Money Saving Ideas

Status
Not open for further replies.
Shelby

Shelby

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
81
Reaction score
78
Points
230
Location
Surrey, UK.
I like to think of my self as pretty thrifty when it comes to money. I'll spend it where it's needed but if I can re use something or there's a cheaper alternative I'll do that if it's safe to do so.

So being a new piggie mummy I'm looking out for money saving tips and ideas. Bargains you've purchased, things you've recycled or re used, or places you've sourced for freebies.

I'll start off with what I've done so far...
1) daughter old fleece blankets now used as cage liners.
2) made daughters old fleece jumpers into snuggle sacks.
3) old baby hairbrush for grooming
4) unused ices scraper I found sitting about to poop scoop droppings.
5) off cuts of fleece used as bedding inside pigloo instead of hay.
6) cardboard tubes from cling film for toys (these are a lot thicker than toilet or kitchen rolls).
7) small oval ceramic dishes from pound shop. They don't tip, are wide enough for all three piggies to get around and much cheaper than pet shop bought ceramic dishes.
 
10) bulk buy bedding 20kg bales of bedding aimed at horses are very much cheaper than smaller bags aimed towards small animals. 20kg of snowflake shavings are £6, in a pet shop 1kg for £1 is pretty normal as an example for those who dislike the maintenance of fleece bedding :-)
11) buy bigger sacks of food (though only around 3-6 months worth at a time), often much cheaper per kg and take a look at amazon subsrcribe and save as you can get a 15% discount on many foods for subscribing to a free delivery every 1/2/3/4/5 or 6 months.
 
Ooh I love a money saving forum post :) Good idea regarding the ice scraper - never thought of that one! My favourite at the moment is an old cardboard box turned upside down with holes cut out for a pigloo :)
I also use old bases of hamster cages as hay trays, and recycle everything else like mad :)

A large bale of hay, if you can store it, from a farm or horse supplies place works out much cheaper than buying pet shop hay.
 
If you like sewing buying fleece from fabric stores / markets and sewing you own cage liners / cosies is often cheaper!

Ive made bags to store hay in from pillow cases. Ive added some cords from craft store and a toggle and they look very professional!

I have also used single duvet covers tied in knot to wash fleecy items in save washer from hay. Much cheap than buying horse wash bags.
 
Cat bowls are often cheap than pig bowls. I have ceramic ones I got for 1.50 from b and m I also have a lovely one big enough for my group of 4 to sit round (they share nicely with each other) which I believe is for a dog or cat from dunelm mill for about £2.

homebargains sell stainless steel bowl s which are for cats for about 80p they have removable rubber ring round which ive thrown away as dont think its safe for pigs but the bowls are lovely and shallow great for young pigs, great for pitting under drippy bottles and also fab for using with critical care if you have a poorly pig!
 
Great tips everyone keep them coming. I'm loving the duvet wash bag idea and will defo be using that one. I've made a couple of snuggle sacks and an online friend is mailing me some unwanted fleece blankets so I can make the little ones some more fleece goodies. I may go for a trawl at the next car boot sale too when I get payed.
 
Small plastic step up stools make good hideys and are excellent for playtime outdoors.
Don't buy shop made treats.
Plant your own grass in an old washing up bowl if you haven't got a lawn.
You can use waterproof fabric off the roll and cut to size as an easy liner. (Normally used as a kitchen table cover type of thing). Or even on your lap/settee when it's cuddle time.
 
Ooh love the step stool idea. We have two of these for my daughter atm but that's them repurposed when we are finished with them :). I have a huge garden luckily but still like the grass growing idea for through the winter and I just so happen to have an old washing up bowl sitting in the shed along with grass seed.
 
Ha ha, I have 2 step stools after seeing them on the forum in someone's piggy photo! Got them cheap at our big hardware chain Bunnings.
 
Buy your veg from your local market for it to be cheaper. I often get a small bowl of cherry tomatoes for 50p or 3 cucumbers for £1 etc.
When prepping veg for humans dinner throw the offcuts, tops and tails etc into the piggies bowl/hutch.
Grow your own veggies (not massively cheaper) but the piggies will love carrot tops full of carrot leaves and humans will love fresh carrots and everyone wins :)
 
I sewed hooks on my snuggle sacs as my piggies weren't using them and they clip on the rat cages.The rats love them.Bought a long ceramic dish from wilkos dirt cheap to use as a food dish for my group of four piggies.Two of my litter trays are old hamster cage bottoms and they all love boxes.Also line all litter trays with newspaper and the rats and hamsters use shredded newspaper as bedding.
 
Filch appropriately sized cardboard boxes from where ever you can. I find the boxes the printer paper comes in at work can be turned into a large variety of tunnels or nesting boxes. They're the perfect size for a pig!
 
I have a couple of hand made piggy houses/tunnels made from offcuts of wood found in my parents garage :) Toilet paper tubes are always a winner - good for making hay rolls or just leaving in the cage to be chomped. Fleeces from Primark are perfect too!
 
i made fleece into a tube and put a fiddlesticks bridge at the end. Looks like a dog agility tunnel. They loved that too. The stuffed toilet tubes can be hung on teh cage too so they have to work for it
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top