The cheapest thing you have ever done.... come on now, admit it.

[samclem]

I see potential for a new product.

"This year's must-have gift for the cost-conscious traveller, the Ronco In-Tube-ator. Now you can quickly refill those convenient travel-size tubes with toothpaste purchased in the economical large sizes. Simply screw the male ends of both tubes into the In-Tube-ater and transfere the valuable paste. Order now and you'll also get our Blade-Alive disposable razor blade sharpener. Don't throw those blades away!"

(discussion of "screwing," and anotomical inuendo concerning "male," and "female" components might make this ad most appropriate for late-night cable)

 

[free4now]

Well CFB here's my tech-slummin' deal... right now I have my HDTV front projection home theater system disconnected while I get ready to move, so I'm watching movies on a 19" TV that I found beside the street last week with a "Free" sign on it. It has simulated woodgrain sides and everything. It doesn't even have a composite input, just an antenna input, so I have to run my DVD player through the VCR to get that "channel 3" signal.

 

[bssc]

Well CFB here's my tech-slummin' deal... right now I have my HDTV front projection home theater system disconnected while I get ready to move, so I'm watching movies on a 19" TV that I found beside the street last week with a "Free" sign on it. It has simulated woodgrain sides and everything. It doesn't even have a composite input, just an antenna input, so I have to run my DVD player through the VCR to get that "channel 3" signal.

That is how my Sony 19" from 1984 is set up in the guest room. Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wellll...for the next week or so until I haul something better down to the new house, i'll be watching on a 13" 16 year old frys special tv. It DOES however have a composite input...

 

[bssc]

When my MIL was staying with us, I threatened to charge her to watch TV but my wife wouldn't let me. Can you believe that?

 

[justin]

I've refilled the travel size toothpaste before. I thought everyone did that

 

[Delawaredave]

I've refilled the travel size toothpaste before. I thought everyone did that

I've never done that. But I do refill the travel size hand cream.

Gotta try toothpaste next !

 

[Meadbh]

I never buy ballpoint pens. I get them from conferences and workshops I attend, or from hotel rooms. Same with those little phone message pads.....and the shampoos, soaps, shower caps, etc, are all great for travel.......

 

[sgeeeee]

I'm packing for a trip to Barcelona tomorrow and I discovered my travel toothpaste tube was almost empty. I started to run to the store, but decided to try the refill method. It worked, so I saved some time and gas. Thanks fellow cheapskates.

 

[laurence]

Our house is full of travel shampoo and conditioner from various hotels/motels...all my computers are hand me downs from coworkers who upgraded ( that's why they are Pentium III or worse ) .... but I just can't compete with this list, wow.

 

[kumquat]

I'm cheap and LAZY. I just take the big tube with me when I travel.

 

[shoe]

When DH's white dress shirt collar was showing signs of wear, I took it off, turned it around and resewed it. I have mad skills! This has been my favorite topic on these boards yet!

 

[ladelfina]

Shoe.. I have been thinking long and hard about that collar trick, but am put off by the back of the collar looking a little wierd and wrinkly because of the adhesive interfacing that's on that side.

-washing Ziplocs -- absolutely..

-in terms of value over time I guess the cheapest thing would be the four kitchen chairs which I still use here in Italy.. scavenged from the streets of Allston/Brighton/Cambridge in the late seventies, complete with gouges, paint stains, what-have-you. When I moved I even brought over 1/2 used bags of dirt (potting soil) since we were paying a flat rate for the shipping container. You should have seen the look on the moving guys' faces.

-oh.. AND re-using kleenexes / paper towels

----
Cheap trick my MIL uses that even I won't do:
- keeps drained pasta water for washing dishes after the meal so as not to use extra hot water.

 

[omni550]

For those of you refilling your travel toothpaste tubes...

I skip that step entirely. I just take the standard toothpaste tube, when it gets down to having the last inch (or so) of product left in it, and throw that into my travel toiletry bag. No fuss, no muss.

omni

 

[Khan]

Drain laundry rinse water into buckets and use it to water plants.

 

[Nords]

Drain laundry rinse water into buckets and use it to water plants.

We do that with the leachate from our vermiposting container... and the shower water while it's warming up.

 

[kowski]

How about going to those resort sales meetings just to get the free gift. Practicing say no with the wife all the way there. ha ha

 

[Khan]

We do that with the leachate from our vermiposting container... and the shower water while it's warming up.

Tell me of your worms.

I am interested in vermiposting.

 

[SecondCor521]

How about going to those resort sales meetings just to get the free gift. Practicing say no with the wife all the way there. ha ha

I think I'm doing that this weekend. Getting paid a $75 gift card to "evaluate" a "resort" presentation. Yeah right, I bet they're going to try to sell me a timeshare.

Then there's this: http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=11945.0

2Cor521

 

[laurence]

How about failed attempts?

This weekend I tried to fix my HDTV. It's internal projection and about 5.5 years old. The convergence got busted ( I chatted about this on another thread) and I went through everything I could. Last try was the maintenance manual they give technicians. Tried all the benign stuff (advanced menu stuff etc.) and got to the portion where the modules that control convergence need to be replaced. So I got on a message board with instructions, ordered the parts (30 bucks vs. 400 for a technician), and got out the soldering kit. Now kids, this internal projection T.V. still has a CRT, which means capaciter. The back panel says, "DO NOT REMOVE - DEATH! OR HARM - OR DEATH! DID WE MENTION DEATH? MAY OCCUR!". I let the t.v. sit unplugged overnight, and wore insulating rubber gloves. Removed the mainboard, de-soldered the modules, re-soldered in the new ones, plugged it back in and powerd up. T.V. actually turned on and showed me picture (yay!), but the convergence was still off (boo!). At this point the manual said, "Next, replace the tri-phosphate dilithium crystal space modulator...." and I said, "Honey, we are going T.V. shopping!".

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

After two attempts to repair televisions that resulted in quotes to repair that were almost as high as a new set, I treat televisions as disposable once they stop working.

Unfortunately, the samsung crt big screen my wife bought 4 years ago bought the dust with a poof of smoke while the 12 year old maggotbox I bought on sale refuses to die a graceful death and continues to taunt me with its bad convergence and fuzzy picture.

 

[Caroline]

When DH's white dress shirt collar was showing signs of wear, I took it off, turned it around and resewed it. I have mad skills!

Wow! I understand that everyone did this "in the old days." That "collar-turning" was a service offered by the tailor.

good on you!

 

[Life_is_Good]

Went to the 99 cent store and purchased a bulk package of soups. The cashier tried to do the math in her head such that 18 soups = 99 cents. She wanted to ring up each soup package separately.

I didn't realize she rang them up incorrectly until we made it back to the car. She had overcharged an entire 56 cents when all was said and done. I went back in and recovered my 56 cents.

My wife just kept laughing at me on the way home.

It was my cheap lowpoint. I'm now looking for a 12 step program for people who cannot resist a deal

 

[MikeD]

I recently found 1 lb pkgs of carrots for 99 cents each. The 2 pounders were $1.99. I bought two 1 pounders and saved $.01.

Mike D.

Plus, I pointed it out to a fellow shopper next to me and she did the same thing and thanked me.

 

[FinanceDude]

I recently found 1 lb pkgs of carrots for 99 cents each. The 2 pounders were $1.99. I bought two 1 pounders and saved $.01.

Mike D.

Plus, I pointed it out to a fellow shopper next to me and she did the same thing and thanked me.