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Extreme Things I Do To Save Money
Saving money happens in so many ways, but it's the little, insignificant things we do from habit that add up to save us the most money.
Here are some of things I do that may not seem worthwhile on their own, or done once, but added together and repeated often, the money they leave in our bank account is significant.
Here are some of things I do that may not seem worthwhile on their own, or done once, but added together and repeated often, the money they leave in our bank account is significant.
*I empty the little complimentary packets of sugar and salt into the canisters if I don't put them in the picnic basket.
*I tip sauce bottles upside down and then top up the new bottle, then add a little water, shake and pour into gravy or soup or pasta sauce.
*I save the hard ends of cheese to use in sauces (not often but occasionally someone will leave the bag open and then end goes hard).
*I use a silicone spatula to scrape every last bit of dough or batter from the bowl.
*Use a silicone scraper to get every speck of peanut butter from the "empty" jar.
*Add hot water to the "empty" Vegemite jar, shake it up and use it to flavour soup or stew or pie filling.
*Add milk to the "empty" jam jar, shake to make a milkshake or flavoured milk to add to a plain cake batter.
*Add a little milk to mayo bottles to get it all out.
*Put cooking oil into a little jar and use a silicone pastry brush to brush oil onto frying pans and grills rather than pouring it in.
*Pre-heat the baking dish and then drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the veggies in a bowl, toss through and dump onto the hot baking dish and put it in the oven to roast. Saves a lot of oil and kilojoules!
*Rinse egg shells, dry them and then powder them to make a calcium supplement for the veggie garden, or grind them to small pieces and sprinkle around plants to deter slugs and snails.
*Make Cheapskates Washing Powder.
*Keep a spoon in the washing powder canister and measure it out for each load.
*Save soap ends to use in washing powder.
*Add water to an "empty" shampoo bottle, shake it up and then use it to clean the bath, shower, basin and toilet.
*Trim the bottom off the toothpaste tube and scrape every last blob of toothpaste out.
*Dilute dishwashing liquid 50:50 with water.
*Keep a teaspoon in the dishwasher powder and measure out three level teaspoons of powder into the dispenser. One kilo of dishwasher powder can last up to two months (at least 60 loads) with careful measuring.
*Turn appliances off at the wall. Exceptions: fridge and freezers. Only turn the power point on when that particular appliance is to be used.
*Fill gaps in the freezers with water bottles. They freeze and help to keep the freezer cold, lowering running costs.
*In winter, I close the blinds and drapes around 5pm to keep the warmth in the house.
*In summer, I close the blinds and drapes before the sun comes up to keep the house cool.
*I also wipe foil and reuse it, wipe over baking paper and reuse it until it crumbles.
*Boil the kettle and fill the thermos, and use that for hot drinks during the day.
*Wash & dry plastic bags - freezer bags, veggie bags, bread bags, ziplocks, sandwich bags etc.
*Rinse milk bottles and pour onto the veggie garden to water and fertilise.
*Save brown paper bags to use for draining fried food and lining cake tins.
*Trim down the daggy ends of wrapping paper, iron and reuse.
*Always take buttons and zippers off clothes before they are turned into rags.
*Re-hem towels and hand towels when the edges become frayed.
*Cut old towels into bath mats and hand towels, old bath mats into hand towels and face washers, old hand towels into face washers and cleaning cloths.
*Save tea bags and reuse them, then dry them and use as firelighters or to add to the compost.
*Save coffee grounds to add to pin cushions, the compost or to use as fire lightersvor to make Gardener's Soap.
*We eat the leaves as well as the beets on the homegrown beetroot.
*We eat the stems as well as the heads of the broccoli we grow.
*Save veggie peelings in the freezer to make stock.
*Fill up with fuel early in the morning when it is cool to get every drop, and less vapour.
*Wash pillows by hand in the bath and dry in the sun instead of dumping them and buying new ones.
*Use water and microfibre cloths for general cleaning.
*Clean and dry cereal box liners and then cut them up to make freezer paper.
*Save the dividers from the tea bag boxes to use for bookmarks, gift tags etc.
*Ignore Best Before dates, and research the actual life of products rather than binning something that is "out of date".
*I tip sauce bottles upside down and then top up the new bottle, then add a little water, shake and pour into gravy or soup or pasta sauce.
*I save the hard ends of cheese to use in sauces (not often but occasionally someone will leave the bag open and then end goes hard).
*I use a silicone spatula to scrape every last bit of dough or batter from the bowl.
*Use a silicone scraper to get every speck of peanut butter from the "empty" jar.
*Add hot water to the "empty" Vegemite jar, shake it up and use it to flavour soup or stew or pie filling.
*Add milk to the "empty" jam jar, shake to make a milkshake or flavoured milk to add to a plain cake batter.
*Add a little milk to mayo bottles to get it all out.
*Put cooking oil into a little jar and use a silicone pastry brush to brush oil onto frying pans and grills rather than pouring it in.
*Pre-heat the baking dish and then drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the veggies in a bowl, toss through and dump onto the hot baking dish and put it in the oven to roast. Saves a lot of oil and kilojoules!
*Rinse egg shells, dry them and then powder them to make a calcium supplement for the veggie garden, or grind them to small pieces and sprinkle around plants to deter slugs and snails.
*Make Cheapskates Washing Powder.
*Keep a spoon in the washing powder canister and measure it out for each load.
*Save soap ends to use in washing powder.
*Add water to an "empty" shampoo bottle, shake it up and then use it to clean the bath, shower, basin and toilet.
*Trim the bottom off the toothpaste tube and scrape every last blob of toothpaste out.
*Dilute dishwashing liquid 50:50 with water.
*Keep a teaspoon in the dishwasher powder and measure out three level teaspoons of powder into the dispenser. One kilo of dishwasher powder can last up to two months (at least 60 loads) with careful measuring.
*Turn appliances off at the wall. Exceptions: fridge and freezers. Only turn the power point on when that particular appliance is to be used.
*Fill gaps in the freezers with water bottles. They freeze and help to keep the freezer cold, lowering running costs.
*In winter, I close the blinds and drapes around 5pm to keep the warmth in the house.
*In summer, I close the blinds and drapes before the sun comes up to keep the house cool.
*I also wipe foil and reuse it, wipe over baking paper and reuse it until it crumbles.
*Boil the kettle and fill the thermos, and use that for hot drinks during the day.
*Wash & dry plastic bags - freezer bags, veggie bags, bread bags, ziplocks, sandwich bags etc.
*Rinse milk bottles and pour onto the veggie garden to water and fertilise.
*Save brown paper bags to use for draining fried food and lining cake tins.
*Trim down the daggy ends of wrapping paper, iron and reuse.
*Always take buttons and zippers off clothes before they are turned into rags.
*Re-hem towels and hand towels when the edges become frayed.
*Cut old towels into bath mats and hand towels, old bath mats into hand towels and face washers, old hand towels into face washers and cleaning cloths.
*Save tea bags and reuse them, then dry them and use as firelighters or to add to the compost.
*Save coffee grounds to add to pin cushions, the compost or to use as fire lightersvor to make Gardener's Soap.
*We eat the leaves as well as the beets on the homegrown beetroot.
*We eat the stems as well as the heads of the broccoli we grow.
*Save veggie peelings in the freezer to make stock.
*Fill up with fuel early in the morning when it is cool to get every drop, and less vapour.
*Wash pillows by hand in the bath and dry in the sun instead of dumping them and buying new ones.
*Use water and microfibre cloths for general cleaning.
*Clean and dry cereal box liners and then cut them up to make freezer paper.
*Save the dividers from the tea bag boxes to use for bookmarks, gift tags etc.
*Ignore Best Before dates, and research the actual life of products rather than binning something that is "out of date".