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've always used fairy liquid but decided on Aldi's Magnum Premium for a change. It's the one in the silver looking bottle.
I think it's actually better than fairy. It's excellent. You only need a little.

I think Gousto can be useful in certain circumstances. My daughter lives alone and works long hours so three Gousto packs does her for six days and costs £30.

I’m dubious of thrifty tips that have a large initial outlay and are something I fear I may be too lazy to continue doing.

Apologies to get away from the subject but 'chucked'? 'flung'? Are you Jamie Oliver?

@HelloAllll where I live it's certainly more expensive in Sainsburys, sometimes significantly so.

I'm waiting for this to turn into a version of Viz's Top Tips.

The caterpillar>butterfly tattoo was definitely in that direction.

Brings back memories 😃 As a student at the end of my grant I ate curried porridge once. Better than nothing but not anything else

Sb are doing price match and their own brand products are reasonable and keep very well.Lidl never visited often as don't like their car park !

Growing your own vegetables. you need somewhere suitable to grow them for a start, and then it's a massive amount of time and effort to end up with 6 marrows in a week that nobody wants

Growing your own veg in pots. Unless you have a decent outdoor space, growing anything is realistically a hobby, not a cost saving tip. Especially if you have tiny pots and cheap compost, the plant will probably die before it produces any fruit. Even if it survives, the weedy thing will probably produce three to five small specimens after 6 months of diligent watering and feeding. Maybe worthwhile for chillies but not much else.

Also, not quite thrifty tips, but as someone who went on many (amazing) camping holidays as a child, because it was the cheap option, most of these "Camping hacks" are gloriously ridiculous:
www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/camping-hacks-that-are-borderline-genius

This... I still haven't learned though. I grew up without very much money so seem to have this internal drive to get things as cheap as possible, despite knowing that I should buy decent stuff where I can afford it.

"Why spend £20 on one baking tray when you can buy a £2 one from Ikea?" Because the cheap one is normally shit and pings out of shape mid cooking.

I eventually spent £20 on the baking tray and it is fabulous.

Why do I not learn?!

Regrettably this doesn't always work. The tattoo of the 'bluebird of happiness' on my thigh ate the caterpillar early one morning. 🐛🐦

@miserablecat snap!

As a student, I made a "cream of mushroom soup" but subbed out all the ingredients that would have made it nice. It was basically a vat of watery mushroom puree.

During the financial crisis of 2008 I read an article that was supposed to give tips to save money from people in the fashion industry. One writer suggested picking one or two quality "pieces" that could update your wardrobe like a decent £300 jacket .. one of the most tone deaf/let them eat cake things I can remember reading.

Mrs DooDaa

This. If you can do it.

I think growing your own veg only saves money if you can get your DC into it, and you can do it as a fun activity instead of going out - DS1 (6) thinks its a massive fun treat being allowed to use the big shovel and the pliers in my parents garden

I agree that sometimes the best way to save money is to just save time so you can earn more...sometimes I think about doing a carboot sale but I'd have to wash and organise all the stuff and get a lift from DH. A much better use of a Saturday is just DH doing an overtime shift.

Going on holiday in the UK when you live in the UK. False economy.

So is buying things second hand. Usually costs the same (or sometimes more) than new items.

Comparing stock cubes with buying a whole chicken is ridiculous. What about bringing to the boil for a couple of minutes and then sticking in a haybox, indeed what is the cost of simmering on the heat for 45 minutes?. Can we have actual figures? I’m too lazy.

@SushiGo I deliberately didn't mention JM in an effort not to rehash all the other threads here! And I do think the rinsing of tinned spaghetti is ridiculous - when you are desperate to fill up, rinsing a third of the can away is madness. You can always add stuff if you have it (eg chili powder) if you need it to taste different.

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 shopping at Aldi/Lidl. With a few exceptions of things they do really well (the bakery!) I find shopping here a total waste of time and money - the fruit and veg is tasteless and goes mouldy really quickly and no one eats the snacky own-brand stuff coz it tastes minging. You still have to drive to another supermarket or get a delivery bc they don't do many of the things you need and the aisle of useless tat is exactly that - and isn't even cheap compared to other places.

I agree wholeheartedly with cheap bin bags too - they give me the rage!

Slow cooker garlic bread quiche.

Vile.

Can you explain this? How is say, living in Liverpool and driving to Devon for a holiday a "false economy"?

@JingsMahBucket I consider myself educated! I should've thought of that, since I do love haggis (both the meat and the vegetarian kinds).

I actually agree with that idea.
Yes it’s out of reach for many people, incl the ones who probably will need it the most.

But the reality is that it’s cheaper in the long run to buy and expensive good quality product rather than a cheaper one that will never last half as long. I’m finding shoes are an excellent example of it. Or T-shirts.