Do you have any irrational economies?

Yes, I am really mean with kitchen roll. I rarely use a whole piece, usually tearing it in half. A roll lasts for months. On the other hand I am quite wasteful when it comes to loo roll, use it for all sorts of things!

I put the last bit of soap onto the new one....

DH doesn't flush the loo at night on the "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down" to save water.
I refuse to share a bathroom with him.I wonder why?
I always fill the washing up liquid bottle with water to use the last drops - but that is common sense

Greatnan I used to do that with the matches what a silly idea that was
I do not turn on the light when I need to go up or downstairs.
I now walk up and down them in the semi dark using the light from the sitting room. I tell myself that I am saving electricty but as DH has told me the small amount I save will not make up for it when I fall downstairs and break my leg !

Using up left-overs in the fridge and quite a few other completely rational economies, too. It pleases me.

I use those foam cleaning cloths with a scrim, sort of woven in, for washing up. I always cut them in half first. Question: is it more economical to boil them up when they get a bit murky (mostly tea stains (DH's doing)) or throw it away and start on the other half? (I have to use bio wash powder in the boiling water)

Knickers! I cannot bear to spend a fortune on them.

Water down the washing up liquid is that saving money ? I do it, and when there is only a small amount left in the bottle I stand it on its head

Are you saying you don't wear them Ariadne?
I also like making (just edible) meals out of things from the freezer often bought as a BOGOF - now those rarely save any money

I cut Brillo pads in half - a whole one is rarely needed and once they are wet they tend to go rusty (so perhaps not irrational?). I used to do the matches saving thing too, until I got a hob with ignition.

I water down the washing up liquid too, as I find it much too frothy, and I also water down the liquid for my washing machine.
Then I spend the money I've saved on something nice for me to use in the shower!

I miss the value washing up liquid that was thin, from Tesco - it was cheap and I didn't have to water it! I use half brillo pads too. Makes sense.

I now use half the soap powder in the washing machine that I used to use - since I read online from Ruth Goodwin that since she was in the Victorian Farm she doesn't use it...I can't quite do that, but I do find the clothes come out just as clean. The packet of soap lasts for ages, too.

And - a tip for next year possibly, since they are saying today that there may be a water shortage. (A habit I kept from the last draught!)
- I measured how much water I had to run from the hot tap before it came hot, and it was about two litres....so now I run it into a jug and use it to water the house plants.

That is a good one Oxon70 . Modern houses don't lend themselves to water saving the way older ones do/did. Our last 2 houses were old with down pipes/kitchen wastes that went into an open drain with a grille so you culd "catch" bath water etc to re use in the garden and my Mum always used to use the washing up water on the roses - swore by it for dealing with greenfly.

Oh! Nobody's answered my question yet!

You don't really read these do you!

Is no-one any good at physics?

It's quicker and more effective to clean washcloths by
microwaving in a bowl of water (with spash of eco liquid and cover lightly)

irrationally I collect up unused paper napkins after a meal out.and keep in polythene bag for wiping greasy pans,surfaces etc,

Thank you Maniac. Off to do that now, Will be much cheaper than boiling on stove.

Oh, I do wear knickers, Gracesmum! It's just that I can't bear to spend a fortune on them, so it's M&S or - now, Sainsburys!

I do have a couple of little frilly numbers lurking in the knicker drawer, but I mean "little". Oh no....

I don't think that is an 'irrational' economy, Ariadne! Makes perfect sense to me and I got some really nice ones in Sainsbury's last summer. I buy socks from the children's department in M&S - the biggest size of boys' socks, all the same colour, in a pack of five pairs, so there are always matching socks available.

I economise and think my economies are rational - using up left over food etc. What irritates me are the economies that other people make. I have a well off neighbour who has had 2 flats and a house left to them in the last five years. All that rent coming in, but when I visit her, she has old blankets covering up her sofa and easy chairs and they don't have a dog. I don't see the sense in that and then there is the queueing up for petrol- a penny cheaper, to save 50P by people who have large cars which cost so much more to run, that a few pounds woudn't make any difference. Then they cruise round town just because they don't want to pay to park.

Heh! I always buy my knickers at M&S, have done since I started buying my own clothes. Have I missed something?

No Charlotta, you're not. M & S ones are the only ones that fit properly.

And they last for several years!

I miss Ethel Austin cotton double gussett

They went bust didn't they, Glamm?

The company, not the knickies.

jingl that made me laugh