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

Thanks Harriet- v helpful- now to persuade hubby to get them from the loft- I think money is a good persuasion!
And if they pay postage, thats even better!!!

ppeatfruit, why do you say tinned veg have to be boiled for a while?
I never boil them , just heat em and eat em

No I mean they ARE boiled by the manufacturers

gah! must switch brain on

Wow ppeatfruit - never knew that. Thank you!

buddy80 there's a box in our local library for tin foil, milk bottle tops etc. when i was a child they were for guidedogs for the blind, i presume they still are, you could try googling.

For veg it's usually better to buy frozen - minerals and vitamins remain present, and no waste.

Google are canned veg good for you. Lots of differing views!

Dish water on plants? Do plants like soapy water ?

I'm sure I read somewhere that plants actually quite like soapy water, as long as its not TOO soapy.

Yes lapin I agree; when there's a draught in the summer and all my collected rainwater has run out I always put my washing up water on the garden and in my plant pots; I've never had any problems at all with them.

When you do the food shop add it up as you go round on a calculator, it stops impulse purchases.

You can motivate dcs to join in if they see that turning off lights is MONEY. Give them notebook and let them work out how much they save.

I wish that worked with husbands....He only leaves the expensive lights on too.

I took some of the lightbulbs out .

Fluffy, you could try it . Show him how many pints leaving a light on will buy.

I showed DS1 (aged 5) the way the little wheel on the electricity meter goes round when you turn appliances on. He is now obsessed .

that reminds me, i dont know where my meter is. must go and look for it. do all houses have one? (only moved in june)

another tip that i'm crap at is not taking your purse with you everytime you leave the house. i got into the habit of taking my purse everywhere incase i remember i need to buy something and then of course i go into shops just to see if there's anything i need (I always need chocolate apparently ). now i'm trying to only bring my purse with me on mondays (shopping day) to save all those random spends.

One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet and really useful with three boys and a DH in our house is when you put the new toilet roll on the holder give it a little squeeze so the cardboard tube is an oval shape. That way when little fingers pull at it, instead of reams flying off, they get the right amount.

Old cardboard box + cheapo tin foil + glue = radiator booster (reflects heat back away from wall when placed down back of radiator)

line curtains with fleece blankets (ikea do really cheap fleece blankets, but charity shops are another good source)

if you have a summer and winter duvet, use the summer one as a mattress topper.

thermals, thick woolly socks, fleeces all worn in the house (thermostat set to 14-16c between 5am-8pm)

go to bed earlier - i go at 8.30/9 (obv not to sleep that early!)

close curtains before it gets dark

install draught excluders - patchwork old clothes/ sleeves from old clothes stuffed with other old clothes and sewn (or closed with elastic bands)

warm dilute juice is great to warm up kids (or adults) after being outside (robinsons summer fruits is our favourite)

hmm...can you tell I like to be warm?!

Ones I want to use more this year

slowcooker - cheaper cuts of meat can be used, can make large quantities (well, ours is really too big for the 2 of us!) for freezing,

make more food from scratch - i used to be good, but then became quite unwell and energy levels fell. Getting back on track but its hard work. Im just taking it a day at a time.

Wearing a hat in winter keeps body heat in- mine are worn indoors and in bed when really cold, as well as bedsocks.

I just did my usual tesco shop. If you're buying things like tinned chickpeas (we're trying to eat less meat) make sure you look in the 'world foods' section - they are 4 for £1.00 there instead of £0.69 EACH in the 'tinned pulses and beans' section. Same with tinned tomatoes!

I've also decided to try swapping in some tinned fruit (instead of fresh) and the cheapest comes in syrup. I'll see how it is if I just wash the syrup off... or relax and let my children imbibe a bit of sugar!

Thank you again for this thread.

Forgot to say, this was online. Yes, I pay £3.50 for delivery but I always used to pay way more than that by not checking all the prices or on a couple of impulse buys. Also don't assume that the Everyday Value stuff is always the cheapest. (And you can go through your trolley to bring the price down if you have to).

Not money saving as such but more getting value for money out of gym membership. I'm just heading off for a class but I will follow that with sitting in the spa pool & steam room, having a shower using the supplied shampoo and conditioner, using the supplied towel of course, using the hair dryer, I take my toothbrush so will also brush teeth there. I'm paying a monthly fee, so I may as well get the most out of it, I go every day, sometimes more than once a day - as toddler is £5 a month for unlimited swimming.

So if you have membership to things, subscriptions to things, then make sure you get the most out of it.

harrietspy thanks for the tip on chick peas.

Asian supermarkets are meant to be really cheap but we dont have any local to us.

Be worth it for a big stock up though.