The pauper's thrifty thread

[Darkginger]

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but one of the main reasons I started vaping, as opposed to smoking, was to try to save some money. We were faced with a bit of a mortgage crisis (as in we couldn't pay it!), and I worked out that my monthly smoking costs would cover the monthly mortgage outgoings, so it was a bit of a no brainer. Since my husband has now also stopped smoking and switched to vaping (the hero!), we're winning the battle, and can now also afford some shinies from time to time

Anyway, I was thinking - we can't be the only people who ended up here because of a distinct excess of month compared to money, so wondered if anyone else is finding new and exciting ways of cutting back on expenditure in order to afford life's little essentials (like more juices!)? My other vice - the demon drink - I am dealing with by making home made wine and beer - currently quaffing a rather impertinent little elderflower wine that I threw together in the autumn. It certainly does the job, and tastes pretty good, too. I'm also a rather wishy-washy forager - nothing like Hugh Fearnley-wotsit, but I can recognise wild garlic when I see it, and am not averse to collecting mussels from the rocks. I found out the other day that Japanese knotweed, that invasive plant that seems to be everywhere, is edible - the young shoots can be used as a rhubarb substitute, apparently. Not tried that (yet) myself, but maybe a Japanese knotweed wine would work?

I've planted some courgettes that may or may not supply us in the late summer, and have plans for other veggies soon. I'd love to get chickens again (fox got the last lot), but our dogs are too young for that to be a success, maybe in a year or so.

Next bit of frugality on the horizon is to start mixing my own juices, but tbh am a bit scared of having high strength nicotine base in the house!

So, we're doing what we can to cut back on expenditure - I even have an electric bike that I use for short journeys instead of the car (electric 'cos am as fit as a thing that isn't fit, working on that) - anyone else got any suggestions/examples/anecdotes to share? I'm no lentil-knitter, but possibly have old hippie tendencies...

[Jen]

Can totally recommend mixing to save cashola, if you check out the members' recipes thread in the mixology section, you can see that most 10ml mixes cost you around £1 to make, throw in a bit extra for the equipment like bottles and syringes, and you're still winning. You could always buy a lockable box for the hi-strength nic if you're worried. It is an initial outlay, like most vaping, but it pays off in the long run

[giles]

I agree with Jen Unless you are a true ninja most of the cost of the vaping is the juice, and unless you are on very cheap juices it is a lot cheaper to mix (and even then it is a bit cheaper).

It's not really that much of a problem having high strength nic. After all you have to keep the pre-mix where kids can't get at it anyway. What some of us do is dilute a large batch with PG or VG to get it to level where all it needs is the flavour adding, and store that. It is easier than measuring small amounts each time, and then most of the time you are not working with high strength.

[Karma]

If you're really worried about having high nic juice around, you can buy quite cheap ready mixed base

www.ltecigs.larsentilbrook.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=61_84

[Blownupdolly]

I have recently got my Motability disabled car. I made sure it was a diesel. Purely by chance (as i didn't know before choosing this particular vehicle) on the dashboard it has a white line that goes up and down indicating how frugally you are driving. If you keep the line above a diamond shape it means you are increasing the miles you use to the gallon. I am now obsessed with this line which s saving me money on fuel costs and i am managing to get around 48 miles to the gallon. It's been a real bonus I hadn't envisaged having.

[Darkginger]

The main reason I'm worried about the nic base is nothing to do with children (don't have any!) but all to do with the cat/dog conspiracy we have going on here, where one of the cats (Noel), who thinks he's a dog, knocks stuff of off/out of places we think are secure, and the dogs then eat whatever it is he's thrown to them. So far it's mostly been socks, shoes and the occasional pack of ciggies - but there was an unfortunate chocolate episode which made me panic (cos chocolate is doggie poison). I could never forgive myself if the dogs got hold of something poisonous that I'd brought into the house. Maybe I could take advantage of my current state of commuting between the UK and Ireland, and do all my mixing at my Dad's place, then bring the result back in the baggage Having said that, eating a bottle of 20mg juice wouldn't do them a lot of good either, so maybe I'm being unnecessarily cautious. Must buy more lock 'n lock boxes!

Dolly - 48 mpg sounds great - I miss my old Vauxhall (sp?)Opel Astra estate, which used to get silly mpg, something way over 50, which was unreal We're using the car less and less, and trying to make sure every journey counts - ie we don't go out in the morning for milk, and then remember all the other stuff we should have got, and have to go out again. It does make a difference over time, but it can be a right PITA too. Having been one of Maggie's yuppies in the 80s I sometimes feel like a bit of a failure to be so impecunious at this stage of life - but then again it has to be a good thing to live frugally, doesn't it?

[lobeydosser]

Hi Darkginger, There are some excellent books around like "Food for Free" & "Seashore Seafood" to help you fill the Larder for next to nowt. A great hobby as well as some savings.

As to storing NicBase in the house, we do not have a problem there, but if we did, I would invest in the likes of this;- www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7015359.htm

I used to smoke 40 super king a day. Present price £14.04p per day.
Including everything I have bought and used, my present vaping costs are £1.14p per day.
I have worked all my life and now I am retired and after 50 years of struggling with money, we are now on pensions and since I have changed to Vaping, suddenly I have money to spare and I am looking forward to buying my first new car.

So quite apart from the health and environment benefits of Vaping, I simply could not afford to go back to smoking cigarettes.

[Karma]

My frugal tip - give up housework, all those cleaning products cost a fortune

[Deleted]

Well done on you both giving up & saving your dosh, Darkginger.  Like the fact that you've taken it further with the foraging & wine making, nice one! 



Thanks for that link, Karma, I really like the look of the 100ml low nic on there. Won't be worried with the mutts with that or me gaffing it up!!

[Karma]

jess I don't think it works out any more expensive than buying all the base ingredients individually and misses out the boring step. I've been buying the VPG base and it's clear and has no odour



I've revived this thread with an update about 'soapnuts'

allaboute-cigarettes.proboards.com/thread/21007/soapnuts

[Jen]

Just a thought by the by - now would probably be a good time to take advantage of any free house insulation offers, I know they knock on from time to time round here. We're booked in for July (when they're not so busy), and I believe it's government fundeed and/or subsidised. You could save a fortune next winter

[lobeydosser]

A neighbour of ours used to make her own bread.
She then found out that if she also made her own Beer, she could "grow" the Yeast that she then used for the Bread.
For the two adults and 3 kids, she needed to produce the equivalent of two large bottles of beer a day.

Now this was just hunky dorey until hubby went away on one of his two week long trips.
By the time he had returned, she was running out of beer bottles and so at fairly frequent intervals, hubby would arrive at our door so that I could "help" him to empty some of the bottles.

He was one of the nicest neighbours we have ever had!!!!

[Blownupdolly]

Apr 15, 2013 17:44:16 GMT Darkginger said:

The main reason I'm worried about the nic base is nothing to do with children (don't have any!) but all to do with the cat/dog conspiracy we have going on here, where one of the cats (Noel), who thinks he's a dog, knocks stuff of off/out of places we think are secure, and the dogs then eat whatever it is he's thrown to them. So far it's mostly been socks, shoes and the occasional pack of ciggies - but there was an unfortunate chocolate episode which made me panic (cos chocolate is doggie poison). I could never forgive myself if the dogs got hold of something poisonous that I'd brought into the house. Maybe I could take advantage of my current state of commuting between the UK and Ireland, and do all my mixing at my Dad's place, then bring the result back in the baggage Having said that, eating a bottle of 20mg juice wouldn't do them a lot of good either, so maybe I'm being unnecessarily cautious. Must buy more lock 'n lock boxes!

Dolly - 48 mpg sounds great - I miss my old Vauxhall (sp?)Opel Astra estate, which used to get silly mpg, something way over 50, which was unreal We're using the car less and less, and trying to make sure every journey counts - ie we don't go out in the morning for milk, and then remember all the other stuff we should have got, and have to go out again. It does make a difference over time, but it can be a right PITA too. Having been one of Maggie's yuppies in the 80s I sometimes feel like a bit of a failure to be so impecunious at this stage of life - but then again it has to be a good thing to live frugally, doesn't it?

Thats great going re the Astra Jo. I am still practicing the frugal driving. The car also tells you the best time to change gear to save on fuel. Hopefully when i get that down to a fine art i am to get 50 or above.
I always try to get everything in one go doing the weekly shop. We use semi skimmed milk which is freezable so i buy big cartons and put one in the freezer. Same with bread etc. I don't have much choice other than using the car due to my disability, but i try to offset that with the driving style.

And Karma is right. The less housework you do the better

[Karma]

and, if you compost, instead of buying the stuff to get it going you need to get a man to pee on it, honest! Only male pee works

[lobeydosser]

Is that because only a man can pee high enough to get it into the compost bin?