General Chat

We are on a water meter and this morning I did think I was perhaps a bit too careful with not wasting water.
Daughter was in a bit of a rush to get off to work and as I was near the sink she asked if I could refill the plastic bottle of tap water that she takes each day. There was still a couple of inches left from yesterday, so rather than throw it, I put it on plants, before refilling with fresh water.
Water used to wash veg. gets thrown on the garden too.
When OH was at work all day,I always used to keep a vacuum flask by the kettle. When I made a cup of coffee, I'd pour the extra boiling water into the flask and it was ready for a mid-morning cuppa.

Now I just boil enough to make the 2 cups needed.

Gwyn

I haven't read right through but just to say, I do shop in pound shops but you need to be careful and check the weight of what you are buting is the same as it would be in the normal supermarkets. I saw a programme where they said that some stuff is produced specifically for the pound and 99p shops and the weight is lower than the comparable so you may not be getting a bargain.

But it may stop you having that bit hanging around going stale that you didn't need.

Those teeny tins of baked beans are ideal for a portion.

biggest save in my house is the tumble dryer we have not had one for the last 3 years

Ooh yes, I had a pulley in my last house like the old-fashioned ones our parents used to have. You can still get them on the internet. (pulley maid) If your landing is long enough to have one, your stuff dries lovely up there. Not got big enough landing in this house. :-(

Stopped using the tumble dryer, except for the very rare emergency, about a year ago and have noticed the reduction in the bills :-)

Were forced onto a water meter at the beginning of the year, as was everyone in our town, and am now paranoid about it. The upside is that it forced me to have a temperamental water cistern fixed and a water butt fitted but the downside is that my patio no longer has lots of pots with bedding plants :-(

And the BIG one.....

Today my car died :-( and it is uneconomic to repair so I will be saving on tax, insurance and fuel while getting fitter by walking everywhere:-D

Chris

Just seen about the pulley.

I am assuming it is one of those things that people have in the kitchen to dry their cloths.

It would not be very feasible in our kitchen as OH is so tall but I have always thought the space above the stairs was a wicked waste and a bugger to keep free of cobwebs!

Wouldn't that be just the most excellent place to put one of those.

You can just search for 'clothes airer' on the internet. They are not cheap at upwards of £40 but will last a long time and really solid. I got up into the loft to check where the wooden joists run over the landing then up the stepladder again to drill two holes through the ceiling into the joist. Would buy again in this house if had a big enough landing. Probably wouldn't put in spare bedroom. I finish stuff off on hangers at top of stairs now on hooks over the two bedroom doors.

This has turned out to be a really good thread - plenty of interestingly thrifty ideas here!

It seems that many of us are so used to doing these money-saving, waste-reducing ideas that it has become second nature.
I was making out a shopping list today, and realised I was doing another - I keep old envelopes, turning them over to use the blank side for making notes, shopping lists, messages etc.
;-)

There was a pulley in the kitchen when I was a child in Scotland. It was above the table. The kitchen got very steamy when there a few people in there!

I hang the washing outside, but still have to use the tumble dryer. More in summer than winter, because it gets very humid here. If I put clothes away with even a tiny spot of damp they go mouldy.

i do that with envelopes Karen :-D

and i always hang my washing outside when its not raining,also have a compost bin ,so all the veg and fruit peeling go in there,egg shells are used to protect my hostas from slugs and snails,and the cinders from the fire are used to make paths in the veg garden,any spare wood is used for the fire in winter.

my store cupboard is full of stock that ive bought at a fraction of the usual cost(like the toothpaste i mentioned earlier) i really cannot stand waste and if i can save money i will.

:-D :-D

If I have enough soap ends I grate them and mix them to a paste with boiling water and put them in one of those little flexible patty tins to make more bars of soap. The last time I did this they lasted a year.

I try not to use soap as soon as I buy it but leave it as long as possible to dry out and harden up. That way it goes further.

Unwrapped and in the linen cupboard Sharron? So do I.

I didn't but I probably will now.

great tips everyone,

found a few new ones myself :-D

I also use old envelopes and OH always cuts up cereal pkts or any other pkt for shopping lists and great for the g/kids to draw on :-)

I put all my fruit & veg peelings etc in the compost as well.
We keep a colander on the draining board so you can just chuck bits in it.
Have to remember to empty it every day, of course, or it attracts fruit flies.
We put the paper from the paper-shredder in the compost bin, too.