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?

@ButtercupOfFlorin

I don’t want to be melodramatic but if my life comes down to shuffling into a cafe and asking them for hot water on a day out to save money on boiling my kettle I’ll know that I’ve hit rock bottom.

Agreed. It’s one thing to refuse to bug takeout coffees because they are expensive, but to save on a cups worth of boiling water now and again…that just feels a bit depressing (and I bet my life the people who do this are well off, it’s about meanness)

Not nice for the person trying to run a business

There are some things I’ll never ever ever ever ever pay full price for

Dishwasher tablets
Fabric conditioner
Shampoo
Shower gel
Cleaning products
Andrex
Vitamins
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Alpro milks
Crisps
Cereal
Ben & Jerry’s

There’s a million other things so I suppose I save the pennies that way?

• I reuse delivery boxes and plastic mailer bags.
• I share/split the costs all my streaming services.
• I use an old phone and spare sim to create multiple accounts for offers/deals/referrals.
• Related to above, I do surveys and offers and use the vouchers as gifts/to buy gifts. Saves a fortune.
• I don't complain for the sake of it, but if I do have to make a complaint I always (politely) ask for financial compensation for my time. You'd be surprised. Paypal refused to refund something for me (very unusual, complicated case) but instead gave me credit for the full value.
• Again, I wouldn't take advantage of this, but if an item breaks within a few years, Amazon will refund in full if you chat to an agent.
• Don't bother haggling over broadband costs, just go ahead and swap. TalkTalk sent me an email a few days later begging me to stay with an even lower offer, plus an Amazon voucher.
• If a shop doesn't offer free delivery, I'll ask friends/neighbours if they want to add on to the order to split the cost.

I wouldn't really call any of this cheeky, but ....
-We use washing nuts instead of washing powder. They last a long time and are environmentally friendly. (FYI: I saw some posts on Mumsnet that said they don't work. That was because the posters wanted their laundry to smell like perfume and therefore added essential oils. Funnily enough, your laundry does NOT get clean if you put oil on it.)

• We have exchanged 80% of our consumption of rice with pearl barley. It is cheaper (and more environmentally friendly) and my DH and DS prefer the taste of the pearl barley.
• We buy second hand clothes.
• When we do buy new clothes is it not brand names, unless they are on sale so that they cost the same as clothes that are not brand name.
• I mend clothes and we mend household items if we can.
• We don't exchange gifts with other adults in the family except for my parents or if we have been invited to a celebration.
• We still eat some fish and meat but have cut down a lot and have exchanged some of the red meat for chicken as it is better for the environment.
• Eat leftovers. (This we have always done. We have always wasted very little food)
• When we cook a ragout, we boil it for an hour and then cover the pot with towels for the remaining two hours instead of keeping it on low heat on the stove.
• Turn off the oven a little before time and let the food finish on the remaining heat.
• Reuse shopping bags
• Use scraps from old t-shirts for cleaning the house.
• Turn off the lights in rooms we do not use.
• Live in a well-insulated house, so less waste of power.
• Put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat.

oh yeah checking arcade machines return change draw.

hanging around the penny pushers while people were using them, waiting for them to give up and bugger off (people never seem to realise how long penny pushers take to release funds).

collecting the prize tickets off the floor.

checking round trolleys at the supermarket for dropped pounds.

Some of this is sensible but some of it's just tight af. I'd be pretty depressed if I had to ask a cafe for boiling water rather than just boiling my own kettle.

@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!!

You’ll save money just getting this fixed at a garage - it’s really cheap, think I paid about £6 or similar not so long ago.

Also it’s really not safe to drive on a slow puncture.

My adult son and his girlfriend who both live with me are of the use a towel once and put it in the wash brigade. Each morning after they have gone to work I take them out the wash basket, dry them and put them back in their bathroom cupboard.

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches

When your cut tulips do that dramatic thing where they keel over as though in extreme distress, pop some coppers in the vase and within 24 hrs your tulips will be fully upright again and will last another week.

Or just put coppers in the vase on the first day.

Or pinhead hole in the stem under the flower works

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

Firstly - urgh!!

Secondly - presume all you out a clothes wash in? So why wouldn’t you put a tiny little face mask in the machine with the other stuff?!

[quote Walkingalot]@Proudboomer - I don’t care if I am wiping my arse on snowmen at Easter - you've just earned an 'I spat out my wine' comment.[/quote]
But the sewage systems cannot cope with anything more than human waste or toilet paper. Paper napkins are not the same as loo roll and will block the pipes

@yoyobaby

I found this out after forgetting to pay for my carrier bag in Asda he marched me back to pay for it!

The day this happens to me I'd genuinely laugh. I never pay for a 15p/20p bag and really can't imagine someone taking me back to a self checkout just to scan it and pay for it

But it IS theft. You’re supposed to pay for carrier bags. I was too embarrassed to get righteously indignant because technically I’d nicked something

@EmbarrassingHadrosaurus

rubbish its going to leave stink, fabric conditioner and soap leave a smell and they get rinsed off too.

Depending on the size of the load, it's 4-8floz in the rinse water. If you're concerned about this, there's a fair amount of information beyond the link that I gave upthread.

Using vinegar does not make washing or anything else smell.

Lots of people use it as conditioner, leaves beautiful shine

Every single ‘saving’ post on here would ensure I enter into a deep depression. None of it is worth it.

@SpaghettiNotCourgetti

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

I would definitely rather smell of vinegar than wear a facemask that I'd 'washed' in my own arsewater.

Oh but her arse, the one she shits out of, is CLEAN donchanow 🤣🤣

When I’m out walking I collect sticks to dry at home and use as kindling.

@Cluelessbeetroot

Fivemoreminutes1 This can’t be real

But then you’re just getting a crappy cup of coffee.

I would really struggle to fancy somebody who did this.

@HollowTalk, generally speaking these kinds of people find one another and revel together in their frugality/miserliness.

@sqirrelfriends

Not cheeky but I never buy cleaning products any more. Vinegar, baking soda and Castile soap do everything.

This isn't really to save money, more to reduce chemicals and plastic waste but it is very cheap.

I agree. No plastic bottles or horrible chemical smells, plus you can just bypass two aisles at the supermarket.

@EddyF

Every single ‘saving’ post on here would ensure I enter into a deep depression. None of it is worth it.

I have to agree, there’s tightening your belt and then there’s being a skinflint

I would really struggle to fancy somebody who did this.

I'm not sure that poster or her DH are trying to get into your pants so not really a problem is it?

my nana watered her washing up liquid. it drove me wrong when was at her house and washing up. you end up using more than you needed as it would come flying out when squeezed the bottle. you only need a tiny amount of washing up liquid so instead of watering it down use a tiny amount. if you wnat to test how long it lasts write the date you started using it on the bottom of the bottle.

At some restaurants, the food is a reasonable price and they make their money on expensive drinks. I make sure to drink a bottle of water before going in, so I'll be happy to make do with just one drink during the meal. Sometimes I tell the kids to do likewise.

Same if I'm going somewhere where you aren't allowed to bring in your own food or drink - I used to get the kids to eat a big snack in the car on the way to soft play, for example.

The instant coffee in the thermos post is so strange, I wish the poster would come back to explain.

I often take plunger coffee with me because I like my own one more than the ones in most cafes, and it's not difficult to keep hot either in a thermos or just a thermal cup.
Same with tea.