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Living the Frugal Life (Semi-lighthearted) ?

(259 Posts)
FannyCornforth Sat 06-Aug-22 12:26:49

Hello!
Further to the ‘Tightening our Belts’ thread; what are your penny pinching tips?
Serious ones and not so serious ones.
Thank you! ?

TwinLolly Wed 31-Aug-22 08:14:47

I also make my own body/face cream - it is just about good enough to eat, non-toxic and good for the skin.

Shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter and a bit of sweet almond oil. Melt the oils and whip it in a a mixer until light, fluffy, creamy, and decant into jars. Leave to 'firm up'. I can use a few drops essential oils for scent but essential oils are expensive.

The mixture goes quite soft in hot weather and quite firm in cold weather. But.... just grab a dollop and rub it between your hands to soften/melt a bit and rub on your skin and face.

TwinLolly Wed 31-Aug-22 09:26:15

Sorry, soften the butters, not melt... confused

Shinamae Mon 05-Sep-22 17:19:47

TwinLolly

When I get to the end of the lipstick I can't get the rest out of the tube, so I get a thin narrow blade and scrape out the rest and put it in a small pot. There is quite a bit in there.

Sometimes I might have 2 lipsticks on the go and when they come to the end - I scrape out the barrel and put them in the small pot. It doesn't matter about mixing the colours - the end result is usually quite pretty on the lips!

I just use a lip brush ?

Babs758 Tue 06-Sep-22 12:27:28

I use my Lipbrush to get the last of the lipstick out too.

Thanks to the people who recommended the 15 minute wash cycle. It really works and I will save a lot of money this way.

If eating out at our local Bangladeshi restaurant I always take some food home and have it the next evening heated up in the microwave. It tastes even better the next day. I used to be embarrassed about asking but have got over that now! Taking my own box to save on the restaurants tin foil and cardboard covers. They appreciate that.

Regularly buy lamb mince in bulk and freeze some. Love making Moussaka but make double quantities so some left over for freezing and reheating. Same with venison chilli.

Jb2022 Wed 28-Sep-22 12:37:41

To get the last out of tubes of cosmetics etc I cut the end off and take off the top. In most cases the top will fit perfectly into cut open end and I push it right up to the top. It takes every bit of the cream to the top.

Ali08 Wed 28-Sep-22 13:25:30

Baggytrazzas

I still cannot bear to throw away the last sliver of a bar of soap. I don't save them up either, I spend ages tying to soften them and stick them on to the new bar! Which is then lumpy and uncomfortable to use at first. I probably get about another 3 washes out of the sliver..............

Last Christmas, I bought my son some supposedly posh soap, and a couple of little hessian (I think) bags. The soap could be popped into the bags for a body scrub, OR you could put slivers of soap in to build up to a sizeable amount and use as a body scrub. Maybe you could try that.

Ali08 Wed 28-Sep-22 13:29:54

I used to wear contact lenses and found the little clear pots were just the right size for squeezing my handcream into and popping into bags and pockets.
Because I'd only need to pop a fingertip in to get a small amount of cream out, I found this to be very good for saving wastage!
And I cut the tubes, too - if you've never done this you'll be amazed at what you've been wasting!
I now buy the tubs of handcream, and decant into my little pots for bags and around the house and I save much!

Razzamatazz Wed 28-Sep-22 14:31:50

I've started chopping the bottom off my 'squeezy' condiments when they won't 'squeeze' any more.

Chopping board with a tea towel over it, bread knife - and I wear the oven glove on my 'holding hand'. Still loads in there reluctant to come out, once open easy to scoop out with a spoon.