tell me your frugal ways

Cutting the end off tubes of handcream and moisterisers so that I can scrape every last bit out.

I do the same Chewbacca and it's amazing how much would be thrown away otherwise.

I put slithers of soap into a small muslin drawstring bag and use them like that.

Apparently you need no more than a tablespoon of washing powder in your laundry. The papery things to stop dye accidents can be cut in half to make them go twice the distance is another.

I mostly buy new clothes to replace items which are wearing out and ask myself if it'll go with what I already have (capsule wardrobe). I refuse to follow fashion for the sake of it as plain clothes without fancy details don't date. I repair items rather than throw away.

I splash out on things which make me happy.

My father used to do that thing with the soap. One of his favourites was Imperial Leather and my mother used Camay and he'd include bits of Coal Tar as well so we'd end up with a multicoloured mish mash of slithers of soap all stuck together with the indestructible Imperial Leather sticker perched on top.

A total waste of time IMO because there was absolutely no lather left.

I remember him teaching me to peel potatoes when I was about nine. He had a productive veg garden so there was never any shortage but he'd examine the peelings muttering, 'That's pure gold you've cut off there.'

Wash and dry zip sealer bags to reuse them. I wipe foil that I can reuse too. I buy cheap supermarket sauce and put it in a well known brand bottle. Which is usually over double the price. I have to splash out now and again to buy the dearer sauce for the bottle. I sometimes do it with porridge too fill the box with cheaper brand. I pick from hedgerow in summer therefore never buy blackberries. It’s not because I need too it’s just habit from childhood.

I remember him teaching me to peel potatoes when I was about nine. He had a productive veg garden so there was never any shortage but he'd examine the peelings muttering, 'That's pure gold you've cut off there.'

I remember my mother saying that her youngest sister 'wasted half the potatoes' because she peeled them too thick.
Mind you, she also said her other sister 'never spreads the butter up to the edges of the bread'.


DH threw away a third of my expensive hand-made soap, he really dislikes little pieces of soap, but I'll carry on until they are unusable!

I've just had a thought of what I can do with all those bits of soap!

Knit little bags for them and the bags will exfoliate too.a
They should smell lovely, a mix of expensive lavender, Cretan olive oil, coal tar and Imperial leather.

Why do you re-package cheaper brands into more upmarket bottles/packets Redhead?

Is it to fool the family into not knowing the difference, or to impress visitors (when we are allowed to have visitors)?

?

I do the same too Chewbacca and a friend of mine keeps the wax drippings and makes more candles out of them.
Ingenious.

I buy the fairly large pump bottles of body moisturiser. When no more comes out when using the pump, if I cut the bottle in two, there is about a quarter of the cream left inside to use! It’s all a bit messy, but worth it.

I wash the ziplock bags too, but I think that’s about all.

I seem to remember many moons ago a selling point of Pears’ soap was that the raised edge of a new bar was so you could press in the remains of the old bar.

Cutting the top off a washing up liquid bottle. Often another weeks worth left.

Using a bulldog clip to roll up a tube of toothpaste to get the last bit out.

So lets talk about wine boxes
I was an early adopter of wine boxes, so for years I've been throwing away possibly a vineyard or two by ditching the box when nothing was coming out of the tap.
Open the box, remove the inner bag and you'll find there's a good glass of wine left in it.

Saving the green leaves of a cauliflower and using them when making soup.

Oh, I'm loving this thread!!!! I cut open "empty" tubes to get the very last of the contents out too. I did this recently with some facial serum which I use twice a day, there was enough for almost a fortnights use!
Seemingly empty bottles are upended and left to drain to the opening, soap slithers are put in a crochet bag as an exfoliant, screws are recycled, wax wraps replaced food wrapping years ago........ oh my list is endless!

There are some great ideas on here.

I cut up my banana skins and place them around my plants. They condition the soil and roses in particular love them.

Used teabags - I put a few of these in when I am planting up pots as they enhance the compost and act as moisture retainers in the summer.

Which reminds me I water my indoor plants with any leftover cold tea. They thrive!

I always stick the sliver of soap to the next bar, and cut toothpaste tubes.

I am mean with kitchen paper. On the rare occasion that a use a piece, I tear it and use only half.

I will sit with a hot water bottle on my lap rather than turn the heating up.

I don't drink tea, but remember seeing my grandmother's hanging to dry on the washing line! I don't know how many times she used each one.

I too stick bits of soap together, but when I was at home, mum had one of these little soap savers.
A wire cage on a stick. She filled it with slivers of soap and swished it through the water to make it soapy for washing smalls.
Like one of these.

I cut plastic tubes of handcream, etc. in half - you can then push one part inside the other until you have used up the contents.

I have no frugal ways at all....only profligate ones ? but have enjoyed reading the thread.

I roll up the end of toothpaste tubes to get as much as possible out of them.
When I'm home alone I use each tea bag twice but would never do this for a visitor in case they could tell the difference which I can't.
I also throw banana skins and egg shells around my garden plants.
I use my cat as a foot warmer!

Actually, now that I come to think of it...I use DH as a foot warmer.

I use my gas central heating frugally, I am still as warm as toast and my annual bill is just over £300 and I live in a 3 bedroom house.

Mine is not set on a timer. When it was, the heating came on at 7.30 am. Now if it is cold enough I will switch it on when I get up so I may save 30 minutes. At the other end of the day if I go to bed early to read, provided it is not frosty I switch off my heating and may save an hour. All small but the saved times do mount up.