Buy a reconditioned second hand phone.
Make your own lunches, you can make sandwiches, salad type foods in a container and wraps the night before and they’ll be fine the next day kept in the fridge.
Drink water. When I boil the kettle, there is a flask to fill too, thus not having to boil the kettle many times in a day.
Shut off all the rooms you may not use at night and put on an extra layer of clothing.
Use refill shops. Buying just the amount you need for a recipe, then food isn’t left in a cupboard for months going off. Don’t waste food. Crusts make a really nice bread and butter pudding.
I use local independent shops, the price of 2 decent good quality sausages from a butcher (probably made from a nearby farm) works out better than a pack of rubbish from the supermarket. A lot of these shops have their own ‘points’ schemes and even a day of the week where it’s 10% discount for the over 60’s.
Save your ironing for one huge blitz. Heating an iron up for one or two items is costly.
Try to dry clothes outside (when it’s the warmer months of the year). We don’t have a dryer and use the smallest room in the house, south facing (great if the sun comes through the window).
Buy and use a slow cooker. Batch cook and freeze. Plan meals, then food isn’t wasted.
I use the microwave for all veg cooking. This saves not only money but keeps all the goodness and vitamins from being boiled away.
Buy garden plants from the sale section. In the local garden centre they may look dead, but come spring that little plant will spring into life. Take cuttings, swap seeds and barter any excess produce you grow.
If you are thinking of a big purchase, find an independent maker. I make curtains and don’t charge VAT. Somewhere such as John Lewis will be about 20% – 30% higher on mark up. They are well made and will last for years if fully lined and customers look after them. A curtain across a doorway in a hall will really keep the warmth in.
I also use Vinted and last year sold a lot of items (not just clothes).
We ‘do’ our own garden, wash our own windows and don’t have a cleaner :0)
Barter. I once made a lot of Roman blinds for a joiner, who in return helped put up some of our new doors, he then taught hubby to hang the rest.
