Page 3 of 4

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 11:35 am
by Franklan
Krieg wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 10:46 am I think an important one is convincing the wife and daughter they do not need to boil one liter of water in the kettle to make a cup of tea. So far I've have failed.
If that trick with the brick in the flushing cistern works, it should also work with the kettle... :-)

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 11:44 am
by Fraufruit
Alberto wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 10:42 am After boiling food, like pasta, do you throw the hot water in the drain?
Our plumber said it is good for the drain to pour very hot water down on occasion.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 11:56 am
by Tap
Fraufruit wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:44 am
Our plumber said it is good for the drain to pour very hot water down on occasion.
I had the same a few months ago. The plumber advised me to pour hot water down to keep the pipes clear.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 12:00 pm
by Krieg
Tap wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:56 am
Fraufruit wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:44 am
Our plumber said it is good for the drain to pour very hot water down on occasion.
I had the same a few months ago. The plumber advised me to pour hot water down to keep the pipes clear.
That would be to melt the "black sludge" that builds up inside the pipes in your (kitchen and bathroom) sinks.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 12:03 pm
by Franklan
Fraufruit wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:44 am
Alberto wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 10:42 am After boiling food, like pasta, do you throw the hot water in the drain?
Our plumber said it is good for the drain to pour very hot water down on occasion.
Once in a while, I have to delime my coffee maker and my electric kettle. I use a mixture of vinegar and water to do so.

That hot vinegar and water mixture then goes into the drain to...

a.) flush the pipes with a hot liquid once in a while
b.) have the vinegar smell away asap

So, devices delimed and pipes flushed with a hot liquid. Job done.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 1:56 pm
by Tap
Franklan wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 12:03 pm
Fraufruit wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 11:44 am
Alberto wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 10:42 am After boiling food, like pasta, do you throw the hot water in the drain?
Our plumber said it is good for the drain to pour very hot water down on occasion.
Once in a while, I have to delime my coffee maker and my electric kettle. I use a mixture of vinegar and water to do so.
I mostly use vinegar and baking soda (Natron) with warm water as a cleaning agent these days. I feel a lot happier about what's going down the sink and toilet and I buy a lot less harsh cleaning products.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 3:06 pm
by bethannbitt
Been using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning for ages. Great for sticky pots too, as well all the previous stuff mentioned. I first learned about it from my MIL who was born in Eastern Europe in 1923 and didn’t grow up buying cleaning products at the supermarket.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 3:09 pm
by Emkay
I’ve kept quite a few spray cleaning bottles back from when I still bought them. Most well over 10 years old though look and work perfectly fine. Shocking to think that so many could be in landfill or only partly recyclable. Now for general surface cleaning, I mix a bit of washing up liquid with water in a spray bottle. Sometimes add some disinfectant liquid stuff. Other spray bottles with baking soda or citric acid mixes. We’ve also got old hand wash pump bottles. Easy to refill for ages. I usually dilute liquid soaps too.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 4:44 pm
by LukeSkywalker
Since several years, I use some white vinegar as replacement for fabric softener which contains chemicals and animal products. It’s cheaper too. No issues so far.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 4:47 pm
by Krieg
LukeSkywalker wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 4:44 pm No issues so far.
Except walking around smelling like a salad?

P.S., j/k

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 6:23 pm
by Tap
LukeSkywalker wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 4:44 pm Since several years, I use some white vinegar as replacement for fabric softener which contains chemicals and animal products. It’s cheaper too. No issues so far.
I do the same in every third or fourth wash. It helps keep the whites whiter and prevents the build-up of limescale in the machine. The vinegar smell doesn't linger, in fact, the clothes smell fresher afterwards.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 7:43 pm
by LukeSkywalker
Krieg wrote: Wed May 15, 2024 4:47 pm Except walking around smelling like a salad?

P.S., j/k
Haha. Balsamico missing. I was sceptical in the beginning, but it is actually mentioned a lot as household tip. Here in Munich we have a lot of lime in the water, so this needs to be dealt with.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed May 15, 2024 7:56 pm
by Robinson100
Krieg wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 10:46 am I think an important one is convincing the wife and daughter they do not need to boil one liter of water in the kettle to make a cup of tea. So far I've have failed.

- have you thought of offering to make the tea yourself?
Your other half and little one would be happy to have tea made for them, and you would be in control of how much water is being boiled - everybody would be happy! :D

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2024 6:55 pm
by snowingagain
OK save some money by not doing what I just did. I am pretty clued up about scammy sites, and know all about Chinese websites selling crap, but searching for a shirt I had so many tabs open I fell for one. I usually always check the Impressum. Sigh. 54 euros down the drain.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:30 pm
by Robinson100
snowingagain wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2024 6:55 pm OK save some money by not doing what I just did. I am pretty clued up about scammy sites, and know all about Chinese websites selling crap, but searching for a shirt I had so many tabs open I fell for one. I usually always check the Impressum. Sigh. 54 euros down the drain.
- just curious if you even received anything, or if you "just" lost your money?

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:31 pm
by Robinson100
bethannbitt wrote: Mon May 13, 2024 3:06 pm Been using vinegar and baking soda for cleaning for ages. Great for sticky pots too, as well all the previous stuff mentioned. I first learned about it from my MIL who was born in Eastern Europe in 1923 and didn’t grow up buying cleaning products at the supermarket.
I´d never heard of it until I moved to Germany, but now my "go-to" for cleaning is actually vinegar and baking soda!

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:32 am
by snowingagain
Robinson100 wrote: Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:30 pm
snowingagain wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2024 6:55 pm OK save some money by not doing what I just did. I am pretty clued up about scammy sites, and know all about Chinese websites selling crap, but searching for a shirt I had so many tabs open I fell for one. I usually always check the Impressum. Sigh. 54 euros down the drain.
- just curious if you even received anything, or if you "just" lost your money?
Funnily enough it actually arrived 2 days ago. It is dreadful. Not linen and nothing like the photo. Cheap cotton, ugly boxy design. But´ẃonderful packaging. Box with tissue, ribbons and a loving message addressed to me by name. And I can actually fit into it. Which are plus points, I guess.

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:54 pm
by Robinson100
Funnily enough it actually arrived 2 days ago. It is dreadful. Not linen and nothing like the photo. Cheap cotton, ugly boxy design. But´ẃonderful packaging. Box with tissue, ribbons and a loving message addressed to me by name. And I can actually fit into it. Which are plus points, I guess.
I think we need a photo here!

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2024 8:20 pm
by Fraufruit
I got sucked into one of those Chinese sites once and ordered about 6 pieces of clothing. The fabrics and designs looked beautiful. When they arrived, it was all cheap polyester and the designs were all blurry and awful. I took it all straight to the clothing bin down the street. Fool me once.......

Re: Money-saving tipps

Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2024 8:56 am
by Franklan
Robinson100 wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2024 7:54 pm I think we need a photo here!
155 epic clothing disasters