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 😂

[Aria999]

@Penguintears I have done it with fresh pasta, it was a bit like warm but edible.

Not tried it with dried.

[martinsmoneysaver]

@Discovereads

Heat just one room, usually living room, spend all waking time there.
Turn off radiators everywhere else.
Sleep at least two to a bed (heat off at night) or get an electric blanket.
Stop using hob and oven- ie Cold tinned soup is cheap and nutritious. If you eat from the tin, only a spoon to wash.
No showers or baths- use kettle to heat water for flannel baths/hair washing
No electric lights at night, candles are cheaper and add warmth to the room
In winter, turn off fridge and store food outside in a cool box
Get a solar charger for phone/pads
Cancel broadband- Use free wifi at library or in hotel lobbies or in churches (wherever is in walking/wheeling distance). Free heat sometimes free food there too.
Don’t use a TV/radio
Talk to co-op manager and find out when they throw out the food that’s on its sell by date, go and beg for a rummage before the food goes in the bin. (If you’re able bodied, you can just dumpster dive).

oh when we were on harder times and still had a prepay meter, we ran out of electricity in the bath (winter it was freezing as no heating and pitch black very scary) I had to get my 2 (very small at the time 2 and 3) out of the bath in the freezing cold and pitch black and try to find a lighter or torch.
We used candles every bath after that. Its surprising how much they can warm a room. Plus for bath and bed the low lights help get everyone sleepy.
It happened a fair few times but dh was always home to put the emergency on. that time he was at work.
Another reason why we tag team!
I don't think I could wash a child alone again after the trauma of that night 😅

Actually on the subject, one way gardeners keep their greenhouses warm above freezing during a frost is by putting a tealight underneath a terracotta pot . the pot heats up. I wonder if you were having trouble with heating if it would warm a room up for you.
my nan used to keep river stones (the big ines bigger than a man's fist) on the electric fire (you know the ones, metal boxes with the toaster grill lines under a metal cage) and they would stay hot for ages after the fire was out. you could still burn your hand after an hour if you touched it.

[Cynderella]

@Penguintears

I would love this to be true! Would also cut down on steam/damp in the kitchen. Has anyone tried it?

I bring water to boil, add pasta, bring back to boil with lid on and turn off gas. Same with rice. Just before serving, I turn gas back on if rice needs a bit longer to absorb all of the water.

[Ballsaque]

Washing powder tends to work much better at higher temperatures.

I’ve started washing general laundry on 20 rather than 30 (sometimes add a bit of laundry cleanser).
it’s better to use liquid if washing at low temps.

I do bedding and towels on 60 and that’s when I’ll use powder instead.

[NippyWoowoo]

Surely for all the people showering and styling at the gym, if more people make a point of doing this daily due to rising costs, it will only mean rising gun memberships as well?

[RedToothBrush]

@DahliaMacNamara

Someone on Twitter says that her electricity costs were noticeably reduced by switching everything off at the sockets when not in use. I always thought that would be pennies rather than pounds saved, but perhaps it depends what kind of appliances you normally have plugged in. Worth a go, anyway.

Do it.

We've got a smart meter and when we first got ours, we spent ages turning everything off to see how far down we could get the reading. It was surprising how much you could switch off and how much it saves over time.

[Discovereads]

@martinsmoneysaver

oh when we were on harder times and still had a prepay meter, we ran out of electricity in the bath (winter it was freezing as no heating and pitch black very scary) I had to get my 2 (very small at the time 2 and 3) out of the bath in the freezing cold and pitch black and try to find a lighter or torch.
We used candles every bath after that. Its surprising how much they can warm a room. Plus for bath and bed the low lights help get everyone sleepy.
It happened a fair few times but dh was always home to put the emergency on. that time he was at work.
Another reason why we tag team!
I don't think I could wash a child alone again after the trauma of that night 😅

Actually on the subject, one way gardeners keep their greenhouses warm above freezing during a frost is by putting a tealight underneath a terracotta pot . the pot heats up. I wonder if you were having trouble with heating if it would warm a room up for you.
my nan used to keep river stones (the big ines bigger than a man's fist) on the electric fire (you know the ones, metal boxes with the toaster grill lines under a metal cage) and they would stay hot for ages after the fire was out. you could still burn your hand after an hour if you touched it.

I see you are wise in ways of seriously going without. 😉

[girlfriend44]

The ones like hang washing outside are old hat. People have always done that. Trouble is in the freezing cold winter when it's dark at 4pm it just dosent dry.

[blueshoes]

Kettles use a lot of energy. You don't have to wait for the kettle to pop. Turn it off before it gets to boiling if hot (not boiling) water will do.

[Discovereads]

@NippyWoowoo

Surely for all the people showering and styling at the gym, if more people make a point of doing this daily due to rising costs, it will only mean rising gun memberships as well?

Or gyms going under and closing. If it’s £5/week and you use more than that in hot water and electricity, they won’t survive. Especially since businesses have higher energy rates than we do.

[martinsmoneysaver]

@CuppaTeaAndSammich when we still lived in a flat, I found a group that plants orchards in parks all around the country. I can't remember what they are called but I googled something obvious like 'community orchards in my local area' and there were about 10 gardens and gardens free and open to the public in my city alone.

I never buy fruit in last summer all the way through winter. (ps if you have an apple tree or know of one. everyone does. you can store apples for 4 months in a cool room.)
that's apple crumbles for winter, we put chopped apple in porridge and the kids eat them all winter until we run out. you will have to peel them because the skin goes all wrinkly.
blackberries are another easy one. We make jam and use the old jam jars friends and family give me so the cost for roughly 8-10 jars of jam is 60p for 1kg of sugar. takes energy on the hob but we'll worth the savings if you're a jam lover like me.

We have a garden now and a veg patch and it's soo productive with minimal effort but takes money for seeds and compost.
However if you wait until August next year when Wilkinson and other shops have their sale you can get the seeds 70% off. That's 5p, 15p, 30p etc for good quality seeds.
Compost is also on sale end of season but you have to be quick. I never get it in time.

I guess an easy one is leave the oven door open after cooking to warm the room.

If you are really struggling with heating, children's pop up tents are so warm to sit in. so if you're worried about keeping your little ones warm, a pop up tent will do the trick.

[Cynderella]

@RedToothBrush

Do it.

We've got a smart meter and when we first got ours, we spent ages turning everything off to see how far down we could get the reading. It was surprising how much you could switch off and how much it saves over time.

I think the savings are minimal for one device, but we have so many that it's got to be worth doing because whatever is saved is saved every single day.

[ClaryFairchild]

The candle thing, a lit candle can apparently keep you alive in a car in extreme cold if you get stranded.

Other things that I find useful, but that's because of the way electricity tariffs run in Australia (prob diff to UK) - cheapest electricity is 10 am - 3 pm (because of everyone's solar power going into the grid) so I try to do laundry etc during that time slot, put dishwasher into delay to start then. Next cheapest time is 1 am - 6 am so I delay dishwasher start to that time slot if I need.

Same with tumble dryers if I need. I rarely need to use the tumble dryer as I have a massive veranda to dry things under, but as I am allergic to fabric softener I do use it for my towels.

We have solar panels, so that is a huge saving. I live with my DM and she needs heating on through the winter due to disabilities.

If I were to get solar panels again I would definitely spend the extra to get a battery. (Likely to move 3-5 years so not worth it here). Power authority in our state have the ability to turn solar output off in random areas on super sunny days to prevent overloading the grid, and this has the side effect of turning off solar power production for all places in that area. So on the sunniest/hottest of days I can randomly revert to paying for power instead of being able to generate my own.

[Quackpot]

Freeze the leftover portions and end crusts of the loaf. Always. Even if it's just a serving spoon full of food. When you are running out of food eat the random pots of casserole or bolognaise or pie mix etc in toasties or have them on toast.

[TheWayoftheLeaf]

@Twillow

Use washing powder, not liquid (better for the machine anyway) and half the amount of washing powder it says unless it's really dirty stuff. Don't bother with fabric conditioner either, you honestly won't notice the difference. If you like a fragrance, put a capful of zoflora-type stuff in instead.

Zoflora is hazardous to marine life. Please don't put it into the water system.

[martinsmoneysaver]

that's shocking!
why aren't electric companies investing in batteries amd using domestic solar panels to charge them? of they're producing enough to overload the national grid!

[mamabear715]

It's blackberry time - free food & a walk for exercise! :-)

[AiryFairyLights]

I’ve started adding extra items to my fortnightly shop so for example, I’ll buy 6 tins of beans instead of 4. Couple extra tins tomato’s, packet soups etc - now I have a large crate with extras I keep adding to for those times when money is tight!
>Always have a meal if you’ve got potatoes beans eggs and bread.
>Last year I started adding a ten or twenty pound gift card onto my shopping in Lidl and saved them throughout the year - gave some to my sons before Christmas and used the rest for my own Christmas shop. Not done it this year am kicking myself now x

[Sapphirensteel]

@martinsmoneysaver

@CuppaTeaAndSammich when we still lived in a flat, I found a group that plants orchards in parks all around the country. I can't remember what they are called but I googled something obvious like 'community orchards in my local area' and there were about 10 gardens and gardens free and open to the public in my city alone.

I never buy fruit in last summer all the way through winter. (ps if you have an apple tree or know of one. everyone does. you can store apples for 4 months in a cool room.)
that's apple crumbles for winter, we put chopped apple in porridge and the kids eat them all winter until we run out. you will have to peel them because the skin goes all wrinkly.
blackberries are another easy one. We make jam and use the old jam jars friends and family give me so the cost for roughly 8-10 jars of jam is 60p for 1kg of sugar. takes energy on the hob but we'll worth the savings if you're a jam lover like me.

We have a garden now and a veg patch and it's soo productive with minimal effort but takes money for seeds and compost.
However if you wait until August next year when Wilkinson and other shops have their sale you can get the seeds 70% off. That's 5p, 15p, 30p etc for good quality seeds.
Compost is also on sale end of season but you have to be quick. I never get it in time.

I guess an easy one is leave the oven door open after cooking to warm the room.

If you are really struggling with heating, children's pop up tents are so warm to sit in. so if you're worried about keeping your little ones warm, a pop up tent will do the trick.

Takes time but make your own compost. Either a compost heap if you have a spare corner in the garden, a compost bin ( try Freecycle or Gumtree freebies sections) or even an old dustbin will holes drilled in it. Chuck in fruit and veg peelings, banana skins chopped up, coffee grounds, everything except meat and bones. Collect dead leaves if you walk in woods, doesn’t take long to fill a carrier bag. Grass cuttings. Keep turning it. As long as it’s got air it’ll make heat and by next Spring you’ll have compost.
You can buy compost accelerator powder or make your own. ( Google it, though it’s liquid not powder)

[RedToothBrush]

@martinsmoneysaver

that's shocking!
why aren't electric companies investing in batteries amd using domestic solar panels to charge them? of they're producing enough to overload the national grid!

We bought solar earlier this year, but didn't get the battery. It was really expensive and had a short life span.

When we looked at our usage, we wouldn't make the cost of the battery back in the course of its life time. We calculated this based on what we thought would happen going into October this year.

Now, we are probably at the point where we may regret this decision due to the prices having increased so much - but my point here is that it didn't make economic sense until very recently indeed to make that kind of investment especially on the scale you are talking here.

We do plan to get a battery eventually, but our feeling was that the technology just wasn't quite there and the cost was just a touch to much for us to afford right now.

[sue20]

@Creepymanonagoatfarm

Do not have multiple dc or dpets.
Wish I had thought of this many moons ago...

What does this mean?

[AiryFairyLights]

Another one I forgot to add - when the supermarkets have their parsnips and Brussels on offer I buy loads, peel, cut up and freeze in portions!
Both sprouts and parsnips cook beautifully from frozen

[martinsmoneysaver]

@AiryFairyLights

Another one I forgot to add - when the supermarkets have their parsnips and Brussels on offer I buy loads, peel, cut up and freeze in portions!
Both sprouts and parsnips cook beautifully from frozen

oh the lidl £1.50 boxes
I've had loads of onions, amd other veg I just spend a few hours chopping (listing or watching something) and put it all in the freezer. I hate chopping onions so doing it all at once and only having to grab a freezer bag for meals is good enough without the money saving.