tell me your frugal ways

cornishpatsy

I am almost tempted to buy some Imperial Leather just to use it the right way.

I'm sure I have a bar somewhere in my stash!

B.O. didn’t exist until Lifebuoy invented it. Before that everyone just smelled but nobody noticed.

This is the thread that just keeps giving ???

I saved foaming soap containers and refill them with a mix of dish detergent, lemon juice and water- The dish detergent lasts much longer- I clean with lemon juice and baking soda, it works great inside the oven-

(If you get candle wax on cloth, wash it but don't put it in the dryer because the heat brings out the stain- Let it air dry-)

My youngest is a clothes horse and is in a certain industry so many things get passed to me for free-

I add chianti, garlic and capers to Aldi marinara-

I don't have cable tv- I don't pay for streaming services but "borrow" them from family members ?

I used to have a bath sponge made of a sheet of foam folded in 3 and stitched along the ends, leaving an opening (a bit like a pillowcase) that you could slip all the leftover bits of soap into. Then you just got it wet, rubbed it a bit and it would lather up for washing yourself. Sadly it disintegrated and I never found another.
I always stand the bottle of washing liquid upside down when it is 'empty' and it's surprising how much ends up in the cap.
When I was a girl my Gran showed me how much sugar gets into the folds of its bag and ever since I've completely opened out the bag to get the last bit out.

A word of caution. A few years ago (on obviously a poor tv evening) I decided to melt down stubs of lipstick in a pot “to create a wonderful shade that will be your very own” or that’s what the magazine I had been reading said! All was going well, I had stirred it a couple of times but when I was lifting it out of the microwave I felt a sneeze coming on. I stifled it but spilled the boiling wax on my hand and right arm.

Picture the scene a while later in a cubicle at A&E with an incredulous doctor staring at me when I explained how my arm came to be a very vivid shade of pink. His reaction was like something out of the Bob Newhart monologue about Walter Raleigh. He just shook his head when the nurse bandaging me up confirmed she had read the handy tip as well and was thinking of trying it herself. He left muttering that he would never understand women! Btw it didn’t scar and the lipstick lasted for ages and became a favourite.

Lexisgranny, I don't think I have actually ever finished a tube of lipstick! They will dry out before they get used up. I'm more of a lip balm type.

Good for you. I have seen that trick in a magazine as well.

I had a container in my linen closet with all the little shampoos and body wash collected from hotels over the years. I put them all together in a used hand soap dispenser.

I'm not very frugal, but will try to make one dinner with all the bits and pieces of veg at the end of the week. Usually a very interesting omelette.

I buy giant/commercial size kitchen rolls and then rewind them on to three retained cores which fit my dispenser perfectly. Reckon I half the price. I also cut a suitable size off my Brillo pad depending on what I'm using it for. I incorporate a nip into the local supermarkets on my daily walk for a look at their final reductions. Amazing bargains to be found. Don't 'need' to do any of this but never cease to marvel at the silly wee kick I get out f it. Crazy.

wow. some interesting ideas here. i particularly like using teabags in the garden. i usually save coffee grounds and teabags-emptied out. i dry them and put them in the hotbin. but i think im going to try using the tea now on my one and only rose bush

Teabags and banana skins in the garden
Egg shells crushed around plants slugs don’t like them
Grapes... their square plastic containers have holes in them perfect for seedlings
Socks odd or old, put on hands are perfect for polishing or wiping windows/ cars etc
Egg boxes ideal for seedlings too they rot away in the ground
Cardboard torn up excellent for compost
Bit of butter or spread on a piece of paper wiped on hinges that squeak
Old cushion or hot water bottle makes a good garden kneeler
Washing up bottles WELL washed out make ideal watering cans for indoor plants
Charity shops and recycled furniture love them
I keep one of those segmented concertina files cases (no longer in office use) the sort you can put little labels in a tab on the top ...ideal for envelopes of garden seeds and the tabs are the months of the year so the envelopes go into its relevant month of planting
Keep nice bags that presents come in remove the label and bingo
I love recycling and thinking of other uses for things

I'd forgotten that Georgesgran about Pears soap. What memories some of you have!

As I said up thread, my habits are more to do with eco than saving money, and I too put coffee grounds, tea, crushed up egg shells, chopped banana skins and such on the garden to feed the soil and discourage slugs and snails. I rinse out all bottles of shampoo and such, but I am sorry, life is too short to save little bits of soap!

Calendargirl we haven’t had visitors for nine months. I am not a person who tries to impress others either. It’s purely to make a point that brand names mean nothing and there is usually a cheaper alternative.

After reading this thread I think that I am mean but I am not really. I was brought in a big family and my mum had learnt all the tricks from hers. I just cannot leave my thrifty tricks in the past.

I've never bought bedding plants for the garden but instead prefer to get hardy perennials which come up year after year. Low growing 'spreaders' make sure that there are no gaps and the borders are full. If I need to fill a gap I take cuttings.

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it is invaluable, a silver spoon in the neck of an opened champagne bottle will keep it bubbly in the fridge unto the next day.
That is if anybody understands the concept of left over champagne.

Maw - a great trick which we always use ! Trouble being one bottle is rarely enough and then being a tad tipsy - who can find the blo**y silver spoon !

No MawBe , no champagne to start in our house, but I do the same with Prosecco and Cava with a long handled stainless steel spoon and seems to work too. ?

It does work but it's not as tightly in place as a champagne bottle stopper therefore it's more tempting to lift a spoon and have another glass just to check it has stayed fizzy!

.....and the problem being ??

??

I bought a cheap, £2 glass jar with a chrome 'pump' top to put the washing up liquid in (as I thought it looked so much nicer on the sink) - and, since then, I've hardly bought any more. I can dispense just a few drops and waste none - winner!

It's funny how we were criticised for over peeling the veg, and now we don't peel at all!

lovebeigecardigans1955, the majority of my garden shrubs grew from cuttings. It's amazing what you can 'find' when out for a dog walk - with sturdy nail clippers and a plastic bag in your pocket.

Collecting locally means you choose plants that thrive in your soil.

One day, taking the bins out, I found a chap taking Hebe cuttings. He apologised for not asking. I said 'Don't worry, I do it all the time!'

Must admit ‘left over wine’ is an oxymoron in our house but I’ve been known to make Champagne last the whole of my birthday weekend using a wine stopper. Nothing quite like a glass of Buck’s Fizz ?each morning for setting me up for the day!

In my defence, I’ve never thrown a chicken carcass away without boiling it for stock first.

I don’t do any of these things to be thrifty but to recycle because I think we all should and I like reusing and making a thing into something which it wasn’t

A friend with a water meter told me to put a basin in the shower to catch the water whilst it was heating enough to shower.