Sometimes it's the little things that help you save both money and energy. I am sure you all turn your washing up liquid bottle up side down in a cup, to make sure you get the last drops out of it. I also take off the top as that is usually gooey and add that to the water.I use shower gel, again I turn it up side down , I also take the top off and add a little water to it. I get a couple more showers out of it. The same goes with conditioner and shampoo, liquid soap, and the list goes on. It may not seem like a lot but over time, I may save enough to buy one less bottle of shower gel over a year.
When I freeze baked goods, I tend to wrap them in cling wrap and then over wrap them with aluminium foil. When I take them our of the freezer, I always use the foil again, generally to line a pan I put in the oven. I do wash all my freezer bags and veggie bags, unless they have had meat in them.I make both my laundry detergent and fabric softener, eventually I will make all my cleaners, however because I use coupons I find that I pay very little for them. For those of you in Canada I have found a great product from Shopper's Drug Mart, called bio-life tub & tile soap scum stain remover. Which is in a Pear Violet scent and is biodegradable and is made with plant derived ingredients. The spray container is also great to reuse, when washed out properly. There are other bio-life products.
We have changed a lot of our light bulbs over to the energy efficient ones. I know in Britain there are different periods of the day/night when electricity is cheaper and more expensive. We don't have that over here in Canada, but I know when we lived in Britain, I used to wash at night and did things when the hydro was cheaper. With that in mind and knowing that eventually we will have the same thing happen over here, I have appliances with delay start, so I too will be able to take advantage of cheap hydro rates. I want to talk about alternative energy in another post.
Luckily I am hot flash Annie, so through the day when I am in the house on our own, I make sure that through the day the heat is down reasonably low, as why keep it up high when it's only me. We do have a programmable thermostat so that too also helps to control the heat and is more accurate.
I am sure you all have little tricks that save you money, care to share?
It's Friday so it is Buddy's, for more Buddy's post's, pop over to Margaret's Ramblings
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sunday Song
From 1977 - Thelma Houston; Don't You Leave Me This Way I remember dancing to this......... However I prefer this version and remember d...
-
As they say little things please little minds......so I have a little mind. If you have a young child, especially a boy in the house, they ...
-
The other day I was at the grocery store with my grandson. Had him in the shopping trolley buckled in and while we were waiting to cash out...
-
From 1977 - Thelma Houston; Don't You Leave Me This Way I remember dancing to this......... However I prefer this version and remember d...
18 comments:
You are a thrifty girl after my own heart Gill. This type of saving was ingrained on me from childhood so much so that I almost feel like the thrifty police are watching me all the time. LOL. Ah, the things we learnt at our mother's knee. Margaret
Hello Gill
We use toothpaste that comes in those plasticy tubes - well if you think they are empty when you can't squeeze any more to the top and out of the hole you are in for a big surprise.
Cut off the top and see whats left there lol
You will need to keep the little top in a small clip lock bag so it doesn't dry out - theres often enough for a few more days of cleaning the pearly whites
Take care
Cathy
I do all you have mentioned except making my own laundrey detergent. someone told me it was hard on the septic. I add water to my laundrey bottlesd when finished, there is usually enough for another ewash in there.
I wish we had times in Canada that it is cheaper to run electricity. They do in some parts of the states as well. Can't see it ever happeming here though.
good job on saving!
I love your thriftiness. This is one gal that can use coupons and save money. I'm always amazed at what you save.
We do much of what you do Gill. We have to on a fixed income so we have to watch the little things. Our heat is turned down in the day and way down at night. We just use more quilts and dress warmer.
Great post.
Hi Gill-we also use surge protectors so we can snap off the electricity to the tvs, streos, computers ect when not in use. Every little bit helps!
Your first paragraph so made me laugh, Gill - I do ALL those things exactly! Enjoying your blog - Caroline x
White curtains.
We have white curtains in the bedroom and we almost never have to turn a light on in the day--only once it gets to be about 6:00. They let light in fantastically even when they're closed. But darker curtains? Not so much.
Great post, Gill!
Lots of good tips Gill - and don't you feel guilty if you don't follow them through! A x
Our light bulbs are all the efficiency type. We have a programmable thermostat which is very nice. I use to do all of my laundry at night, for two reasons, when I was working, I got home around 10:30pm, so would do up a load then, plus the house was cool because the heat outside had also cooled down. I don't have anything to add to your tips. Basically mine are pretty much the same. Have a wonderful week-end.
I bake all our bread - rolls, pizza, sweet breads, loaves. It's less work than you might think. When I started out a loaf averaged .14 cents each. It's double that now.
thanks for all your comments, I really appreciate all your comments.
Gill
Like you, I make my soaps last. I take my liquid dish soap and mix it with water in a spray bottle and then just spray it on the pan or pot. Goes aloooong way. Also I go to the "Dollar" store for the shampoo etc.
I do the same with my conditioner for my hair, it is so thick that half way through I can fill it up with water and does for another whole bottle
I do exactly the same with the liquid washing detergent bottles, shampoo etc.
We used to have economy 7 cheap electricity but now we're all gas. Have to say I'm not keen to leave washer or drier on at night in case of electrical problems or floods. My washer in the utility once caught fire but luckily I was in the kitchen. Terry Wogan's tumle drier caught fire one night just before Christmas, could have been nasty!
My husband has changed all our light bulbs over to those low energy ones and I HATE them. I think they're dangerous. They take so long to build up that I don't wait and just go up or downstairs in the dark. Apparently they are developing new ones that light instantly and they'll be cheaper to buy and run. Roll on the day!
My husband's a fanatic for turning off the lights, I'm trying to improve. We also try to turn off everything on standby but I always forget the laptop!
My husband's a spendthrift on those horrible shower cleaner sprays. I never buy them, I use a cloth!
We made a determined effort to turn lights off when not in use and guess what? We saved $100!!!
Hi Gill,
I changed my driving habits and saved 8% on my petrol bill last year. You can see how on my blog if that interests you.
Love your ideas. I use alot of the same ones. I'd like to get back to making my own laundry detergent. I did it for a few years and don't really know why I stopped. Hydro, in our area in Ontario the rates are lower after 10pm(I believe) until 7 in the morning. I keep the heat down during the day when I'm home by myself, bake instead of buy, buy in bulk (some items), look at how something can be used again and again for another purpose, line dry in the spring, summer and fall....oh and thanks for the Shoppers Drug Mart tip. I'll have to check that out. Great post! Heather
Post a Comment