To ask for your most ingenious money saving tips

[Toothiehurtie]

my Best one is…

a visit to the card factory for cheap cards and gift bags and then picking up presents from car boot sales or charity shops. I have got some brilliant kids party presents for 50p so with the card and a cheap gift bag I have brought the cost of a present in for a pound before.

looking for any tips at all, obviously you can buy porridge oats in bulk cheaper than buying expensive kids cereal etc but anything clever or that people might not have thought of before.

don’t know how bad the fuel crisis will be but considering charging battery packs to charge phones at work and taking a thermos of boiled water home 😂

Delete all fast food order/delivery apps from my phone. Saving a fortune!!!! Should have done this a year ago.

How useful for employers!

Gently turning over a large plc or multinational is natural justice. The bastards are routinely doing it to you and other ordinary people. It helps curb the worst excesses of capitalism, at least where you are concerned and helps you get by.

"You signed the huge document with the dozens of unfair clauses when you took out a mortgage/got the job/bought a car/used the internet for anything/opened a bank account/ took out insurance etc." is no excuse for bad behaviour. If you worry about the state of the world you should know that it is mostly this way because it suits multinationals and the amoral people who profit by them. Who's paying for the war in Ukraine that the arms manufacturers and oil producers are doing so well from? That would be you and me!

Taking advantage of individuals and small businesses is very different. Better to support them in any way you can.

nhs will not allow charging of personal mobile phones at work, they have cottoned on already.

🤣This could work! Appealing to their thieving, sorry hunting skills. or accidentally forget human leftovers on the table for a while for them to see as an opportunity.

You would save more money by not buying drinks in plastic bottles and also do a bit towards saving the planet too.

How do you get scoop all the water from the bath?

As an owner of small business worried about costs I agree it is stealing and makes me quite cross that people are suggesting this.

You do know its not free to die, the cost of a basic funeral is around £8,000 + depending on what is decided for you if you dont have a will. The funeral will go out your savings etc, if you dont have a will or anything in place for where your money and possessions (house etc) the government actually decide where it will go. Pretty sure we all know where. Also inheritance tax is 40% if i remember. Nothing is free in life (or death) ...

love your microwave

Good plan

Switch your bank account for a bonus. Takes 15 minutes online and they do everything for you.

Sign up for a credit card with an introductory cash back period and use for all normal spending (food shop, petrol etc). Pay it off in full each month.

I've done both of these and made a free £250 in total.

Definitely swap to bars of soap rather than shower gel. They last for absolutely ages and you can buy them very cheaply. Also you can save all the little slithers of soap and then pour boiling water onto them, mix and pour into a hand soap dispenser for use in bathrooms or the kitchen.

I second this one. Made a massive difference to us. Surprisingly so. It adds up over time. You don't need bulbs as bright as you think either.

Too Good to Go and Olio are great apps for food.

I used bar soap instead of liquid soap or shower gel for a while but found it made the bath/basin/shower really scummy and harder to clean. Apparently more expensive better quality soap doesn't do that ...but then if I spend £5 or £6 on a bar of soap I'm not sure thats more thrifty than a £1 bottle of shower gel...

Stick the plug in the bath when you have a shower and use this water for your garden.

It's a faff, and obviously some people are not physically able to cart buckets about, but we did it last year and kept everything alive.

Literally love this idea how super is this!

@MakingNBaking which one do you have please? I'm worried I'm going to fork out for something rubbish

I sell my unwanted clothes online.
A bottle of shampoo/conditioner/shower gel lasts us ages since I've really nagged my DD's about amounts - they were way too excessive - their hair looks way healthier too without the build up.

Instead of expensive shampoo, we use own brand baby shampoo as it contains no silicone which helps with no artificial build up on the hair.

Wipe down plates carefully before stacking dishwasher then use a lower temp cycle. Same with washing machine - unless the clothes are soiled, I select a quicker wash on a lower temperature setting.

Hate food waste.

Whole meals can be made from leftovers. Pasta becomes pasta salad, leftover rice becomes special fried rice, leftover mash and veg can be shaped into potato cakes with a little flour and milk (can get away without that though) and fried in some butter, served with an egg and some baked beans. My kids love them.

Loads of soups can be made with very little. If you have something about to go out of date base your next meal on that. If you have mushrooms that need to be used up google "mushroom based recipies". You get plenty of ideas and end up trying lots of new recipies.

Also handy to be able to knock up whole meals just from tinned foods. This does us if we are low on food but a day or two away from the food shop. Things like 3 bean chilli and tomato soup are quick, easy and very cheap. As is dahl with dried red lentils and frozen spinach.

Vinted has been amazing for us. I've got lots of our clothes from there for a fraction of the price of new. They have all been in great condition too.

If you shop in supermarkets with ‘in store bakery’ (not Lidl who just cook pre-made bread) they will give you free fresh yeast if you ask for it.

Friday is generally the best day to go as they are getting rid of it before fresh batches arrive. It keeps for a long time in the fridge and you can freeze it.

That actually sounds preferable to some of these suggestions.

Oh and to PP asking, you can regrow spring onions from their roots in just a small glass/jar of water. You don't need soil.

Re-using bath water (grey water) is mainstream in places with water-shortages, so I used to do this a lot.

If your bathroom's upstairs or higher than your garden, you can just siphon it with a hose. You can even buy a little device to get the siphoning started.

www.reuk.co.uk/wordpress/water/watergreen-syphon-pump-recycle-bath-water/

www.amazon.co.uk/Liquid-Fuel-Transfer-Siphon-Pump/dp/B06XKHP8Q4/ref=sr_1_7_sspa?

Use a coffee scoop to measure out washing powder. From my experience you only need a tiny bit and a coffee scoop worth is enough!

Wash those rectangular green scouring sponge washing up sponges in the washing machine after use and the same one can go on for months.

Cut wire wool cleaning pads in half. Works fine.

Use white vinegar (diluted) in a spray instead of fancy cleaning products. Works just as well and is better for the environment.

Make oat milk in the blender (you need a decent blender) to save on expensive oat milk costs. Oats plus water, blend, strain through muslin = pennies. Great for using in porridge etc.

Yogurts for school lunches - buy a big pot and decant into smaller tupperware tubs rather than buying individual small pots - works out cheaper.

Crisps for school lunches - buy a big bag of plain value tortilla or other big bag of crisps, put into small containers / bags and freeze in portions to use as needed (cheaper than individual bags of crisps!).

Use plain avocado oil or rosehip oil rather than expensive moisturiser. One or two drops brilliant and better for you than chemical rubbish on your face.

Cornstarch instead of dry shampoo - use in a shaker and brush through.