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 😂

We've got very old drains and last time they had to be unblocked the drain guy was telling us people need to flush the toilets more to stop them blocking and don't use the half flush as not enough water goes through the pipes. We only have one toilet but even if we didn't I'm not having anything sitting there all day!

its the paper that blocks it, not the urine.

This is true, and for many years, I didn't iron at all. Now I do. I limit what I iron, and I iron a lot of things with the iron off as it cools down.

But ... I lke the way things look when ironed and I feel it 'sterilises' handkerchiefs, tea towels etc washed at lower temperatures and I can iron damp sheets etc so they look better and dry faster. It's 2kwh and I use it for about 15mins a week, so from Oct, I suppose it'll cost about 25p a week - I think that's OK.

This is why it's a Man Job.

I have a relative who has a small cleaning company.

Please don't steal loo roll and soap. They had a huge issue with people stealing hand sanitizer during the height of Covid.

Yes, it cost a lot in shops, but the wholesale price also shot up.

... linking to peeing on the compost heap without risking an assault on your bum by mice.

Fuck me, all this time I've been pouring shampoo on my head and just letting it sit there, without any water.

What a daft twat I am.

martinsmoneysaver could you get a part time job? I can't stop thinking about all your kids, were you always in this state?

I think the pp meant that a small amount of shampoo in one's hand, if mixed with water, goes just as far as a larger glob squeezed into one's hand and then put straight on! I read that tip in a teen magazine about 30 years ago :)

I'm intrigued to try the outside fridge (secure box) thing. I don't fully understand it however. Is it saving energy because its used instead of a fridge? Or so you can store more food? My fridge is a fridge freezer so I couldn't turn it off. Would is use less energy if the fridge part was empty? Or not as full?

Have a depressive episode. You spend all day in bed, don't eat, and don't wash.

LateSummerLobelia

You can roast meat in a SC, Just put the meat in, pop the lid back on and switch on for 5 hours, lamb works particularly well.

I think I'll be digging out my stemer as well.

• TVP instead of mince. It’s dried and a fraction of the price. Use stock for a meaty flavour. It’s great for spag Bol, shepherds pie, lasagne etc.
• Instead of buying big bags of veg that might go to waste I buy individual bits from the farm shop and only buy exactly what I’ll use.
• Morrisons do little boxes of frozen herbs and ginger. They last for ages and are just as good as fresh once added to meals.
• Check on vinted before buying anything new. Especially bits for the kids.
• I buy Halloween/Xmas outfits from vinted/eBay just after the date in the next size up and store them in the loft for next year. This saves a lot of money!
• Pick berries and freeze them for smoothies.
• Bulk buy birthday presents for kids parties in January. Each year I have a theme based on what’s on offer. This year everyone got fun stationery.
• I have price alerts on Idealo for anything that the kids want for birthdays/Xmas (Lego) or any big purchase.
• Check Amazon warehouse when buying anything from Amazon. You can can the same products for cheaper if you don’t mind damaged packaging.
• Use old cut up towels and muslins instead of kitchen roll.
• Bulk buy cheap cards from the card factory for every occasion.
• Moon cup saves a lot of money and I much prefer it.

My Mum used to use my Dad's old Y-fronts as floor cleaning cloths. I can remember as a teenager bringing a friend home and being mortified by her seeing my Dad's 'knickers' drying in the garden

Save up all the cut off crusts from sandwiches. Pop them in the freezer for a few weeks. These are them useful to press into the gap between the door and the doorframe over Winter. When we get harsh winds once more, like the Beast from the East, the bread will provide an effective insulation against drafts. When the weather improves, pop the crusts back in the freezer until next time or shred them up to make a nice crumble topping.

@PurplePosies intrigued with your idea about the lockable cool box in the garden
can you share a photo or description please!

Anyway, don't hand anything into lost property you find in future. Scarves, umbrellas, bobble hats. Even single gloves, wear one and keep other hand in your pocket

This isn't channelling Caryn Franklin. This is just depressing.

Ha! My mum did this too. Being forced as a teenager to clean the bathroom using my dad’s old y-fronts should probably have put me in therapy for life

I still feel strangely decadent every time I buy cleaning cloths…

Another tip: I’ve just discovered the Garnier leave in conditioner (I use the coconut one). I have very long, thick wavy hair and I used to wash, condition and blow dry it every other day. All summer I’ve been washing it only twice a week and usually with just shampoo, then putting the leave in conditioner on, then plaiting it to dry naturally. Saves a fortune in hot water and my hair looks better than it as done for years. And the conditioner smells lovely, and at £6.99 for quite a large bottle it’s much cheaper than the wash-out stuff I was using. I’m converted. Might have to fire up the hairdryer again in the winter, though. Even in the heatwave my plait was taking more than 24 hours to dry, so in the winter I imagine it’d be miserable.

What? I've heard of this but I always assumed they were cut up a bit so you didn't know their original life .... You mean they weren't?

I would be billing for therapy, that's not on!😂

I assure you they were still entirely recognisable. I guess with a garment that small It’s hard to cut them up enough that they wouldn’t be!

Deeply dull but possibly useful.

Try not buying anything but food and fuel for a while. You may find that several things you thought were essential actually aren't. Kitchen roll is an example.

Pay cash for as much as you can - save up. All credit is expensive so forget using a credit card unless desperate.

Example: If your fridge dies in winter you can safely put perishable goods in a box in your shed. Wait until you've saved enough to get a secondhand fridge from a charity shop.

If you start thinking like this BEFORE the shit hits the fan you may be able to save up a bit or at least not go further into debt.

Sorry for stating the obvious but when people panic they don't always react rationally.

They're definitely sold in Home Bargains for less at the moment

Ooo thanks

This makes the most sense to me. Shop at ONE place i.e.LIDL. Get the app, you will save so much. They have coupons and vouchers that are better than buy this and you'll get 10% off that. The more you send there, the more you save. I've asked DH to tell me if I don't stick with this concept from now on.

Hate being ripped off by Waitrose/Tesco/Sanisbury's. The 'rewards' are hogwash anyway.