Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

What's the most extreme example of effort to save a few pennies you have heard of?

620 replies

wineoclockthanks · 26/04/2017 15:32

Lighthearted!!

Mine is someone who buys shirts/t-shirts and asks for the hangers, then returns the clothes minus the hangers.

I did mention that Wilkos sell 10 wire hangers for £1.75 but she was adamant it was worth it.

Please can I stress this is lighthearted, I am also on a tight budget and count my pennies so not judging at all.

OP posts:
BoyFromTheBigBadCity · 26/04/2017 15:33

Sibling drives so far for cheaper petroleum I'm sure it ends up costing more.

BoyFromTheBigBadCity · 26/04/2017 15:34

Petrol. You can tell autocorrect is USA English!

upperlimit · 26/04/2017 15:34

Mine is someone who buys shirts/t-shirts and asks for the hangers, then returns the clothes minus the hangers.

Wow. You've set the bar pretty high. Grin

Notsandwiches · 26/04/2017 15:36

My father takes the battery out of his clock at work when he is not there. He has oodles of cash. Perhaps this is why?

00100001 · 26/04/2017 15:36

Someone I know collects sauce sachets from restaurants and uses them to refill his ketchup bottle...

BarbaraofSeville · 26/04/2017 15:37

Buying McDonalds instead of taking packed lunch in order to get enough Monopoly stickers to get a free Now TV card.

I may have done this but I did win a coffee as well

claraschu · 26/04/2017 15:38

My father saved used matches, so he could reuse them by lighting a used one from an existing flame, (when available). He trained all of us to do the same; throwing out a match still seems decadent to me...

Vanillamanilla1 · 26/04/2017 15:39

I do that . Buy stuff with hangers then return stuff ( I don't need ) without
Wash dishcloths to reuse until they literally have holes in
Take home any unused sauces if I eat out
Extra paper napkins also for the handbag
If I use too much gravy and have leftovers I'll freeze it
Give the dog leftover food instead of feeding him his food if there is loads left that would make a plateful
Bulk buy cheese on offer then grate and freeze
Use a handful of lentils in a lot of dishes to bulk it out
Grow all herbs in the garden

SpuriouserAndSpuriouser · 26/04/2017 15:42

I knew someone at university who, when trusted with booking the flights for a family holiday to Spain, opted for flights with a lay-over of several hours. This changed the journey from a quick 2-3 hour flight to a whole day of travelling. He apparently saved a grand total of about £20 per person...

HarrietKettleWasHere · 26/04/2017 15:46

My grandparents water down the milk to make it go further and they will peg up a teabag to dry out and reuse.

I do keep telling them there's not a war on but they won't have it. They are actually very comfortably off.

Oh, and the fridge gets switched on in April and turned of again in November Grin

Hassled · 26/04/2017 15:46

I'm always a bit awestruck at the people who really go for the penny-saving; I'm way too lazy (even in my very skint days, which is presumably why I stayed skint so long).

I did a joint birthday party for one of the DSs years ago and the other mother involved insisted we drove to multiple supermarkets for the party food - so Asda had strawberries on offer, but then Tescos were cheaper for drinks that week, and then Sainsburys for somewhere else and so on. The petrol costs didn't seem to have occurred to her. It turned catering one smallish party into a major, stressful event.

Justmuddlingalong · 26/04/2017 15:48

Working in an elderly care home. We were told to wash and reuse disposable gloves. I wrote my resignation letter on the spot.

MyNameIsntTaken · 26/04/2017 15:50

DH, when we first moved in together was a nightmare. I've thankfully retrained him now.
He would walk around going to different shops for an hour to find something for less money and it was ridiculous things like cat food being 30p cheaper in a far away shop so travelling there instead of just going to the top of the road.
I love saving money, look after the pennies and all that....but he was just something else.

TroysMammy · 26/04/2017 15:50

I'm on a water meter and when running the tap for hot water I collect it in an empty 4 pint plastic milk carton. I then pour it into extra food waste bins I got from the Council for free. In addition to my water butt in the garden this water is used for my plants.

ShelaghTurner · 26/04/2017 15:51

We've been going through a very skint phase this year but had arranged to meet DH and my brother in Caffè Nero. Got there a bit late to find DH drinking hot water because he didn't have enough money for a teabag. He did, he had his debit card but was worried about using it. We might be skint but we can splash out on £2.50 for a coffee once in a while 🙄

BrownChickenBrownCow · 26/04/2017 15:54

I feel really daft. It never occurred to me to collect that water! Blush

expatinscotland · 26/04/2017 16:00

I saw an episode of Extreme Cheapskates that featured a man who, when at the cinema, raided the bins for drinks containers. He'd got into the men's room, wash the cup out and then take it the counter for a 'refill' so he got free fizzy juice.

Flortle · 26/04/2017 16:03

Reusing kitchen roll by hanging the wet pieces on pegs in the kitchen!!

BarbaraofSeville · 26/04/2017 16:03

I'm not on a water meter but I feel really guilty about the water that goes down the sink while waiting for the hot tap to produce some actual hot water. It just seems like such a waste.

But I need to team up with the people who go out of their way to collect hangers. They seem to breed in our house and I'm forever throwing them away sending them to the charity shop. It's not like either of us shop for clothes that often and I refuse as many as possible when I do go shopping.

GreenHairDontCare · 26/04/2017 16:07

Dh's brother turns EVERYTHING off before going to bed. Wifi, oven, kettle, everything that has a plug. Except the fridge freezer, although I'm sure he'd turn that off if he could.

It makes me smile but tbf he'd paid his mortgage off by his late thirties so perhaps we should all take a lead out of his book.

babymouse · 26/04/2017 16:07

My grandmother collects the wrapped cups at hotels and gives them to us as gifts! Shock

IHaveBrilloHair · 26/04/2017 16:09

I use my own teabags twice, I drink very weak tea!
When we were students we used to steal loo roll from the student bar, also glasses and ashtraysand roadworks when drunk

Cambergirl · 26/04/2017 16:09

I never thought about saving the water either. I'll definitely start doing that.
I do use my bath water to swill down the dog run though. ( If I've had a lush bomb it smells lovely!)

MaroonPencil · 26/04/2017 16:10

I am Shock at the fridge being turned off! Don't they lose on the thrown away gone-off food what they gain on the electricity?!

FreeNiki · 26/04/2017 16:11

Not so much saving pennies but outright grabby bastard.

One of my exes was in hospital and because he couldn't get out of bed they wanted to give him dvt stockings. He declined and made more effort to mobilise. He then lamented that he should have taken them and not worn them as they cost alot and he could have sold them on ebay.

I asked him if he was that hard up for a tenner. Hmm