What is one everyday thing you think is THRIFTY, but your friends/family think is CHE

[JoeWras]

We use dove bar soap in the shower. For as long as I can recall, whenever the bar shrinks down to silver dollar size, DW will mold it onto a new bar instead of throwing it away.

Always. And I add the 1/4th used bar from the hotel on the trip we took. Yes, I take our open, used soap bars with me and meld them into the bars at home. I hope I'm not the only one!

 

[athena53]

Always. And I add the 1/4th used bar from the hotel on the trip we took. Yes, I take our open, used soap bars with me and meld them into the bars at home. I hope I'm not the only one!

Nope- I do that, too! I just bought soap for the first time in ages because I hadn't been traveling so didn't have a stash from hotels.

Like others, I also make my own veggie broth from the inedible fibrous parts of vegetables and use torn-up T-shirts for cleaning. I have paper towels but use them mostly for wiping out my cast-iron pans.

I'm also very careful about not wasting food. My grandparents raised 5 kids during the Depression and their way of not wasting food was to encourage each other to "eat up that little but that's left- can't let it go to waste". Not good- they were both overweight. I have plenty of refrigerator and freezer space and can find ways to re-use or re-purpose leftovers.

And, as Lucie noted, "frugal" is frequently "Green" as well.

 

[bizlady]

We tear paper dinner napkins in half for almost all meals.

 

[Dtail]

I do take home the unused soaps and used/unused hair products from the hotel, but not the used bar soaps.

 

[calmloki]

^ We do as well, but last year at a yard sale we bought two tall old fashioned looking three gallon lidded glass jars, one mostly full of dusty dried rose petals and the other 2/3 full of hotel soaps. We just wanted the jars as kitchen decoration. Dumped them out and ran the jars through the dishwasher. Then spent some time sorting through the hotel soaps and we now have bags of soap from different hotels. Some are very nice, some I just get profligate and dispose of if they aren't up to our high standards (does it make suds? Does it smell like bargain day at the $2 whorehouse).

 

[Time2]

DW reuses dryer sheets. Seriously.

Mine too! And, she makes sure I do.
Washes baggies, saves aluminum, scrapes the last 4 grains of rice out of a pan to eat before washing, buys paper products 2 for 1 or with large price reduction, to the point, I'm sure we have 400 rolls of paper towel or toilet paper, or 50 boxes of tissues, long before Covid.
She's been cutting my hair for over 20 years and cuts her own.
We are in the 94th or 95th percentile of networth and people think we aren't!

 

[COcheesehead]

I buy the vast majority of my clothes on eBay. I have tagged searches for the brands I like and know that fit. When a nice style pops up in one of my searches, at a good price, I buy it. I then sell something on eBay that I more than likely bought previously on eBay.
My wardrobe stays current for a fraction of the price of new. In some cases what I sell goes for more than I paid for it.
My stylish, current clothes probably cost me only a few dollars a year.

 

[Amethyst]

My Mother taught me a "Depression" trick, which I think I used once, as it was too cheap even for me...she would save all the soap slivers and boil them into jelly soap for washing stockings and underthings.

Me, I use Ivory liquid to handwash clothes...and underpants go in the washing machine!

We use dove bar soap in the shower. For as long as I can recall, whenever the bar shrinks down to silver dollar size, DW will mold it onto a new bar instead of throwing it away.

 

[Gumby]

My grandmother had this crudely made little wire mesh basket with a latching top and a wooden handle. When the bar soap in the bath got down to a sliver, she would put it in the basket with the other slivers. Then, she would swoosh it around in the water in the kitchen sink to wash dishes.

 

[tb001]

I think we’ve had a similar thread, because I recall posting this before, but I will also use the corner of a facial cleaning wipe to clean makeup around my eyes and then save it for the next night.

I ran the numbers once and iirc, they are less than a penny per wipe, so it’s clearly just dumb, and my wipes will probably expire before I can get through them, but again it just seems wasteful.

 

[rodi]

Most of my [-]cheap[/-] frugal tricks are multi-purposed - environmental and cash flow...

- Use terry rags instead of paper towels for cleaning/wiping up. Probably launder 20 terry rags/week... and use maybe 5 1/2 size paper towels/week.
- Use a spray bottle of vinegar, a drop of dish soap, and a drop of tea tree oil as my goto counter/table cleaner. Use baking soda instead of cleanser for scrubbing.
- wash and reuse ziplocks.
- use vinegar rather than fabric softener.

Others are just preference:
- dilute cranberry juice.
- don't buy sodas
- pack lunches (even the kids took bag lunches to school)
- save napkins and condiments from takeout food.
- flowbee or scissor haircuts at home
- Make food from scratch rather than eating out or buying prepared food.

 

[6miths]

I've been known to do that too, especially in the last few months when I had a hard time finding liquid hand soap!!

I have washed and re used zip lock bags, which has gotten me looks from my kids.

Both of these, all the time. And thankfully no looks from the kids! I have actually switched to the foaming hand soap as I feel that it goes much further. Of course, pre-COVID there was bar soap only. lol.

 

[6miths]

It's funny how many of the things being listed evoke a 'Duh?` Check, check, check... I'm making note of any good ones I have overlooked.

Has anyone here not read Jeff Yeager's 'Ultimate Cheapskate'? From the library of course.

 

[tb001]

Most of my [-]cheap[/-] frugal tricks are multi-purposed - environmental and cash flow...

- Use terry rags instead of paper towels for cleaning/wiping up. Probably launder 20 terry rags/week... and use maybe 5 1/2 size paper towels/week.
- Use a spray bottle of vinegar, a drop of dish soap, and a drop of tea tree oil as my goto counter/table cleaner. Use baking soda instead of cleanser for scrubbing.
- wash and reuse ziplocks.
- use vinegar rather than fabric softener.

Others are just preference:
- dilute cranberry juice.
- don't buy sodas
- pack lunches (even the kids took bag lunches to school)
- save napkins and condiments from takeout food.
- flowbee or scissor haircuts at home
- Make food from scratch rather than eating out or buying prepared food.

What kind of terry rags do you use rodi? I don’t like the way the microfiber cloths feel for cleaning in the kitchen, but something like this sounds like it might be a better option.

 

[6miths]

When I was w*rking, I used to borrow the daily newspaper from an associate director, who bought it every day and read it in her office while drinking her $3.50 Starbucks. She would laugh and say I was cheap not to buy my own. Yet, she used to ask me for a mid-year raise based on her diminishing financial situation. I told her it wasn't an approved reason for a raise and she should drink the office coffee like I did. But buying the paper was still okay

Often a good supply of newspapers on the commuter train, while in the airport, at the library, and if you don't mind your news a day or two old - once the headers are clipped for return the newspapers are headed for recycle or landfill so fair game in my mind. This was a great way to get the big weekend editions at the cottage.

 

[SpinDoctorTX]

When I was working, I brought my own lunch from home every day. Almost always, it was leftovers from the night before. My old, battered, coal miner's aluminum lunchbox (which had been my grandfather's) was famous in my office building. People would constantly comment on it as we were walking in from the parking lot.

Lunch leftovers are almost always better (and healthier) too. I used lunch time to run errands, then would eat whatever I'd brought from home.

I don't drink soft drinks or buy bottled water. I fill my water bottles at the sink and let them sit a couple of hours with the tops off to let the chlorine gas off.


Cheers!

DH installed a good filtering system into our kitchen sink- Houston water is not very tasty so I didn't even want to use it in cooking. All of our water bottles are steel.

And reusing dental floss.

EEWWWW... Yikes!

I get my books, DVDs, CDs etc at the library (glad it is reopened for pick up). I never buy books or music and don't subscribe to services like Netflix. The library can be a big money saver.

Me too! Order online and curbside pick up.

We just use cloth napkins and wash them.

I just started doing this in March & I'll keep on doing it. Those napkins were used so infrequently it seemed a waste not to use them.

When I was w*rking, I used to borrow the daily newspaper from an associate director, who bought it every day and read it in her office while drinking her $3.50 Starbucks. She would laugh and say I was cheap not to buy my own. Yet, she used to ask me for a mid-year raise based on her diminishing financial situation. I told her it wasn't an approved reason for a raise and she should drink the office coffee like I did. But buying the paper was still okay

I used to get the WSJ from our director... Loved reading it for free.

^ We do as well, but last year at a yard sale we bought two tall old fashioned looking three gallon lidded glass jars, one mostly full of dusty dried rose petals and the other 2/3 full of hotel soaps. We just wanted the jars as kitchen decoration. Dumped them out and ran the jars through the dishwasher. Then spent some time sorting through the hotel soaps and we now have bags of soap from different hotels. Some are very nice, some I just get profligate and dispose of if they aren't up to our high standards (does it make suds? Does it smell like bargain day at the $2 whorehouse).

Too funny! We use all of the toiletries we take from the hotels.

Most of my [-]cheap[/-] frugal tricks are multi-purposed - environmental and cash flow...

- Use terry rags instead of paper towels for cleaning/wiping up. Probably launder 20 terry rags/week... and use maybe 5 1/2 size paper towels/week.
- Use a spray bottle of vinegar, a drop of dish soap, and a drop of tea tree oil as my goto counter/table cleaner. Use baking soda instead of cleanser for scrubbing.
- wash and reuse ziplocks.
- use vinegar rather than fabric softener.

Others are just preference:
- dilute cranberry juice.
- don't buy sodas
- pack lunches (even the kids took bag lunches to school)
- save napkins and condiments from takeout food.
- flowbee or scissor haircuts at home
- Make food from scratch rather than eating out or buying prepared food.

I make all of my own cleaning solutions... Better for us, the cat, and the environment. I use terry rags as well... old towels & cotton shirts. Thicker things (like jeans) I cut up into reusable swiffer mop pads.

 

[Amethyst]

I literally never bought my lunch, at school or at work (except the occasional work-related get-together at a restaurant). The school lunches usually looked and smelled like nothing I'd prefer over my PBJ sandwich, apple and cookies anyway.

And the work cafeteria, while not bad, always seemed over-priced for the amount you got. People from other places told me our cafeteria was actually fairly cheap as cafeterias go, but I could get tons more mileage out of food from home.

Mr. A. and I once did an envelope calculation of how much $$ we'd saved, over the decades, by never buying lunch at work. I think it added up to the cost of a new car. Certainly it paid for nice work clothes.

- pack lunches (even the kids took bag lunches to school)
-

 

[travelover]

Wow, 92 posts and no one has yet admitted that they strain the broken glass out of a dropped peanut butter jar?

 

[JoeWras]

Wow, 92 posts and no one has yet admitted that they strain the broken glass out of a dropped peanut butter jar?

OK, not as radical, but I have:
- Cut off the moldy cheese and ate the rest
- Flicked the caterpillar off the lettuce and ate the salad
- Removed the moldy crust from the bread, toasted and ate the middle

Am I close? Not as dangerous?

 

[6miths]

Standard PB jars in these parts have been plastic since at least early 70s so not nearly so death defying. But yes, and the 3-second rule gets interpreted quite liberally.

 

[Amethyst]

I don't think you could ever get all the shards out of anything. And even one shard could mean a trip to the ER.

Anyway, peanut butter at BJs comes in plastic jars.

Wow, 92 posts and no one has yet admitted that they strain the broken glass out of a dropped peanut butter jar?

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I will usually smell and then taste sealed (tinned/jarred) foods that are way past their best by or even use by dates before deciding whether to throw them out or not, but then I've always had a cast iron stomach.

 

[6miths]

Younger DD related a story the other day that suggests that we have raised her correctly. She works at a local drugstore. Boss told her that there were 6 jugs of OJ in the cooler that expire tomorrow. 'You can have them but have to pay something' - so 1 cent per she took two. I said good work but next time give me a call or try to resell to friends!

 

[karen1972]

I don't consider myself cheap, but I do hate waste. My friend had to clear out her fathers apartment and I offered to help, when we got to the bathroom she was just tossing everything and I'm like seriously dude i will take most of this as it was individually wrapped and could be given to homeless and there were a few items that were opened but I just can't see throwing out a 90% full bottle of hand sanitizer at this point in time.

If i can make it, upcycle it, repair it, I'll probably do it. I feel like my grandmother drilled into me every depression era tip.

Though for dryer sheets we use those dryer balls so no dryer sheets for us.

 

[JoeWras]

... As I sit here looking at my "Smucker's Natural Creamy Peanut Butter" in a glass jar. Best by Mar 01, 2021. Ingredients: Peanuts, 1% less of salt.

Maybe because the oil separates they use glass? Or glass is more "natural" for the health conscious? Don't want no petroleum leaching in my PB?