He is so frugal he......

[Calico]

You mean most people don't wash and re-use ziplock bags and plastic containers?

It didn't occur to me until I read this, that maybe other people really don't do that. And here I thought I was living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I guess I just save ziplocks and containers automatically, because I hadn't actually thought about it. It's just, y'know, what you do with them....

I'll bet tossing them all the time makes a lot more trash to drag out to the curb.

It had never occurred to me that a ziplock bag was to be used only once.

The only time I ever toss a ziplock bag after one use is if it has held something really greasy - in that case, it isn't worth trying to wash and re-use it. Otherwise, they are washed and reused as many times as practicable. Same with plastic containers, and aluminum foil.

I guess my depression-era grandmother's habits made an impression on me. She did all this and more. She had the proverbial kitchen drawers full of string, plastic bread bags, rubber bands, etc. She did not waste a thing, nor did my grandfather. They are long gone, but I still thank them silently and often for their examples. I am the only one of my siblings who followed in their footsteps, and I am the only one not in debt up to my eyeballs.

My other grandmother, who was quite wealthy (but had grown up poor) used to re-use her teabags. Now that is one habit I did not pick up. I like my tea STRONG!

 

[Gunny]

DW saves plastic bags from the cornflakes box to wrap leftover chicken, meatloaf, etc, for the fridge.


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[daylatedollarshort]

It never occurred to me to reuse Ziplocs until we started our cut expenses to ER program. First on the list was eliminating as many disposable products as feasible and reusing plastic bags where I couldn't find a good replacement option.

I found a baggie dryer at a charity thrift store for $3. The ladies who worked at the store had to ask me what it was I was buying - they'd never seen one before -

http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Countertop-Bag-Dryer/dp/B00CR4NBGW

I also just bought some holders to wash baggies in the dishwasher. I bought them used on Amazon. There are a lot of cool gadgets on Amazon that pay for themselves rather quickly in either time, money or both.

 

[LitGal]

I do use dryer sheets a second time.........thought I was the only one to do this, until I found this forum filled with so many members identified as "recycles dryer sheets."



Before ER:

--Brownbagged lunch each day; bought cafeteria food only 2-3 times/yr.
--Bought no "professional" clothes during last 5 years before ER (only "business casual" at best); anything purchased had to be something I'd want to wear as a "retired person" (fun/leisure)
--Shopped at Amish salvage stores (great bargains on groceries, toiletries and cosmetics: eg. lots of Revlon, L'Oreal, Maybelline products for 50 cents. The Amish don't use make-up)

After ER:

--Started washing out and re-using zip-locks (now having time to do it)
--Seriously purged house (closets, garage, basement) for big annual neighborhood yard sales.
--Vowed to buy NO MORE BOOKS. Use the library card instead. Have been able to find anything I want....just might have to wait for an inter-library transfer.
--Cook a LOT more; less eating out.
--Still enjoy the Amish stores.

Just more efforts at LBYM, now that there is more time. (Though a lifetime of LBYM helped make ER possible.)

 

[Debinnov a]

OMG, I've just realized that I'm a terrible spend thrift!!!! And I thought I was scaling back since we retired a few months ago. I have, on occasion, re-used a baggie after rinsing it and at the same time thinking how pathetic and I'm probably the only person silly enough to do it. Turns out I AM pathetic since it seems I'm the only one that does NOT do it on a regular basis. Well, that is going to change, starting now!



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[GreenER]

It had never occurred to me that a ziplock bag was to be used only once.

The only time I ever toss a ziplock bag after one use is if it has held something really greasy - in that case, it isn't worth trying to wash and re-use it. Otherwise, they are washed and reused as many times as practicable. Same with plastic containers, and aluminum foil.

I guess my depression-era grandmother's habits made an impression on me. She did all this and more. She had the proverbial kitchen drawers full of string, plastic bread bags, rubber bands, etc. She did not waste a thing, nor did my grandfather. They are long gone, but I still thank them silently and often for their examples. I am the only one of my siblings who followed in their footsteps, and I am the only one not in debt up to my eyeballs.

My other grandmother, who was quite wealthy (but had grown up poor) used to re-use her teabags. Now that is one habit I did not pick up. I like my tea STRONG!

I have three siblings and we are all recyclers and reusers thanks to a mom thavwas a depression era child and a dad who grew up in Europe during the war. My folks are comfortably set in large part due to their frugality. I have never bought a Ziplock in my life. I reuse tinfoil and sometimes even parchment paper if it didn't get mucked up. Use old dog food bags to line the trash can. I finally bought glass containers for food though as I started getting leery of using old plastics to store food.

 

[pb4uski]

Pb4uski,
My Grandmother raised a family through the depression, and she was always very frugal.
For example:
- She would sit in the dark with all of the lights turned off. I stopped to visit, thought she was out, but she would answer the door when I knocked. I asked her why no lights, and she said she was just thinking, and didn't need to waste the electricity. She proudly told me that the electrical company had stopped over one day to see if anyone was living in the house, because her usage was so low. ...

That reminds me that we razz my Mom because she rarely turns on the lights at night... she usually has the tv on and that provides enough light for her to get around her small place, but we'll be walking by or going by in the boat and see the light from the tv flickering in the living room and say "Oh darn, mom forgot to pay the power bill again".

My Gram constantly amazed me. She was widowed in the depression and raised 4 children on her own despite not having an formal education. I doubt that she made much more than minimum wage here entire life, but I know she gave over six-figures to her children in her later years. How in the heck does one do that? One of my aunts says that she never knew that they were poor until she was a young adult. Amazing woman.

 

[PhrugalPhan]

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

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.

 

[inquisitive]

Any money saved by eating McDonald's will be repaid in health care costs.

How do you wash ziplocs? I didn't know about this. The opening is too small and then it is a problem to dry it, do you put them in the dishwasher? And how to wash tin foil? I am wasting more than I realized...

 

[photoguy]

I've always reused plastic containers and glass jars but never really had much stuff to store so most of them go into recycling. I only learned recently from others to reuse ziplock bags.

I don't drink much tea but I did try reusing coffee grounds. Didn't taste that good so I stopped.

Dumpster diving has been a hobby of mine since grad school. Last acquisition was a nice trash can with a foot operated lid.

I hate buying paper towels as it seems so wasteful (both from a $ and environmental perspective). So instead I try to use various cloths / dish towels.

Recently I was annoyed that my socks had developed holes in the bottom (socks were not that old). I was going to throw them out but discovered they were just as comfortable if I flipped hem upside down even though they had a heel. Now my plan is to flip my socks before they develop the hole and apply a "wear leveling algorithm".







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[jollystomper]

My main frugal habit is reusing tea bags. I'll reuse one as long as it keeps flavoring a cup of hot water. My parents did this when we were growing up and it is a hard habit for me to break.

DW would also reuse food plastic container packages for storage. As part of our FI "celebration" she has cut that down, if we need clear containers we go to a local dollar store to get sets of 3, 4, or 5 for a dollar.

 

[jjquantz]

I do use dryer sheets a second time.........thought I was the only one to do this, until I found this forum filled with so many members identified as "recycles dryer sheets."



B...
After ER:

A SECOND time! Wastrel, spendthrift! I just leave one in the dryer until it stops doing its job. One sheet can easily handle 10-15 loads before things start to get staticy again.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned recycling wrapping paper, gift bags and bows and ribbon. Perhaps that is a given amongst this frugal crowd. DM, born in 1925, painfully slowly unwraps gifts taking time to fold wrapping paper so that it doesn't wrinkle. And of course all boxes are saved. She hasn't bought new paper/ribbon in years.

 

[jerome len]

How about visiting Costco around lunch time and grazing all the samples given out around that time? I have a couple of employees that do that a couple of times a week. Then, if there aren't enough freebees, they'll split one hot dog and drink which costs $1.50 with free drink refills.......sometimes they take an extra cup if one of them has a cold. Most of the time they fill up on freebees.

 

[pb4uski]

All these posts remind me that the line between frugal and cheap can be very thin.

 

[freebird5825]

Guilty as charged...

I am the queen of string, twine, long twist ties, and plastic containers/cups for my seedlings. I use wide deep plastic containers for self watering reservoirs under clay pots.

I recently went through my food storage container collection, matching tops to bottoms. Everything else got recycled.

 

[MRG]

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.

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[Ronstar]

I have saved every leftover nail, screw, bolt and nut through building 2 houses, 2 detached garages, multiple remodel and woodworking projects during the last 30 years. And almost all wood scraps from my woodworking projects. I'm getting quite a collection. It's getting to the point where I can make something useful for next to nothing.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My mom made a pencil holder from a small oatmeal container. She took pages from a magazine, rolled them up and glued them around the edges. That container must have lasted over 30 years. We use old coffee cans as pen and pencil containers (>20 year old coffee cans). There is a brand of gelato (Talenti) that comes in a fabulous reusable containers with a screw on lid. I've only bought it twice (we generally do not do dessert, too much carbs and fat), but have saved the containers--they are fabulous for rubber bands, paper clips, etc. The gelato is pretty good too!

I do fast food about 2x/year and Starbucks only when travelling, as part of the travel experience, so about 4-5 x per year. I have two reusable Starbucks cups that cost a dollar and I use them when I can, as I save 10 cents each time I use it. I also find it handy to bring my own coffee in a Starbucks cup.

Haven't tried washing and reusing ziplock bags for food items, but I reuse them a lot for non-food purposes.

I'll have to try reusing dryer sheets more, thanks for the tips.

 

[Mulligan]

My Dad reached rock bottom in his frugalness early this year when he came up with an idea to saw the paper towel roll in half. His eternally patient wife finally had to step in and draw the line there. Next time I was there the paper towels were fully intact.


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[isisdave]

10 hotdogs for a buck, 2 (w/o buns) per lunch, five days a week. While others go out and spend $25-$50 per week on lunch, I spend $1. 50 weeks per year and I'm up $1,200 to $2,450. With 5 years to go, that's $6,000 to $12,250, not including earnings/time value.

Most days at work lunch is two cheese sticks, each with a piece of ham wrapped around it. I have eaten a lot of cheese sticks, but I'm retiring next month and intend never to eat one again ....

No one has mentioned coffee cans. I still have some of my dad's from the 40's . Chock Full O Nuts, and various pieces of hardware and plumbing supplies.

 

[GrayHare]

My Dad reached rock bottom in his frugalness early this year when he came up with an idea to saw the paper towel roll in half.

That one made me chuckle, but please don't give my family any ideas.

 

[Live And Learn]

It had never occurred to me that a ziplock bag was to be used only once.

The only time I ever toss a ziplock bag after one use is if it has held something really greasy - in that case, it isn't worth trying to wash and re-use it. Otherwise, they are washed and reused as many times as practicable. Same with plastic containers, and aluminum foil.

I started to post about saving plastic containers for leftovers for guests, and washing and reusing ziploc bags and aluminum foil but stopped because I said "that's not extreme frugality, I'm sure everyone does that". I've lived by the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra all my adult life.

Btw, those little plastic square ties that come on some baked or produce items are great for organizing wires. You can write on the tag and then put it around the wire so you know what its for. The other option is to use masking tape, but that's using "new" material, so not as frugal

 

[GreenER]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned recycling wrapping paper, gift bags and bows and ribbon. Perhaps that is a given amongst this frugal crowd. DM, born in 1925, painfully slowly unwraps gifts taking time to fold wrapping paper so that it doesn't wrinkle. And of course all boxes are saved. She hasn't bought new paper/ribbon in years.

Yes we do that too! We even have special pieces of paper that date back 35 years that were originally on presents from my Oma who is long since passed. These have gotten gradually smaller over the years and are only used on presents in the family. The problem is that as we give less of objects and more of time and experiences, the paper is mounting up. I will need to off load all the wrapping paper in 2.5 years when we downsize and put our remaining belongings in storage for a few years while we travel. I guess at least the paper can go in recycling and I think Goodwill will take gift bags!

 

[MRG]

My Dad reached rock bottom in his frugalness early this year when he came up with an idea to saw the paper towel roll in half. His eternally patient wife finally had to step in and draw the line there. Next time I was there the paper towels were fully intact.


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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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