Posts filed under ‘Cash Saving Tips’
Cash Saving Tips No.5
Are you a list writer? Do you like adding things to your lists just for the satisfaction of being able to tick them off when they’re done? I write lists for my food shopping each week; I keep a list of things to do for my work; if we go on holiday I write a list of what to take; if I’m arranging a social event I write lists of who’s doing/bringing what, where and when….and so the list goes on 
Well I’ve discovered a never ending source of premade list paper!
The paper off of food cans! When you’re just about to use the contents, before you open it, other wise some of the contents may spoil the paper, take the paper off and stash it in a draw or put it in a bulldog clip or similar. Then you can open the can as normal.
If you do this every time you use a can you’ll at least have the paper for your weekly shopping list, if not alot more 
What else do you write lists for? Do you write lists for anything other than to make sure you don’t forget anything on it?
If you enjoyed this tip you may like these ones too:-
What Now?
Leave a comment (below)
Subscribe to Sarah’s Fleeces (top right)
Email Sarah@SarahsFleeces.co.uk
Check out my shop
Cash Saving Tips No.4
I recently heard about the amount of heat that we lose through our windows, even if they’re double glazed. Now I love getting natural light into my home for as long as possible but having realised that I’m now letting heat out as well as light in I now pull my curtains a bit earlier.
I also realised that I’ve got a large amount of glass in my front and back doors. Figuring these must be letting heat out too I’ve bought myself some material to make fleece curtains for these panes of glass.
Why fleece? Well if it keeps us warm it’s got to make good insulating curtains too, other than it’s partially made out of recycled water bottles and I sew with it all the time for my business that is!
If you enjoyed this tip you may like these ones too:-
What Now?
Leave a comment (below)
Subscribe to Sarah’s Fleeces (top right)
Email Sarah@SarahsFleeces.co.uk
Check out my shop
Cash Saving Tips No.3
You know when you’re cooking pasta on the hob and you bring it to the boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer and allow about 12-15 mins for it to cook? Well what you can do instead is once it’s come to the boil is turn it straight off and keep the lid on.
Your pasta will be cooked in more like 20 mins instead of 12 but you’ll have saved 10 mins worth of gas or electricity!
This works because pasta doesn’t take long to cook and so with the lid on the water retains it’s heat long enough to cook it without the heat source.
Happy saving
Cash Saving Tips No.2
Quick and simple one this.
I’ve often heard people suggesting that you only boil the right amount of water that you need. Personally I’ve not very good at guesstimating this and my kettle needs a minimum amount of water that is bigger than the one cup I’m often making.
So instead what you can do is when you’ve boiled the kettle for your cuppa you put the left over water into a thermos flask and keep it for the next one!
This way even if the water isn’t hot enough to make a drink straight from the flask you can at least pour it back into the kettle and it will boil loads quicker saving you electricity! Simple!
Cash Saving Tips No.1
Reading Time: 3 mins
Welcome to the first in my series of ways to save yourself a bit of cash.
One of my more recent ways I’ve come across to save a bit of cash is to cook using the ‘Hay Box’ method. My Mum says that during the war her family cooked alot in this way. It’s ideal for cooking meals like casseroles, stews and well anything in a sauce basically.
All you need:-
- a large cardboard box, say about 3′ x 3′ x 3′ (1m x 1m x 1m);
- a large old blanket or sleeping bag;
- a cooking pot or saucepan that you’d cook a casserole or mince dish in.
Not too hard so far, eh?!
If you haven’t got a cardboard box that big you could ask your local supermarket for one or use something similar in size like a large clothes basket.
Your blanket or sleeping bag ideally needs to be one that you don’t mind the odd drip of food on.
To prepare the meat and sauce of a bolognaise:-
- First of all prepare and cook your meal in the normal way but 6 hours before you want to eat it – cook your mince in a saucepan on the hob as normal but only up to the point where you’ve added all the ingredients and would then leave it to simmer for say 20-40 minutes.;
- Whilst this is cooking get your ‘Hay box’ ready. Put the cardboard box on the floor out of the way somewhere with the lid open. Then take your blanket (insulation) and line the box with it but so that there is plenty left over to cover up your pot with afterwards. Try to make sure the bottom is flat so that your sauce doesn’t tip out;
- Then turn off the heat under your pan and very slowly and carefully lift your pan and lower it into the bottom of your blanket lined box;
- Then cover over the top of your pan with the left over blanket and tuck it in firmly round all the edges so that it’s 100% wrapped in thick layers of blanket. If the lid shuts that’s a bonus but it seems to work fine either way.
- Leave it for 5-6 hours.
And it’s as simple as that!
When you open up your ‘Hay box’ having made (in the case of Spaghetti Bolognaise) the spaghetti seperately, your meat part of the meal is still very hot so be very careful when touching it. You’ll most likely still need oven gloves to protect yourself. Your meat is then ready to serve straight away, and it’s all the better tasting as it’s been sitting in it’s own juices for so long! Yum!
The meat and sauce for Spaghetti Bolognaise can be ready in only 4 hours whereas a dish like stew with big pieces of potato can take more like 6 hours.
This way of cooking is perfect for preparing before you go out in the morning and it’s always ready when you come in at the end of the day. If you’re an hour late it won’t even spoil, the worst that I’ve had happen is potatoes being crumbly as they’ve cooked a little too long and when that happened to me it was after 8 hours!
Here’s a site that has loads of good links to other Hay Box information sites.
What Now?
Leave a comment (below)
Subscribe to Sarah’s Fleeces (top right)
Email Sarah@SarahsFleeces.co.uk
Check out my shop
