To ask what small cheeky things you do to save money?

[monroeagogo]

DH routinely reuses stamps. His excitement when an envelope arrives and the stamp isn't marked is a wonder to behold.

Franking is the enemy.

What cheeky things do you do to save the pennies?

@silverbubbles Are you me in disguise? I have done all those things for years!!

Also use those charity bags that come through the foot for my waste bin as well as large bags from online shopping deliveries. Have not bought a bin bag for well over 15 years!

@Oblomov22 funny you should say about baby’s bottles, when my DD was tiny I met with a baby group in a Costa’s and they refused to give the bottle feeding mums hot water to warm their bottles. Because obviously being stupid women they probably accidentally chuck the boiling water over the baby so one mum one day said “ok then I’ll have a black tea please” and then they’d all take it in turns to use that to heat their bottles I wish I’d known they could just go in with a thermos and peppermint tea teabag and pretend to be a skinflint rather than a parent

In the 1980s it was cheaper to send a 'small package' to Australia than a letter so my mum started sending cassettes to her sister instead of letters.

I try to fill my oven so if I'm having baked potato I'll cook 3-4 and make gnocchi the next day and freeze any left over.

I get all groceries delivered. Iceland deliver £40 shops for free.

@womaninatightspot

I charge my phone/ ipad at work, that must save a whopping quid or two a year. I also download films/ tv series on the free public wifi at work to save data. Sometimes I make myself a lovely latte in my travel mug to drink on the way home.

Crappy pay so I make the most of the little things.

Charge an iPhone for a year will be less than 60p.

@ButtercupOfFlorin

Are people not embarrassed to go in a cafe and ask for a cup of hot water or o then get their own tea bag out?

Thermos flasks start from about £15. Stop being such a tight miserly bastard. Fair enough not paying for coffees but that’s someone else’s water you’re a demanding they give you, have some self respect.

I agree. Asking for your thermos to be filled and producing your own tea bag because you have them at home? Embarrassing. I’m going out for breakfast today I could take my own ingredients as ask them to cook it all for me.

Reusable sanitary towels feel so much nicer, you can get pretty ones hand made on eBay. That's saved ££ over the years.

I use a tin of black beans instead of mince in recipes, tastes great, no gristle, costs 70p, and better for the environment.

@monroeagogo

I've also been known to add extra rolls or cakes at the self checkout scale. Quite often, actually.

I'm like a big time thief.

Well, stealing does save you money, although not exactly a useful tip.

@OneTC

I think about as wild as I've got is I buy 2 coffees every day and take 4 sugars instead of three, I'm stockpiling sugar 1 teaspoon at a time

You'll be laughing when there's an international sugar shortage.

I buy up gifts for primary age birthday parties, when I see them on offer or in the sales.

I think ‘cheeky’ needs defining here. In amongst the tales of outright shoplifting there’s just tips that are frugal or sensible.

Are we in the Daily Mail yet?

Having a Mirena coil fitted has meant I don’t need sanitary products any more.

Me and each of my friends, buy either prime video, Netflix, and NOW TV and we each share our logins so we only pay for one each

Not cheeky, but I've just bought a clothes airer and dry my clothes in front of the log burner when we go to bed, rather than using the tumble dryer all the time. I've noticed the difference already and it's only been a week

@TyrannosaurusRegina
tam
that's what we say if anyone is showing signs of being a miser 🤣🤣
aye, ok Tam 🤣🤣

We get free car charging at work, so I charge the car at work rather than at home

[quote ButtercupOfFlorin]@AdditionalCharacter where in Spain do you get free food with a drink?![/quote]
Loads of places you get a little tapa with a drink.
You'd probably be drunk by the time you'd eaten enough to make a meal.

*The day I pick things worth about 0.01p off the floor and actually go searching for pound coins in the trolley bit (very different from accidentally finding one) is the day I disown all my friends and family so I don’t have to experience the awkwardness of them disowning me out of sheer embarrassment.

I always do think people like this are absolutely loaded and get their kids Terry’s chocolate oranges and a Poundland DVD for Christmas*

unemployed single mum, thanks and the tickets get redeemed for sweets they dont do cash, you can feed them into a machine for lollipops and things. and I do buy poundland DVDs for myself.

@monroeagogo

I've also been known to add extra rolls or cakes at the self checkout scale. Quite often, actually.

I'm like a big time thief.

No, you're a shoplifter

@kennycat

We used to have an ikea in nearby but it’s gone now. I’d go in midweek for free coffee and get a decaf. They give you two sachets at the till. Then I’d go to the cofffee machine and get a caffeinated coffee and pocket the decaf sachets. They were perfect for my self catering holiday evening coffee for years!!

Ikea is great when I was sofa surfing I would go in there after taking my kid to school and stay there all day really using the free wifi, first with my free coffee as a have a card, then have a nice walk round the shop and grab something to eat and another drink.

@Sparklingbrook

When I wore fabric face masks I just stuck them in the washing machine with the rest of the load in one of those nets you put bras in.

they are hand wash only as are bras. I stopped putting bras in washing machines decades ago, they rough em up and make the underwire start poking out after a few washes

I hate paying to park. One supermarket in town has free parking for up to 3 hours so I park there and walk into town - a bit more of a walk than the paid parking, but I need the exercise anyway. The supermarket car park is always half empty, so I am not taking up space a customer needs. This saves me at least £2 a week - over £100 a year.

I am a product tester and have had a nice lot of washing liquid, conditioner, toothpaste and washing up liquid for the cost of just a bit of time taking and uploading photos and messages on social media. I would love to be a mystery shopper.

Not cheeky, just common sense, but I always use Quidco to save money when shopping online. Always shift to a new internet and insurance provider as soon as my contracts end.

I use money off coupons whenever I can. Sometimes there are £5 off a shop in Lidl coupons in the newspapers. I grab the paper (which I pay for!) but rip the coupon out to use whilst the shopping is on the belt. Often the paper goes in the bin unread - refuse to read the DM - but I still save £5 minus the cost of the paper.

I always scan the trollies for any forgotten £1 coins - they get left behind more often than you would think.

I keep and reuse envelopes and boxes that come through the post.

Again, not cheeky, but in the last two years I have made a decision not to buy any new clothes except underwear. This has not only saved a ton of money, but also prevented stuffing more unneeded things into my already overfull wardrobe, and it's good for the environment.

Buy and freeze yellow label meat and fish from the supermarket - not cheeky - common sense. I also keep most veg in the fridge now I realise that it keeps fresh n there much, more longer. I throw next to no food away now.

People who sneer at those of us saving money should think themselves lucky that they don't need to. I have saved thousands of ££ by doing all of the above.

Are they @VelvetChairGirl? Mine went in the washing machine with the delicates cycle including bras. I’ve never hand washed a bra in my life (or bathed with one) and the wires have always been just fine. No roughing up but I put them in a net with compartments.

I park on unrestricted residential roads, and walk half mile to work. Saves me £7 a day in parking.
I don't block any drives.

@Bigbiggles

My DM taught me that when you have a ladder in one leg of your tights you cut it off, throw away and keep the one legged remainder. When you have two 'pairs' of one legged tights you wear them together - ie the two good legs. I did this throughout my teens (though a little uncomfortable with two layers of nylon pants, which tended to twist round).

Good lord. Am astonished by lots of things on this thread but this one takes the biscuit. Can't imagine how uncomfortable that must have been.

@Wagsandclaws

Wrt to going to the cinema our local one is a little independent with only two screens and the old fashioned curtains that go back and forth in front of the screen.

If I go to a huge chain I don't mind taking in a packet of sweets or something as £50 is a lot to pay for a half term treat with DC's but I know for a fact that the Smaller cinemas especially barely make any money in the price of the ticket ( £4/£5 ) and it's all on their food, drinks and Ice cream so I absolutely don't mind buying popcorn, sweets and drinks Ect to support them so they stay open. They are STILL half the price of what I'd spend in a Vue or Odeon after buying treats to eat during a film.

Even the ice cream comes out just before the film starts in a little tray ( you can only pay for it with cash ) I really love our local cinema and it is well used by the community.

it doesnt matter how big the cinema is they all make their money on the concessions stands, the film companies take a massive percentage of the ticket price and demand more all the time.

if the small cinema shows more independent films they are keeping a lot more of the ticket price then the big cinema chain showing hollywood films.

I go on the motorway way to work but I come off at junction 4 instead of 5 and take a ten minute back road diversion and then hop back on the motorway. Saves me 2 euro toll.