DH reuses old T shirts as polishing rags for the car
Old sheets are saved and used for furniture / floor covers when decorating
Old towels are passed on to friends with dogs or to the local vets
Clothes are recycled except one winter and one summer set of old 'working' clothes for jobs around the house and garden
Even really old clothes can be put in bags marked 'rags' and taken to charity shops where they are shredded and used for mattress stuffing
Put all little face / body cream samples into one pot and use it as an intensive overnight foot cream
Cut open plastic tubes of face cream, tooth paste, shampoo etc. It's amazing how much is left inside when you think it is empty
Grate up and freeze crusts of bread for ready made bread crumbs
Peel, slice up and freeze windfall apples for cakes, apple sauce etc
Slice lemons up and freeze in ice cubes so the lemon doesn't go off in the fridge.
In the winter at the end of the week, before food shopping I make 'fridge soup' using up all the odds and ends of vegetables, it is so quick and easy. Fry an onion and a clove of garlic in water until soft. Add whatever bits and pieces of vegetables you have left i.e. carrots, potatoes, leeks, cauliflower odds and ends. Add to pan with a vegetable stock cube dissolved in hot water (about half a pint) and then add a tin of chopped tomatoes and some seasoning. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the vegetables are soft. I use a stick blender to swish it up and produce a lovely warm and nutritious soup. This is a good way to get veggies into children who say they don't like them too.
I always, always make chicken stock
Don't use your oven to cook just one thing, fill up the space with a cake or biscuits.
Only buy what you need to eat, don't get suckered into BOGOFFs, or else divide with a friend
I save and reuse jiffy bags and present ribbons too. I reuse the rubber bands from the postman too.
Yep, you guessed right both DH and I have parents who went through the war :)