What thrifty tips do you NOT recommend?

[ArcheryAnnie]

There's been discussion on other threads about some "thrifty tips" which don't seem all that sensible, like rinsing the sauce off spaghetti hoops to reuse the cooked pasta (wastes sauce and calories), or boiling soap to make shower gel (wastes electricity and soap - better just use the soap bar). What other thrifty tips have you either invented or tried, that you would warn other people off?

Here's mine: people have said a pinch of cheap curry powder helps elevate all kinds of dishes, including baked beans, tinned tomatoes, etc, and helps ring the changes in a monotonous diet. Here's what curry powder doesn't elevate, kids: porridge oats. Many, many years ago (pre DS), desperate for something other than plain porridge made with water, which had formed the bulk of our diet all week, we tried currying the porridge with an onion. Now, if I make or buy terrible food, I'll still usually eat it anyway, and just determine not to buy or cook it again. Not so this: oats, curry power and the onion all wasted. Don't ever repeat my mistake!

Grate soap to make washing powder.
I tried it and it was such a faff and left soap scum type stuff in my drum.

Having a jar of pesto in the house for emergency pasta. My children and husband hate pesto so when I see people mention this I think hmmm but no.

Every summer Phillip Scofield talks about using a lip balm tube as a secret money thing at the beach. I'm sick of hearing it.

'Buy cheap, buy twice' is often true. It's better in my experience to spend time researching purchases, with particular attention to longevity, than to choose the cheapest option.

boiling soap to make shower gel

This isn't what you asked for but I got distracted by this example in your OP.
Why would anyone need to make shower gel if they have soap? Just use the soap?
I need someone who does this to explain why.

Boiling chicken carcasses to make your own stock. It's vastly cheaper to just buy own brand stock.

Harsh to complain about the rinsing spaghetti hoops thing - as I recall that was a specific suggestion for food bank users who get given tins of hoops they don't like, to help turn it into something more palatable. It's not a 'thrifty tip'.

Honestly changing my WiFi to slightly cheaper was a massive faff and the new one just isn't so good despite the promises several times I day you get "messages haven't been downloaded from server" which I never got with sky broadband and you get the children shouting at each other coz the Wi-Fi can't support their devices- great 🤦🏽‍♀️ I also don't believe in going to lidl/aldi different shops for different things, it's a poor economy of time and my time is precious. using bread directly from the freezer? then you have to have toast all the time? freezing milk cubes for tea? not with soya milk! DIY keratin treatments? waste of hours and hours of mine and DD's time! waste of money, frustrated/upset me loads! hairdressers are there for a reason. too good to go bags? the ones I want mean waiting until 9 and driving to the next town? see "time is precious". buying running shoes not fitted? great if you want discomfort after a few miles. no doubt people will argue with me but I know what happens in my life 🤷🏽‍♀️

Home-made chicken stock is infinitely superior in taste to any bought chicken stock. Even mine, and I'm a lousy cook.

I agree that driving to get a Too Good To Go bag is madness! (I get TGTG lots, but theres lots of options for me within a few minutes' walk, both when I'm at work and when I'm at home.)

I saw someone asking for tips on washing at the sink to save money on showering. The tips involved buckets/tubs of water and multiple flannels. I would think any money saved would be negligible when weighed up against the extra hot washes for the flannels.

Boil a whole kettle and put the excess in a flask. Er… why not just boil as much as you need? 🤷‍♀️

@3amAndImStillAwake if you want liquid hand soap to refil a dispenser, because you don't like the dirty cracked bar hanging about at the sink.
It's not a big deal to heat it in the microwave and stir extra water in. Makes absolutely loads, so you don't do it often.

@Boybandfacedfannyfart because my kettle has a minimum water level that's too high. It's the old fashioned shape. Jug shape is better.
I don't do that though. I still boil it with barely any extra in.

Yes - but it's not cheaper, which people often claim it is.

Buying cheaper washing up liquid. Fairy really does last for ages.

@SushiGo I thought people were making value judgements about cost/savings versus end result.

Shopping at aldi/lidl instead of Sainsburys. I honestly find Sainsburys (now they are price matching on a lot of things) no/minimally more expensive than aldi and the quality of the food is so much better/fresher/has longer dates

Exactly !
Youve got to warm the flask first, so you throw that water away, then a flask never stays that hot if you’re continually opening it. Ridiculous.

Yes to not doing the thermos thing - boiling 1 litre of water vs boiling 4 x 250 ml will use the same amount of energy and cost the same. You may save some money as there is a minimum amount in a kettle to boil, but you also have to use all the water you have put in the thermos.

Turning off the 1 light and sitting in the dark. Assuming you have an energy saving lightbulb in the room, it's a lot of hardship vs not a lot of energy saving as lights are so low power.

Plenty of sensible tips - but there are some very ineffective ones - or also ones that are expensive and will take a long time to 'pay back' the energy saved.

Stop bread from drying out by keeping it in a bucket of water.....

Showers are not always more efficient for water and boiler. Stand under a decent powered shower for 10 minutes to wash and then shampoo and Condition your hair? An average sized bath often uses less hot water. Try sticking the plug in next time you shower to see.

The time is precious comment is a good one. It is worth considering whether the time spent being thrifty could be better spent by earning more.

I realise that not all people are in a position to work but it is another option to consider for some.

My DM is a great believer in false economy. Things not to do:

• Don't buy a vast quantity of veg with the intention of pickling it then leave it mouldering on the side until the liquid mess has to be binned
• Don't bulk buy something which is on offer before you know if you will like it
• Don't batch cook things you don't like and which will then live in the freezer until the freezer eventually dies

Honestly, I despair of DM sometimes. She grew up in a thrifty household but only half remembers the lessons. So, to her, preserving/bulk buying/batch cooking is always an economy.

What she has long forgotten is that DGM had access to fruit & veg in bulk from the garden. DGM cooked a limited range of things so knew that what was cooked would get eaten.

DM so wants to be thrifty but every time her thriftiness ends in waste!

@SushiGo it might not save pennies on buying stock cubes, but it surely does on buying posh stock? Of course of you add a load of other ingredients to the carcass it might get more costly. It is a healthier result and less wasteful to use the carcass you already had, so on balance it is frugal if not thrifty to me.

Cheap teabags

I can't fully give up Sainsbo's. I do like Aldi/Lidl but there are some premium own brand products that I can't do without there.

I get six tubs of stock from a carcass which I’ve boiled up with veg scraps I chucked in a bread bag and flung in the freezer. Aye, it would be madness to buy extras to make stock - although a splash of apple cider vinegar breaks down the bone marrow.

Cheap bin bags.

The ultimate in false economy.