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Original poster

Green/sustainable living ideas that also save money...

52 replies

Startingagainandagain · 09/03/2024 14:05

I finally managed to buy a small own house with a garden & I am trying to both save money, be as sustainable as I can and make the best use of the space I have.

So far I:

  • started a vegetable and fruits garden to grow my own food
  • started an herb garden
  • collect rain water to use in the garden
  • furnished the house with second furniture I up-cycled and my own art & craft
  • joined my local 'freegle' group to keep an eye on free stuff that is offered
  • am saving to buy a bike so I don't have to rely on public transport as much
  • dry clothing outside as much as possible too
  • thinking of selling stuff I don't need (clothes) on Facebook Marketplace.

Are there any other tricks I am missing that you could suggest?

I don't have the money to do big things like install solar panels but I am looking for ideas that I might have overlooked :)

OP posts:
Decafflatteplease · 26/08/2024 15:28

forgotmyusername1 · 26/08/2024 08:46

Reducing food waste and the olio app have saved me a fortune. I have been using olio since March and in 6 months the app says I have saved £1250. In reality I wouldn't have bought some of the items and certainly not full price however we have knocked our grocery bill down to around £60 a week for a family of 4 largely due to my olio collecting. In order to make olio work you must have a freezer, you must be willing to go out after 9pm to collect and you must be polite to the fwh's who put themselves out to help the community. Most items get uploaded around 9pm and go pretty quick so if you look during the day it looks as though you can only get bread. That is not the case.

Edited

Id really like to use olio more as I use it alot for giving things away but not for collecting food as most of the listings are 2 miles plus away. It seems counterintuitive to drive for 2 miles of diesel money for a loaf of bread. I see that some people list a few items so potentially if I could get a few items from one person it would make it worthwhile but there's no guarantee of that is there unless I've misunderstood it? How far do you travel @forgotmyusername1

forgotmyusername1 · 26/08/2024 17:25

Decafflatteplease · 26/08/2024 15:28

Id really like to use olio more as I use it alot for giving things away but not for collecting food as most of the listings are 2 miles plus away. It seems counterintuitive to drive for 2 miles of diesel money for a loaf of bread. I see that some people list a few items so potentially if I could get a few items from one person it would make it worthwhile but there's no guarantee of that is there unless I've misunderstood it? How far do you travel @forgotmyusername1

Show quote history

I go up to 1.5miles but I will collect multiple items so generally if there is an item I really want then I will request that and if I get it I will look at what else they have and request some other items to make the journey worthwhile. Everything we get we use.

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