What thrifty things do you do that you're surprised no one else does?

As a family we never write on the labels of gift bags and recirculate them.
I always buy either Chinese leaves or little gem lettuce as I live alone and they will keep for up to a month by just removing the outer leaves as required.
Spreadable unsalted butter has a short use by date so I always decant it into small plastic containers and freeze it and the same with grated cheese. The grated frozen cheese usually remains separate and can be sprinkled still frozen to melt into sauces, use as extra topping or straight into an omelette.
Blocks of cheese or butter are cut into sticks and returned to original packaging then popped into freezer bag. Cheese is easier grated before freezing though.
Ginger is grated (a job I hate) then teaspoonfuls of it open frozen then popped in container. Just use as required.
I always transfer bread into freezer bags on day of purchase as I love my bread fresh. Take slices out and make sandwiches up with it frozen and is ready to eat in 10 minutes. Good thing to remember for picnics and the butter spreads so much easier and no lumps! My children laugh and say they were brought up on frozen sandwiches!

I keep empty bread bags too for wrapping onion peelings before they go in the flip top bin

I too use greetings cards for gift cards and for writing shopping lists on. I will always buy a large loaf of bread and then cut it in half and freeze until needed. I try to avoid small plastic bags but whenever it is not possible I will reuse them. Even recyclable envelopes which some magazines are using are kept for reuse. We rarely throw out any food and my DD used to give us their out of date yoghurts (perhaps by a day) which we gladly accepted as they would buy much nicer and more expensive yoghurts than us!

I plant a trough about this time of the year with baby leaf salad and Rucula, then pick it for months on end instead of buying lettuce in the shop which quickly looks tired. We look out for Lidl items like drills, cement mixer, that we need, good quality and fraction of the price. When I want new M&S trousers I go online and always get a pair brand new with tags ( BNWT) from no pet no smoke house for £10 instead of £40. I share all my kindle books with my mum so cuts cost. I stopped using fancy dispenser hand soap because of Covid recommendations and discovered it was causing my eczema! So use plain white bars of unscented. I’ll keep an eye on here for more tips lol ?

Lots of ideas ? on here ! I’m going to try cossybabe soup and dareyouto freezer ideas!

Love this thread and do most of the above as well as shopping in Aldi and Lidl which helped me cut my hours in work which was heaven! My DH and AC roll their eyes but I have accumulated quite a nice nest egg. ??

Small plastic bags are useful in the car for collecting the rubbish on long journeys (remember them?)

It's amazinf what accumulates - sweet wrappers, banana peels, apple cores, tissues....

I too always use all the pieces of a whole chicken then use carcass to make stock. I usually make a roast dinner, a salad or perky chicken (adapted from Nigel Slater’s Perky Turkey recipe) and then a risotto with the last bits and the stock with mushrooms added. I saw on Jamie’s programme the other day that he doesn’t waste any veg peelings he just tosses them in a little oil, puts on a baking sheet and bakes to make lovely crisps.

I buy good quality foil ( preferably recycled foil ). I then wash each used piece carefully, so one piece lasts multiple times. It's been years since I last bought a roll of foil. The re-using of foil doesn't work that well with the very cheap stuff as it is too thin and brittle. The better quality foil is much more economical in the long run.

I decant half a new handwash into the old empty bottle. I top up the two half-full bottles with water. Voila, two bottles of handwash for the price of one. ( No-one notices the difference!)

I always have a blanket on the sofa to keep my legs warm in winter. Why crank up the heating?

Youghurts can be eaten weeks out of date- they only get chucked when they go furry. I absolutely detest the whole Use By/ BBE nonsense. Such dates are only observed for fresh meat and fish. Everything else - kept properly in the fridge - is fair game.

I HATED seeing the photos in the paper of the bags of perfectly good potatoes being binned a week after lockdown. Just because they were a day 'out of date'. Madness!!!! So much food was wasted by the panic buyers. It was disgusting. It highlighted how much is normally thrown away by people who have no idea about food or economising.

I use half the recommended amount of soap powder and half a dishwasher tablet with no adverse effects. Also use a pea-sized blob of toothpaste since my dentist told me you don’t need to use the amount they show on the TV adverts! I keep the posh soap dispensers I get as presents and fill up with watered down cheap bubble bath from Aldi. Don’t need to be so frugal any more really but old habits die hard don’t they?!

Thanks Cossibabe I was just making soup with leftover veg from last week as it's veg box day - on such a lovely warm day as this, wouldn't you know it! - and it will now be proudly called 'Chuckitin soup'. I do a lot of the things already mentioned so just wanted to add that I also always get one of those free mini toothpastes at the dentist as it's smaller to pack for holidays (who'd have thought we'd be looking forward to going to the dentist!) and there's always plenty left when we get home. When I buy perfume I ask for a trial size too as I don't like to take large bottles on holiday.

Someone said that if you deform the cardboard toilet roll inner it doesn’t rotate so easily so less paper is used. Never tried it though.

Steam my prepared veg in the microwave. Takes 3 minutes to cook carrots and other veg, no waiting for boiling water.
Use a soup maker because it’s quick, easy and doesn’t need watching.
Put unwrapped soap bars in my drawers and cupboards until I’m ready to use them.
Stand shampoo and shower gel containers upside down.
Thanks for all the other hints on here. There are some I wonder how I’d missed

I always put a silver teaspoon in the neck of a champagne bottle to stop it going flat

I now cut the ends of plastic tubes of hand cream.

There is always loads more stick at the very end.
When I think of all the tubes I’ve thrown away and wasted in the past. Also do it with toothpaste tubes.

And I must check with the housekeeper and butler to see whether the staff do any of these money saving tips ...
???

I cut clingfilm in half with a serrated knife .... this gives smaller strips which are useful for covering small things and less fiddley.
I peel chunks thumbsize chunks of fresh ginger then wrap individually in cling then into bag for freezer. It can then be grated direct from frozen.
I like applesauce on dinners but OH does not so I make a batch and freeze discs of same in a silicone muffin tin, into bag when frozen. Then can have small amount when needed... also with raspberry sauce and fresh cream.

I always drink the whole bottle of champagne at one sitting (reluctantly sharing with OH, if I must) so it doesn't get the chance to go flat!

Mamacaz no OH here so despite one’s best efforts....there is occasionally a little left.

Annab275 Oh dear! I thought -everybody- put their clothes away at the end of the season and brought them out again the next year! I do this repeatedly, year after year. Throw away when they are too worn or damaged. Am I the only one?

We don’t buy birthday or Christmas presents for adults in our extended families. We have all saved a fortune and a lot of trips to the charity shops in January

I cut circles off the cuffs of rubber gloves: make very handy giantsized rubber bands. Handy for lots of things. I also cut off one or two of the fingers at the base and keep these to protect bandaging/plasters clean and dry any time I cut myself. Extremely useful as we use our hands all the time.

My mother taught me never to throw away the paper pping on butter or fats. Use these to grease a baking dish or cake tin.

She also converted used envelopes into shopping list paper. I remember she was quite indignant once when I bought her one of those pretty blocks of coloured paper squares for notes. "What a waste of good paper!" she said.

I was only joking, Maw

Although I probably could drink the whole bottle, I wouldn't, because I know that I would bitterly regret it as soon as the inevitable hangover kicked in, so I suppose OH is actually doing me a favour.
We have no silver spoon (well, apart from the sugar), but we do have a few bottle stoppers just in case.
Cheers,

Cut the end off handcream tubes, antiseptic cream tubes and you will find lots left in the tube even if no more squeezes out.

Oh, I see Alexa already posted that! Two minds.

Yes, I put summer clothes away and vice versa, although it is a bit of a faff. I'm wearing all my old-but-decent-but-wouldn't-wear-them-out clothes at the moment and they may well be ditched at the end of lockdown.

MawB leftover champagne
Hic

Yes, a teaspoon works but we do have a champagne stopper which is effective and keeps it fizzy.