Living the Frugal Life (Semi-lighthearted) ?

My smallest saucepan is big enough for five eggs so if we want two boiled eggs for breakfast, I boil five. Once the extra eggs are cold they go in the fridge to be used for salads or sandwiches of sometimes peeled and reheated in a small cup of boiling water.

I never waste vegetable water. If I boil veg, I use the water for soups and sauces.

I am frugal with water I put in the kettle for drinks and only put in the amount needed. My D/S though always fills the kettle so I empty most away when his back is turned.

I bought a hydrator and dry my own herbs and flowers to make herbal teas. I store them in plastic tubs from takeaways etc. It was an outlay at the start but it’s well used. Pot Pourri next for Christmas. We don’t have takeaways very often now but use any suitable plastic container.

Love your tips?

We have a tiny saucepan, bought oddly enough in Majorca, for dh to boil his daily one egg on the smallest gas burner. Previously he used an ‘ordinary’ small pan, much bigger.

It holds just a mug full, so I’ve been thinking that I should use it instead of the electric kettle umpteen times a day.

It’s 11 cm diameter - for interest I just looked on Amazon for anything similar, since I’ve never seen anything so small in U.K. shops, but there was a 10 cm one in enamel, for £6 odd. According to one review it holds one mugful nicely.

Thought one or two GNers might be interested.

Shinamae

BlueBelle

I ve always reheated cooked rice I use a rice cooker and use it up in different dishes over two or three days Arent you supposed to ?

You have to be very very careful reheating rice, it is a major source of food poisoning

Yes, you have to be careful. If you put in fridge and re-heat properly the next day- it should be fine. I have done this all my life and never ever have had an issue.

BlueBelle

I ve always reheated cooked rice I use a rice cooker and use it up in different dishes over two or three days Arent you supposed to ?

You have to be very very careful reheating rice, it is a major source of food poisoning

I ve always reheated cooked rice I use a rice cooker and use it up in different dishes over two or three days Arent you supposed to ?

Some great tips here, but my favourite is how to cook a whole chicken in less that half an hour. Place in saucepan, cover with water, add salt, an onion, any herbs you fancy and bring to the boil. Simmer for between 20 minutes to half an hour depending on the size. A tight lid is essential. Turn heat off and leave overnight or until cool. You will be rewarded by the most tender and that m word we all hate. Use for risotto, coronation chicken, curry, whatever. Do not remove lid at any time until cool. Never failed.

I can't bear waste of any sort, so I reuse, recycle, find new uses etc. etc. for everything I can! Doesn't matter how small! Things that need to go into the rubbish get well sorted. I'm good at using leftover food. I try to save and reuse water as much as possible. I have water butts and compost bins but I haven't managed to save my shower water yet for the garden! Perhaps I need to syphon it using my hosepipe.

Yammy, my DH dries himself with a a flannel after he’s showered, whilst standing in the shower tray. His towel is dry.

I'm retiring next year so I've been giving some thought to all this! The cleaner has already gone ☹️ although partially replaced by a robot vacuum for a daily, ground floor sweep. I will be stopping all my newspaper and magazine subscriptions and replacing with a daily walk to the library - gets me out of the house, too. We're pretty frugal eaters so not too many savings to be made there, but we'll probably downsize to one car, and I'm really looking forward to getting my bus pass. Hair's going to be an issue - mine's long and ashy bottle blond - so I shall have to work out a way of growing out the grey without hating myself too much. I also don't know how I'm going to manage my fingernails which are currently acryliced and gelled and which will break and split without such help (yes, I've tried EVERYTHING else, I just have pathetically awful natural nails.)

Make a light mixture of cocoa and hot water let it cool and rub into your legs. Use an eyebrow pencil to put a seam up the back. Grate old soap ends put them in a bottle with a few drops of Evening in Paris then add hot water and shake until dissolved it makes shampoo. Soot and vaseline stand in for mascara. Powder blusher mixed with vaseline make a lip balm. Or cochineal does the same. Dry yourself after a bath with a face cloth wrung out repeatedly then finish with a towel.
To make a log for the fire use an empty Vim tin and put all used matches in until full.
Of course, don't forget cami knickers, petticoats and bras from a parachute. If you do not have enough wool knit your jumper in two colours one for the back one for the front two for the work of one.
All tips from a wartime booklet. One woman had made a dressing gown from a German flag looted by her husband.

Never used tumble dryer except in extreme circumstances. Cut tubes and invert bottles. Make my own bread, yogurt and kefir.Cycle rather than drive.

While the weather is good my DH is using dark plastic watering cans to solar heat water. We then use the water for light washing up or he uses it for a shallow bath.

When I shower I soak myself then turn off while I wash then back on to rinse.

When using the kettle I now measure in a cup or cups.

I read somewhere to un plug from sockets so I do where I can.

We had economy 7 for years and only ran the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble drier during the night. A few months ago DH did some calculations and realised that because the day rate was much higher when on Economy 7 that we weren’t actually saving any money and so changed tariffs which gave us a cheaper average rate.
We also had an old washing machine whose maximum load was 5kg which seemed to be on constantly. Our new 9kg machine uses the same amount of water and takes the same amount of time, if not less, but with twice the amount of washing the machine is only on 3 times a week.

My mother had a good one (not). She'd always wanted a conservatory and was finally able to afford one. Problem was she found it too hot anytime of the year except for winter. But it did make a great 'drying room' for her laundry as she wasn't mobile enough to make it down the garden to washing line.

Hmm, spend +/- £15k to save...

Love all the ideas about household staff. Must implement those straight away...

Seriously, we use many of the suggestions already mentioned - I think that comes from being the child of a war baby whose parents lived through the Great Depression.

One I accidentally stumbled on - although you need a bit of freezer space for this - was getting to the reduced sections in the supermarket just before they take items off to chuck away. I was later than usual shopping last time and, as I perused the reduced section, a member of staff came up and started sweeping everything ood that day off the shelf. As I had a bit of space in the freezer, I nabbed as much as I could.
Must ask what time they do this next time I'm in the supermarket...

We've got water butts attached to all the down pipes from the roof - even on the greenhouse.

Having lung problems (and being a bit of a greeny before it was mainstream) I often use things from my pantry to clean. Like white vinegar for removing limescale.

I'm often in the charity shops - and not just for clothes. Last visit - 2 vases, bowl and set of measuring cups plus two (lidded) casserole dishes for a tenner... And Freegle (also called Freecycle) is great for getting other bits and bobs. Just make sure you've already arranged your "Muscle" and transport if getting anything of size.

Before I go shopping I go online to price compare. Luckily I have 2 supermarkets almost next door to each other so don't spend any savings going from one to the other. If something is cheaper in the 3rd local supermarket (which is a bit of a distance away from the other two) I wait until I'm going that way anyway - although I double check it is still cheaper before I go.

Another bit of advice - don't automatically buy the special offer/two-for-one. Compare prices and sizes. My local branch of a national supermarket often has 'specials' that are actually more expensive than buying, say, two individual items. Or the pack size in the 2-for-1 is actually smaller...

Don't assume that because it is in one of the discount shops that they are cheaper. Many times the pack is actually smaller or because it is an "everything is a pound" shop it is actually dearer than prices elsewhere.

I'm another that buys reduced usually half-dead plants from the nursery/garden centre. With a bit of TLC (and I give them a couple of drops of Rescue Remedy too) they usually come good. I can't seem to keep myself away from the reduced section in B&Q's garden section - got most of my strawberry plants plus 5 fruit bushes for half price. Would've got more only I was walking and couldn't fit more in my shopping trolley/bag thing - as it was I had a full shopper plus 2 carrier bags full to lug home!

I also keep my eye open for specials at Suttons, Marshalls etc - earlier in the year I got 6 strawberry plants for £1.99. Seeds in many places are half price (or better) at the moment. They might go out of date before next spring but that just means that the company (Fothergills/Suttons etc) don't guarantee germination but I find it usually only drops to 75% at the lowest.

Seed saving is also a good one for gardeners - just don't save seeds that are from F1/F2 plants (this is usually stated on the original seed packet/plant label) as they don't grow true to type.

For the craft ones among you, you can crochet your own face wipes.

sarahmaker.com/crochet-face-scrubbies/

I've never soaked pasta, but I was given an excellent tip; bring pasta to the boil, put the saucepan lid on firmly, switch off the heat and leave for the necessary cooking time. It works perfectly - and no fuel used at all apart from bringing the water to the boil.

I've an app called Gander that shows all the things my nearest shop has reduced because the sell by date is up. You get things as low as 10p and then you can freeze them. I live on my own so I tend to freeze a lot rather than throw away.
I keep old face cream pots and when I'm coming to the end of my pump make up I take the lid off and turn it upside down into the jar to empty. It's surprising how much still comes out into the pot to keep using.
I use discount codes to shop online and at the moment I'm checking sale items to see if there's anything suitable to put away for December....

Instead of using foil - silicon mats are reusable

I was thinking "I don't do anything" then I realised-my dishcloths are old towels cut up into squares, when I take out a new one, old one goes for floor cloth, floor cloth goes out.
If anything comes in a plastic bag, like frozen items, loo rolls etc I reuse as rubbish bags (I still have a roll of bin liners which were my mums, and she died 5 years ago!!!)

I too bought some reusable makeup remover wipes about 2 years ago , to save the planet but they are also saving me money! A small cotton net bag is provided and I pop them in with the towels each week ( I still wash towels and bed linen on 60) and they are brilliant. I wash and reuse freezer bags that haven’t had meat or fish in them , and recently bought some reusable stretchy plastic (I know?) covers for dishes in the fridge instead of using cling film or foil. Really cut down shower time - get wet , turn water off , soap and shampoo , water on and rinse and finish . Can’t get in a bath anymore . I use my slow cooker a lot in the winter , but think I may experiment more and try fish , anyone tried this or other lighter meals ?

I reuse foil if I’ve only used it to cover something in the oven, always check for discount codes before ordering via the Internet and use a cash back site. I also use a tea pot ( I drink a lot of tea) as I get more cups out than tea bags in and I only boil the amount of water needed to fill the pot- never manage to do this when mashing in a mug

My latest money saving trick is using soda crystals in the detergent drawer of the washing machine and just a little detergent.