Thrifty Tips. What's Yours? Or maybe you're a spendthrift instead?

Using up all leftovers. I don’t possess many virtues but not wasting food is one of the few.

yes I always do that with tubes and containers. and throw away very little food.. I use the library a lot and don't buy many coffees out but do spend quite a lot on art products and exhibitions.. my thriftiness pays off in that way..

I get nearly three more weeks’ use out of a tube of toothpaste. I cut off the bottom third and use that, then the middle third, and finally the top. I couldn’t believe how much is normally inaccessible and usually wasted.
I turn the washing up liquid upside down to get the last drops out, also deodorant, Radox etc. My family think I am a skinflint.

I do all that too. I hate waste, particularly when it comes to food. I don't see it as being a skinflint at all, just common sense.

I have only recently started cutting open tubes of cream, I am amazed at the amount I have wasted over the years.

Yes I add water to the last dregs of shampoo, washing up liquid, and anything else I can get the top off, and use it up.

Why put plastic bottles in the recycling which aren't clean and dry. And I get one or 2 more uses out of the product.

yes i've done that for years with tubes of hand-cream etc.
but i wouldn't do it with toothpaste, for hygiene reasons.
OP, how do you saw through a rigid container ?

i always water down washing up liquid, usually have 2 containers by the sink so i can have different strengths.
use the weaker one for washing hands and plates with only crumbs.

I upend all fairy liquid bottles, bleach containers, shampoo etc to really get them empty.

Use the whole breadloaf, including crusts.

Freeze any leftovers, including veg, potato, gravy etc to use again.

Switch off lights as we leave a room.

Keep wearing the same clothes year after year! Who’s looking at me?

Don’t buy extra tv channels e.g. Netflix. (But I grumble ‘there’s nothing to watch’!)

Use my local library instead of buying books, also borrow jigsaw puzzles for DH from there.

Don’t have a tumble drier, hang washing outside, even in wintertime.

I rarely buy clothes. I am fortunate enough to be comfortably off and not have to be too careful with money, but we don't do expensive holidays or have expensive furniture or electronics. Our electricity is produced most of the year by PV panels on the roof. We try to be careful with water.

I always plan menus and only buy what I need. If I do buy something not on the list, it often doesn't get used and has to be thrown out, so I have learned from that. Unfortunately in our small town the shops only have packed vegetables and fruit so I sometimes have to buy more than I need.. I aim to leave one or two gaps in the weekly plan to accommodate surplus food, and make a soup or a lasagne or a quiche to use things up, to prevent things going off as far as possible.

Next year we are going to grow more of our own vegetables, but we have very poor soil, so the choice is limited.

welbeck
OP, how do you saw through a rigid container ?

I admit that was too difficult for me to do. I asked my husband and he did it with a Stanley knife.

JackyB Our soil was very clay and poor when our son first built our raised beds I bought mushroom compost and fed the soil with my own compost it improved the soil over a short period.
I empty tubes of tomato paste or toothpaste by cutting the bottom. Turn all bottles upside down to use up all the contents. I don’t buy branded names. I re use jars and small bottles for homemade pickles chutney etc. I use egg carton and toilet rolls for plants in the spring. Recycle plastic tubs from spread cheese etc for anything seeds pins pegs etc.
Wax paper from breakfast packs is washed and used to store open packs of biscuits crackers etc. Not because I’m a skinflint but if stuff can be used again why not its what my mum always did.

I've noticed that DD uses clean jam jars and old coffee storage jars etc (Douwe Egberts are good) to store leftovers, grated cheese etc in the fridge instead of plastic boxes.
Easy to see what is there and they can be thoroughly cleaned in the dishwasher.

Yes, I cut tubes of ointment etc open too, it's surprising how much can be left in there.

I must start doing the tube-cutting thing with tomato purée - I use quite a bit of that.

I hate food waste therefore we have lots of soups and stews with left over vegetables. All containers get cut open and some of the plastic bottles get used by my husband in his garage.

Left over yogurts - Make a table jelly up to less than half a pint of boiling water. Once it has cooled then add the yogurts. Any flavours and mix together. I usually add 3 yogurts. Cool in a fridge and it makes a great pudding for after dinner or just eat.

My other little tip/hint which might already be used. When I make a casserole I cut down on the time it is in the oven by boiling all of the vegetable for 20 minutes in a pan with a stock cube. If it’s left over sausages then add to the vegetables and place in a casserole dish for 1 hour. No long cooking in the oven and you can add dumplings after 30 minutes.

I grow carrots in large pots and didn’t have to buy any this year (2023). The seeds are so cheap and as long as they are kept watered during the hot months they will grow well.

I also cut off the ends of tubes and upend bottles. Always have. Still so much left.

None of the things people mention seem exceptionally thrifty. Just what most people do as part of ordinary living.

I try to go to the supermarket in the early evening. So many fresh produce items are reduced by 50%, or even more sometimes, and are a real bargain. I freeze it immediately I get home. It's early closing day today and the 70% off sausages, chicken thighs and smoked trout fillets I picked up are already in the freezer. I'm always puzzled why more people don't take advantage of these bargains because on Christmas Eve fresh food was almost being given away there was so much of it.

We were told by the volunteers who run the Community Fridge that they are not just for those in need who cannot afford to shop in the supermarket.

Anyone can use them and one of their objectives is to avoid food waste.

While there are many provisions in place to reduce food waste, the UK produces the highest amount of food waste in Europe. Over ⅓ of all food produced globally goes to waste. The UK throws away around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in a single year – even though 8.4 million people in the UK are in food poverty.

When I do filter coffee I make a second lot by poring hot water on the used grains. Weaker but still good.
And my DB used his tea bags 3 or 4 times.

It is worth remembering that half of the world's food waste happens before it even reaches the shop and comes from inefficiencies in the supply chain at every point from the bad roads and extreme weather conditions in many developing countries to supermarkets cutting quantities of specific fruit and vegetables from suppliers as retail purchases vary with weather conditions, salald sales drop in a winter freeze, leading to farmers having to compost or plough in crops that were fit for eating or processing.

Fairycakes

welbeck
OP, how do you saw through a rigid container ?

I admit that was too difficult for me to do. I asked my husband and he did it with a Stanley knife.

I use my heavy-duty kitchen scissors to cut through moisturiser tubs - like others, I was amazed at how long it took me to use up the remains before I had to open a new bottle.

Tubes not tubs. Completely different containers.

MOnicas post reminded me of the waste we see in Spain.
When we take the motohome to Spain we take a short cut to a campsite through the poly tunnel farms
Outside all these tunnels are large skips filled with mis- shaped fruit and veg.

I use a clothes peg on the end of cut tubes such as toothpaste to stop the contents from drying out. I get the dregs out of all bottles such as shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, washing up liquid etc by adding water. I’ve been doing it all my life. My mother did it so I just carried it on. Clothes pegs are also so useful in the freezer with bags of food to stop the contents tipping out.