Five random things I do to save money

I have been watching a lot of frugal YouTubers recently to inspire me on my frugal journey. It made me realise that there are already do a lot of things I do to save money that other people might hesitate to contemplate.

I am firmly of the opinion that if you want to live well on less, every small action counts. Maybe you want to reduce your working hours, pay off debt or save towards a goal; whatever your motivation, the little things add up when it comes to money!

I know that some things I do will seem extreme to many people. However, I am at a stage in my life where I really don’t care what other people think. I am debt free, can work when I want and have pretty much all I need for a comfortable life.

If other people have different priorities, and are willing to take on some debt in order to achieve a certain lifestyle, that is up to them. I have certainly done that myself in the past, as I explained last week to the lovely Mrs Mummypenny in this post on her blog.

Anyway, here are five random things I do to save money.

1# Use rags instead of kitchen roll

I cut up an old towel into squares and keep some of these in a pot in the kitchen for  spillages, cleaning, etc. As they are used up, I chuck them straight into the washing machine to await the next load. 

They dry really quickly, are very absorbent, cost me nothing and saved a) the towel and b) lots of used sheets of kitchen roll from going to landfill. As you can see, we still have a roll of kitchen paper. It has lasted absolutely ages and I won’t be buying more once that has finished.

I haven’t been brave enough to use something similar instead of toilet paper yet, but I would certainly consider it. In the meantime, I am happy saving on plastic waste by buying recycled roll from Who Gives a Crap. I you use this link you will get £5 off your first order.*

2# Dilute the washing up liquid

I only buy cheap washing up liquid from Aldi or Lidl, but find you can dilute it quite a lot without it affecting its effectiveness. This one has been diluted by a third, but I might top it up a bit more once we have emptied it a bit.

There are lots of things that can be diluted to make them last longer: laundry liquid (not that I use that), fabric softener, shampoo, conditioner, household cleaners, orange juice and even milk can have water added. You will have to experiment to see how much you can comfortably dilute things.

3# Cut back on washing powder/liquid

I have a box of washing powder for really dirty items, but generally I use my Ecoegg Laundry Egg* or a handful of soap nuts. Sometimes I wonder if you need laundry soap at all, as the agitation of the washing machine is so strong that is what really cleans your fabrics.

If there is a stain on an item of clothing, I use a bit of solid Vanish soap and it usually does the trick. Some people are obsessed with the perfumes added to laundry soap, but I think that is just another added chemical and the fragrance doesn’t last long. As I am trying to reduce the number of chemicals in our home, I am happy to do without that.

4# Buy all my clothing second hand

As regular readers and members of my Facebook group will know, I have pledged to buy only second hand during 2021. Not just clothing, but anything that can reasonably be obtained used.

As you can imagine, I couldn’t wait to get out to the charity shops when they reopened in the UK on Monday! I did need a few items as I had a wardrobe declutter. This got rid of loads of things that I never wore but also revealed a few gaps in my wardrobe.

I love buying second hand clothing as, not only is it much cheaper, I can buy better quality than I could otherwise afford and it stops things going to landfill, as I explained here.

5# Reuse packaging and envelopes

I keep pretty much all Jiffy bags that come into the house, bubble wrap and a lot of envelopes too for reuse as I need them. Some small boxes are stashed in the shed in case I need one as well.

Unless you send out items as part of your business, there is no reason not to reuse envelopes and packaging. It saves loads of money and it’s always better for the environment to reduce, reuse and recycle if you can.

I still haven’t done much with my own YouTube channel, despite my best intentions. There seems to be so much to do at the moment, but I will do some videos soon!

In the meantime, I am still enjoying watching Frugal Jo, Prepper Princess and recently discovered some old films called Possum Living. This shows an amazing example of frugal living and there is a book too. I just ordered a second hand copy from eBay for £12. Amazon is trying to sell it for £25!

Anyway, those are some of the random things I do to save money. What about you?

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.

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