A self-professed ‘cheapskate’ has revealed the weird things she sells on the internet to make money – including loo roll cardboard tubes.
The TikTok user from Yorkshire, who goes by the handle @diaryofacheapskate,
describes herself as a ‘big fan of cheap hacks, reusing, and living frugally’ and routinely shares her best tips and tricks for saving a few extra pounds.
The mother-of-two, who lives in a semi-detached three-bedroom home with her husband and children, claims to be mortgage-free thanks to her lifestyle choices.
In a recent video, which has over 114,000 views at the time of writing, she revealed that selling everyday household items online helps her save the pennies.
Some of the bizarre items the savvy mother flogs online include emptied Gu dessert pots, toilet roll tubes, and gin bottles.
In the clip, she explained: ‘I mentioned this in a previous video, but I save my empty toilet roll tubes and sell them. I think people buy them for crafts or for gardening.’
Another money-saving tip she shared is to keep hold of Gü’s cheesecake pots.
She said: ‘I don’t buy the Gü cheesecakes very often, but when I do I always save the pots.
A self-professed ‘cheapskate’, who lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Yorkshire, has revealed the weird things she sells on the internet to make money, including loo roll cardboard tubes
‘I only normally buy them when they’re on a yellow sticker deal. I wait until I’ve got 12 pots and then I sell them as a job lot, they usually sell for between 30 and 50p per pot in a bundle, that’s after postage fees
‘So really if I buy two cheesecakes for £1, I’ve pretty much got free cheesecakes, and free food is my favourite sort of food.’
Meanwhile, she admitted to collecting rare coins that she plans to sell online at a profit in the future.
She said: ‘One of my hobbies is collecting coins, I mainly collect special 50ps or £2 coins.
‘I’ve got these two coin holder books that I got for Christmas one year that I put them into. Some of them are worth more than face value, so some of these £2 coins might sell for £3 or £4.
‘I’ve got one of the Kew Gardens 50ps, which is worth loads more than actually 50p.
‘Some of the more common collectible 50ps you do come across a lot so I save any duplicates.
‘I used to sell them on eBay but now I’ve seen that Vinted allow you to sell coins on there too.
Some of the bizarre items the savvy mother flogs online included empty Gu dessert pots, (pictures) loo roll cardboard and empty gin bottles
Meanwhile, she admitted to collecting rare coins that she plans to sell online at a profit in the future
‘I wait until I’ve got all the coins in the set and then sell them together, they go for more money.’
Next up, she revealed that she collects empty alcohol bottles to sell online.
She explained: ‘Then we’ve got empty bottles, this is a Gordon’s Pink gin bottle, it’s a very nice gin and it’s a very pretty bottle.
‘I very rarely drink alcohol, I got this as a gift a few years ago, my mother saves me any bottles that she empties.
‘I actually don’t know what people buy these for but there’s a market for it so I’ll sell them.’
While several people were impressed by the woman’s savings tips, some questioned why anyone would buy used toilet roll tubes.
‘I’m a crafter and we definitely don’t buy other people’s loo roll tubes,’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘Who is buying those toilet rolls?????’
Many flocked to the comments, impressed by the woman’s savvy savings tips, with some even chiming in to share their own ideas for valuable items to collect
In response to one person who asked where she was selling the loo roll tubes, the woman responed: ‘eBay or Vinted.’
Someone else wrote: ‘These are proper weird but I’m not judging you for selling if people are buying.’
Others shared their own ideas for everyday items that might be worth selling online, as one person noted: ‘Empty perfume bottles are a good one too. People pay decent money for decent brands.’
Another added: ‘Yep all of those plus I’ve sold: egg cartons, plastic bottle tops and milk glass bottle tops, and the big seller is pine cones-all sorts, and acorn tops.’
To which the mother replied: ‘Ooh I’ve never thought about pine cones or acorn tops.’
It comes after the TikToker revealed how she stocks up on free food, only drinks tea and coffee in work, and collects rainwater to flush her toilet and clean.
Sharing five tips to save money with her followers, she revealed the ‘little frugal things I do daily’ – including relying on the Olio app for free food.
In a clip, which racked up more than 440,000 views, she explained that she uses the app which facilitates the sharing of surplus food and other household items among neighbours.
She said: ‘Here are five things I did today as a cheapskate to either save me money of stop me spending money.
‘I started the day by going to pick up a bag from the Olio volunteer that lives near me, I said it before but Olio is free to use, anyone can use it, you don’t need to be means tested.
‘It’s for anyone to pick up free food if you have a volunteer near you. This is the selection I got today just a little bit of bread, some fruit, broccoli and some mini wraps.’
Elsewhere, she said she made some money by selling items on Vinted, however she made sure to not waste any money on packaging.
She said: ‘I’m not going to be one of those influencers who tells you to buy one of those pretty pink envelopes to put your parcels in.
‘Use whatever you have laying around, if you have holey plastic bags or cardboard boxes use them.’
The TikToker also revealed how she has bought period pants, so she doesn’t have to pay for sanitary products every month either.
Another cost-saving method she shared was when her toilet is broken and won’t flush, she uses a bucket of rainwater to get it going again.
She said: ‘Our upstairs toilet has decided not to flush again because it broke, we do have a downstairs toilet so it’s not too much of an issue but for now we are using this bucket of water to flush it.
‘Of course, the cheapskate in me loves this because we’re not using paid-for water to flush the toilet, we’re using rainwater.
‘I’m not calling a plumber out to fix it we will have a go at fixing it ourselves. It seems simple enough to do.’
Then she explained how she won’t ever buy tea or coffee at home and waits until she is at work to have one, as the company pays for it.
In another video, she revealed that she collects rainwater in her garden which she uses to clean and water the plants.
She said: ‘I use this water butt outside to collect rainwater, I use it to water any plants or flowers I have in the garden, I also use the water to clean anything I need to clean outside.
‘I never realised some parts of the world don’t need to pay a water bill but here in England we do, so this is free water.
‘I’m using it today to clean the trampoline , it’s gone a bit green from just not being used in winter, so I just used some water and this scrubbing brush.
‘I didn’t use any cleaning products and it still came up clean.’
