General Chat

As you all know, I am Scroogey Scroogey Skinflint so, even with a guest, our Christmas was a pretty economical affair, little pressies, home made everything and all the leftovers eaten.

Even so, my e-mails are full of offers of loans and credit cards.

It must be a very productive time for money lenders.

Don't people understand that all the impressive stuff is going to cost you money and that Christmas doesn't just leap out and surprise you. I know when every Christmas will be for at least the next hundred years.

Yes,I do owe some money on my credit card but it is for the work on the tooth abcess that did jump out and take me by surprise, I don't need a loan or another card for it. In fact I could even have paid cash but it would have left me a bit short in case something else surprised me.

Scroogy skinflint as you are, at least you can sleep at night without worrying about money you owe.

Oh I do.

And that ten pence piece that rolled under the counter in that shop that time that I couldn't fish out.

:-D :-D

I'm not really Scroogey, I like value for money (being Scottish born, that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

I recently joined an Aussie website, called Cheapskates. Lots of information on how to make your own things..... particular cleaning supplies..... but most of the info is hidden to non-members.

I suppose I am a wee bit Scroogey, because I've wanted to join Cheapskates for ages...... I finally joined a couple of weeks ago, when there was a DISCOUNT!

Am I a Scrooge or a Cheapskate? Neither!


:-D :-D

I can tell you how to make washing powder.

2 cups bicarb
2 cups washing soda
2 cups white vinegar
Recipe says 1 cup of liquid castille soap but that costs too much. I buy one of those multi packs of Imperial Leather or Knights Castille in the cheap shops and gra te up one bar. I have used up all my ends of bars of soap now.

You mix the dry ingredients together in a big mixing bowl. pour on the vinegar and give it a good stir.

Leave it in a warm place to dry and stir it at least once a day.

After about ten days you have your product.

I use about a tablespoonful to a wash and it lasts me ages. Already.

I looked at a few "recipes" for laundry detergent. I buy detergent in huge buckets, keep it in the laundry in a smaller container. For the savings, I'd rather do something else with my time (like watch the grass grow).

Good for cleaning the bathroom........ 1 cup white vinegar & 1 cup dishwashing liquid... warm the vinegar (20-30 seconds in microwave) & stir in the soap to combine, put it in a spray bottle and squirt.... leave for a few minutes, wipe with a sponge & rinse. We live in a high humidity area, so I add a few drops of clove oil to help fight the mould. It smells much better than d*mestos, and I don't choke when I'm cleaning the shower :-D I still have trouble bending, so use a squeegie (a window washer) with a sponge on the end.

I use a lot of white vinegar and washing soda to clean, I am going to try the washing powder that Sharron has told us how to make.

LadyScozz I did not know that clove oil help to fight mould so will give that a go to

Thank you Ladies xx :-D

I've started using T*sco biological laundry liquid for cleaning - everything! :-S

Sylvia.... clove oil is wonderful!

I buy it in really small bottles, you only need a few drops in a 500ml spray bottle of water(up to 6 drops), and it lasts for ages. I spray it in the bathroom.......... and it's excellent for getting mould off plants! I'm really fussy about what I spray on my orchids.

I'm so cheap...... I don't buy spray bottles, I re-use ones I already have (windex, spray&wipe etc), and scribble on them with a big permanent marker.

February is the most humid month here... some days, if you take a big deep breath, you could drown! I always have jars of DampRid all over the house, but I double the number of jars at this time of year (I can see one now, on the windowledge, behind the computer!)

When Fred did the washing up, we got through two bottles of washing up liquid a week. He was most generous with it.

Now, I put the Fairy Liquid in an old hand wash pump dispenser and one bottle lasts for months.

The same with shampoo. I only use about two bottles of Vosene a year and my hair isn't rank.

lol Sharron....... I finally found a shampoo & a conditioner (Trisemme?) that works well with my curly/frizzy hair. It's a whole lot cheaper than the big name brands. It's a BIG bottle, normally $10...... but I wait for it going on special for $5! There are 3 spare bottles of each in the storage cupboard.

But the savings... I spend quite a bit on argan oil!

If you decant your shampoo into a pump bottle it will last much longer because you , or I, usually tip out a great handful of it from the bottle.

One of the lady janitors when I was working used to add water to her washing up liquid bottle ............... she'd take the one out of the coffee room at my work, pour about 1/3-1/2 of the contents into another bottle and then top up with water.

No-one realised, and so no-one ever complained :-D

I do similar at home .......... except I almost never have an empty bottle (OH always takes them to the recycle place), so I wait until we've used some and add water, then add more water later.

There was an article on the MailOnLine yesterday where they had several women to blind test the most expensive shampoo and conditioner (about £119 each) and the cheapest ones (£0.75 each) ..........

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3424627/119-s-shampoo-sham-Mail-Sunday-experiment-shows-women-t-spot-difference-75p-Lidl-products-expensive-range-high-street.html

It seemed that the cheap one did as good a job. In fact, some of the ones who tested the expensive one said it was worse than the one they normally used. One lady said she did like the results, but it wasn't worth spending that amount of money on it.

I should add water to the dishwashing liquid........ because Himself squirts LOADS into the sink! He laughs at me because I add water to the almost empty bottle & rinse it out into the sink waiting for dirty dishes!

Daft really.... we have a dishwasher, it's only some plastic things & big pots & pans that get washed in the sink!


I have an almost empty dishwashing liquid bottle.......... I should go fiddle with two bottles before The Squirter comes home and catches me. :-D

Jut got today's email from Cheapskates. One article is about cleaning with VINEGAR :-D

http://www.debtfreecashedupandlaughing.com.au/2011/11/cleaning-with-vinegar.html

In True cheapskate fashion, I buy homebrand vinegar, much cheaper (but I do spend the extra little bit on cider vinegar for salad dressing).

:-D

If you add lavender to your vinegar it also smells nice :-D

Once the vinegar dries, the smell disappears....... and I don't mind the smell of vinegar. I have bowls of dried lavender in the house.

You can put all your citrus peelings in a jar of white vinegar too. That is supposed to give it a bit more oomph.

I put most of my peelings in the freezer to make candied peel.

I read that article and was very interested to see that diluted vinegar regenerates in time.

hmmm... that's probably what's in the bottle of "orange cleaner" I have..... it's expensive, so I don't use it often....... it's specifically for getting sticky things off. It doesn't smell like vinegar, smells sort of like plastic orange :-S

Must get DH to get some oranges... he's the only one who eats them (I can't eat more than 1 orange a week, or I get hives...... ouchyouchyitchyitchy).