What thrifty things do you do that you're surprised no one else does?

Haven’t bought new clothes or shoes for 5 years but now really missing charity shops.
I’ve also covered the cost of an short city break by selling vintage things I’ve bought on eBay or in my Etsy shop. I have been know to ‘rescue’ items from the tip, my best being some curtains which sold for £150 !

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I only use my tumble dryer in the winter or if we have a spell of really bad weather. I drain the water from the condenser store it in bottles and add a drop of lavender oil and use it in my iron. I would never buy ‘ironing water’

I cut the ends of tubes of hand cream etc to scrape out every last drop.

Take the tops off shampoo, bath stuff etc and run under the tap to get the last out of those. It's amazing how many bubbles you get when it looks empty!

I too cut across an ‘empty’ tube eg toothpaste. It’s amazing how much is actually left inside. You can use the bottom bit of tube to recover the product end by squishing one inside the other.

I go though my cards before throwing them out after Christmas and cut suitable bits up to make gift tags for the next year. I use a hole punch to make a hole in one end and thread through a bit of contrasting embroidery thread.

Glenfinnan would your water trick work in a hard water area? Our tap water is apparently as hard as it gets so I always buy ironing water.

I save used envelopes and use as scrap paper to write lists or notes. I put my chicken carcass in the slow cooker with an onion, carrot and herbs and water. Use for soup and stock. We get large plastic bags through the door for charity collections so I save those for bin bags or charity shop donations. I get White Company botanic candles as a gift from time to time. They’re expensive so rather than throw them out, when burnt down I put a tea light in and it gives a similar effect.

I only use half a sheet of kitchen roll at a time, which I can sometimes rinse and re-use.

For all the hand washing I am doing these days I am using a load of old face flannels as towels and putting them in the washing machine after use to go with the next load.

I am another who uses left over bread or crusts for crumbs in the freezer. Great for topping, coatings and individual portions of bread sauce.

I suppose batch cooking is my best economy in terms of food waste and time spent cooking. Overall I am not very thrifty having grown up with very little now that we are better placed I enjoy some luxuries but we still save.

Lots of my tips already posted. I remember my Grandma used to not only boil up the chicken carcass for stock, but afterwards, when the carcass was completely stripped and dry, my Grandfather used to grind it up for bonemeal for his garden (never tried this myself). My garden tips would be the usual inside of toilet rolls to make little seed pots (especially good for sweet peas that need a deep root) plus saving the plastic containers that mushrooms and other veggies come in to grow seeds (the clear plastic ones that have a plastic lid are also really good as a propogator).

Granny bags I do the very same. I freeze left over wine in the ice cube tray and store it in bags for when needed for certain recipes. I’ve bought older furniture from charity shops or car boot fairs, paint them because they generally are made better and I hammer paint tin lids back on and turn the tin upside down, so when you open the tin again the skim of paint is in the bottom of the tin. I’ve bought lovely bentwood dining chairs for £10 each, I still have them and love them. We should have a forum on household tips/cleaning/maintenance etc?

I don't fly mostly I don't holiday abroad but if I do its Europe by train. And I have given up my car because I live in London and get free public transport.

Any tube that contains conditioner, shampoo, eye cream, face cream, hand cream etc always gets cut in half. The residue can often last a week or more from what looks like empty tubes.

I love a challenge and can make a meal from pennies which is lovely, I make my own cakes and pasties also. I buy yellow sticker food when I can and can buy 500g of mince for 40p and turn it into chilli,cottage pie of lasagne and freeze the leftovers in portions. I make curries from leftover chicken or beef in my slow cooker and freeze what is left. I also buy wonky fruit and veg and make soups etc. Cauliflower cheese soup is fabulous and cheap if you can buy cheap veg. I also buy reduced double cream and turn it into butter which is so pure and tasty plus cheap. I love cooking and enjoy finding a bargain and turning it into something special. I think I got this from my lovely nan who was an inspiration to me. I always spend time when shopping and compare pack sizes as an example asda were selling hob nob biscuits and the twin pack on rollback was the same price as the single pack so always worth taking time to look for the offers.

Instead of wrapping paper I made some fabric gift bags. I love the Japanese idea of wrapping gifts in fabric and have seen a wonderful idea of using scarves from charity shops for this. It is hubby’s birthday soon and...I haven’t been in a shop (other than the chemist) since before the start of lockdown...so it will be fabric.
I hated the idea of buying something to then throw it away. I also made fabric bottle bags....great fun.

We give each other the same xmas and birthday cards each year
Been doing it for 40 yrs. Makes us laugh each time we receive them. Small things amuse us.

Hubby and I love Tea.....we’ve changed from using tea bags to using loose tea. The leaves get repurposed onto our garden.
I hate the..dunk the tea bag in the cup..tea. I prefer tea from a pot...so it was a natural progression.
Metal tea pots don’t work as well as pottery and the tea isn’t in the pot long enough to warrant the need for a tea cosy.

I buy a medium size bag of potatoes on my grocery order every week as pots are a staple with our meals,
When the new bag comes whatever is left in the old bag I make into mash and freeze it and use it to put on top of shepherds/cottage pie when I need it,

I buy a joint of sirloin/rump/topside of beef and cut it into steaks, it saves a small fortune.
I too recycle gift bags,it`s become a joke with friends and family.

When I used to wear tights I used to cut them up and us them for tying up floppy plants in the garden !
Net body scrubbers end up being used to clean the bath etc, followed by a wipe round with a microfibre cloth.
Any pump containers from beauty products are washed out and re used - I find it a lot easier to decant bottles of bodylotion into one of those, especially when your hands are slippy from the lotion and you are getting to the bottom of the bottle! I do the same for hand lotion. You should also see the mixture of shower gel I have in one pump bottle!
Like others I put the last bits of chicken in a bag in the freezer to use later - brilliant chucking them into a pot with odd bits of veg for a soup.
Breadcrumbs - son is gluten intolerant so turn the crusts of his GF loaf into crumbs to use.

I turn everything upside down, salad cream, washing up liquid, etc. to get the very last drops out.
I keep white paper, backs of letters, envelopes, and cut them to size then staple them to make little notebooks for shopping lists etc.
Any left over vegetable etc I simply cover with cheese sauce and eat. Anything tastes good with cheese sauce.

Like some others, I always cut the end off hand cream tubes, or any other tubes, there’s always loads left in the apparently empty tubes.

Cut the top off toothpaste and other tubes, leaving about 3cm at the bottom. There’s always enough left for at least two more weeks’ use. Cover the top with the cut-off bit overlapping

I always cut the buttons off shirts and other clothes for my ‘button tin ‘. It’s surprising how often they come in handy!

A little thing to add to this fabulous list but one I learnt from my mum. When making a roast beef dinner with yorkshire pudding, save the last little bit of batter mixture to thicken the gravy.