Downstairs Savings

The Aga is now off, so it will definately be cooler in the house. An additional up side to this is that our large upright kitchen fridge and freezer will keep cooler too, so this will save a bit on the electric. Every time we opened the door to take stuff out, or put things back in so much heat went in which had to be cooled again.

I have already looked at ways of saving money upstairs and listed changes of products to save money. Now I am looking at the downstairs in the same way to see what significant changes I have made so far and what I can do to make more changes. I have already mentioned that I switched my toilet cleaner - 32p litre, bleach- 14p litre and cistern blocks - 15.5p each, for the upstairs bathroom, this also applies for the downstairs loo.

One of the biggest money saving changes that I have made downstairs is switching the washing powder, as we are a large family and wash several loads daily. Whereas I used to use the leading brands like Ariel or Persil as I could get a large sack of persil which saved having to keep buying it but didn't save money or storage. Persil costs £2.58 per kg whereas stores own which I now buy does the same job minus the strong perfumed smell for just 82p per kg. This one switch alone saves us pounds every week as we use several kg every week. I would like to find out exactly how much we are using weekly, perhaps I could keep track a little.

I do use fabric conditioner occasionally for freshening up the bedding and towels. Here too I swapped from Comfort at £2.20 per litre to stores own for just 23p per litre. I use small white laundry net bags to wash tights and delicate lingerie which you can buy from Lakeland. They may seem expensive to buy but have saved me pounds on tights which previously got tangled up with the other washing before and often came out laddered by zips etc. Satin delicates mean that I can now wash with similar colours instead of in a load on their own so save water and electricity too. Mine paid for themselves long ago.

The dryer is off at the moment as the weather is just fantastic this Summer. When I do use it we have a couple of eco dryer balls from Lakeland, well advertised and expensive but not sure whether they actually work, they sure bump around a lot and are noisy so hope they do!

We have a practical lino floor in the kitchen so use a good quality Lakeland mop with replaceable heads. The cleaner we used to use was Flash at £1.78 per litre, now we use stores own All Purpose Cleaner at 35p per litre. This is really good as it can also be used neat to wash the kitchen worktops and hob etc too. Two jobs in one bottle saves space in my cupboards! We also sometimes use a cream cleaner, previously Cif at £3.36 per litre but now I use stores own at 62p per litre.

For the kitchen table we have a heavy duty plastic coated tablecloth which I like to spray with anti-bacterial spray on a regular basis to keep germs away. I used to use Dettol spray at £4 per litre but stores own cost me £1.80 per litre. This can be used on food preparation areas too.

There are many windows in our house and we used to use Windolene at £3.20 per litre but stores own cost me £1.80 a litre.

For the dishwasher I used to buy Finish dishwashing powder at £3.48 per kg but now use an unknown brand rather than stores own at just £1.50 per kg.

A couple of luxuries I kept downstairs was the traditional bottle of Fairy liquid beside the sink, I have tried other brands but find Fairy definately lasts longer. Perhaps I should give it another go with a cheaper one? Also, I swapped soap bars for liquid soap downstairs as it encourages the children to wash their hands, we use anti-bacterial handwash priced at 38p per 500ml bottle with dispenser - 76p per litre. I have just managed to stock up on this liquid soap half-price so I won't be feeling guilty about that or need to buy it for quite a while!

When I look at all these products prices I am awed to think how much I would still be spending if I hadn't swapped them for the cheaper brands. The other thing is that I haven't noticed any negatives through using these cheaper brands at all, they all do the job that I bought them for and do it well.

*Plan, try cheaper washing up liquids to compare value with Fairy liquid. Also, check to see how many kg of washing powder we are using weekly.

**Update: I have searched online and found that the cheapest washing up liquid I could buy is just 68p per litre whereas I usually pay £2.16 per litre. I have now added it to my basket and am prepared to give it a go. The packaging looks cheap and I definately won't be leaving it beside the sink but I prefer stuff in cupboards out the way anyway. Here goes!