Little things you do because actually you're a bit tight...

[theevildead2]

I put a bit of milk in creamy dressings to get the last bit out.

I will cut toothpaste tubes to squeese last bit out.

By bannana that are on death's door for 50p to chop and freeze for smoothies and make in to loads of bananna bread to freeze for snacks.

True TondelayoSchwarzkopf. And a brilliant way to get the DCs using maths!

I use www.mysupemarket.co.uk and the sites for Lidl and Morrison's to work out where to buy things like branded Coke and washing liquid.

I also cook seasonally and based on what's on offer- I have a freezer full of veggie curry and pasta sauces from Lidl's cheap aubergine the other week.

Haven't read the whole thread but I heartily approve (funnily enough, I'd been thinking of starting one very similar).

My top tip is to patronise Poundland on a regular basis, especially for batteries, which are stupidly cheap (er, a pound!). I too practically turn toothpaste tubes inside-out and buy reduced goods when they catch my eye, so the freezer's well-supplied with marked-down sausages and assorted chops.

If I ever chance to buy a bottle of water when I'm out, I keep the bottle and refill it at home as often as I possibly can.

Oh, and I re-use wrapping paper!

Not taking the biscuit here as I can be quite frugal myself but was just reminded of the Viz top tips :)

DON'T waste money on expensive iPods. Simply think D of your favourite tune and I hum it. If you want to "switch tracks", simply think of another song you like and hum that instead.

EMPLOYEES: Only use the loo at work. Not only will you save money on toilet paper, but you'll also be getting paid.
SCROOGES: Save money at Christmas by returning last year's cards to the sender with the simple inscription "Same to you".

SHOPPERS: Take one grape to the till. It won't register on the low-tech, insensitive scales so you will get it for free. Repeat this procedure 100 times or so and you have yourself a free bunch of grapes.

TIGHT-ARSED blokes: Only date girls called Natalie, Carol, Holly or Eve. Chances are their birthday is around Christmas and you won't have to shell out for a present until then, by which time they will have chucked you.

Take a leaf out of the skateboarders book this winter. Strap empty egg boxes to your knees and elbows to prevent injury when falling on ice

Pineapple rings make attractive tree decoration, and slot easily onto the branches of your tree

Ladies. Dont splash out on expensive nail files. Make your own by sticking the sides of matchboxes to an old lollipop stick

Ah yes, my favourite was glueing a carpet tile to each of your slippers to replicate that luxurious feel of shagpile.....

And using the phone book as a personal address book by crossing out the names of the people you don't know, is another one - not entirely dissimilar to my Sister's tactic (further up the thread) of using last year's calendar.

Am cracking up at the Viz post above, think may have to buy the Viz annual!

We buy loads of reduced stuff from Waitrose, have a chest freezer in the cellar brimming with stuff. I don't call it the 'shelf of shame' (I have none) and my kids are trained only to bring things to the trolley with reduced stickers on them!

I swim every day and use their showers, kids share baths and dh usually away so water bill low.

Always on the lookout to change energy providers - have just changed using Quidco and got an £80 payment.

Don't buy much on the high street, shop online or try ebay.

Ebay anything we no longer use/need that is in good condition.

Hardly buy any clothes, am a prime candidate for Trinny and Suzanna but no longer care.

Don't go to hairdressers for a cut and colour anymore, dye hair at home and just have a wet cut for £7. I don't tip either.

Take packed lunches and flasks everywhere we go.

Go to the pound shop for bits and pieces.

Buy things in charity shops, or we just learn to love what we have - a while ago I wanted to get rid our dining furniture which we bought just before dd1 was born and paid a lot for. I have learned to love it again, instead of buying new!

Keep my aspirations realistic - would love to move house, but at the moment, I am grateful my dh has a job and we have all we 'need', perhaps not everything we want but does it matter?

evenkeel - that one is MY favourite as well but I couldn't find it :)

Just read the one about getting a personalised number plate by changing your name to K49 LLV or whatever your number is

I'm def. doing that :)

Don't even need a hippo: just fill a plastic bottle with water and sink it in your cistern. (To reduce the cistern's effective capacity - not instead of pulling the handle, you understand!)

Fridges and freezers use an astounding amount of electricity - we had to MORE THAN DOUBLE the number of panels if my friend wanted a fridge or freezer in her solar household.

So improving fridge/freezer efficiency is a good target for big gains. Simple tricks:
? make sure your f/f has enough space per installation instructions for air to flow round and up the back and out
? don't put stuff in the f/f while still hot
? where possible, defrost freezer stuff in the fridge overnight
? if your f/f is fairly empty, every time you open the door the nice cold air pours out and the fridge/freezer has to start again. Reduce the amount of "loose" air by filling the space with akshul food, or big empty bottles, or better still big bottles full of water which once chilled will "smooth" the temperature jumps when the door is opened and closed. (But NB don't keep spending leccy chilling bottles and then taking them out to make space for actual food - better to go with air-filled bottles if there's lots of in and out.)

My fridge is full of vintage stoneware hotwater bottles; my sister's has bricks (she's poor and lives somewhere hot).

I think I miss rationing too

We used to use lidl nappies for day and a pampers/huggies for night time cause lidl were cheaper but the pampers would do the whole night without leaking! Always washed bums with cotton wool and water and had special flannels for bum drying never used wipes other then when out and about (rare occasions lol) food wise we always buy chicken legs from the butcher they work out much cheaper then whole chickens and we even buy a big box of 32 to fill the freezer which saves another few quid... I buy most things own brand or special offer and we shop in both lidl and Tesco so we can get the most offers... We stock up when shampoos shower gel etc are half price buy 5+ bottles which last a year or till the next special offer oh and I'm another one who's mother would keep a couple of left over peas from someone's plate! I always keep leftovers and put them to use but a few peas I can part with!

My pal was so poor as a child that they had fizzy-pop bottles filled with hot water and covered with a sock, in place of hot water bottles, which his folks couldn't afford.

I re-use gift bags - take the tag off and put a new one on - they have a much more expensive feel to them than reusing old wrapping paper!

My sister in law never uses the tag surf - we have gone back and forth with the same giftbag for many years now!

about your pal GreenButton - reminds me of my dad's family who all still to this day water down milk.

That said, while I love a bit of frugality DH gets his bonus today and after 3 months of austere living, I am anxious to get down to Oxford Street!

Had forgotten about the gift bags In my family we just pass the same gift bags around each year. But watered down milk...urgh.

Actually the thing that drives me spare is seeing cooks on TV who put the bowl to one side with about half the mixture left in it. Never any cake-mix left to lick in my household!

And I'm afraid I also always swirl round the empty tinned tomato can with stock or water, to get the last bits out....I'd have been quite good with a ration-book, I suspect!

I do not understand how you get all these leftovers from one chicken! I buy a big bird and roast it and thats it, one meal! Maybe we are just very greedy in our house.

Bobbysgirl - we get 2 meals plus chicken stock out of a chicken but my dc are not big meat eaters and only have 1 or 2 mouthfuls of breast meat with a roast dinner.

Use the market or 99p shop for all my cards and wrapping paper for Birthdays. Try and take my own bags to Tesco's for extra clubcard points. I buy kids party presents for under £5 in Jan and put them away for all the parties they are invited to during the year. Use charity shops for my childrens books 29p each!! The list goes on....

My fave is steaming unfranked stamps off envelopes, hope nobody who works for Royal Mail is reading this!

During the last lot of snow, I bought almost everything supermarket own brand instead of the usual stuff and told family it was all they had because of delivery problems.

Deeply embarrassed 15 y/o DS by showing him the cloth I was wiping the toilet with yesterday - 'Oh look at these dear little trousers! They haven't fitted you since you were two months old!'

My kind of thread..

• I buy as possible 2nd hand, charity shop or pound shops - in fact most of our dds christmas presents have come from charity shops which I've been collecting throughout the year.

- I actually loathe paying full price for something and buy stuff in the sales throughout the year.

• I also buy loads of stuff from the 'shelf of shame' and freeze them. As well as use websites like approved food.
• regularly check moneysavingexpert for deals.

We're not skint but we're not loaded either just hate wasting money

when at the beach this summer my DF walked all the way to Iceland (not near)(umm supermarket that is!) as could that way afford TWO BOXES of icelollies for the price of two single lollies from beach shop.
Sometimes i buy new (or new looking) items from charity shops for presents...but i don't feel bad as money goes to charity and i've still put in effort to choose something

If i see something i like in the shops eg clothing or a book, i will almost always try and recall it (or write it down!) then look it up later on eBay or Play.com etc later rather than make impulse buy

other things I do is flush loo with old bath water, did it today and it's amazing how much water a flush takes. Will be getting hippo though. I also put lavender oil in the cistern as find it can smell foisty? Well ours does at least

I used to use Aldi nappies for ds2 (couldn't on PFB of course ) They were really good.

I add extra veg to stir fry etc.. and use lentils too. Although tbh we do love our veg.