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!

I made marrow jam one year in desperation. It was shit. Marrow wine was even worse. Just don't bother.

I buy goats milk from farmer lasts a couple of months allergy free

Soap I should say

Buying yellow label reduced food from the shops. Not a bad idea in itself. But I used to work in retail, chances are, hundreds of other people in the vicinity have the same idea

I buy virtually all my clothes from charity shops and they last for years, plus it's recycling for the planet.

Does that mean I don't ''have a life''?

What disgusting, poor/living on a budget-shaming prejudice you hold.

Wear your shoes every other day...that way they last twice as long....

Take one grape at a time to the self checkout...it's that light it won't register...just repeat this process for as many grapes as you want.....

I think this is intended as a time rather than cost saver, but anyway. The advice to make a “basic mince and tomato sauce”, freeze it in portions and then you can add other things to make it into bolognese, chilli, moussaka etc…

That would taste like crap. You get the flavour into those recipes right at the start by putting the aromatics and spices in with the meat while it’s browning, or the onions while they’re softening, and add the tomatoes later. If you start with the tomatoes it will only ever taste of tomatoes.

Exactly. I love hot water. Not boiling hot, because it needs to cool down anyway. I boil 1L and drink it during the day while flask keeps it hot. Not for making tea or coffee though, as I don't think my flask is that good.

@birdfeeders , I buy most of my clothes in charity shops. It's quite rare, but it is possible to find good quality white t-shirts there. I saw a still white Me+Em one in a local one but it wasn't in my size. The navy Baukjen one was in my size and pretty much as good as new. Cost me £1.

@birdfeeders I don’t think @Supersimkin2 meant you don’t have a life if you shop in charity shops, I read that to mean living an active life greys any white t-shirts quickly! If you ‘don’t have a life’ any t-shirt will remain white. There was no poverty shaming there unless I have the wrong end of the stick.

The clothes I make myself are much cheaper than clothes of an equivalent quality I see advertised (I.e. not Primark). I buy the fabric from shops and market stalls selling deadstock.

@Zestro, read the words and that's not what @Supersimkin2 posted.

I think buy in the sales is not good advice - they rarely have anything decent in them and it's easy to buy old season stock or grab a bargain that you won't ever wear.

birdfeeders I think that poster meant that day to day living means white t-shirts don't stay very white for very long. I don't think they were saying that buying from charity shops means you don't have a life?

I find hanging white t-shirts on the line when it is sunny revives them quite a bit and even gets rid of tomato based stains.

I do agree and that's the reason why I sew my own wardrobe and my daughter's wardrobe. I like organic cotton and there's no way I could buy an equivalent dress in the quality, preferred colors and style for the same price as making one myself.

But overall it's not the cheapest way of being clothed.

I understood it in the same way Zestro did.

"White tee shirts don’t last if you have a life" because you're out busily making them grubby I assume.

I don't think she means people who shop in charity shops don't have a life. She means white t-shirts never last because they get stained etc.

It's better to buy them new in the sales rather than second hand when they're already quite worn out because they'll last longer. Second hand white t-shirts are a false economy. It's not a slight to someone who shops in charity shops.

Buying fruit and veg from Aldi/Lidl. Maybe we are at the end of the delivery chain but all fresh stuff at our Lidl spoils within a day.

Local greengrocer is much much better even though marginally more expensive. Veg lasts for ages.

@KirstenBlest i did read the words and here they ALL are again. I still don’t think there is any shaming? Just a comment on how hard it is to keep whites white!

birdfeeders · Today 14:07
Supersimkin2 · Today 13:42
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.
I buy virtually all my clothes from charity shops and they last for years, plus it's recycling for the planet.

Does that mean I don't ''have a life''?

What disgusting, poor/living on a budget-shaming prejudice you hold.

We grow our own tomatoes and do get a glut. But a vegetable stock cube, an onion, tomatoes and basil boiled down in a pan until thick, portioned and frozen make a wonderful base for pasta dishes. We pick wild sloes in the autumn buy a bag of sugar and cheap gin 3 bottles. I buy small bottles of red wine for cookin, save the bottles. Fill with sloe gin make a pretty label, ribbons etc to decorate. Makes lovely Xmas gift as does jam

I have considered doing this because my partner doesn’t like using bar soap and prefers shower gel, but I want to cut down on plastics. (Does it work?)

I would think though that if we were counting our pennies to that extent he’d just get used to using soap!

White bed linen, shirts socks get a quick pre wash at 30c with oxygen bleach powder, then a quick wash with washing powder, on the line and they come out glowing white

@CaptainMyCaptain I was talking about suggesting it to someone who needs to save money ASAP to eat and doesn't already sew, which is the kind of audience this advice is usually aimed at. I know where to get cheap, decent fabric because I live in a city with lots of options and know where to look. Someone who's never done it before doesn't and will find themselves surprised at how much it will cost if they go to somewhere like Hobbycraft or John Lewis. That's before you factor in the time investment for a new sewer, and the cost/waste of fabric with making mistakes.

You can do bolognaise, lasagne and cottage pie quite easily with the same sauce.

Thank you @HopeIsNotAStrategy

By the same token, advising people shop on eBay - it's good for getting some brands or labels at pre-loved prices, but if you want to cut costs because you're struggling to pay bills, the postage alone per item (and the gamble of it not fitting or arriving in crap condition) makes second-hand clothing more expensive than buying new from a supermarket etc. People advising this either haven't used the site for years or only use it to buy from the Boden outlets.

I've saved a lot of money by buying pre-loved or from outlets on eBay, but I wouldn't want to rely on it as my only source of clothing if I were very limited in budget.