For the last couple of weeks I have been racking my brains as to how we can save more money around the house. I have read so many ideas on websites and blogs, but I thought I'd share some of the things that we are already doing in the hope that something may help someone else.
1) Second hand clothing for kids and myself. We are really lucky that we get
given lots of hand me down clothes for DD2 and DS.
2) Meal planning and cook from scratch. I try to cook the amount needed to
avoid leftovers.
3) Grow as much veggies and fruit as possible.
Preserve gluts of this food by making jam, chutney or freezing. If all
else fails feed it to the chooks.
4) Swap/barter for things. I recently swapped homemade jam for some bookcases
for my sons bedroom. But my favourite swap
ever was eggs for Eco tampons. That one never fails to raise a smile from others.
5) Looking in skips. Some of the raised beds in my garden as made with wood
from a skip, same goes for my garden table.
In the past I have picked up a table lamp from an expensive High Street
retailer, complete with a £55.00 price label.
6)This is one that everyone is talking about at this time of year, but keep the central heating turned down as low as you can cope with. We have cavity wall and loft insulation, which help a bit.
7) Saving water. Last year our water company were offering free water saving devices to all of their customers. I jumped at the chance, and they were fitted for free to. These included tap aerator inserts, aerating shower heads and water saving bags that go in the toilet cisterns (we already had these). We also only run the dish washer and washing when they are full. Sorry to gross anyone out, but we stick to the old rhythm of "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down". We try to only shower, but sometimes as we all know only a bath will do. We also have a water butt in the garden. Last month we received our water bill, and our water usage is the same amount as the average two person household. I was thrilled with that, clue smiley face.
8) Save electric. We don't own a tumble dryer, many of my friends can not fathom this at all. Instead I line dry, or hang over the banister or clothes horse.
I would love to hear anyone else's money saving tips.
Good tips. I love no. 2 with the meal planning and cooking from scratch, but I do it a little bit differently. Instead of trying to avoid leftovers, I cook too much on purpose in order to have leftovers. I then turn those into a meal the next night. So if I make burgers one night, I make to much mixture and use the extra to make meat balls for the next night (or for the freezer if I don't fancy them straight away). Or I'll make a big batch of bolognese and have spag bol one night, lasagne the next, and if there's any left I put it in pasties. And if we have pasta I always make too much so that OH can take some to work for his packed lunch the next day. Obviously I'm very careful about germs and store things in the fridge (or shed when it's cold enough, lol), and reheat them thoroughly.
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