Money saving/eco friendly tips?

[MewMew101]

What money saving/eco friendly tips do you have?

I like to re-purpose nice candle jars.

I’ve used them to store make-up brushes, pens and matches. Saves me having to buy storage containers 😊

But less stuff

Mend rather than replace

Look for second hand when you do need something

Upgrade your tech far less frequently

Bar soap for hands, body and hair. As few cleaning products as possible. Washing up liquid and glass cleaner is all I ever use.

smol is good for washing tablets and refill capsules for spray cleaner. Big reduction in plastic waste and cheaper.

Using refillable water bottles when out and about.
Aldi/ Lidl laundry powder in a cardboard box that can be recycled, the product is also cruelty free.
White vinegar for cleaning glass.
Coconut oil or almond oil for skin and hair.
Bar soap instead of shower gel. @MidLifeWoman which bar soap do you use for hair body and hands?

When you can, make your own. Home made pasta and croissants are a treat, but bread and pastry take minutes to make with the rising/chilling etc happening on its own.

Use old T shirts and towels to make cleaning cloths. I have crocheted dishcloths which I love, but I already had the cotton from a project I didn't do. Not sure it would be moneysaving otherwise, but I don't like the using microfibre cloths.

Line dry or use airer rather than tumble drier.

Only buy what you need.

i've picked and frozen blackberries. Free food.

make as many meals as you can from scratch, rather than shop bought eg cakes.

use old clothes for cleaning rags.

walk/cycle as much as you can, instead of driving.

stop sending greetings cards.

if i have to buy a gift for someone, get them a green gift eg a water bottle, reusable tote bag, oodie for winter.

I collect all the left over bits of wax from old candles, melt it and pour into an old candle jar to make a brand new candle!

I love that idea! I’d love to try making my own candles, but I don’t know how!

-I'm on the olio app. Originally designed to give away free food, but its expanded over the years to non-food items and on a smaller scale, people offering things to borrow and things for sale.
-I enjoy foraging whilst walking the dog. Sloes, damsons, plums, blackberries etc They either turn into jams, chutneys, sloe gin or just frozen to use in desserts.
-Not necessarily cheap, but I love to garden. I previously had everything in pots, and could grow quite alot, but now have a veggie patch. I have so many runner beans currently, that I give them to neighbours and they reciprocate with whatever they are growing. I also bland and freeze the runner beans. Tomatoes- I cook down and use instead of tinned tomato in pasta sauces/cottage pie etc.

Huge bottle of almond oil and washable face cloths for removing eye makeup.

Never buy water.

Make own kefir.

@SoapCollector For hands I use all sorts of soaps, for body I love the soaps by UpCircle. For hair I am using Lush.

Forgot to say coconut oil and facecloths for make up removal.

I try as much as possible to make my own and grow my own...

That means:

• growing herbs in pots and vegetables in raised beds in my garden & having some small fruit trees
• making my own beauty and cleaning products using things like: Castile soap, almond oil, shea butter, coconut oil, aloe vera gel, vinegar, honey, baking soda and essential oils
• mending existing clothes with a sewing machine & if I need to buy something using charity shops
• up-cycling furniture, cushions, picture frames..that I got from charity shops or Freegle
• making my own compost (I got one of this compost bins that look like a Dalek)
• collecting rain water to water the gardens.

Also using buses/a bicycle rather than a car.

I started doing all the above because I had little money left after buying my first house last year, but I am really enjoying this greener lifestyle now!

I also realised I was buying so many things I really did not need in the past, especially clothes and shoes. So having a different mindset also helped me.

My DS loves blackberries so I bottle about 20ibs of them each year. All it takes is old jam jars and sugar syrup. He has them with pancakes through the winter.
I make jam from damsons and greengages that grow wild here, and rhubarb & ginger jam - free rhubarb from next door🙂 About 15p a jar.

I slice & freeze cooking apples in season for quick pies and pastries in the winter. Windfalls that I don't use go in a tub by the front gate for neighbours to help themselves.

I buy 4pt containers of milk, decant them into 1pt plastic bottles and freeze until I need them. Sterilising bottles is quick & easy. Milk is 85p a pint or £1.49 for 4 pints. I buy large loaves of good quality bread, cut in half and freeze in plastic bags so bread is never wasted going stale.

Each year I make up a 3ltr jar of blackberry and apple gin and leave it to steep for 18 months. Makes a fabulous liqueur for the Christmas after next.

I reuse plastic bags (Amazon etc) as daily 'bin' bags to cut down on plastic use. I freeze leftovers. Make soup with veggies that are getting past their best or with the carcass of a chicken.

Use bar soap and very few cleaning products - just washing up liquid, white vinegar and bleach.

Any garden prunings thicker than my wrist are cut up and added to the log pile. Helps with the heating bill and saves taking them to the tip.

I've just sold ds'school uniform - blazer, sweaters, ties, sports kit which has paid for clothes for 6th form.

Pay your mortgage fortnightly.

Thank you @MidLifeWoman I've not tried the UpCircle soaps yet, will have a look at those and lush shampoo bars ( I do like trying different soaps!) I use coconut oil to remove makeup too it works well. Do you use it as a face moisturizer too?

OP - if you fancy giving coconut oil for skin a try, the cheapest places I've found that sell it are Aldi and Lidl 🙂

• @Startingagainandagain making my own beauty and cleaning products using things like: Castile soap, almond oil, shea butter, coconut oil, aloe vera gel, vinegar, honey, baking soda and essential oils

Would you mind sharing your recipes or recommending websites for the products you make? Sounds like fun 🙂

@SoapCollector I started by looking at YouTube videos by people making DIY vegetarian/vegan products and also by looking at DIY recipes through google searches.

I get my supplies from the Soapery and they have some recipes for hair/body/face products on their website blog as well: https://www.thesoapery.co.uk/blogs/news

Only buy essentials. Delete all marketing email subscriptions. Buy as much as possible second hand. Plan meals so food waste is minimal. Always blows my mind people say “don’t buy water”, why anyone would buy water in the UK, it should be much more expensive to deter people.

Take a shopping list when you go shopping to help avoid/reduce "impulse" buys. The mere fact they're not on your shopping list tells you that you don't need them!

Keep receipts so that if you suffer "buyer remorse", you can take it back for a refund, however small/cheap.

Do plenty of research, compare online shopping sites for pricing/alternatives, etc., before you commit to buying. Sleep on anything other than basic essentials/necessities. Put stuff in shopping carts/wish lists instead. Most of the time, you'll have changed your mind the next day or even forgotten about the item(s).

Using the "Reduce, reuse, recycle", concentrate on the "reduce", i.e. buy and use less in the first place. Then reuse as much as possible, some good suggestions above such as re-purposing jam jars etc rather than buying new containers for make up brushes etc. Only when you can't/havn't reduced or reused should you recycle. There's far too many people virtue signalling about putting stuff for recycling making them feel good, when they probably didn't "need" it in the first place or could have re-used some or all of it!

Thanks for the info @Startingagainandagain I'll have a look at the soapery website.

A few of my favorite money-saving, eco-friendly tips:

• I use old t-shirts as cleaning cloths, instead of buying paper towels. Just cut them up and toss them in the wash.
• Save glass jars from sauces or jams, they’re great for leftovers, pantry storage, or even flower vases.
• Freeze leftovers or veggie scraps to make homemade stock, it cuts down on waste and saves money.
• Buy secondhand when you can, furniture, clothes, even kids’ stuff. So much of it is nearly new and way cheaper.
• Line dry clothes when possible, it’s gentler on fabric and slashes energy use.

It’s all about small swaps that add up over time.

Don't use ChatGPT to post on old threads on MN. It uses huge amounts of energy and water.