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!

When I was a kid I was stood in the washing up bowl for a top to bottom wash, instead of a bath, in the winter.

I saw someone recommend whatever odd pounds are left in their bank balance at the end of each day to move to savings. Great if you can afford that but to recommend to people who are struggling seems daft. Most can't afford to move 6 quid a day into savings!

Which is fine until you have a child with a limited diet. He won't eat a lot of the cheap, healthier options we could turn to to save money - anything cooked in the slow cooker for example as he won't eat anything with any kind of sauce or gravy. If we can't save money on his food, we'll have to save money on ours.

Other people have mentioned boiling the kettle once a day and using a flask - I use a flask because I drink my tea so weak it seems a waste to only get one mug out of a teabag. So one in the cup, two in a small flask. Last winter the water used to warm the flask, and any other water left over in the kettle, went in to a hot water bottle.

@SushiGo Ignoring the thread purpose for the moment.... Your username is one of my favourite card games. Turns both my daughter and I into vengeful competitive demons! Is that where it comes from?

I once did shopping in sainsburys instead of lidl and was angry at myself, because I'm sure I overpaid by at least £10.

You keep making the same point and I’m not sure why. This thread is about “thrifty tips” not “thrifty tips for people living below the poverty line”. Everyone is trying to save money at the moment, including people who can afford a chicken 🤷‍♀️

My Nan would undo old jumpers - wash and rewind the wool so she wasn't having to buy new wool . I am not sure if a jumper needs to be hand knitted to allow you to do that.

Havent yet read all the thread.

Some people locally have been turning off their fridges for a few hours.
Result - kids have been getting food poisoning.

Oooh yes, I agree. This is a tricky game.

For me the worst tip is: grow your own veg. Time consuming and expensive buying all the pots, soil etc. Your own veggies sound like luxury to me.

@Rosehugger

Also see insurance. Before buying cheap, see how they deal with claims on Trustpilot. All companies are nice when you are giving them money.

Good tip

And read the small print. We may stay with the same home insurance company, but I am going to take some time before renewal to compare against other companies, as to what is covered and what is not.
I do know the company we are with is a good one as regards payouts though.

I grew about growing your own veg. Buying compost and feed, using water for them, I’m sure it’s cheaper to buy it.

@ThatshallotBaby

Fairy washing liquid plays havoc with my hands, to the point they crack, bleed and are so sore/itchy. Lots of other people say this too. Own brand washing liquid never causes an issue

Yes! Great game.

Agree most of the comments you read on here are just middle class people trying to salve their conscience by being seen to save a few pence here and there ... whilst still planning their holiday to the Dordogne or Cornwall (never a weekend in Blackpool) and arguing about the economies of chicken stock.

The one thing I have always done, and it's more for ethical reasons, is to never buy new clothes .... I can find everything I want (& more) in charity shops but I assume lots of people are time poor so don't want to trawl around charity shops. Waits for the inevitable comment 'yes but my local charity shop sells bobbled Primark jumpers for £5'. .

@seperatedmum As it's only the DH and me at home now I always freeze bread. Defrost a couple of slices at a time for sandwiches, I do pop it into a cheapo freezer bag while it defrost though to keep it soft.

Because of the implication that people are not being thrifty by not making their own stock. It’s the utter disingenuousness of the posts that has me despairing. If you have a carcass and all the equipment and the time and the energy costs and don’t mind taking a gamble on the end product perhaps you will save money - perhaps - but it’s not necessarily true. And it is a false economy if you don’t.

Along with missing the point about the rinsing spaghetti hoops - if you can afford to buy a pack of spaghetti you’re probably not needing to find ways to use food from the food bank you don’t like.

this bbc article suggests it isn’t cheaper anyway (and their stock cubes are twice the price!) - any time I’ve made home made stock I’ve had to add veg herbs etc to get some flavour although I agree you will get more meat off the carcass after it’s been boiled for a few hours. I’ve never found a boiled carcass to be enough flavour to make anything tasty on its own.

Oops article!

www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/diy-stock-make-or-buy/amp

Yeah I've learned this very recently (still using the bottle in fact) with Lidl's cheap stuff. Takes loads to make any decent bubbles, doesn't cut through the crap if you soak dishes in it. Waste of time and money. Bought a massive bottle of Fairy the other day, and can't wait to use it.

Yes, and it's not that you buy a whole chicken and use it for stock. You boil the remains of a roast! It's avoiding waste.

The flannels just go in with stuff you are washing anyway. You need two sinkfuls of water: one to soap yourself, one to rinse it off. You start with the cleaner bits and end with your feet, bits and pits. It works.

Fairy Liquid - read the back of the bottle! Harmful to the aquatic environment. Yes, it is very powerful detergent.

No holidays in £5k/week cottages for me! Until very recently I was on £248/week for 3 of us paying out of that £105 rent! So yeh, making a fucking chicken last 10 meals and boiling the damned carcass twice was not some MC game of frugality!

Here's what curry powder doesn't elevate, kids: porridge oats.

Oh god 😂 I can't imagine the combination of flavours

I've never gotten even a half decent one, so gave up quite quickly

if you want liquid hand soap to refil a dispenser, because you don't like the dirty cracked bar hanging about at the sink

There's a thing called soap dish