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

MerylStreep

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 regularly fly into Almeria, the site of all those poly tunnels always amazes me. It’s a huge sea of them.

One idea I had would have involved judicious planning when I'm was first married. Why are all casseroles etc round? I worked out that you could save so much electricity by putting most of the week's dishes in the oven all at once, if you used square dishes. You should be able to get four on an oven tray.

One with a casserole, one with a pie or a quiche. One with a cake, one with rice and/or a bake (such as a lasagne or Mac and cheese). Etc etc. they would all need about the same temperature and just take slightly different times to cook. They would then keep in the fridge or freezer until needed later in the week, and the square dishes would make storage much more economical, too.

But I only have the standard round Pyrex dishes.

If I am doing a casserole or any other one pot meal. I always make sure at least two things are in the oven. Rice, for example, can go in the oven with water and a lid on, and can be forgotten about, saving on electricity because you aren't heating a hob as well. Heating up a baguette or baking potatoes to go with the meal would have the same effect. Less washing up, and less mess on the hob.

I’d like to collect the ends of soap bars and boil them up to make new cakes of soap but I don’t know how or what to add. Any one do that? Some of the soaps were pretty expensive gifts or hand made ones. I hate throwing the last bits out.
I try not to waste food and also if I have any wine left in the bottleI always add it to soups, casseroles etc. These days we only have one drink each at night, if that, so it happens quite often. A bottle lasts us 2 or 3 nights anyway but after that not so good to drink.

Milk works out cheaper if you buy 4 pints at a time so I keep 2 pints in the fridge and freeze the other half. I batch cook grains and freeze in portions. I do brown rice in the pressure cooker. I also pressure cook gammon joints, slice and freeze as it works out cheaper than buying ham. I’ve started making my own spreadable butter, it’s cheaper and reduces my dairy intake.

nanna8

I’d like to collect the ends of soap bars and boil them up to make new cakes of soap but I don’t know how or what to add. Any one do that? Some of the soaps were pretty expensive gifts or hand made ones. I hate throwing the last bits out.
I try not to waste food and also if I have any wine left in the bottleI always add it to soups, casseroles etc. These days we only have one drink each at night, if that, so it happens quite often. A bottle lasts us 2 or 3 nights anyway but after that not so good to drink.

YouTube. You learn how to do anything on there.

FannyFanackerpan

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.

Because I dont live on the doorstep.
I live out in the sticks.
I would otherwise.

Don’t buy extra tv channels e.g. Netflix. (But I grumble ‘there’s nothing to watch’!) Calendargirl
We do pay extra for Sky. Else I would be like you with the "nothing to watch". ITV and B B C fayre bore me rigid much of the time.

teabag - i make 1 last for several cups. I dont want it too strong, plus I rarely drink more than half a cup of tea at a time.

Will reuse wrapping paper if I can get away with it.

If you don’t want to pay for Netflix etc but have heard of something you do want to watch, sign up for a free month and binge watch.
A tip. If you’re worried that you might forget to cancel: sign up, make sure you get it, and then cancel. You don’t have to wait until the end of the month.
I have 4 streaming services. 2 I pay for and 2 come free with my daughters account. Disney + ( and no, it’s not cartoons) and Apple TV.

I bought a pack of multi-sized plastic caps[sort of shower caps] that are elasticized and use them to cover jars or containers in the fridge instead of cling film they can be easily washed and reused. I also got a pack of multi-sized clips for open bags of freezer veg etc. One on the toothpaste or tomato paste helps you turn it tightly.
I put scraps of soap in a pretty net bag and hang it under the bath taps instead of bath jell. My gran used one of her nylons.
I buy a large cheap bag of wet wipes and use them for all sorts of jobs around the house it saves buying all the different shampoos for carpets etc. Even the windows if a bird has miss fired,
I also buy reasonably robust sponges for the sink then scald them every few days in the dishwasher when it is on a hot wash.
I buy large sizes of things that will decant like cooking oil.

I never buy cleaning stuff
I use a spray with washing up liquid ( kills grease) and a dash of bleach ( kills germs)
All my washing is done on a 15 min cycle. The only clothes that get dirty are my OHs overalls.
We never waste run off cold water. It’s all collected to use for tea making ( we drink a lot) and cooking.
You might find that you don’t need half as much soap powder as they recommend. The action of the washing machine is what does most of the work.

We are fortunate that we have 2 large sheds. On Black Friday deals I stock up on toilet rolls, toothpaste. Etc ,etc.

If I buy a big tray of chicken breasts from the local supermarket when they are reduced/special offer, I use the plastic trays as seed trays. With a few holes punched in the bottom, they are ideal. Without the holes, they are used as water trays under my seed trays to cut down watering from above. Any small plastic pots (e.g. cream, yoghurt) are similarly used for seeds and seedlings. The ones that have little separate sections for fruit/yoghurt are especially good as I fill the smaller bit with water and feed a piece of string or used J cloth from there to the bottom of the soil in other bit and it is an automatic waterer! Oh, and old net curtains for fleecing in winter and insect protection in summer. They have lasted at least 10 years so far.

Not these days, but when my children were small and both in terry nappies with those little non-woven liners, I used to wash the liners, hang them on the line with the nappies as re-use them. Only the wet ones, not the soiled ones!

nanna8 I use these little jute bags for the end scraps of bars of soaps. No need to melt them down, just put the scraps into the little bag, draw the string and it's ready to use. Once it's wet, it acts as a small soapy loofah in the bath or shower.

There are lots of really good ideas here. I like the idea of the jute bags. And like another poster mentioned, I also clean out coffee jars, and use for storing dried herbs etc. There are some nicely shaped jars that are too nice to throw away.

I also cut tubes to get the rest out. With foundation and face creams , I save small pots , like eye cream or lip balm pots I scoop it out into the pots . It stops it drying out . I also save small bottles from eye makeup remover etc and decant shampoo and shower gel for short breaks .
I love a scented candle and reuse the glass jars for storing makeup brushes and cotton wool pads.
I also scrape the wax from the bottom and use it in my oil burner .
We collect pine cones and use them as fire lighters in our wood burner .
I use the hanger loops from tops and dresses to thread onto Christmas baubles. It’s less fiddly than thread. And I use egg boxes to store the smaller baubles.

Bella23

I bought a pack of multi-sized plastic caps[sort of shower caps] that are elasticized and use them to cover jars or containers in the fridge instead of cling film they can be easily washed and reused.

I think I'll try this out..
Wonder if my husband's shoe covers would do the trick 😄😄😄

I try to be thrifty and reuse things wherever possible. Plastic food bags, depending on what has been in them, are washed and reused, and wherever possible I’ll use paper bags instead. I had a little gizmo that attached to the end of tubes - a bit like a key on a sardine tin - that squeezed every scrap out of a tube, but it broke. I still try and get most of it out. Because our combi boiler has such a peculiar pipe run (so I’m told) you can run a gallon of water down the sink just waiting for the hot to come through to the kitchen, so I save the run off, for cooking, boiling the kettle - and flushing the downstairs loo when I’m here on my own.

I don't cut tubes or containers to get the last bit out because I don't buy anything in plastic any more. It's not always a saving though because the sustainable cosmetics and cleaning agents are often more expensive.

I wish I could use the eco cycles in the washing machine and dishwasher more, but they don't get things clean and I have to put half the stuff back in for another wash. My saving here is to soak stained clothing in a soda solution before washing which often helps. If there's water in the washing up bowl I will rinse off plates and pans before putting them in the dishwasher, otherwise I get the worst off with kitchen paper.

I do most of the previously mentioned tips. Can I add dishwasher tablets to the list? I buy the cheapest brand from Aldi or Home Bargains. The ones that you unwrap before placing in dishwasher. They are usually less than half the price of the big brand varieties. I then snap them in half and each tablet does 2 dishwasher loads. I can honestly say the dishes come out perfectly clean just as they do with the top name brands.

My mam always kept the brown paper bags on a hook at the back of the pantry door and they always came in useful as cake tin liners. I know someone who uses carrier bags taped up to wrap present in and then they can reuse them. Also they cut up old pieces of bread and fried them for the top of soup - quite nice actually.

I think I am thriftier (more skinflint), than I thought, as I do most of the above.
Good idea about dish washer tablets GNW.
I also buy Aldi's own, but didn't know that you unwrapped them! The ones I have are sort of shrink wrapped.

By the way, when my washing machine was repaired last month, (it is 16 years old), the chap said to put a dishwasher tablet into the washing machine and run it on the hottest wash, once a month, to help keep it clear of limescale.

Fairycakes

Bella23

I bought a pack of multi-sized plastic caps[sort of shower caps] that are elasticized and use them to cover jars or containers in the fridge instead of cling film they can be easily washed and reused.

I think I'll try this out..
Wonder if my husband's shoe covers would do the trick 😄😄😄

We actually call these food shower caps.

They are available from Sainsbury's and Amazon. I imagine that other supermarkets will sell them

I would welcome being able to buy them in individual sizes rather than a mixed bag.

I always save the water from boiled veg... and I add it to gravy or soup. All of the left over veg from Christmas made a good base for a Scotch broth.

Auntieflo these are the dishwasher tablets I buy in Aldi. They’re often sold out so they seem to be popular . They are £2.50 for 50 making them just 5p a tablet . The big brand tablets are usually at least double that per tablet.

My library has closed!

I usually cut open tubes and plastic bottles too, or simply add a little water to hand wash pumps to empty them properly.
At the end of the week, before our Friday shopping delivery, we have a "clear out the fridge" meal but I'm amazed when I hear that some people just throw out any left-overs. My husband looks forward to these often slightly innovative meals!
I also go through the online shopping order at the last minute to take out any items that I don't really need as I have limited food storage space.
I don't buy many clothes, though if I find something I like I may buy more than one of them and wear them for years. In general I don't buy "best" or dressy clothes, though I would obviously buy something nice for a really special family occasion such as a wedding of one of my children or a big number anniversary party.
We never go on overseas holidays because we like being at home and hate hanging around in airports. However we're fortunate to have a family holiday home in this country which we can visit whenever the weather is good.