Sunday 13 January 2013

Using up the last - Part 2 and a Mini Challenge


 
Yesterdays post highlighted to me how on the ball we all are. 
 
We all seem to be so good at getting every pennys worth of our hard earned money from the things we buy.  We turn things upside down (gravity is a brilliant thing isn't it), we scrape out jars and bowls with our flexi spatulas.
 
 
 
 
 
 I bought a brilliant one last year with a large spatula at one end and a tiny one at the other it cost me £3.50, reduced from some silly price in a kitchen shop sale but I can honestly say it is possibly the best £3.50 I have ever spent.  I must have saved the price of it during it's first month of use and it still looks new now. (Mine's the one on the left, and yes it's in my favourite colour green.)
 
We snip tops off tubes and plastic bottles to get at every last little bit of the precious stuff inside.  A good tip I picked up last year from a Blog, was to save the snipped off end (off a tube of hand cream for instance) and then use this as a new lid, by pushing it over the cut end you keep the air out and keep the contents fresher by not leaving them exposed to the open air to dry out, it really works!
 
Another thing we all do that came over loud and clear was diluting.   Nearly everything we use can be diluted or the container it comes in can be rinsed to get every little drop of product out of.  When I think my bubble bath is all gone I simply fill the bottle with water and leave it until my next bath, there is usually enough left to give me a semblance of one more bubbly bath even if I do not luxuriate like the folk you see in the movies with their dignity intact because of masses of bubbles :-)
 
All food containers are rinsed out, jars of pasta sauce, tins of tomatoes etc etc, you need them rinsed out anyway even if they are just going into the recycling box so why not rinse them out and extract every last bit of foodie goodness to actually eat.

 
 
 
I always dilute my washing up liquid, we use Fairy and buy it when it is on special offer.   We have tried buying cheaper brands but they never last as long nor perform as well so it's diluted Fairy all the way for us.  We use a third of a bottle of liquid to two thirds of water and this gives us plenty of soapy suds to get all the pots clean and enough power to cut through any grease.  When the diluted mix has all been used the bottle gets filled with water and shaken this is then poured under a running tap and then the top gets taken off the bottle and dropped into the bowl so every little vestige of liquid trapped in the grooves gets used for one final bowl of pots, then and only then is a new dilution made up.

I'd say one bottle of diluted liquid lasts us around two to three weeks, and I use this for lots of cleaning purposes not just pots.  So a full bottle of Fairy bought when on offer should last us between six and nine weeks, for one pound I call this real value for money.  So the bottles I bought here should last us anything up to a year!!

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I am setting myself a Mini Challenge this week.

 
 
I have these, the last of my fresh potatoes ....
 
 
 
... and these, found lurking in the depths of the freezer.
 
How many meals or part meals can I make out of them?
 
How many could you do?
 
Sue xx

11 comments:

  1. I had what I thought was a brill idea and put Fairy liquid in the car screen wash. Uh oh!

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    1. Haha....lovely sudsy windows I'm guessing, but nice and clean :-)

      Sue xx

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  2. I usually dilute my washing up liquid by adding 1/3 water and 1/3 vinegar. It lasts ages. DB works at Jewsons Builders Yard, so buys me a 5 litre washing up liquid container for £2.50 (on staff discount)and this will last me a whole year.
    I would make mash and grilled salmon with your ingredients. Make a potato roesti and serve it with salmon fish cakes. Or make a salmon bake topped with sliced potatoes and grated cheese. Jacket potato served with salmon majonaise sounds good as well.

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    1. All delicious sounding ideas :-)

      Sue xx

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  3. I'm so glad it's not just me:-) Sometimes I think I'm the mad one, and then I realise No, it's the guys at work with their "I can afford to waste it snobbery" ('cos they have dirty great overdrafts!)
    Have you tried using cheap bubble bath in your handwash dispensers too? Works great - can't remember where I saw it, Mean Queens page? Froogs? but thanks.

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    1. There are some that really look down their noses at frugality, they are usually the ones that moan the loudest at rising prises, but continue to get deeper and deeper into debt to fund their lifestyles.

      Yes we do this already - Asdas Cheapo bubble bath (we stocked up when it was 8p) and a couple of drops of Tea Tree oil (which makes it antibacterial and kind to cuts and scratches obtained whilst gardening etc) - a real money saver.

      Sue xx

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  4. I always have bottles upside down in my house :-)

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  5. It's the way to go.

    Usually if we hear a distant thud it's the top bottle having fallen off the bottom one as I like to leave them emptying all day now to get every last little drop.

    Sue xx

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  6. Really excited about your mini challenge Sue!

    Can I come and eat at your house please!

    I gave up chocolate but I could never give up salmon.

    Sft x

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  7. Even as a teenage I used to cut the top off my hair gel so I could get to the last of it! We also tried cheaper washing up liquid but for once the TV advert is right - fairy does last longer! Good luck with your challenge - I'd probably eat all that in one go though!

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  8. I usually make myself jump by the top bottle falling off with a thud too!
    Sarah x

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