Uncommon money saving tips

[Clarelita]

I'm wondering if anyone has any not so common money saving tips that you don't hear about that often. Things have always been tight for us and since COVID I must have read a hundred different articles and threads about saving money but it just seems to be the same tips that get brought out over and over again.

Here are a couple of mine:

I haven't had a haircut in years. When it gets too long I just cut it myself following videos on YouTube. And I always wear my hair up now so if it's a bit wonky no one will notice. Got some ideas for easy up Dos off YouTube too.

I turned down the boiler temperature and keep the showers as cold as I can tolerate to reduce the gas bill. My showers aren't cold but are warm rather than hot and I noticed a significant drop in gas consumption.

When I’m in the shower, I keep the plug in. The heat from the water makes the bathroom just a little bit warmer on cold days.

Making a big pan of stew or chilli and eating it for 3 days.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UUJOLY-Foaming-Dispenser-Refillable-Shampoo/dp/B07Y85KD15/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1JV6DU31S4KRA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qEKWppojIz01JhfP0Mb_2PNMIQCWcUYGzMNEt5eWOVZ7R0NrqOA1zVei03f0TDFWqriErZSEKGKf3MTqkepN0BZzKLcgLXzpCMd2PfxGKWI1K_jcFXQWGSyebrpcK-bvSgNqVxpm6UHGyLpbtNZZXmSGWgTq3sD2304HldnU-T2Z7clS08b43r0LY8fQys4c6CZKYrpMMDCJ2K9jcNCj4VIrinIQ5DTYmUELSUWTi6xsH-YstO6zweI_4daFO9Y3LiYqFjS0sBL3t--ZU8ig2zNf3NSOpDEN1nx8fbRnkCE.f_yD23aH1izBHlOTtcI84IVFVLo_HFMsb_gaSNWFx3U&dib_tag=se&keywords=foaming%2Bsoap%2Bdispenser&qid=1714595843&sprefix=foaming%2Bdis%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-5&th=1 sorry for the terrible link! Get these, they make soap and shampoo last AGES

I’ve started keeping a vegetable soup on the go, it uses up veg that is getting a bit sad, and works as a cheap meal , snack or filling first course, depending on what you want.
Carrots and potatoes are comparatively cheap and you can chuck in tinned tomatoes or any other veg you have to hand( bonus if you got it from the reduced section)!

Buy clothes out if season, do winter clothes in summer and vice versa.

In our house, At Christmas, adults water a draw. We buy for just one other adult in the family (think siblings and partners, kids whom turn 18). There's a limit to how.much we spend too.

My partner and I don't buy presents for each other, but go away somewhere fancy for a combined Christmas/ birthday present. We go in January, when mostbplacea have deals.

I leave water in the bath when I'm done and the door open, warms up the rest of the upstairs a bit!

Cut toothpaste tubes up. There's an awful lot left in the shoulders of the tube

One which I used to see a lot on the MSE old style board, but I haven't seen anywhere else is to buy full fat milk and dilute it. I imagine it depends how much milk you get through, as to whether it's worth it, but people with children who drank a lot of milk used to swear by it. I suppose it also cuts down on trips to the shops to buy milk that then expand to include other things.

I cut shampoo/ conditioner/ moisturiser/ foundation tubes too- always loads in them.

I use bar soap in the shower & sinks. Initially for environment reasons, but it's better for our skin & definitely lasts way longer. I pick really lovely ones up in TK Maxx- they last months.

On that theme, TKMaxx always have brilliant beauty red stickers- I'm forever having a good look there.

I buy my friends & sisters beauty item treats for birthdays they wouldn't splash out on. They repay the favour/ buy me a Boots gift card to buy make-up skin care when I need it.

We've cut out Xmas gifts for adults completely, which makes birthdays more special.

I make a Christmas list for expensive things I actually need like moisturiser, olive oil and good honey. I don't mind not getting exciting gifts. It cuts down on some of my biggest grocery costs.

I don't pay for WiFi/broadband. Literally no point as I can just hotspot from my mobile phone for £10 per month. I WFH and always have enough data for streaming and video calls. Sign up to airtime rewards and cashback covers my phone bill so basically free internet & phone services.

No TV = no TV license. I don't bother with netflix or anything like that. Just catch up with old friends in the evening, read a book or do other stuff.

I buy faith in nature shampoo in massive bulk containers and use the same product for body wash and hand wash. It's all pretty much the same thing they just market them all differently. Been doing this for ages now.

Same with liquid foundation and moisturiser, loads left even when the pump shows it's empty.

I make a Christmas list for expensive things I actually need like moisturiser, olive oil and good honey. I don't mind not getting exciting gifts. It cuts down on some of my biggest grocery costs

I was just going to add this! DH has a list given of perfume/ moisturiser/ hand cream/ hair products/ nice foods.

With old christmas and birthday cards, I cut the pictures off to use as gift tags for gifts.

Biodegradable toilet wipes work out cheaper than toilet rolls. We use the Aldi/lidl ones.

Don't buy new clothes until something falls to bits and then only buy second hand.

Know your cheap shops! Know what's cheapest where.

Subscribe to YNAB. It sounds counter intuitive paying for a budgeting app, but I save many times more for having it than the fees.

Charity shop for kids games/ puzzles and books.
Buy toiletries including make up in bulk.
Hot water dispenser instead of kettle - less cleaning and only boils one cup at a time.
Home gym instead of a gym subscription
No sky just free on demand, then switch between Netflix Disney paramount and now tv, 6 months or so.
Voucher pages and competitions

Cultivate a slight feeling of scarcity.

eg Keep an old container for something eg ketchup. When you get a new one, decant maximum of a quarter into the old bottle and hide the new bottle away and top up when needed. Everyone is more careful using an emptier container and it will last longer. Present a new full-up bottle and folks will squeeze with reckless abandon as it all feels plentiful. Bonus points if you rig the new bottle to have a smaller opening - feels like you could march an elephant through the orifice of a washing up liquid bottle these days.

If you put a whole pack of biros in an accessible drawer, people will be careless with them and the pack will disappear instantaneously. One biro will be kept safe and nurtured to the end of its natural life.

The principle is universal.

@MrsBobtonTrent yes! Although I don't take it to that level.

After years of overbuying I'm not buying anything until the last of anything is finished. I have enough pens and stationery to last a good decade! So I will be buying no more.

Socks - at least 3 years worth. Etc.

I started this in lockdown and only bought my first bra in 4 years this week. I just had too many.

I'm saving a fortune.

Also just making do where you can and not being so particular about things.

Be careful about turning your hot water down too much. You can breed legionella.

Does anyone bother with conditioner for fabric or hair anymore?

Never mind conditioner instead of shaving foam, I just use bar soap and have done for years.

@MrsBobtonTrent I am tickled at the outrageous thought of elephants marching out of washing up bottles, like donething trippy in Fantasia.

I don’t know about unknown but I save money by making pancakes (one egg one cup of flour and one cup milk)

this is a great filler and I do them at least twice or three times as week for the kids. really cheap!!

I bulk buy cards when I see them sold cheaply eg Asda

This isn't uncommon but LIBRARY!

I love our library. If someone recommends a book I can reserve it online from any library in the county rather than shelling out on Amazon.

I can also go in and judge books by their covers and get a proper haul. I can renew/drop off with reckless abandon for free!

They also have BorrowBox so I have audiobooks to listen to.

I have a few but they aren’t nice 🤣 we grew up poor

• We used to run one bath and share bath water. Mum first, me, then bro.
• Collect all the bar soaps when they get tiny, melt them in to one big frankensoap.
• All lights off at night, couple of tea lights for “ambience”.
• Beans on toast for dinner a few nights a week. In fact beans can be substituted for mince in a lot of recipes.
• keep the skin on mashed potato, you get more food for your money
• I don’t think we ever ate lunch at home regularly and if we did, it was paste or marmite sandwiches which went a really long way
• Grate your cheese on toast, don’t slice it, you use less and cover more area
• stale bread in milk bulks up a meal
• we used to eat this awful dinner of canned meat with mustard and white sauce with old homemade breadcrumbs but everyone else seemed to like it 🤣 must have cost barely anything
• you don’t need to cut the shampoo bottles open, you can just refill with water and shake. You can do this around 3 times.
• hair conditioner, don’t rinse it off, put a little 10p size piece on damp hair. It goes further
• weetabix with water not milk

theres loads but you kind of forget them