Any ribbon, ties, elastic bands get put in the junk drawer and will always be used again.
Bread bags for dog poo picking in the garden (check for holes first!).
School polo tshirts are cut up then used as flannels, cleaning cloths or a kitchen roll alternative. Any other old clothes are kept in the garage in a "rag" bag. There will always be a spillage of some sort to use them for.
Eco Egg instead of washing powder, and sometimes a splash of white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner.
Use up toiletries before buying more. I haven't bought showergel for 2 years as I'm still using soap I've been given as gifts over the years.
Olio app for free food and non-food items. I never go shopping without looking on there first, and I never buy bread now as there's always some on there for free.
And bath water or the cold water at the start of a shower is collected in a bucket and used to flush the loo and water the plants.

how to you cook multiple things in the oven including a cake?
surely the cake will sink if you open the door prematurely?
this must be timed

@MrsLargeEmbodied no it's parkin, which takes roughly the same time as the soda bread, which is cooked in a dutch oven so it doesn 't go too hard.

gas 4 for 1 hour, then remove cake from oven and lid from soda bread pot. Turn up heat to gas five, ten mins to crisp up top of bread / finish off spuds.

spuds pre started in microwave first obvs.

would not work for fruit cakes, of course!

Install Olio app on your phone. You get free food that the supermarkets can't sell but in perfectly good condition. I either freeze when there's freezer space or use the bread to make breadcrumbs which can last in the fridge for ages if toasted first.

Make a full batch of waffles and freeze the extra. As they are flat, they don't take much space. Make a full batch of crepe batter, make only the needed no. of crepes and freeze the excess batter in a freezer bag. Keep adding to this mix whenever you make extra batter. Then one day, you'd have accumulated enough batter to make a whole batch.

Cheap flannels instead of tissues/kitchen rolls for sticky fingers during a meal. Bought a load of cheap grey ones from Amazon so we keep them separate and they don't show stains. Keep in a jute bag hanging off the door, second nature for teens to have one when eating.

Prefer citric acid to vinegar, much less taint in kettle etc, amazing for getting rid of scale and easier to store. Mark your jars though, we have:

Salt
Sugar
Soda crystals
Citric acid
Sodium percarbonate ('green' Bleach for clothes that's also amazing for getting stains out of cups/flasks etc)

All in jars and DHs non rising bread was due to soda crystals instead of sugar in the dough 😫

@twilightcafe 1/3 vinegar, 2/3 water and a squirt of washing up liquid

Put half a brick in the toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water in a flush.

I collect the cold shower water to fill up the toilet cistern, and collect any clean water downstairs - like dog bowl water and kids drink bottles - to put on plants.

Having a Mirena coil fitted has reduced my sanpro use to nil, so that’s a big saving !

I have never used fabric conditioner for years after I discovered how much gunk it creates inside your washer detergent drawer. A repair man told me it plays havoc with the drainage pipes as well

Soap bars and shampoo bars seem to last a long time.

Taking a shower every other day!