30 Ways to Save £1

I first read about this on the wonderful blog of a fellow Waste Watcher, Everyday Life on a Shoestring, and then again on the equally wonderful A Cheerful Living Adventure. It is a competition being run by MoneySupermarket to celebrate 30 years of the £1 coin, and they are trying to collate 1000 ideas all together. They want bloggers to submit their 30 Ways to save £1 by May 17th, and then they are going to pull a winner out a hat-you could win £1000, so what are waiting for-join in!

I thought I would try and share with you 30 ways to save £1 (or more!) by Making Do and Mending, with a little bit of Waste Not Want Not thrown in for good measure.

Here goes:

 General Make Do and Mend Tips

1. Cut up old towels to make flannels for wiping sticky hands and faces, and save way more than £1 on baby wipes
2. Learn to sew on a simple patch, and save money on little boy’s trousers
3. Use bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to clean your oven instead of expensive oven cleaners
   

   Hurray!! Sparkly clean

4. Make full use of sites with free stuff, like Freecycle and Freegle
5. Make yourself a brand new skirt from a tired old pair of jeans
6. Make a Christmas tree out of egg boxes (ok, so this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was good fun, and a great talking point!)
7. Make your own deodorant-and it actually works!!! I reckon this cost me about £3 to make, and there is possibly enough here for a whole year
8. Cut up old t-shirts to make t-shirt yarn to knit or crochet with
9. Find a local Swish and swap yourself a whole new wardrobe
10. Make toys for the kids from whatever is in the recycling box-we have made bug catchers, a fire engine, and a marble run!
    Waste Not Want Not
11. Chop up any fruit that is past it’s best, and freeze to use in smoothies
12. Dead things can be made into delicious puddings-sligthly manky fruit and stale biscuits make a great Dead Things Tart Tartin
13. Dead cake can be make into a version of Bread Pudding
14. Make your own popcorn next time you go to the cinema, or get a DVD
15. Get a Green Johnanna or a Green Cone to help stop food waste
16. Soup is a great disguiser of slightly ‘tired’ veg and homemade soup is much cheaper than shop bought
17. Another way to make sure you use up every last scrap in the fridge is to disguise any veg that might be past it’s best in risottos, quiches or fritttatas
    
18. That Christmas Pannetone that someone gave you that you have no idea what to do with makes a great Bread and Butter pudding
19. Make your own bread-MUCH cheaper than buying Artisan loaves, and better for you than processed supermarket bread
20. Meal plan for the week ahead, to make sure you only buy what you need
    
    Homemade presents-all WAY cheaper than buying something new, and much nicer too!
21. Beanbags-boy or girl version
    
22. Some marbles, a drawstring bag, and some ideas for marble related fun!
23. Personalised bunting makes a nice present for a new baby
24. Old felted jumpers can be turned into a hat, scarf and mitten set
25. Bath bombs are a cheap and easy present-we made loads at Christmas
26. What little girl wouldn’t love a Hair Grip Holder?
27. Cushions are always popular, and can be adapted to the recipient easily
28. If you have a foodie who needs a gift, homemade flavoured oils are a great frugal present
    
29. We made Monster Sick Bubble Bath, complete with a monster wash mitt for a 5 year old, and he loved it!
30. A great, cheap, easy peasy yet fantastic and very personal present is a record clock of the single that was number 1 on the recipient’s birthday!

Wow! Now if that doesn’t save you £30, I don’t know what will!