For as long as I remember, I have always had the money saving bug in me. From coupons to looking for glitches, I have always loved to make my money go as far as possible. For the last couple of years I have been keeping a secret from all my friends and family, I have been refilling well know branded items up around my house hold, with cheaper alternatives. Cheaper alternatives are not bad. They have less prettier packaging and the taste can sometimes be different.
Cheaper alternatives such as value supermarket items often taste the same once they are in a branded bottle, just by adding the cheaper alternative into a bottle is a great money saver. Here are my top 10 household items that I am happy to refill with cheaper branded goods.
1. Handwash At Christmas I am often gifted soap in a posh bottle. Throughout the year, I will often buy cheap liquid style soap and simply add it into the posh bottle making all my family and friends believe that I spend a lot of pounds on a expensive branded soap. My favorite soap to buy is from Aldi, it is priced around 55p and my favorite bottle to pour it into is a Harrods bottle.
2. Ketchup I have always been about the Heinz but more recently I have been happy to purchase Aldi's own ketchup. The consistency of the ketchup is a little runnier than Heinz however it is a great cheaper alternative and with us only using a limited amount of ketchup in the house, refilling a Heinz bottle up with a cheaper alternative often saves us a few pounds now and again.
3. Washing Liquid For as long as I remember I have always loved buying a branded washing up liquid however over recent months, I have been more than happy to buy a cheaper alternative. As a family who does not own a dishwasher, washing up liquid is a key item in our household. We tend to get through a lot of washing up liquid as it has many purposes around our house. Whether we buy branded or not, going down to a cheaper non branded option is sure to save us money across the year. I personally believe we save around £25 a year buying non branded washing up liquid.
4. Mayonnaise I am a massive fan of a particular branded mayonnaise however it can often end up getting expensive buying it all the time, especially when it is not on offer. To save costs sometimes, I refill the bottle up with a cheaper alternative. I also often keep any left over sachets of mayonnaise that we get from fast food places.
5. Shower Gel Maxwell loves getting character themed gels and bubble baths however his skin does not agree with most of the products. Not wanting him to miss out, I often refill the character bottles back up with products that agree with his skin. Maxwell does not know any different and is always happy to use a character product.
6. Shampoo Often I feel shampoo bottles up with other branded shampoo. Shampoo can be as expensive or inexpensive as you like however I feel a lot of shampoo does the same job. I like to rotate the shampoo I use and I like to use a lot of it so buying a cheaper brand and adding it to a posher bottle makes me feel like I am using a luxurious product when really I am using a bargain product.
7. Kids Drinks When we go out on family days out, I always like to take my own drinks. As a child, Maxwell loves to drink sweetened kids drinks however they often give him a rash meaning that he is unable to drink them. I often take a bottle of flavoured water out with me and always ensure that I have our own water and juice in the car in case he requires another drink.
8. Tissues Since I moved into my own home, I have always refilled tissue boxes back up with a cheaper brand of tissues. I love pretty tissue boxes and often I like buying tissues because I like the design on the box. Through the winter we seem to get through a lot of tissues and often I am unable to find a decorative box I like. I now buy cheap tissues and simply refill the tissues so I am able to keep the pretty box.
9. Diffuser Oil Last Christmas I was gifted a beautiful diffuser. It matched my bedroom perfectly and it was a product that I would not normally be able to afford. I loved the scent the diffuser gave off but when the oil ran out I was shocked to find that one bottle of oil was over £15 to refill the diffuser with. Wanting to save money, I went to my local supermarket and found some oil for just £2. The scent was beautiful and I simply refilled the beautiful diffuser. Simply by refilling the diffuser saves me around £25 a year.
10. Travel Products I am a sucker for small travel products when we go away on holiday however I hate paying the expensive prices. When I now go away on holiday, I refill the bottles the mini bottles that I purchased in the sale with my own toiletries. As a family of 3, this saves me buying around £15 worth of goods each time we go away.