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?

Some of these are a bit .. bleak aren't they?

This one isn't cheeky but for around 10 years I've been using Fairy dishwasher tablets so never needed to add rinse aid separately into the dishwasher.
More recently I bought a pack of Lidl dishwasher tablets and a bottle of rinse aid.
Turns out adding rinse aid reduces my wash cycle time by nearly 50 percent!
I had to check the manual to see that there was nothing wrong with the machine.
I also used to empty the tumble dryer water into a large gallon then use to water plants, soak whites in bleach and soak pots as well.

I thought I'd get some great tips on here about saving money not how and what to nick from shops
Sad that the posters who steal find it funny

@Whatterywhat

I thought I'd get some great tips on here about saving money not how and what to nick from shops Sad that the posters who steal find it funny

Yes I think this thread proves what some weird people think is both 'small' and/or 'cheeky' when it comes to saving money. Eye opener. Unless some of these are a joke, we can but hope.

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

So shoplifting then.

Pastries through as bread rolls on self scan

And another one.

@LemonJuiceFromConcentrate

Also diluted liquid hand wash is horrible to use, squirting out too fast and dribbling and not lathering properly, whereas a small dot of normal hand wash is perfectly fine

I've bought a foaming hand wash bottle. You put one part hand wash to about 9 parts water.

The foaming hand wash bottle turns it into lovely hand washing foam!

I've actually got two of these bottles and one is beside the loo to make foam to squirt onto toilet paper for after a poo. Better for the environment (as a bottle of liquid soap lasts so long) and better because not flushing wet wipes. Obviously I choose a suitable liquid soap for the purpose.

If I can find a third bottle I'll be putting it beside the kitchen sink. I like everyone to have a choice between a bar of soap and hand wash. I know everyone has different opinions about the two.

Great tips!

Yeah that's putting the prices up for everyone.

*I don't pay for it because I genuinely don't see why I'm paying 20p for a bag that used to be free.

For as long as I've been born, there's always been a charge on chocolate. So if the bar increases I don't even bat an eyelid as I know I'll still have to pay for it.

This logic doesn't make sense and I'm not justifying what I'm doing. I'm simply saying that I hardly pay for carrier bags but I just don't want too. It honestly depends on my mood but more often than not, I won't scan it*

ok by that logic should we still go along with things that used to be socially acceptable such as slavery, drink driving, homophobia, women having no rights etc?

I now cut sausages into about 6 pieces each.

In toad in the hole we now use 3-4 instead of 6.
We also often have sausages, rice, mixed peppers & broccoli with gravy & that's also gone down from 6 to 3-4 now they are chopped up but nobody has noticed they get a third less meat in their meal, I get 3-4 portions of meat (depends on the size of the sausages) for meals out of what was previously 2 meals worth & it doesn't feel like you are missing out.

I also sometimes skin them & splat 1 - 1.5 into a patty to make them into sausage burgers - which is much cheaper than buying sausage burgers even though it's the same thing.

@BookkeeperBobby

Shops can wait until you've stolen loads before they prosecute it's true. This is what happened to Worrall-Thompson for eg. Everything is on camera now including at self service tills and they just keep the footage.

Royal Mail secret invisible stamping and special detecting machines is a story straight out of the Big Book Of Enid Blyton Spycraft though. RM put it out to the media every now and again to try and discourage people from reusing stamps but it really doesn't exist. Stamp fraud is and counterfeit stamps are a problem and there are measures in place to try and mitigate losses, but they don't include James Bond scanning machines.

If you worked at Royal Mail you'd know exactly what they do wouldn't you

@VelvetChairGirl

*Washing face masks in the bath while you bathe? Asking cafes for hot water to save boiling the kettle?

Sorry but I’ve been poor (properly properly poor) and there’s no way that saves enough money to be worth the degradation of doing it.*

not about money its about not having to bother hand washing, if I dont chuck them in the bath they go in the bathroom sink with some hand wash.

If it’s not about money then you might have missed the point of the thread. Either way, time or money, I wouldn’t be bathing with my face masks.

I wash the face masks in the bath with me once a week

Sounded like they are in the bath originally, not the sink.

@Sparklingbrook

I wash the face masks in the bath with me once a week

Sounded like they are in the bath originally, not the sink.

yes i just chuck them in the bath with me rather then bother standing their washing them at the sink, two birds one stone

Oh right.
I'll stick with the washing machine, as I am switching it on anyway.

@yoyobaby

If you stole a chocolate bar would you feel the same?

Carrier bags went from 0p to 5p to 10p and then jumped to 20p. I don't pay for it because I genuinely don't see why I'm paying 20p for a bag that used to be free.

For as long as I've been born, there's always been a charge on chocolate. So if the bar increases I don't even bat an eyelid as I know I'll still have to pay for it.

This logic doesn't make sense and I'm not justifying what I'm doing. I'm simply saying that I hardly pay for carrier bags but I just don't want too. It honestly depends on my mood but more often than not, I won't scan it

Nobody wants to pay for stuff. You’re still a thief.

yes i just chuck them in the bath with me rather then bother standing their washing them at the sink, two birds one stone

Two birds, one stone, and a (clean?) arse…

@SparklingLime

yes i just chuck them in the bath with me rather then bother standing their washing them at the sink, two birds one stone

Two birds, one stone, and a (clean?) arse…

always.

@Proudboomer

25 years ago when my children were babies and there was no cheap primak or supermarket baby clothes as they outgrew their sleep suits and baby grows I would cut the feet off and get a few more months wear out of them. I would unwind knitted jumpers and re use the wool to knit larger jumpers and cardigans. Couldn’t afford wipes so used flannels which were cut up old towels. The cot sheets were cut down bedsheets which had worn through at the bottom . For Everyone I knew at the time with young children money was pretty tight so no one turned their nose up at a bag of hand me downs or a secondhand cot or pram. Where as now you often see people turning their nose up at these items and even on here mother moan about being given free hand me downs like someone is committing a crime against them.

Yep! That was me too.

I'm flabbergasted at what people are prepared to spend on babies.
Sleep suits were always frowned upon by HVs as parents would often not realise when there wasn't enough stretch room and babies feet got 'clumped.'
We were told to cut the feet off as soon as possible and put socks /padders on. Bizarrely, it was very hard to find footless 'babygros.'

As an aside, I've never understood to need for muslin cloths ( which cost so much more from the beauty counters) to wash your face in.
Flannels have been around for decades and do a great job at exfoliating.

And no towel ever gets wasted in our house.

And me and dd isn't bothered about dgd being in 2nd hand

@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 ?!

Yup. My SIL (she’s loaded) sent me a letter with a used stamp, I had to go collect it and pay a surcharge. She tried to style it out when I told her but she was clearly embarrassed. Don’t do it.

Slightly on a tangent but I nominate this thread for MN Classics (Special Level of Batshittery Section)

@samsalmon

Slightly on a tangent but I nominate this thread for MN Classics (Special Level of Batshittery Section)

It would need it's own section ,yes. I think MNHQ should change the thread title maybe 'To ask what batshit/illegal things you do to save money' perhaps?

But some of the genuinely useful ones don't really belong on the thread. I think @monroeagogo did want tales of petty crime though.

@GestationalDiabetes

I too find the stamp thing dishonest rather than money saving . It may seem small but it’s effectively taking a service for free. We cut dishwasher tablets in half and it always seems to do as good a job!

I always do the stamp thing - my view was that if they can't be bothered to stamp it then I got lucky! Feeling a bit unsure now though.....

Anyway - as PPs have said there were a lot of barcodes on our Christmas cards this year - and those stamps can't be re-used so I guess we stamp thieves' days are numbered.....

I cut wipes in half, it makes them half price.

Also, use empty loaf plastic bags, vegetable bags and others and use as dog poo bags when out walking my dog.

It's the little things that count.