FOR FUN... what random things do you do in your home to save money/make things last longer?

[tiamariaxxx]

OK so at tea time my lovely husband has been teasing me because he thinks its strange i water down the washing up liquid once its near the bottom i fill it half way so that its not very runny, nd then he thought it was even stranger that weve got 2 full bottles in the cupboard... Even if i only get 2 more usage out of it its still saving isnt it?

I also water down the fabric conditioner and some other cleaning products.

I also try to re-use towels wherever possible i know people think its minging but you can imagine how many towels a family of 6 go through it would be a wash a day just for them if i didnt

Probilly other stuff aswell i do but cant think atm

I use a dessert spoon of washing powder per wash. Things come out clean and a 30 wash box of powder lasts 6 months. I do at least one load a day as well.

I cut things open to get the dregs out.

When cooking rice or pasta once I've put it into the pan and it's come back to the boil I turn it off. It cooks in about 12 minutes.

Buy spreadable butter (not Anchor) then reuse the tubs for freezer portions of stew etc.

99p shop baby flannels instead of baby wipes. Washed at 60 with the nappies then i put a dozen in a bowl with a drop of teatree oil and empty the rest of the boiling water from the kettle over after i make my morning coffee. Store in a resealable freezer bag.

Keep the heating on low all the time, it takes less energy than heating a whole house whenever i get cold.

Littleredsquirrel using lint from the tumble dryer is inspired!

The biggest saving I have made is putting heating onto manual rather than timed.. ok so its not been a really cold winter, but for the 30 seconds it takes us to get dressed in the morning I pop on my Halogen heater in my bedroom, and we all go in and get dressed in turn. Its still far more luxurious than growing up in the late 70's early 80's where we had no central heating at all and I had to get dressed in bed. I have saved around £40 - £50 per month on this alone. I also have a lovely fluffy dressing gown which is the modern day equivalent of a house coat.. I am michelin woman in this over my normal clothes

When drinking wine in a box, upon reaching what seem to be the last few drops, I open up the box to squeeze the last of the wine out of the bag inside the box don't we all?

I've been known to cut the bag open just to ensure there isn't any left. i feel I should be embarrassed by this but I'm really really not

I cut the toothpaste tube to get the last bit out :-) and DW always rinses the washing-up liquid bottle as the last 'wash'!