The Scottish Frugality Thread

[Newview01]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

Here's mine.

When you turn on your water, you pay both a rate for water and another rate for amount used in sewer. Even when watering your lawn.

So 2-3 times a week, wife baths or showers, leaves the water in tub. I only shower so go after her.

Tub is full. I drain the water from the tub to the washing machine with a sump pump (small) that is used to just start the water siphoning into the washer. Two story so once started water drains without using pump.

I pay for water used once and sewer once, but use the water twice.
First washer load is soapy water anyway and then it rinses clear. So what the hay. LOL

FIL used to scoop the water from the tub and water his garden and flowers with gray water and never seemed to harm the plants.

Every day that I do that I save 25-30 gallons. Thinking daily in summer for my trees and lawn.

Where I live we get charged for one unit, which is enough for household use as well as watering the lawn (within reason, we don't need it to look like a golf course)

[CaberTosser]

Davey, some buildings with extensive irrigation will have a separate water meter and backflow device for those water lines, they will only pay for the water with no sewer fee built in. This is the case in Calgary at least. Some buildings will have grey-water recycling (drainage from bathroom sinks/tub/shower) where its pumped into a dedicated set of water lines to serve the toilets; these buildings are rare, but they exist.

[Spidey]

Just remembered one more (taught to me by my frugal SIL). Buy a couple bunches of scallions and/or green onions and after you use them just plant the bulbs in a small flower pot where they will continue to grow and cut them when you need them. They just keep growing back!

[Dacotensis]

Originally Posted by crazy_davey

Hunting for meat is cheap if you live in the right area, when you can kill animals five minutes from your door or even sometimes shoot right from your deck. Fill tags and butcher at home, cheap and easy

This year I went for a drive on Sunday and saw the moose I wanted to shoot on opening day.
Opening day I went for a drive and found her again

So for the cost of fuel about $50
Tag for $50
Certificate fo whatever averaged out over my tags. Nominal
Butcher for $150.

I'm into this moose for very little.

My elk hunt was t successful but did shoot a deer.
That was a much needed break anyway so hard to put a value on it.

[Davey Boy]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Davey, some buildings with extensive irrigation will have a separate water meter and backflow device for those water lines, they will only pay for the water with no sewer fee built in. This is the case in Calgary at least. Some buildings will have grey-water recycling (drainage from bathroom sinks/tub/shower) where its pumped into a dedicated set of water lines to serve the toilets; these buildings are rare, but they exist.

My house was built 1981 so no separate grey water systems. But I have heard of some new houses with that system. It does makes sense. I may get a barrel and drain into that and then use that grey water every 2 days to water with. Different spots throughout the yard each time. Soil will filter the water, that's kinda what it does in nature.
I do get a rate for water and another one for sewer. Live in South Calgary.

[CaberTosser]

On the water conservation topic I have done some prep work for collecting rainwater at my house but I have not yet built the rack for the 1000l tote tanks. I will route my eavestroughs to drain into the tote tanks but will also pipe in the discharge from my sump pump which is fed from my foundation weeping tile. I will put in 3-4 tote tanks and they will be elevated about 6' so as to provide pressure to the raised bed garden that I'm also building.

[Bulldog Edm]

I bought an android box and cancelled my cable TV almost a year ago now. Still watch all the same shows plus a lot more that I didn't have before. Saved just about $1000 so far this year.

I glued the sole back onto my work boots. With company supplied gorilla glue (that's some good stuff).

[qwert]

Originally Posted by Davey Boy

My house was built 1981 so no separate grey water systems. But I have heard of some new houses with that system. It does makes sense. I may get a barrel and drain into that and then use that grey water every 2 days to water with. Different spots throughout the yard each time. Soil will filter the water, that's kinda what it does in nature.
I do get a rate for water and another one for sewer. Live in South Calgary.

When I built my home in 1981, I thought very seriously about installing a grey water system for water conservation, and to reduce demands on both well and septic. My deep well has sufficient but not unlimited production, and we need to be somewhat careful with usage. I was informed that a grey water system would not pass plumbing or health regulations, and misinformed that my septic system would not function properly with volume reduced by not including grey water.

With the benefit of hindsight, not installing a grey water system was a huge mistake. I should have installed the below slab grey water piping after plumbing was inspected, but before pouring the floor slab. I have a lovely big cast iron bathtub, and could have easily provided a summer and a winter drain and just moved the tub seasonally. I also should have included a frost-free sump. Any above slab plumbing is easy to retro fit, but the lack of under-slab piping has been very disappointing.

I now am forced to use a large plastic garbage pail as a grey water reservoir, then use a sump pump to drain the pail and bathtub onto the lawn.

Good Luck, YMMV.

[roger]

There isn't a lawn or flower on earth that deserves potable water.

[muzzy]

Originally Posted by dodger

Keep inviting myself to people's places and then hang around until supper.

Just kiddin, but I do know this person.

Watched a show where a lady unravelled a roll of double ply toilet paper to a roll of single ply. You would figure the single ply was double the length of double ply but it was actually 5 times longer! You get lots of single ply to build a large wad to keep the ar&$ clean

Dodger

But what about your fingers eeewwhh

[Dewey Cox]

I remember telling a co worker that if he quit smoking, and brought a bag lunch to work, he could save a pile of money.
He said he would save his condoms for me to wash and reuse if I'd like.
I didn't bring it up again.

[schmedlap]

Originally Posted by coreya3212

Good lord no you do not?

Some Scotch in my background. My Mom (RIP) always saved every scrap of the end of soap bars and remelted and reformed them into new bars - and without the assistance of any microwave.

OK... I do not ... I toss them, but ...?

[schmedlap]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

Love those dispensers for the kids. They actually want to wash their hands.
I use dawn dish soap and when the bottle is empty I add enough water to fill the hand soap dispenser and give it a shake. Washes a lot of dirty little hands.

We don't go through stuff as quickly now that the kids are gone. when I find cheese or onions or peppers etc, on sale. i run them through the food processor, into a zip lock and use it in soups sauces, pizza , nachos etc.

My MIL was a war bride from Edinburgh. My wife claims she only stays with me cause divorce is so expensive. She says instead of getting half now, she'll get it all when I die.

and its a holdover from being raised by parents who lived in relatively poor families through the "30's", I still rinse out and use the very last of my dishwashing liquid, shampoo, detergent, etc. rather than just heaving the last drops adhered to the container. My kids get a kick out of such economically unnecessary frugality, but I am saving the planet, one drop at a time (?).

[big zeke]

It might be tough to get the better half to agree but I despise our dishwasher. It runs on straight hot water (no cold water is connected to it) and eats electricity for about 2 hours every time it runs including the heated dry cycle. If you invest in the "sani" setting you will get the opportunity to take sanitized dishes from the machine and load them into an unsanitized cupboard/drawer.

If you look closely at how full the machine is, I'll bet I can hand wash the same amount, in a sink of mixed temp water in about 10-15 mins and let the dishes air dry for free. As often as not I have to hand wash the really dirty stuff.

Hot water is not cheap, electricity isn't either.

[schmedlap]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Instead of buying bug remover for your windshield, add a few drops of sunlight to plain water. Takes bugs off great.

Straighten bent nails and re-use them.

Save all spare fasteners in jars sorted by size.

Make your own jumper cables out of welding leads. Way cheaper and far more effective.

Cut up your own salad rather than buying pre-packaged.

Boil your chicken and other bones to make soup.

Buy a whole ham hock, make ham and scalloped potatoes, use the left over for ham and eggs, use the bone for French Pea soup.

Change your own oil. Cost $20 versus $69.99 at the lube shop. Recycle takes the used oil for free. ( no $4 enviro fee).

Use cloth diapers instead of disposables.

I will never buy a pre-packaged salad.
As a matter of fact, I made a huge pot of yellow pea soup this weekend, with my Mom's recipe, but putting the whole smoked (it is not nearly as good with a raw) ham hock in to boil as the central ingredient. Those are becoming hard to find - I had to go to StupidStore to get a couple. The cut up chunks of the smoked ham hock are the highlight of the soup, let alone the flavor imparted by the bones.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by big zeke

It might be tough to get the better half to agree but I despise our dishwasher. It runs on straight hot water (no cold water is connected to it) and eats electricity for about 2 hours every time it runs including the heated dry cycle. If you invest in the "sani" setting you will get the opportunity to take sanitized dishes from the machine and load them into an unsanitized cupboard/drawer.

If you look closely at how full the machine is, I'll bet I can hand wash the same amount, in a sink of mixed temp water in about 10-15 mins and let the dishes air dry for free. As often as not I have to hand wash the really dirty stuff.

Hot water is not cheap, electricity isn't either.

Don't use the heated dry cycle, just open the door and let dry

[Rdamours]

I bought a double edge Weishi long handle heavyweight safety razor a while back ad a bunch of feather blades. I'll be shaving on the cheap as the regular Mach3 or whatever replacement blades are the biggest scam going.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Rdamours

I bought a double edge Weishi long handle heavyweight safety razor a while back ad a bunch of feather blades. I'll be shaving on the cheap as the regular Mach3 or whatever replacement blades are the biggest scam going.

Oh how I rail against the cost of those razors. I do use them though, its just that I typically shave every 2-3 days and then I use the blades until they're seriously uncomfortable. I'm sure they intentionally manufacture them out of steel that dulls as easily as possible. I should look into alternatives, either along the line of yours or some of the value ones that have been showing up online.

[alberteh]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Oh how I rail against the cost of those razors. I do use them though, its just that I typically shave every 2-3 days and then I use the blades until they're seriously uncomfortable. I'm sure they intentionally manufacture them out of steel that dulls as easily as possible. I should look into alternatives, either along the line of yours or some of the value ones that have been showing up online.

Don't shave. I've never shaved. Ever. That'll save some $...

Duck dynasty guys wish they looked like me.

[Bulldog Edm]

Originally Posted by alberteh

Don't shave. I've never shaved. Ever. That'll save some $...

Duck dynasty guys wish they looked like me.

x2 I quit shaving over a year ago. Women love the beards! My wife likes it too. lol

[fitzy]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

Oh how I rail against the cost of those razors. I do use them though, its just that I typically shave every 2-3 days and then I use the blades until they're seriously uncomfortable. I'm sure they intentionally manufacture them out of steel that dulls as easily as possible. I should look into alternatives, either along the line of yours or some of the value ones that have been showing up online.

There was a thread on here a while ago that convinced me to try wet shaving. I use my Grandfathers razor from WW2 and feather blades. I went from despising buying blades and hating shaving to enjoy the experience and 10$ in blades have lasted me for months. I'll never go back to a cartridge razor.

[Dewey Cox]

Drinking homemade beer and wine can save a bundle.

[Big Sky]

We have 4 water barrels hooked up to each of the rear downspouts. Plenty of water for the gardens and trees.

Every month when I drain a couple of gallons of water out of the hot water tank, we use the hot water for cleaning. Mix with some vinegar to wash the floors, windows or the insides of the vehicles.

I bought a repair manual for all of our vehicles. I do the majority of the maintenance on the vehicles in the garage. Run the vehicles into the ground.

We buy new vehicles. December is a good time to get a deal on last year's models.

The tires on all of our vehicles are take offs.

The jeans that I'm wearing are from Value Village. Nice pair of Levi's.

We buy milk and meat that is approaching 'best before' date. Savings of 30% at Superstore.


Don't let wife watch HGTV.
I shave with my hunting knife and use my socks for bandaids.
Take up reloading.

[masalma]

Originally Posted by Spidey

- I research the heck out of upcoming purchases that I don't need immediately (eg. furniture, tools, electronics, paint, pet food). This is a good website for Canadian retail shoppping: www.redflagdeals.ca

Been on there for over 10 years, really amazing place to find good deals.

[Dean2]

A few more that I actually do because it is easy to accomplish, just like the first batch.

Shave with a straight razor.

Never buy a new car, and do as much of the repairs and maintenance as you possibly can.

Never make payments.

Never borrow money where the interest isn't tax deductible.

Do your own investing. Save the 3% fee the investment adviser charges. Adds up to a lot of money over 50 years.

Collect rain water in rain barrels. The county sells good ones for half what they cost elsewhere and the blue plastic ones are nearly free.

Buy a whole ham with the bone in. Far cheaper than the little hamettes and much better tasting. Bone makes great stock.

If you love sushi and Chinese food, soups etc check out T and T markets. Pre made, tastes great and costs about 1/3 what most restaurants charge.

Do as much of the repair work around the house as you can. Fixing appliances, plumbing, electrical is actually pretty easy to do. IF you can read you can learn to fix most anything.

Barter with others for services or goods you need or can provide.

[bsmitty27]

Safety razor very cheap and a great shave.
Burn wood, fire starts in October and goes out in May. (local wood cut at home)
Buy good leather boots and shoes and look after them (if it needs a gortex liner its ****)
I eat wild meat on the cheap ducks and deer (Very local)
Drive older reliable vehicles
Cook from scratch
Plan your meal by what's in your fridge ( dont let food go bad)
Get a big cast iron pan it will be the last pan you buy
Kijiji
Put up a clothes line
Leave the truck at home. Drive a small car for daily driver.
Buy quality tools get them used if you can.
Dont buy junk toys for kids
Make your home a destination so you don't want to go to town.
Grow what you can
Fix what you can
Make what you can
Don't use MDF for anything
You dont ALWAYS get what you pay for. there is usually a sweet spot and after that the returne on investment is very small.
Look for the Value it every purchase.
Marketing is the Devil.
Dont wear logos unless someone pays you.
Here's a start
Brad

[Bulldog Edm]

Originally Posted by Dean2

A few more that I actually do because it is easy to accomplish, just like the first batch.

Shave with a straight razor.

Never buy a new car, and do as much of the repairs and maintenance as you possibly can.

Never make payments.

Never borrow money where the interest isn't tax deductible.

Do your own investing. Save the 3% fee the investment adviser charges. Adds up to a lot of money over 50 years.

Collect rain water in rain barrels. The county sells good ones for half what they cost elsewhere and the blue plastic ones are nearly free.

Buy a whole ham with the bone in. Far cheaper than the little hamettes and much better tasting. Bone makes great stock.

If you love sushi and Chinese food, soups etc check out T and T markets. Pre made, tastes great and costs about 1/3 what most restaurants charge.

Do as much of the repair work around the house as you can. Fixing appliances, plumbing, electrical is actually pretty easy to do. IF you can read you can learn to fix most anything.

Barter with others for services or goods you need or can provide.

Well should start an alberta outdoorsmen Barter section in the buysell. Trade goods and services.

[Unregistered user]

I commute by bicycle year round. Saving money isn't the reason l do but it is a nice bonus. Chilly today though.

[Newview01]

Originally Posted by Bulldog Edm

Well should start an alberta outdoorsmen Barter section in the buysell. Trade goods and services.

It would be great to start a market or a store where there was no paper or electronic currency trading hands, just goods, services, and gold and silver.

[bobinthesky]

Originally Posted by schmedlap

Some Scotch in my background. My Mom (RIP) always saved every scrap of the end of soap bars and remelted and reformed them into new bars - and without the assistance of any microwave.

OK... I do not ... I toss them, but ...?

I sometimes have scotch in my background too but my heritage is scots!