Incredibly useful kitchen hacks

To keep a bunch of coriander fresh, put an inch or so of water into a mug, immerse the bottom of the roots and cover the top with a freezer bag. Store in the fridge. I can keep cori for up to four weeks with this method, it's great! 

To make celery last a really long time, remove the plastic wrap then wrap the celery in Alfoil & store in the crisper section of the fridge. 

I have been looking into what to do with excess herbs. Microwave seems to be beneficial. It keeps the colour and taste. Use paper towels and do a small amount of leaves and cover with more paper towels and microwave for 1 minute or until completely dry in 10 second burst.Microwave setting 800. crumble and put in glass jars out of light. 

I purchase spring onions/shallots (the ones with the roots attached) and replant in a dirt filled pot outside,......they not only come "alive" again, but last for ages too, so fresh spring onions whenever needed. 

Buy anything from the supermarket that is half price due to being close to use by date. Put everything in the freezer. I freeze Yogurt in meal size containers to have with stewed fruit from freezer. . 

Keep bananas in the bottom of the fridge. Even if they go black after a number of weeks they are still perfectly alright inside. 

Store sweet potato and white potato in a brown paper bag in a cool dark place. Potatoes will last for ages 

A great kitchen and bathroom cleaner is made as follows: Fill a large jar with citrus peels (I use mandarin skins) and then fill up the jar with white vinegar. Wait for approx two weeks, drain and place the liquid into a spray bottle and there you have your cleaner! 

To Margaret from NSW. Thank you for your comments, I liked all of your ideas for savings in the kitchen. 

Being single and liking chives in my scrambled eggs I find that cutting the the root and a little of the stem off spring onions/shallots and planting, gives me a good supply of green tops for many ,many months. Not as small and delicate as chives but economical and does the job. Thank you for the tip on potato storing, as small quantities of potatoes as required by a single person are expensive. My money saving tip is to buy an upright freezer where every thing is in designated drawers and easy to find without pulling out those heavy baskets which is discouraging with a chest freezer. I do not even waste a crust of bread now. Of course if you have a really large family and purchase half a carcass, this will not be adequate however for one or two people it works well. Then learn to make something you like from what ever is on special. You may not need it that week but remember you have a freezer. For example last week I purchased two 2.20 kilo marked down chickens for $4.95 each. Baked one, divided wrapped and froze, and used the second one to make many serves of curry, keeping the carcass and a little of the meat to make 6 serves of chicken and vegetable soup. Far better than buying a barbecued 1.6K chicken for $8 and dry they are when cold. Just look at any marked down or on special food and think, 'what can I make with that'? It does take a little time but the pension gives one all the time in the world just not a lot of money. Better spending 4 hours on extra cooking per fortnight then 100 hours traveling and working, to eat well. Remember as you get older there are days when you just may not feel like doing much so getting into the habit of having inexpensive yet nourishing meals on hand has merit.