General Chat

think cat! - move round the house following the sun - if there is any! saves on the heating oil

add hot tap water to washing machine as it fills - washer is next to hot cylinder, hope oil is cheaper than electric

fill mug or mugs with water then pour into kettle - never boil too much

buy in bulk when on offer

shop at Aldi instead of Sainsburys - treats come from Waitrose

cook more than one meal at a time - either eat next day or freeze - soup is OK for about five days if kept if fridge and only required amount reheated in microwave

anything burnable goes into the woodburner - old workboots are great

always keep an eye on petrol prices - fill tank if passing somewhere cheap

use comparison web sites for utilities, insurance etc.

have lived with a yorkshireman for thirty six years!

rofl @ Fred bringing home dead badgers :-D

Sharron ~ contact a sporran maker, they sporrans with them. True!

Talking of toilet paper............

From about January, I collect the empty rolls, then fill with seed compost and plant runner beans indoors when the time is right. It’s easy to slit the tube and a plant out complete when the weather is mild enough.
I use cardboard egg boxes for tomato seeds in the same way, but remove the seedlings from them when they are planted on.

Any unused seeds are kept in a lidded plastic box in the fridge from one year to the next.

Plastic drink bottles are washed out and refilled with tap water for days out – apart from the initial expense, it’s much cheaper than buying mineral water when you’re out for the day.

Depending where we are going in the car, we’ll frequently take a flask of hot water and a jar of coffee + the fixings for a hot drink. Sachets of sugar are liberated from Cafes when we do buy hot drinks when out, one or two at a time. OH doesn't use sugar, but I do so on that basis, we're only taking his!

I don't waste much, probably because of my Scottish blood! :-D

I do most of what you have all mentioned, except ride a bike.... too many steep hills here.

I don't sew much any more except for "recycling" shirts & blouses...... cut off the sleeves at the shoulders, shape the back & front & finish off the edges....... then I have a "dickie" to wear under sweaters. Sometimes I don't want an extra layer, but would like a collar, if the sweater has a low neckline or I just want a bit extra. Another advantage.... only the collar (sometimes) needs ironing :-D

I use fabric softner for towels, but for dark items I use vinegar, it stops black garments getting that "grey" look.

:-D

OR, he could sharpen them and use them to destroy that man down the road who is older than him!

......I agree Sharron.

Perhaps Fred could just use the hubcaps to customise his wheelchair ?

Gwyn

Probably not.
They all have longish hair and it gets caught in the damp towels

I have fallen foul of that in the past and it's not nice!

If you can't eat it, it will have a very difficult time getting into my garden and, if you paint and display old hub-caps, it looks like you are displaying old hub-caps you have painted!

For Sharron................

http://www.hometalk.com/1471207/hubcap-flower-yard-art

I wonder if you need to wash those towels every time.

Would they know if you just hung them out to dry?

I admit to being a spendthrift and I do waste the dregs of shampoo ect.

There's only one area where I cut down.....

My 3 girls are all "clean freaks" who shower and change clothes much too often.
They use 2 bath SHEETS per person per shower and put them straight into the wash!

My biggest outlay was washing liquid and I was going through shed loads of the stuff on a weekly basis
Youngest is allergic to everything but the most expensive, non bio brand .

Then I realised that she doesn't actually wear towels.
So the expensive stuff now gets used on clothes only and the cheapest store brand is used for the towels and bedding ect.
I was very proud of my cost saving idea.... until I read this thread!

As for loo rolls.... a 24 pack lasts about 10days !

Edit:
I also throw away the water from the condenser dryer... but I do live in a soft water area.

I never use a 'Costa' or 'Starbucks' - why pay the same amount as a small jar of coffee for one cup?
Also, my body isn't too happy with filter coffee - leads to more loo roll use :-(

Oh Sylvia so sorry didnt know about your husband. Feel terrible now making a joke about loo rolls when he has a health concern...what must you think of me!!

Whenever I'm joking with my friends, somehow it always gets reduced to the "english lavatorial sense of humour," says a lot about us really doesn't it!!!

A millions apologies on their way to you.

Florence
In the hebrides <3

I'm with Sylvia,
I have diverticular disease - and keep quite a supply of loo roll in - but have never worked out how much I use - what's the point? You can't get through life without it :-S

Surely loo roll is the one thing you can't do without - and it doesn't have a use-by date, so 'stockpiling' isn't an issue.

Though I have to admit, when a child, with a 'chemical toilet' (ie bucket with a seat on, with Jeyes fluid in the bottom), we used newspaper - the alternative was Izal, and newspaper was softer. :-D

Methinks the water people would object to my using newspaper in a 'conventional' loo. But then, I don't buy newspapers, I look online (another money saving practice) :-D

Florence .......... there are 2 of us :-)

and I have an OH who lost 18" of his colon to cancer ................. that means he has to go more often

I can't save much on drying because Fred uses the tumble dryer but it is a condensing dryer and I use the water out of the reservoir in the steam iron.

In fact, one of our carers takes in ironing and she has most of the water from the tumble dryer. Maybe I should sell it to her!

Another way I save money is to wear my clothes until they fall apart. I have recently had fifteen year old jeans re- zipped.

You need room to buy everything in bulk when it is on offer but I do my best. Because we had such an awful summer last year, it was pretty likely that spuds would be dear and horrible so I bought one of those big sacks of basmati rice from Lidl.

I buy spuds by the sack at the farm gate but ONLY once I have been told they are good ones by somebody who has already bought some. Otherwise you have spent good money for half a hundredweight of lousy spuds.

Of course, I exploit Fred and send him out for anything he can find in the hedge. The blackberries are quite easy to deal with, it's the hub-caps and dead badgers that are a bit more difficult!

In our house loo roll disappears like magic. There are 4 of us and we get through a min of one roll per day. Seven per week, 29 per month.

So sylvia one person uses 3 rolls per week?? lol I thought we used a lot in this house.

Im sure its the men that use more!!!

Anyway if we run out, there is always cheepy kitchen roll but not so soft!

Not sure how we can cut down on this household item? Anyone have any ideas and no before you say....... def NOT yesterdays newspapers :-) :-)

florence
in the hebrides :-)

In our house they're on the holder on the wall and when they get low another one appears.......... :-D ;-)

Not sure how much it saves,, but it certainly saves time if I wash a load with spin cycle at 800 revs, then take out washing, refold neatly, then re spin on 1600 revs.
This way I can avoid ironing almost everything.

I wash virtually everything during the cheaper-rate time of Economy 7.
I also dry washing outside when possible.

Gwyn

Mr_M ....................

I have about a 6-month supply in the basement, and they come on special at least every 2-3 months


Don't worry ......... we won't be caught short :-D



I don't know how toilet rolls are packaged in the UK ................. ours come in packs of 9 double rolls or 12 single rolls. A pack of 9 double rolls lasts one person about 5-6 weeks (in our house, anyway!).