He is so frugal he......

[Mulligan]

Oh my, that was nose snorting good. I misread it the first time, thought you were talking about TP. Either way still smiling. Thanks.


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Now my Dad is cheap, but if he ever takes to sawing the TP in half, it's time to pack him up and take him to the nursing home!


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[Live And Learn]

Paper towels - that's one of my pet peeves. I hate them and use them as little as possible. I only purchase the "select a size" type and only use 1/2 of the smallest sheet most times. I loved the idea of sawing the roll in half - if I could figure out a way to do that which wouldn't result in paper dust all over the place I'd actually do that !

For large spills I use a large sponge, a "handi-wipe", or a white face cloth. I have a dozen white face cloths which I purchased for $4. I use them for all my cleaning.

The sponges and handiwipes get washed and sanitized in the dishwasher (as does my normal dishwashing sponge). The white face cloths get washed, with some bleach, in the sink and then hung to dry. Again, "reduce, reuse, recycle". I've been "green" this way since before it was even a term. I remember the "reduce, reuse, recycle" commercials during Saturday morning children's television shows (or maybe it was on Sesame Street) and it just stuck.

 

[Live And Learn]

Now my Dad is cheap, but if he ever takes to sawing the TP in half, it's time to pack him up and take him to the nursing home!

No need to worry - the TP makers are doing that for us already. Look at your TP holder - notice how much extra space there is ? TP has gotten noticeably narrower in the past year or two.

 

[rodi]

For the person who asked how to wash out ziplocks.... I fill it with hot soapy water and wipe it out with a sponge... then rinse in hot soapy water...

I'll admit I often toss the sandwich size ziplocks if it was holding a pb sandwich... the pb is harder to get off.

Paper towels... We noticed our consumption of paper towels dramatically reduced when we switched to using shop rags for cleaning. We always have at least 2 terry shop rags (bought in bulk a few years ago at costco) - one is "counter top clean" and the other might be grungier - and is used for cleaning up spills on the floor or degunking the stove. We rotate through... when the counter top one gets a little gross - we rinse it well and hang it on the stove (to indicate it's the less pristine one). I launder them and line dry them. Our paper towel dispenser has a serrated edge - so we can cut shorter pieces than the pre-perforated ones on the towels. We've found a roll of paper towels can last up to 2 months now.

A lot of what we're doing is out of cheapness.... but we like to tell ourselves we're being "green". It works either way.

 

[Mulligan]

No need to worry - the TP makers are doing that for us already. Look at your TP holder - notice how much extra space there is ? TP has gotten noticeably narrower in the past year or two.

I hadn't really noticed that, but it sure seemed the traditional sized roll has become small. I always buy the biggest rolls possible now so I don't have to change it so frequently.


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[braumeister]

Still in use as storage containers since the early 1960s.

 

[pb4uski]

Now my Dad is cheap, but if he ever takes to sawing the TP in half, it's time to pack him up and take him to the nursing home!...

I recall reading a webpage about a woman who uses cloths instead of TP and then launders them to save money. Talk about yuk!

I wonder if washing ziploc bags or whatever really makes sense by the time one considers the cost of hot water, soap, time, etc. to save 8 cents or less. Radical!

 

[rodi]

I recall reading a webpage about a woman who uses cloths instead of TP and then launders them to save money. Talk about yuk!

I wonder if washing ziploc bags or whatever really makes sense by the time one considers the cost of hot water, soap, time, etc. to save 8 cents or less. Radical!

I have quite a few friends who did the cloth diaper thing - similar yuk factor - but was VERY common before the disposable dipes came into vogue. They did it for environmental and skin sensitivity issues. But even cloth diapers have changed since the old days of our parents.

If you had more than one kid - the cost of the cloth diapers and wraps (the waterproof thing that went around them) definitely had a good payoff... even when you factor in laundry and hassle.

 

[Mulligan]

I recall reading a webpage about a woman who uses cloths instead of TP and then launders them to save money. Talk about yuk!



I wonder if washing ziploc bags or whatever really makes sense by the time one considers the cost of hot water, soap, time, etc. to save 8 cents or less. Radical!

Washing ziplock bags seems like the best tip of the century compared to the cloth washing TP money saving idea! I think I would rather bag up the outside leaves and put them in the bathroom than do that!


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[travelover]

I've seen/heard folks using pliers to get the last milligram of toothpaste out of the tube.

A bench vice works just fine.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My parents were born in the early-mid 1920's and like many folk from that era, were particularly frugal by modern standards. On top of that, my father was quite pre-occupied with neatness. Nowadays, he would probably be referred to as OCD, or something similar. Like many other frugal people, very little was thrown away and all manner of items were re-purposed. In the case of my father, his obsession with neatness, and his desire to maximize efficiency and always use space in the best way possible, led him to take a great deal of care when packing trash into the garbage can (or rubbish bin as I think we used to call them in England). Trash of different types (food or non-food, and also sorted according to size and shape) would first be packed, as it was being generated, in old milk cartons, tin cans, bags etc. Then, just before trash collection day, he would carefully pack them into the plastic bag that fitted into the rubbish bin. IIRC, larger, flatter items were packed at the bottom to evenly distribute the weight of the trash along the bottom of the bad and prevent it from bursting, then everything else was packed in, according to his fairly stringent pre-determined rules. I won't even attempt to guess what some of them were!

This isn't so much a story about frugality, as it is about OCD-type behavior. It somehow fits in with my parent's frugality though, as this extreme attention to detail and neatness by my father led both my parents to achieve all kinds of savings throughout their lives. One of these days I should write a small book!

I wonder too if the OCD goes along with the frugality. I was raised by my Grandparents (born in mid 20's) and the level of my Mom's OCD was absolutely crazy. There was a specific way that EVERYTHING was done..and I mean EVERYTHING. Thursdays were vacuuming day and I remember that when she was finished, you couldn't see a single line in the carpet...it was perfectly straight and I wasn't allowed on ANY carpeted area until my Dad came home to see how nice it looked. Unfortunately, many of her OCD habits have rubbed off on me much to my DW's dislike...nothing QUITE as bad as my Mom's, but there are certain things that will DRIVE ME CRAZY!

As far as the papertowels being sawed in half...that's classic! My Dad is still around (and as frugal as always) so I will have to ask him if he's ever considered that.

 

[Dreamer]

I have quite a few friends who did the cloth diaper thing - similar yuk factor - but was VERY common before the disposable dipes came into vogue. They did it for environmental and skin sensitivity issues. But even cloth diapers have changed since the old days of our parents.

If you had more than one kid - the cost of the cloth diapers and wraps (the waterproof thing that went around them) definitely had a good payoff... even when you factor in laundry and hassle.

My DD is using cloth diapers on her 4 month old. I was shocked at how expensive they are now. She bought her cloth diapers off if craigslist. They are definitely a lot easier now. No more diaper pins. She has a wet bag to put the dirty ones in and they have some type of sprayer that is hooked up to their toilet. I have never had to clean a dirty diaper, as they take care of it for me. Works for me.

 

[calmloki]

I fold and re-use parchment paper for baking till it gives up. Like BMWs but buy them with mega-miles preloaded on them. Most furnishings for the houses from yard sales. Wearing shoes a friend found on a hiking trail last summer - a washing machine made those Vasque hiking shoes just fine for me. Darn good shoes. Without going into too much detail (stop now), I decided that the serrations on TP were not required folding points and have probably reduced personal square count used by 1/3. I can afford TP.

 

[Walt34]

A cow*rker that sat behind me. Every day after lunch took a piece of dental floss from a ziploc, used it at his desk(1st class move). Then put the used floss back in the ziploc. Nothing washed, nothing ever replaced. Somehow that's too much for me.

Exceeded only by....

Yeah, I've always wondered why most people only use one side of the toilet paper. Wasteful in the extreme!

Admittedly I haven't done that.

 

[Walt34]

As far as the papertowels being sawed in half...that's classic! My Dad is still around (and as frugal as always) so I will have to ask him if he's ever considered that.

I might actually try that. DW is generally pretty frugal but her paper towel use is excessive.

I dunno.... some things just aren't worth the hassle. This is probably one of them. But I'll mention it just to see the reaction.

 

[friar1610]

That's doing it all wrong. I just use a normal squeeze with my fingers, and once I can't get any more out, I use scissors to cut the end off. Then just put the brush head in and get the remaining paste. I can easily get another week's worth out of a tube that way. Just use a strong clip on the end to close it and keep it fresh. No need for industrial tools.

+1 Just did that last night.

 

[freebird5825]

I fold and re-use parchment paper for baking till it gives up. Like BMWs but buy them with mega-miles preloaded on them. Most furnishings for the houses from yard sales. Wearing shoes a friend found on a hiking trail last summer - a washing machine made those Vasque hiking shoes just fine for me. Darn good shoes. Without going into too much detail (stop now), I decided that the serrations on TP were not required folding points and have probably reduced personal square count used by 1/3. I can afford TP.

Take 10 points !!!!

 

[imoldernu]

So washing saran wrap is common?

... and TP = Two Ply = Thrifty People... Twice as much. Beaten only by corn cobs and newspaper.

Great tips for those on the road to the first million.

 

[38Chevy454]

Maybe this was obvious to me, but for toothpaste or other similar squeeze tubes, just use a hard handle to flatten it out and use all that is in the tube. Like a hard plastic brush handle or anything that can make it flat. Use a flat surface like the countertop to squeeze against.

 

[calmloki]

Maybe this was obvious to me, but for toothpaste or other similar squeeze tubes, just use a hard handle to flatten it out and use all that is in the tube. Like a hard plastic brush handle or anything that can make it flat. Use a flat surface like the countertop to squeeze against.

It's when you get it all out of the tube and then have all that toothpaste hiding in the hard plastic "funnel" and spout. THAT is when the challenge begins....

 

[Dimsumkid]

It's when you get it all out of the tube and then have all that toothpaste hiding in the hard plastic "funnel" and spout. THAT is when the challenge begins....

At this point, DW will cut about 1-2" above the end and will scoop out the toothpaste with the toothbrush. She says there's another 3-4 uses in the end of the tube.

 

[scrabbler1]

Maybe this was obvious to me, but for toothpaste or other similar squeeze tubes, just use a hard handle to flatten it out and use all that is in the tube. Like a hard plastic brush handle or anything that can make it flat. Use a flat surface like the countertop to squeeze against.

LOL I do the same thing. You beat me to it, thank you.

 

[NW-Bound]

Paper towels - that's one of my pet peeves. I hate them and use them as little as possible...

For large spills I use a large sponge, a "handi-wipe", or a white face cloth. I have a dozen white face cloths which I purchased for $4. I use them for all my cleaning...

We used to buy a lot of kitchen towels, but now use much less after we started to use washable cloths that we bought from Cosco in a bag of 50. We would soak dirty ones in bleach for a few minutes before tossing them in with a laundry load. The paper towels are used to mop up messy spills that would stain the cloths. I haven't figured out how much money we save this way, but it feels like the right thing to do.

I would not entertain the idea of replacing toilet tissues this way. Our parents used washable diapers when they raised us (it was the norm then), but we never used it with our children. Some conveniences are worth the money.

At this point, DW will cut about 1-2" above the end and will scoop out the toothpaste with the toothbrush. She says there's another 3-4 uses in the end of the tube.

If your DW skipped brushing every other day, she could get 1 week out of it like the earlier poster.

It's when you get it all out of the tube and then have all that toothpaste hiding in the hard plastic "funnel" and spout. THAT is when the challenge begins....

Would a toothpick be handy here to scoop out the rest of the goodness in the spout?

 

[robnplunder]

I might actually try that. DW is generally pretty frugal but her paper towel use is excessive.

I dunno.... some things just aren't worth the hassle. This is probably one of them. But I'll mention it just to see the reaction.

What? She doesn't wash and let it dry on counter-top? My relatives do that.

 

[Texas Proud]

I might actually try that. DW is generally pretty frugal but her paper towel use is excessive.

I dunno.... some things just aren't worth the hassle. This is probably one of them. But I'll mention it just to see the reaction.

Heck, just buy the paper towels that are half... no need to cut at all...

Now, whenever we do buy the full sized I get a bit miffed.... but do not say anything....