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.

Rather than buying kitchen and bathroom spray cleaners I dilute some flash cleaner with water and use it in an old spray bottle.
I also use bars of soap. They last so much longer than shower gel and I much prefer them.

And if you use powder in your washing machine, you’re almost definitely using too much. Use 1/3 less and you probably won’t even notice the difference. And stop ironing things unless they are shirts or essential. All it does is cost money.

Switch off and unplug electrical items. My freezer broke and my electricity bill plummeted. I've also stopped eating lots of ice cream

And other bacteria. For safety the temperature should be between 60-65C.

I'm looking at everything through the (perhaps morbid) eyes of DC if I dropped down dead - what would they just not want.

I have found since doing this that often clothes and products I think are maybe 1 or 2 years old are actually often 5 or 6 years old, and either a bit worn, dried up or generally not worth keeping. I don't like landfill but am being more ruthless about getting rid and not re-filling things. I only want 1 shampoo on the go in the bathroom etc. Being increasingly wary of more coming in has saved a lot of late night Amazon purchases.

Agree with pp about soap slivers, also use shampoo and body wash for washing wool jumpers etc. Don't use conditioner in clothes wash and find spray in hair conditioner much better at protecting the hair than something you literally wash away.

I keep hearing about air fryers reducing cooking times and gas/electric bills for meals. Does anyone know much about this and if it's a decent saving?

Instead of going to the supermarket we just eat what's in the house.

I've started eating quiches too

They're really cheap and dead filling. Tasty also

Just buy one newspaper at the beginning of the month and re-read it every day and whilst acting surprised.

Squat down behind the television and read bits of the newspaper out loud to the rest of the family, saves electricity by not have the TV news on.

At the end of each month tear the newspaper into small pieces and soak in water, then make ashtrays and other useful objects out of the papier-mâché for Christmas and birthday presents.

Join your local library and join Press Reader. This app gives access to most newspapers worldwide and almost every magazine. Newspapers can be read digitally rather than going out to buy them or having them delivered.

John Lewis gives a £5 Beauty credit if you bring along five empty, clean make up containers.

Read the labels of OTC medicines to check that the same active ingredients are included then buy own-brand at a fraction of the cost.

Order online birthday cards from Whistlefish or somewhere similar to have a ready supply of inexpensive but good quality cards.

Buy clothes in the sales for your child/grandchild to wear in 1 or 2 years’ time.

Keep good quality clothes if you think you might pass them on to family members. I recently gave my adult daughter a Burberry trench coat which I bought 30 years ago. Still in perfect condition, current retail price over £700. Similarly I’ve passed on to grandchildren my children’s smocked party dresses, classic wool coats, demin jackets.

Get a Mylee nail gel kit and do your own gel nails. The kit costs the same as 2 salon visits and saves me the £50 I was spending every 2 weeks.

Reduce the frequency that you wash sheets / towels / clothes to save on energy costs.

Don't bother with expensive fitted carpets. Ask at the carpet shop for old samples, then duck tape them to the undersides of your feet.

Turn the oven off a couple of minutes before you're ready to serve up. The temperature will remain high enough to continue cooking the food . Leave the oven door open when finished to warm up the kitchen.

Don't put the oven on too early. Most recipes tell you to do it at the beginning, whereas in most cases it doesn't need to go on until you're nearly ready to put in whatever you've made.

Use by dates can be safely ignored for at least one full day past.

If you're regularly buying things like shower gel, bleach, fabric conditioner etc, you're probably using far more than you need. MN talks about using multiple bottles of these a week whereas we seem to make them last at least a month, without actually feeling like we're skimping, just that we're not putting most of it uselessly down the drain.

That's interesting!

I cleared the bathroom of everything that there was more than one of and put it in a box in my wardrobe. When a bottle in the bathroom is finished i 'shop' from the box for something else. Weirdly it works and i haven't bought nearly as much shampoo etc, there's even new toothbrushes in the box. I must have been forgetting and rebuying.

Use cash back sites to order anything.

@SeatonCarew I'm sure you think you're hilarious! 🤔

I buy almost no cleaning products. Only vinegar, soda crystals and washing up liquid. For the washing machine i use the tiniest amount of whatever I've bought on sale plus soda crystals. Vinegar for fabric softener.

I thought about making laundry detergent but I'm wary of breaking the machine with soap and essential oils.

Also downgrade things you already have so if clothes have become too awful to wear out of the house use them as pyjamas, lounging and gardening clothes and take off your good clothes as soon as you get in so that they last longer. They can eventually end up in the dog bed or as cleaning rags.

No wipes or cotton wool for anything, just flannels.

I try to channel the 70s and repurpose as much as possible, envelopes and paper.

I do this with everything.
Only ever buy foundation in tubes, never bottles. It can go on forever!
I also buy a darker foundation and make up my own tinted moisturiser.
Most foundations are too thick and too expensive

when making cauliflower cheese, boil the cauliflower and use the water for half water half milk in the cheese sauce.

I've put one of those Asian squirty hoses next to my toilet (actually, attached to the shower attachment on the bath that I never used) so that I can wash rather than use toilet paper (which is way more expensive than I'd really thought about) - plus side is I feel much cleaner (and refreshed in winter - the water gets cold!), and it should also reduce the frequency I need to empty the septic tank.

I really hope you dont flush these tho!
your going to find your toilet roll savings are spent on a plumber eventually

Cream, crème fraiche etc that comes in a pot with a film lid gets transferred into an empty jam jar on opening to keep it fresher for longer. Unused cream (or going cheap at my local shop) I whisk into butter for cooking.

check the veg in the fridge mid week, anything I think may not be used is chopped up for a stir fry and frozen for another day.

Keep a jug in the shower/by the bath and let it fill with water that would otherwise go down the plug hole. Then use that to flush your toilet/water plants (just pour directly into the toilet)We always keep the bath water in for a while to get the heat/flush the loo/humidify the upstairs air for a better night’s sleep. We do it for environmental reasons but it also saves money