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!

So much of the "thrifty" tips are just Sam Vime's boots scenarios. Those that most need to save aren't in a position to bulk buy or batch cook, or get a large freezer, or a slow cooker. It's those of us witrh the infrastructure available who can benefit.

Growing you own is expensive and erratic. Once you've got the hang of it, or once your fruit tree and bushes mature, yes it's basically cheap, but that point is a long time coming for most people. Plus it's a glut when the food is in season and therefore cheap at the shops anyway.

@Holidaygirls decent stock will gel at cold temperatures, because of the collagen in the bones, skin, and cartilage that are drawn out into the water. That is the entire point of making stock 😹. It goes totally liquid again as soon as it's warmed up. Vinegar will not make a difference.

If it freaks you out and you prefer just fake chicken flavoured water (which isn't stock) then there are an array of chicken flavoured powders in cube form that you can use.

Depends on your shower, mine doesn't take long to warm up again (and I don't mind the cold water while it warms up anyway), or sometimes will be warm straight away, so definitely better to switch off while lathering up.

@SlowingDownAndDown I feel your pain.

People always recommended camping as a cheap holiday.
Well yes, if you have the gear, nightly camp site costs are a lot cheaper than a hotel. If you don't you either have to buy a cheapish set up and then discover that it's cheap for a reason, or second hand.

Or try to borrow from friends is often recommended here. DH has stopped me lending out our camping gear as it reduces it's lifespan to us and invariably people borrowing it aren't as fastidious about making sure all the tent pegs have been picked up and that it's stored properly to prevent damage.

I reckon currently- but to be fair I am a very limited camper - our camping set up ( which admittedly is quite luxurious ) has cost us around the equivalent of a 4 star hotel per stay.

@LakieLady , I make two drinks at the same time. One in a mug, and one in a travel mug with a lid.
The second one is still hot when I want to drink it.
I usually do it if I inadvertently boil too much water, or if WFH.

Then you have to think if the people who are really struggling financially have access to a cooker (a friend living in an HMO couldn't hog the cooker for a long simmer), can afford the gas or electric for the boil and long simmer.

Presumably you had the money to buy the slow cooker 25 years ago? Honestly some people can't afford any of that and they won't have a chicken or joint to make stock anyway.

The better off can save money so much easier than the genuinely poor. It's like the "buy cheap buy twice advice" all very well if you can afford to buy the more expensive item but if you can't you do have to buy twice but that's all you can do.

@switchoff1 , I turn the shower off while lathering or waiting for conditioner. I don't have the water very hot. It saves a LOT of water and electricity.

I had a power shower at a friend's house and put the plug in to see how much water I used. It was hard to lather up properly and I used a bathful of water.

Clothes tip: never spend more than a tenner in a charity shop. Go to the end of the sales instead - M&S do jackets and dresses for less than £12, ditto Zara.

White tee shirts don’t last if you have a life, so pay £3 in sales not £3 in overpriced-and-greying charity rail.

We tried reducing the House Manager week to just hour days and ended up in a right old pickle, couldn't find where our shoes were kept and all sorts of things like that.

Reducing the butler's hours was even worse. We had to pour the wine ourselves!!!

Stopping the Dog's Companion was the worst thing - it starved to death. I must admit I thought was getting a bit thin as it dragged itself around croquet lawn chewing the hoops.

I saw a tip on a thread on MN, yesterday I think it was, saying that you don't have to cook beans, just soak them.

Don't try this with dried kidney beans whatever you do. They are poisonous unless thoroughly cooked.

Another false economy - cheap toilet roll. If you have to fold 4 times as much to avoid it disintegrating or you ending up putting your fingers through it, it's not worth the cheap price tag.

In the early Covid pandemic all I could get was the cheap stuff and had no choice. It was really noticeable that we went through a roll so much quicker.

My hair is also thick, wavy and dry and also waist length. We didn't have a shower in my childhood home until I was 17. Hair was washed perfectly well in the bath with a jug, or sink.

Agree with whoever mentioned lemons for cleaning. You can get a spray formulated for the job, designed to last without going off and containing enough to clean many, many times. Spray £1.20/washing up liquid £1.20, bottle of bleach 59p is all you need for weeks and weeks of cleaning. Why use food grade ingredients that do the job less well?

and yes to the shower tip of turning off while you lather/shave etc. I’ve not come across a shower yet that is cold and needs running to get back up to temp when you’ve turned it off to apply shampoo etc. One of my showers is awkward to turn the dial when your hands are wet so I leave a flannel in there to help.

my other tip (assuming you have a tank and I know not everyone does) is only to turn the hot water on when you expect to use it. My appliances are cold fill. I have a dishwasher so don’t wash by hand so the only compromise for me is occasionally the water to wash my hands is cold.

im feeling old on this thread. I laughed at not seeing how you can wash your hair in the bath! Until the 80’s showers were the exception so it was this, use the basin or risk a shower hose flying off/scalding your head.

Learnt in Spain dunk bread in water then five minutes in oven refreshes it but we're talking bread that is unsliced and goes hard

I think it depends on brand. Dove soap doesn't crack, but Lidl ones do.

Sink of water and three F flannels for face, fanny and feet, my uni friend taught me 😁

Lending to friends is a No from me. Most things don't get returned, or if they do, they will not be in the same condition.
Borrowing from friends - if you do this, please return them quickly and in the condition you received them. If you break something, admit to it and replace it with like for like, or pay for a new one

You need to add borax to make your own laundry liquid/powder. I had a recipe for it, but it was very gloopy and I gave up after a few gallons because it took a lot of space to store. I made it as I wanted perfume free laundry due to allergies.

Use vinegar to clean everything. Don't. The whole house stinks like a chip shop.

But you can't wash your hair in the bath?

I wash my hair first by hanging my head over the side of the bath and using a jug to wet it, then about 6 jugs to rinse it (cheap plastic 2 litre jug from Wilko). Do all this with the plug in, so you've got a large amount of water in the bath before you even start filling it up with hotter water. Wrap hair in turban/towel, then hop in.

I refill with the carex bags and add essential oils!

Carex seems to melt my skin so that would definitely be a false economy.

I wash my hair first by hanging my head over the side of the bath and using a jug to wet it, then about 6 jugs to rinse it (cheap plastic 2 litre jug from Wilko). Do all this with the plug in, so you've got a large amount of water in the bath before you even start filling it up with hotter water. Wrap hair in turban/towel, then hop in

Or you could just get in the bath and do all that much more comfortably while actually in the bath before using soap/bath oil/whatever to wash yourself 😆

We spent months growing carrots once when we pulled them some insect millipede thing had munched them all. Saw sacks of them at the pet place cheap could have cried.

However buying a sack of potatoes complete with mud for £12 during first lockdown lasted months

"How is it cheaper to buy stock?? The carcass is left over from your roast dinner, so essentially free, the only thing you add that costs money is a carrot, an onion, some celery and peppercorns. A slow cooker is incredibly cheap to run, and home made stock tastes far better than shop bought. I’m genuinely not seeing how you think this costs more🤷‍♀️"

Agree with this. I would only make my own stock if I've had a roast chicken as to not be wasteful. That's the point. Not going out and buying ingredients to make it