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

Granof5 your mention of candle wax has reminded me of what I do when my favourite candle is finished and there’s still a layer at the bottom of the jar below the wick.

I scrape out the residual layer of wax and use it in one of those ceramic burners with a tea light warming it from underneath. It’s surprising how much longer it lasts.

I get about 10 days extra out of a tube of toothpaste by cutting it. I can't believe I ever used to throw so much away.

I brought some wicks and have started melting all the left over wax from my candles and make new candles

I don't buy kitchen roll or wet wipes for the kitchen. I use a old fashioned cotton dishcloth, which I bleach daily.

I don't use any kind of wipes. They are terrible for the environment. I have a muslin cloth for taking make up off.

I use old Chinese takeaway plastic containers as storage containers for left overs - or anything really

I also add water to the last of the washing up liquid

I do the same as Lizzypopbottle and squeeze the plastic or metal tubes rather than cut them off.

The toothpaste tubes that stand up seem to use up all the toothpaste, better than the tubes.

Old t-shirts are good for dusters.

I cut wet wipes in half before using. Also, use plastic vegetable and bread bags instead of dog poo bags.

An additional tip on lizzypopbottle's suggestion. As I have weak wrists, I find with metal tubes if I lay a couple of sheets or tea towel on the floor, lay the tube on it, with a saucer under top, tread on the tube, upwards from bottom (best using weight of heel) I've extracted a lot from difficult to squeeze tubes!

I have Coupert and Pouch add ons on my browser and can usually manage some sort of discount on top of what I am paying.

The other day, I got a half price fur jacket in Sainbury's for nothing, by using my Nectar points.

Grannynannywanny

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.

Our engineer told us we were wasting money on brand diswasher tablets. Aldi's. Lidl's, Asda's, do a perfectly good job, as we have soft water and no limescale.

I cut Brillo pads in half as they are often too big for the job at hand and then go rusty. What a waste I thought, so got the scissors out.

I don’t use hand cream much and used to pass it on till one day I thought ‘it’s just moisturiser’ and applied it to my feet and ankles.

I use Olio and community food larders to pick up various food items, save money, and I meal plan around what I pick up. Also use various Facebook pages where people give away something that they no longer need that I can use, and try to double that trip in the car with shopping or an appointment so it does not cost me fuel money to pick it up.

I love getting something for nothing. I often request things on Freecycle or answer Freecycle ads. In the past year I have been given: 3 pine kitchen chairs, a small concrete pond, a box of odds and ends containing some new items including a pack of brand new socks, a knife block and knives and garden plants.

Do leave the tops closed 😡

But do leave the good closed!

There's really no need to cut the bottom off toothpaste tubes, or other soft tubes, even tomato puree tubes. Just use something with a rigid edge, e.g. a comb or the back of a knife (I used an IKEA bag clip for the ones in the photo) to push the contents towards the top. That way there's no danger of wasting the contents through drying out. With a metal tube e.g. tomato 🍅 puree, you can flatten and roll the tube as you go. My parents always did that with toothpaste tubes before plastic became the norm.

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.

Nancy Birtwhistle books explain how to make laundry detergent out of redundant soap scraps, alternatively, check her out online.
I no longer buy fabric conditioner - make my own, bathroom cleaner - make my own, general surface cleaner - make my own......and I have saved loads of cash in doing so.
I don't buy shower gel or shampoo in bottles either - a bar of olive oil soap and bar shampoo work just the same and no nasty chemical getting into the eco-system.
As for food and drink, I do exactly the same as you nana8.

Thanks JackyB ill look in poundland.

I upend all soapy/shampoo, gel bottles, etc to get as much out as humanly possible. Then I take the tops off and chuck them into the washing machine with my wash load and fill the bottle with water and empty that in the machine too.
I am very frugal with water, so the last rinse and spin with fabric conditioner empties into a large tub and I reuse it immediately for the next load.
We put used sandwich bags into the washing machine with our clothes and reuse them.
We have little food waste and repurpose leftovers. There’s much more.
By being frugal we save enough money to travel our beautiful world.

JackyB
Like Nannan I also have rectangular dishes. Some are Pyrex, others ceramic. Being thrifty, I did find some ceramic ones in Pound land, and they appear to be holding up well.

JackyB- i have square and rectangular pyrex dishes and also ive recently bought a 2-in-1 side-by-side rectangular stoneware dish(es) from Argos- it was £10.50 in Argos itself but if you ordered from sainsburys with your food shop it was £14!- the cheek of them!(as sainsburys now have argos stores)😠

My son complains if i water down the last of the handsoap.He says it makes it no good!🤨

Well, none of us think that of ourselves as spenders, all as thrifty. I think that I have a foot in both camps ( big thank you for the cut- the - dishwasher- tablet- in-half trick) but with the money saved I buy things for me and mine in shops I love which are not the cheapest...am I alone?

Thank you GNW, next time I am in Aldi I shall have a look. Probably worth buying a couple of packets if and when.

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

Thank you, I'll have to have a look.

There are to be compulsory new laws that will require veg to be sold loose. This should help with plastic packaging. We are frugal with lots of stuff. I feel like Timothy lumsdons mother when we have a chicken. It’s roasted then curried and carcass can become a soup. I find it interesting using stuff up or finding new homes for stuff.

My son and I have a four week menu whiteboard on the kitchen wall. We know which meals are coming up and we shop for those rather than impulse buying foods we might use. We started doing this when I was still working. After a hard day's work, I'd call in at the supermarket on the way home and buy things we might use, say on Friday, and there would always be food thrown away because 'might' had become might not.

Our four week plan isn't carved in stone. We can change things if we feel like it but our original list consisted of meals we enjoy so we don't often change, although we substitute certain meals between winter and summer e.g. we don't have soup in summer. That's the beauty of a whiteboard!