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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

803 replies

monroeagogo · 05/03/2022 19:17

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?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:34

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Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:35

[quote yoyobaby]@Landedonfeet because I’m on my way to work. I don’t want to carry a thermos for my whole journey into work but rather make the commute into work and get it from the shops right next to my workplace. I’d sometimes get breakfast from there too so I’d be in there anyway. May as well ask for hot water and pop my teabag in once I arrive at my office[/quote]
Do you take your tea with no milk too?

Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:36

And hot water not available at work?

yoyobaby · 06/03/2022 12:39

[quote Landedonfeet]@yoyobaby

** I'd never report anyone and I know many people doing benefit/social housing fraud.
I support them

Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:41

Doubt they will chuckle at a comment saying you support benefit fraud

Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:42

You go to a coffee shop
To get hot water
To then out your tea bag in when you get to work

No hot water at work?
And you don’t take milk In your tea? Or do you nab that too?

yoyobaby · 06/03/2022 12:43

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shinynewapple22 · 06/03/2022 12:44

@statetrooperstacey

Stamps don’t have tube franked anymore for Royal Mail to know it’s been used. They will surcharge the letter and the recipient will have to pay for it . When they question why they are paying for it when it has a stamp on it they will be told it’s a reused stamp . Potentially embarrassing ?!

Is that so? I would never have known that.

yoyobaby · 06/03/2022 12:45

@Landedonfeet

You go to a coffee shop To get hot water To then out your tea bag in when you get to work

No hot water at work?
And you don’t take milk In your tea? Or do you nab that too?

Yeah I can tell you’re pressed and miserable but I have no clue why. There’s obviously no hot water at work and where have I ‘nabbed’ anything. Hot water is free to give so there’s nothing being ‘nabbed’ dummy. I obviously don’t drink peppermint tea with milk…. Enjoy your day
JudgeJ · 06/03/2022 12:46

@CharacterForming

Ridiculously frugal but not cheeky: I have a large biscuit tin in my kitchen into which I put any unused serviettes from takeaways and I use them instead of kitchen roll

Actually cheeky: ASD DC refuses to eat chips at school on Friday because they're unsalted which means they actually go hungry, so I snaffle a couple of sachets of salt each time I'm in a takeaway and secrete them in blazer pocket.

You sound like my late MIL, when we were clearing her house we founds bags of napkins, sachets of every condiment known to man and loads of sugar yet she still bought sugar, ketchup etc., heaven only knows how old they were! Reminds me of my bg basket upstairs of little hotel toiletries, some must be 15 years old.
Bwix · 06/03/2022 12:52

This thread is an odd mix of:

  1. Creative ways in which people are benignly frugal
  2. Confessions of theft (mainly OP)
  3. Confessions of being inconsiderate and treating other peoples' time and resources as 'help yourself' (hot water for free in cafes, sauce sachets)

It's reassuring to see how many of us have twigged that take-take-take isn't a great approach for a cohesive and fair society.

woodhill · 06/03/2022 12:54

[quote yoyobaby]@Landedonfeet because I’m on my way to work. I don’t want to carry a thermos for my whole journey into work but rather make the commute into work and get it from the shops right next to my workplace. I’d sometimes get breakfast from there too so I’d be in there anyway. May as well ask for hot water and pop my teabag in once I arrive at my office[/quote]
Could you not use the hot water at work then?

I wouldn't feel comfortable unless I bought something from Pret

VelvetChairGirl · 06/03/2022 12:55

@Landedonfeet

Doubt they will chuckle at a comment saying you support benefit fraud
at least its not as bad as supporting dodgy MPs, benefits fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to corporate tax evasion and fraud.

so I am not sure why your using it to try and insult someone, it means about as much to me as some random person getting a parking ticket.

woodhill · 06/03/2022 12:56

Oh I see no kettle at work. Why can't they provide one?

mycatisannoying · 06/03/2022 12:57

@Fivemoreminutes1

When I’m going out shopping or with the fam on a day trip, I take an empty thermos mug with a pre-measured amount of instant coffee. When I need that caffeine hit, I just ask a nearby cafe to fill it with hot water, which they normally do obligingly. I also take a tea bag and do the same later on in the day.
This is making me cringe so much.
Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 12:58

[quote yoyobaby]@Landedonfeet How many people were there on the same thread literally saying the same thing but you think I care that you know I support benefit fraud? Fuck off hun🤣[/quote]
Not many
Not many at all

Thankfully being supportive of benefit fraud is not a common place view

JudgeJ · 06/03/2022 12:59

@balzamico

I have a slow puncture that means I need to put air in my tyre every 6 weeks or so. Several times when I've had to wait for the previous person to finish and drive away I've used the end of their time rather than have to put my one £1 in - so satisfying!!
Better still, go to a garage that doesn't charge for air! Usually it's fairly old fashioned equipment but much easier to use.
VelvetChairGirl · 06/03/2022 13:01

Better still, go to a garage that doesn't charge for air! Usually it's fairly old fashioned equipment but much easier to use.

better yet she should get a new tyre before she has an accident or ruins her suspension system by having uneven wear.

Bellabluea · 06/03/2022 13:03

I remember when I was a teenager in the times of penpals I had dozens and we always would put sellotape over the stamp so it could be reused many times.
I also used to go through the open lockers at the swimming baths and many times would find people had left their 10p. The thrill.
I was by far the tallest in my year group and when I was 14 I’d buy cigarettes and sell them at a profit Blush.

Nowadays I’m not particularly thrifty. Probably should do better.

yoyobaby · 06/03/2022 13:04

@woodhill it’s definitely easier if you’re buying something because at least you’ve contributed for something. This is when I was a manager at retail so no kettle. Once I started working in an actual office in a logistics company there was a proper kitchen with an actual kitchen and kettle😂 so I obviously didn’t need to do that anymore. Still see no problem with it tho! The same as taking salt sachets etc. It’s there to be taken so what’s the problem

gravyandbutter · 06/03/2022 13:05

I drink decaff tea. Not everywhere sells decaff tea, so I take my own teabag and just ask for hot water.
Yes yes yes to the gem of finding 50p in a locker at the swimming baths or telephone box (in days gone by)
I also grab the free clear liquid bags at airports, so I have some for next time I travel and can load the bag up before I get to security
I park in my local shopping centre and know I have 10mins grace period before I need to pay. I can be in and out of the 1 shop I regularly need to go in without paying the £2 for parking
If ordering water in a restaurant, then tap water only (uk) as its free
If I have wine left over in my glass at home then I tip the remaining wine into the bottle. Only I drink it anyways.

Susu49 · 06/03/2022 13:05

You know for some people, especially those on electricity metres, something as simple as boiling a kettle really is an expensive activity.

Bit surprised to see so many people jumping on the poster for this.

JudgeJ · 06/03/2022 13:05

I dont drink coffee and I hate the price. I buy cheap nescafe coffee and pour it into a more expensive brand of coffee jar.

One of our friends liked to consider himself to be a whisky connoisseur, we used to buy from the bodega where you could take your own container and buy it 'loose', we then decanted it into a posh bottle and he never seemed to know the difference! The bodega was great for buying spirits, they weren't too concerned about the size of the bottle, though this pre-dates the 2 litre coke bottles!

yoyobaby · 06/03/2022 13:07

at least its not as bad as supporting dodgy MPs, benefits fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to corporate tax evasion and fraud.

Thank you😴 the government just wrote off how many billons but for some reason I’m meant to be upset at Lucy getting an extra £200 that she’s not entitled to just so she can put food on the table to provide for her 3 kids?? Definitely not but that was the topic for the other thread:)

Landedonfeet · 06/03/2022 13:09

@yoyobaby

at least its not as bad as supporting dodgy MPs, benefits fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to corporate tax evasion and fraud.

Thank you😴 the government just wrote off how many billons but for some reason I’m meant to be upset at Lucy getting an extra £200 that she’s not entitled to just so she can put food on the table to provide for her 3 kids?? Definitely not but that was the topic for the other thread:)

What a moral benchmark The government Grin