General Chat

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 :-)

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!

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'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

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 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 :-(

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 wonder if you need to wash those towels every time.

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

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

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

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!

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!

......I agree Sharron.

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

Gwyn

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

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

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!

rofl @ Fred bringing home dead badgers :-D

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

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!

As a veggie, I try to bulk buy Quorn in Vegetarian Week when it is often reduced.

I have a supermarket delivery then and fill my freezer. I try to buy the things on that delivery that Aldi and Lidl don't sell like treacle, pudding rice, custard powder, lentils.

Used to try the made up Quorn things like escalops in a sauce but they used to get left in the freezer so it is mostly mince and basic ingredients now, and pies.

Used to make all our bread but Fred is not keen on it now and shopping for the bread is one of his jobs so I don't anymore. When I did make the bread, in the machine, I would buy a cwt sack of wholemeal flour from the mill. In this case the one at the open air museum.

Because we eat onions like the Chinese eat rice, I buy a big net from Lidl, it is not practical to go to the market or I would.

I go to another mill to buy bird seed. Fred sometimes has to stay in and the bird table is something to watch. While I was in there last time, I asked about cat litter.

They told me one of their customers who runs a cattery uses chick crumbs so I have been trying them. £8 odd for a bag and it has lasted at least twice as long as a bag of litter and there is still more than half the bag left.

So it is chick crumbs for pussy's botty in future.

I have already said that i'm not a thrify person, but was fed up replacing broken or worn out items.

Now, when I need to buy these things .... crockery, towels and bedding.... I buy only white things
If a plate gets smashed, it's easy to replace. Supermarkets also have cheaper serving dishes ect .... usually in white.
Recently, I bought a dozen fine ,white cofffee mugs @ 29p each

All towels are white... they can be bleached or boiled if necessary.

Then there is the false economy
ie cheap washing up liquid and loo rolls.

Cheap washing up liquid, you end up using more as its suds/cleansing properites just do not last the whole wash. We have one truly cheap bottle under the sink in case of an emergency (OH does not know but I use it to clean the cats bowls!!!)..

Cheap loo rolls, you just end up using more sheets to get the same thickness of regular priced ones...

Another thing mentioned:

Sloggi Knickers - bought these myself as recommended by sil. Yes they are lovely, but I have a very sensitive back and all sorts set off rashes, itches etc. and what I did not know when I bought them is that they only have 1 seam, up the middle of the back. Wore 1 pair (of a 4 pack) and by the time I got home my back felt like it was on fire as the seam drove me mad..... Straight in the bin........

However, as there are only 2 of us, we rarely waste food, only buy what we will eat. All our waste is sorted for re-cycling and because we waste so little food our compostible bin (bag) only goes out every 2/3 weeks. And I never use the little bin that is supposed to go by the sink (YUK).....

Like everyone else, when out shopping, it something we use regularly is on special offer then we will stock up. But even in our house space is limited. Though if he cleared out his glory hole under the stairs we could buy and store more. He must have every power tool going, and does NO DIY, I always have to get a man in!!!!! :-D :-D