Small money saving habits...petty even

[Buddy80]

Hi,

I was just thinking of some of the small habits i've gotten into from habit and though i'd share...

I know some of them have probably been mentioned before

Always break a dishwasher tab in half
Water down fabric conditioner to get 2 bottles instead of 1
Freeze unwanted bananas for cakes
Chop up apple cores for the birds
Save pumkin seeds for planting
Save envelopes for seeds from old calendars
Use old envelopes for shopping lists if not reused
This one is stingy [embarrassed]...intead of buying a calendar, I just print off monthly from on-line planner. It gets amended anyhow and easier just to put on pinboard
Save old flyers to make paper chains.
Add handful of porridge oats to make crumble go further

[WellThatsLife]

We always used to forgot to switch modem off at night so put it on a timer switch so that goes off at the time we go to bed and comes on in morning, still try to remember to switch off though

[OnTheBottomWithAWomansWeekly]

dotnet the IKEA sheepskins can go in the washing machine, I discovered (being too mean to pay for drycleaning!)

They shrink a bit, and the wool goes into clumps, but I brush them out again when dry with an old hairbrush and they go lovely and soft and fluffy.

[jaabaar]

Just marking it for future ref!

I do surveys on one very good website and mke abt 15 pounds a month. Points u earn u can convert to vouchers and voucher codes (eg amazon)

Google mysurvey uk

[dotnet]

I buy the cheapest shampoo, big bottle, about 40p I think. And THEN I dilute a small shot of the shampoo with hot water. It still washes well, and I like it because I kid myself it's better for my hair to use a weak solution.
Doing frequent small shops rather than one or two bigger ones gives you a better chance of finding reduced stuff at the supermarket.

I take the risk of WASHING jackets by hand, not dry cleaning them. I've always found, touch wood, it works fine. I also wash RUGS (in the bath.) If I didn't do that, I'd feel I had to chuck them out when they get grubby. In the summer they dry OK on the washing line. If you want to try it - buy a baby bath from a charity shop (or use the one you have) for transporting the heavy, wet rug from your bathroom to the washing line. All good exercise!

[missnevermind]

No ball in value dishwasher tabs.

[Buddy80]

It is just for the solid dishwasher tabs x

[katspaw]

This cutting up the dishwater tab lark, what do you do with the ball?

[KitWillDoodle]

Double thumbs up for cutting the dishwasher tablet in half, tried it yesterday, washed just as well as a full tablet, delighted, thank you!

[KitWillDoodle]

My son is potty training now, but when I used to do the shopping, kept seeing the Sainsburys own brand el cheapo nappies for like £1.41 for 20 and wondering if they'd be any good. Eventually chucked a pack in the trolley and I swear I wish I'd started using them earlier, absolutely fine. Not the best for a bigger mess and no good overnight, but if we were just staying in or not going far I'd use them to replace the more expensive nappies during the day and they were perfectly alright, saved me a fortune, as I said, only wish I started doing it earlier.

[katspaw]

An "unseen cost" that bothers me is that little red light on your extension lead:

20mA @ 240V x 24hrs x 365days x 12p/kwh = £5/annum

I have also bought a Belkin remote control extension lead that switches up to 7 appliances at once.

Acknowledged that the remote control device consumes some power in itself but it is easy to use (rather than scrambling round the back of the telly) and, in my case, switches off 5 AV devices all at once.

[hooper02]

when shampoo, conditioner,washing up liquid etc appears to be empty, stand them upside down, the thick liquid drains to the bottom(the lid) and you can often get a few more uses out. I also hide last toilet roll in pack so that we don't end up having to buy expensive brands from corner shop when people use the last of it and don't tell me

[ArtemisatBrauron]

Razors - Boots sell holders for the old-fashioned "switch blade" razors very cheaply and then the blades are far cheaper to replace than venus razors/disposables (£2.50 for 10 blades) plus all you are throwing away is a small piece of metal instead of huge plasticy things!
razor handle: www.boots.com/en/Wilkinson-Sword-Classic-Double-Edge-Razor_29697/
blades: www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&productId=12444

Deodorant - Lush sell one (aromaco) which is essentially like solid stick deodorant without the stupid plastic packaging, so you can use 100% of the product you purchase.

[OnTheBottomWithAWomansWeekly]

I notice my roots round my forehead mostly and the last time I dyed, I used a small glass ramekin, and mixed the dye and developer with a cotton bud.

I then used a cotton bud to apply just round my hairline and up my parting - I reckon I used less than 1/8th of each bottle, and 2 weeks later it still looks OK. Also, much much less harsh on your hair, as you are only dying the new roots.

[Buddy80]

Nice to see this thread has come back

[meddie]

You can use any old oral syringes you have to measure.

[meddie]

as long as you mix the dye and developer in a seperate bowl and use the right ratios of one to the other you can get away with only using a part of the kit.
EG the kit I got here has 72ml creme and 48ml developer so if I just want to use half I would mix 36mls of creme with 24mls of developer. Saving the other half for a touch up later down the line.
If I want to use a third I would use 24mls of creme and 16mls of developer.

[Bikemam]

I use 999 inks on line. They are fab, good ink and fast delivery. Far cheaper than in shop. The web site is Wendy to follow so easy togetright ink for your machine.

[MushroomSoup]

Oooh! Really interested in the hair dye thing. I have very short hair but need to touch up every 3 weeks or so. I'm always about how much I have to throw away. How do you save it?
By only mixing up half?

[RandomMess]

IamSheWhoMust - sugru - it's silicone sugru.com/

[storynanny]

If I'm making large spaghetti Bol or lasagne to last for 2 days, I only buy smallest jar of sauce, empty it out into meat, add about water to the empty jar, put the lid back on, give it a good shake and add it to the recipe. Gives you loads more sauce and doesn't seem to be too runny.

[cerealqueen]

Yes purty, I do that with my hair dye too. I sometimes just do an even smaller mix doubling the mixture as suggested for a strand test to do the first resistant greys that come through. I only use a full box 1 or 2x year for a full head to refresh the whole colour.

[Buddy80]

Thank you . It's easy to do and saves a few quid. That's why I started this thread x