He is so frugal he......

[Idnar7]

A friend of mine is so frugal he takes an individually wrapped cheese in his pocket to put on his McDonald's burger. Saves maybe 10 or 15 cents. True story. Any humorous examples of extreme frugality? Must be true.

[2017ish]

MIL still smooths out and reuses aluminum foil, among other frugal habits from depression upbringing. (In their 80s, they have the proverbial "millions" saved and are still putting savings away from their pensions/ss checks while enjoying life.)

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2017ish MIL still smooths out and reuses aluminum foil, among other frugal habits from depression upbringing. (In their 80s, they have the proverbial "millions" saved and are still putting savings away from their pensions/ss checks while enjoying life.)

Yep..sounds like my family. All of their storage containers are old butter tubs/etc. Shoot...there are too many to mention! They can certainly make a dollar STRETCHHHHHHH....

[Jay_Gatsby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyBoy5 Yep..sounds like my family. All of their storage containers are old butter tubs/etc. Shoot...there are too many to mention! They can certainly make a dollar STRETCHHHHHHH....

And I thought my parents were the only ones who saved old plastic containers. Can't blame them though. Back then, recycling wasn't as widespread/available, so they would have ended up in a landfill.

[rodi]

Add my MIL to the extreme frugal camp. She claims it's not about money - but more the fact she never learned to drive. So she *never* threw out anything that might be repurposed for some need later. Foil, pie tins, butter tubs.... When they lived here I used to buy the big Costco tubs of animal crackers for them... When she moved out and we were getting the casita ready to rent there were 30 of those tubs stashed away.... Some she'd clearly used for laundry soaking and other purposes.

I used to be in awe of how much food she could by for under $100. (but it took 2 hours for her to go through the store.)

Something about that depression generation (she's 87 now).

[rodi]

Oh - and for the OP and the cheese bringing friend. Could it be he/she doesn't like the crappy cheese they use. I'm not a fan of American Cheese (cheese flavored food product -not really cheese). I could see bringing a slice of cheddar or swiss just for the flavor.

[2017ish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyBoy5 Yep..sounds like my family. All of their storage containers are old butter tubs/etc. Shoot...there are too many to mention! They can certainly make a dollar STRETCHHHHHHH....

Heck, DW and I do this. More lazy than frugal. :-)

Especially nice are the plastic bins that some lunch meats come in (and gallon containers for generic ice cream!).

______
Hmmm. I guess I could add one of my own to this list; instead of buying bottled water, I have been known to take others' empties, wash them well, and fill with tap water for future use.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi Oh - and for the OP and the cheese bringing friend. Could it be he/she doesn't like the crappy cheese they use.

ABSOLUTELY!
This is one of my pet peeves -- very few restaurants use decent cheese on burgers. Practically all of it is that ubiquitous "pasteurized processed cheese food product" that is essentially limp plastic.

I wouldn't go so far as to carry my own, but I'm far more likely to order a burger without cheese unless I know what I'll be getting.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2017ish MIL still smooths out and reuses aluminum foil, among other frugal habits from depression upbringing. (In their 80s, they have the proverbial "millions" saved and are still putting savings away from their pensions/ss checks while enjoying life.)

When my grandmother moved into the nursing home and my mom and aunts were breaking down her apartment they found a drawer chock full of those zip-lock type bags that you get at some grocery stores when you buy cold cuts, all washed, dried and neatly stacked. That's my Gram.... waste not, want not.

[Bestwifeever]

I'd rather eat the cheese from the McDonald's cheeseburgers than the meat.

MIL was so frugal that after she moved to the nursing home, we cleared out several dozen plastic tops from aerosol cans that she had saved to put things in if she ever needed something that size to put things in.

[W2R]

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.

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R 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.

Well, the bags can go in the trash, but most of those plastic tubs are recyclable. What do they do with them? They make canvas-style grocery bags out of them. Talk about reuse and recycle!

- Rita
P.S. I don't save the bags, but do save the containers (within storage space limits).

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister ABSOLUTELY! This is one of my pet peeves -- very few restaurants use decent cheese on burgers. Practically all of it is that ubiquitous "pasteurized processed cheese food product" that is essentially limp plastic. I wouldn't go so far as to carry my own, but I'm far more likely to order a burger without cheese unless I know what I'll be getting.

But the whole thing about MacDonalds burgers (with reference to the OP's friend) is that nothing in them is decent. If you want a decent burger at MacDonalds, you have to replace not only the cheese, but also the bun, all the extras, and most especially the "meat".

Why pick on just the cheese?

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R 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.

We re-use the ziplock bags and the plastic containers. But re-using Cool Whip containers is depressing. Every time I open a Cool Whip container, I expect to find Cool Whip, not leftover spaghetti.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom But the whole thing about MacDonalds burgers (with reference to the OP's friend) is that nothing in them is decent. If you want a decent burger at MacDonalds, you have to replace not only the cheese, but also the bun, all the extras, and most especially the "meat". Why pick on just the cheese?

So true! I seldom can eat there because of my constant struggle with overweight. But when I do, I want my quarter pounder with cheese to be something utterly wicked and even a little disgusting, and they are glad to oblige.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar We re-use the ziplock bags and the plastic containers. But re-using Cool Whip containers is depressing. Every time I open a Cool Whip container, I expect to find Cool Whip, not leftover spaghetti.

I can see your point!

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar We re-use the ziplock bags and the plastic containers. But re-using Cool Whip containers is depressing. Every time I open a Cool Whip container, I expect to find Cool Whip, not leftover spaghetti.

Ah, yes, the old refrigerator surprise trick - and you fell for it!

[marko]

30 years ago, my grandad got one of those 'press the button if you fall down' that would automatically call for help.

Afterwards, he found out that the call for help was to a center about 15 miles away...resulting in a 15 cent toll call!!

When he broke his hip, he decided to drag himself across the room and pull the phone off the table to call his daughter instead of that dreaded 15 cent long distance charge.

"...I knew she'd be home. If she wasn't home, I'd have pushed the button..."

The worse part is that he had (ahem!) plenty of money.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom Why pick on just the cheese?

Absolutely right, of course.
I was talking about hamburgers in general.

To be honest, the only time I ever go into a McDonald's is when I'm on a long drive and need a place to pee. The bathrooms in those places are generally decent.

[Texconsin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idnar7 A friend of mine is so frugal he takes an individually wrapped cheese in his pocket to put on his McDonald's burger. Saves maybe 10 or 15 cents. True story. Any humorous examples of extreme frugality? Must be true.

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.