He is so frugal he......

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I just cannot believe how many of the big spenders here are buying lunches at McDonald's! Bringing your own lunch is frugal. There is not a shade of doubt that this Igloo cooler has saved me well into five figures over the years. Not a bad ROI for a $12 cooler.

I'm thinking more of a road trip. $15 or so to feed the family of 5, maybe grab a coffee while we are there. Possibly let the kids burn off another couple hundred miles of steam in the Play Place. Rest, relaxation, recreation, caffeination, for under $20.

We do often pack a picnic lunch/dinner for the first meal or two of a road trip, but not always.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO We do often pack a picnic lunch/dinner for the first meal or two of a road trip, but not always.

My parents did that when we were growing up, but it was only a one-day trip to a grandmother's in Buffalo, NY from DC. Mom would pack a big wicker picnic basket with sandwiches and such. My ex always wanted to stop at a restaurant on the way to her parents in Boston (also a one-day trip) and that was a foreign concept to me. Such a huge waste of money and extended the travel time by an hour! I was used to eating with wheels turning.

I don't think I saw the inside of a restaurant until I was in high school and that was Shakey's Pizza with the guys after work at my first job.

[Idnar7]

I have a huge container of twisties. I always put two or three on when buying vegetables at the store. One year my DW gave me a bag of used twisties for Christmas. A great/practical gift. I use them as many use duct tape. My mother used to rinse and wash plastic plates and utensils for summer use. My dad saved every piece of wood no matter how small - "we can always burn it". Cool Whip containers make a great paint bucket. A second to the Talenti gelato jars. We recently removed wallpaper and repainted the inside of the house. All the various paints are labeled in the clear Talenti jars. I am amazed at all the good ideas in this thread. Thanks

[karen1972]

So there are the frugal mishaps..like my father use to have us take out nails from on project, straighten them and reuse them..until he tried it with the roof and it leaked all the time.

Second mishap at Walt Disney we packed a lunch.. cooked a pizza, cut it into bite size snacks and ate while in line..along with PB hotdogs..Ie because someone forgot kids don't eat dogs with buns..all was great till my sister packed pickles and the bag leaked out pickle juice..hmm wet pickle juice clothes all day long



I love shoe boxes for storage, I keep lots of misc stuff from projects and can almost always find a nail and screw without buying one, my broadest moment was reusing a wall.. took weird wall down in basement and needed to build a closet..so managed to keep wall in tact, drywall and all and made wall of closet..only had to tape corners and I was done.

[Rick_Head]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO We do often pack a picnic lunch/dinner for the first meal or two of a road trip, but not always.

Buy groceries and cook along the way. I often go on long (3 -7) days with my old car buddies. DW gave me this aid for Xmas a few years ago. Not only frugal, but better tasting too.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick_Head Buy groceries and cook along the way. I often go on long (3 -7) days with my old car buddies. DW gave me this aid for Xmas a few years ago. Not only frugal, but better tasting too.

I'd like to try but my wife and 3 kids might try to cook me!

Stopping along the way is part of the fun, and lets the driver (me!) relax.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick_Head Buy groceries and cook along the way. I often go on long (3 -7) days with my old car buddies. DW gave me this aid for Xmas a few years ago. Not only frugal, but better tasting too.

Working on oil and gas projects in Wyoming in the middle of nowhere, we cooked lots of food on our truck engines.

(you have to remember to put a small hole in a can of beans before heating up the can, though)

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 I don't think I saw the inside of a restaurant until I was in high school and that was Shakey's Pizza with the guys after work at my first job.

Shakey's!!!! Yeah! Haven't thought about them for many years.

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

My grandmother did all this and one more - she recycled Christmas cards. They received hundreds of cards every year (many from clients) and she cut the fronts off of the cards and re-used them on gifts as "To-From" tags. This was decades ago when everyone sent beautiful cards every year. I loved this habit of hers and have never known anyone else who did it.

[34rlsa]

In the spirit of the holidays... I'll share one from my Dad.

Christmas trees.

When I was a kid every year my Dad would buy a live beautiful Blue Spruce tree... With all the roots and soil wrapped in a burlap bag. We would bring it into the house and decorate it as usual. Then after New Years my dad would take the tree and transplant it in our yard. We had several beautiful trees that grew and grew for years all over our small lot.

p.s. Took me a while but his is my 100th post!

[Idnar7]

34risa, congrats on 100! Calico my aunt used to recycle Christmas cards also. She pasted snippets from old cards to make new ones. For family she even included part of the card you sent her the previous year into your new card. Alas, she now has Alzheimers and that tradition has ended.

[target2019]

Amazing stories of frugality...
Have not heard from coffee filter reusers yet. Some wash the filter and use again. And again, and again.

It is my understanding, and I've seen proof, that the paper coffee filter is virtually indestructible. We place the daily filter and grinds in a bucket. Dump this in the garden, and pick out the filters after a few heavy rains. They seem stronger than new. I have tried to shred these with leaf shredder, but to no avail. Long live paper!

[REWahoo]

For you folks who want to minimize your paper towel usage, try slicing the roll to yield more efficient towel sizes. Like this:

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 34rlsa In the spirit of the holidays... I'll share one from my Dad. Christmas trees. When I was a kid every year my Dad would buy a live beautiful Blue Spruce tree... With all the roots and soil wrapped in a burlap bag. We would bring it into the house and decorate it as usual. Then after New Years my dad would take the tree and transplant it in our yard. We had several beautiful trees that grew and grew for years all over our small lot. p.s. Took me a while but his is my 100th post!

Congrats on your 100th post! and kudos to your dad for transplanting your Christmas trees.

[GreenER]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calico My grandmother did all this and one more - she recycled Christmas cards. They received hundreds of cards every year (many from clients) and she cut the fronts off of the cards and re-used them on gifts as "To-From" tags. This was decades ago when everyone sent beautiful cards every year. I loved this habit of hers and have never known anyone else who did it.

Well you just haven't met my family!

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 34rlsa In the spirit of the holidays... I'll share one from my Dad. Christmas trees. When I was a kid every year my Dad would buy a live beautiful Blue Spruce tree... With all the roots and soil wrapped in a burlap bag. We would bring it into the house and decorate it as usual. Then after New Years my dad would take the tree and transplant it in our yard. We had several beautiful trees that grew and grew for years all over our small lot. p.s. Took me a while but his is my 100th post!

My DW and I did that our first Christmas in a new home. Around here ground may be frozen so dig the whole on Thanksgiving. The ball weighed a ton.

That was the first and only time, for us. Glad your family did more.
Congrats on your 100th post....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 34rlsa In the spirit of the holidays... I'll share one from my Dad. Christmas trees. When I was a kid every year my Dad would buy a live beautiful Blue Spruce tree... With all the roots and soil wrapped in a burlap bag. We would bring it into the house and decorate it as usual. Then after New Years my dad would take the tree and transplant it in our yard. We had several beautiful trees that grew and grew for years all over our small lot. p.s. Took me a while but his is my 100th post!

Now that is sustainability, which I admire!

[38Chevy454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick_Head Buy groceries and cook along the way. I often go on long (3 -7) days with my old car buddies. DW gave me this aid for Xmas a few years ago. Not only frugal, but better tasting too.

Manifold burritos! Wrap the burrito in foil and this works great to heat them up!

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo For you folks who want to minimize your paper towel usage, try slicing the roll to yield more efficient towel sizes. Like this:

If I showed this to my Dad you would have an instant friend for life.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenER Well you just haven't met my family!

Maybe we are related!