A MUM who saved thousands of pounds by giving up soap, toothpaste and toilet paper is hoping to help others learn her dirty tricks to save money and the planet.

Zoe Morrison of Hove started to try to come up with new ways to save money after the birth of her two children.

But after a year of frugal living she had saved £11,000 and decided to continue.

Now she has written a book to help others swap to more green ways of living.

She said: “It started off as more of a money saving than an eco thing, but it’s always been a bit of both.

“To start with people thought a lot of what I was doing was a bit weird, but there’s been a real tide change in how people feel about the impact we are having on the planet.

“It’s all about saving money and the environment at the same time.

“There is no point having great ideas to save the planet if no one can afford to do them.

“People do now have this eco-guilt.

“Everyone’s always trying to defend having a plastic carrier bag.

“There’s a real sea change towards thinking more about these things and the impact we are having.”

Zoe gave up using shampoo, swapped her usual toothpaste for bicarbonate of soda and stopped using using toilet paper for a month.

She tried a range of alternatives to keep clean without loo roll - and said her favourite was a water pistol - however she concluded the amount of water wasted did not make the switch very economical.

She also rented a room to a lodger, grew her own vegetables and had solar panels installed on her roof.

She added: "The book is filled with practical tips and advice and my real life stories of how I got on with eco and money saving ideas.

Zoe’s book Eco Thrifty Living is available now on Amazon.

For more of her tips visit ecothriftyliving.com.