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Old 08-29-2020, 05:13 PM   #41
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Can the turning the underwear inside out comment be far away?
And reusing dental floss.
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Old 08-29-2020, 05:22 PM   #42
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I'm thrifty w/self-maintenance.
I know people that cost themselves near $40/$50 day w/personal preferences.
DDonuts, Starbucks, Cigarettes, used to be paper publications, lunches, etc. adds up. A Latte factor iirc...

A friend is a barber.
I know him outside of hair maintence.
He cut my hair once and said I should do it myself.
He's still my friend >45yrs later

Good luck & Best wishes....
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Old 08-29-2020, 05:37 PM   #43
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I do Most All The Things. I read the Tightwad Gazette all the way through once, and about half of the things she wrote in there were things that I thought were just normal because that's how my Mom did stuff when we were growing up.

The things I don't do are things I don't want to do.

I also Do The Math (tm). Stuff that I don't want to do that cost less than $X per year I definitely won't do. This includes stuff like military showers and reusing dental floss. For me it also includes price comparisons on auto gas and chasing points on purchases - I dislike both of those activities and in my case they don't save me more than $X per year because I don't spend much.

One thing I do that is a little off the beaten path is that I walk to and from the airport when I go on trips. It's only a few miles. I know how long it takes now, having done it several times, and usually it's not that big of a deal to just start getting ready an hour or so earlier than otherwise.

This fall I'm going on a two week vacation, and if I drove my car I'd have to park it at the airport. At $10 a day, that's $140. A cab is about $25 each way. (I don't have Uber because my cell phone is too old to run the app.) I could afford either of those just fine.

Walking gets me some fresh air, a light bit of exercise, and I inwardly smile at my creative weirdness. Plus I get to be self-reliant; I always get a little nervous that the cab or Uber/Lyft won't show up on time and will put me in a bind.

I just have to be a bit careful as it's not really a pedestrian mecca near the airport and getting run over would hurt my ROI. Dodging cars adds to the challenge a bit, I guess.
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Old 08-29-2020, 05:50 PM   #44
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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.
I did that years ago. A co-worker and I would compare and comment on the "left overs of the day". But, then one day, the day after DW's birthday, I brought in my home made beef wellington. Needless to say I won that day.
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Old 08-29-2020, 05:51 PM   #45
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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.
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Old 08-29-2020, 05:59 PM   #46
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I used to do that for sandwich bags.
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Old 08-29-2020, 06:35 PM   #47
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20 posts in and no mention of dryer sheets? I'm disappointed in all of you.

edit: I see it was mentioned in #30
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Old 08-29-2020, 06:43 PM   #48
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Aren’t YOU the billionaire next door, with your dryer sheets and all.
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Old 08-29-2020, 07:29 PM   #49
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I wonder what the payoff time is? Well, time to Do The Math (tm).

Our most expensive water (Tier 3) is about $.012 / gallon. (Our cheapest water costs about a third of that.). Assuming you save 1 gallon per liquid waste flush, that means that each flush saves about a penny. We currently have three toilets and three people in the house. Assuming 5 flushes per day per person with a 60% "liquid only" flush rate, that means we would save about $.10 per day.

A dual flush toilet kit is $20, and I would need three of them. so $75/.1 = 750 days to payoff the valves. Not too bad, actually.

Now I need to factor in the cursing tax, the dropped a tool on my foot tax, and the multiple trips to the hardware store when I break something tax. So lets call it a 5 year payoff ;-)

Might be good eco-friendly reasons to make the change, but for me the payoff probably is not there. The equation changes dramatically if you have more people in the house, more "frequent flushers", or higher cost water!

Or you could use the saying we used at my Depression era grandmothers house and save the money. “ if its yellow, let it mellow. If its brown , send it down. “
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Old 08-29-2020, 07:37 PM   #50
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Use old underwear to make covid mask. This guy who I see at the library uses his old underwear as a hat.
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Old 08-29-2020, 08:23 PM   #51
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Water down shampoo. I always have one original bottle and one diluted bottle.

Stock up shoe glue instead of buying shoes.

Plan all my activities for the day every morning so I can save time.
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What is one everyday thing you think is THRIFTY, but your friends/family think is CHE
Old 08-29-2020, 08:38 PM   #52
Recycles dryer sheets
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What is one everyday thing you think is THRIFTY, but your friends/family think is CHE

DH and I are the polar opposites of fashion conscious and rarely buy new clothes. I literally have 3 dresses (1 for funerals, 1 for a nice dinner out, 1 for whatever else), a couple of skirts, a few nice tops, a few pairs of shoes, a couple pair of slacks. Once we retired, I dropped a bunch of work clothes off at Goodwill and we literally wear things until they get holes or frayed and one of us looks at the other and says, “Uh Noooo, that needs to go”

I did splurge this year and got some updated jeans and shorts along with some cool T-shirt’s. We do try and look presentable when dining out with others (which is rare as we are introverts) and DH always quips, “Women like a man in Dingo boots” and then we bust out laughing. (He actually has a couple of nice pairs of cowboy boots)
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Old 08-29-2020, 08:57 PM   #53
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Our state newspaper is digital, except for Sundays. Before Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas, there are inserts with cologne & perfume samples. I save these and use them before church/special occasions. I haven't purchased cologne/perfume in a couple decades.



DH has caught me rubbing samples on my wrists and behind my ears before going out and commented, "That is one of the weirdest thing I have ever seen anybody do." I told him he had been much too sheltered (while knowing he was not).
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:03 PM   #54
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Originally Posted by Kickernick View Post
My friend waters down the Soft Soap he puts in his bathroom soap dispenser because he thinks the kids use too much. CHEAP!
DH put a rubber band around the foam Softsoap bottle neck so that the young nephews couldn’t press the dispenser down all the way. They were using way too much soap.
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:06 PM   #55
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I've begun to tear the half sheets into two pieces. DW refers to me as "Old quarter sheet"
I actually got some Bounty rolls that were perforated into quarter sheets. It was the only paper towels I could order from Costco at the time, but we like the feature.
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:16 PM   #56
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Our state newspaper is digital, except for Sundays. Before Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Christmas, there are inserts with cologne & perfume samples. I save these and use them before church/special occasions. I haven't purchased cologne/perfume in a couple decades.



DH has caught me rubbing samples on my wrists and behind my ears before going out and commented, "That is one of the weirdest thing I have ever seen anybody do." I told him he had been much too sheltered (while knowing he was not).
OK - I think you must win some kind of prize!
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:22 PM   #57
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I quit using dryer sheets in the 1990's! They're not even good for you.

Here in Florida, we use the solar dryer (deck railing) all year round, unless it rains.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrapr View Post
20 posts in and no mention of dryer sheets? I'm disappointed in all of you.
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What is one everyday thing you think is THRIFTY, but your friends/family think is CHE
Old 08-29-2020, 09:26 PM   #58
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What is one everyday thing you think is THRIFTY, but your friends/family think is CHE

I haven’t told anyone about this. Only DH knows. But someone here started this so I’ll tell you folks.

When the pandemic started Bounty napkins became unobtanium. We already had 2 packages but I knew I had to make them last. So I started cutting them in half. I asked DH if he thought it was awful and he thought it was fine. We got used to them!

Recently, Bounty napkins are available again. But we decided we like the halfs, so I’m going to keep doing this.

Am I the only one?
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:31 PM   #59
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Homemade spray deodorant.
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Old 08-29-2020, 09:48 PM   #60
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BJs brand napkins are way cheaper than name brands, and just as good. My thrifty way is to buy the smaller luncheon napkins. We don't make a big mess when eating, and the smaller napkins sometimes are not even soiled. Then I use them to wipe the kitchen counters!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sue J View Post
I haven’t told anyone about this. Only DH knows. But someone here started this so I’ll tell you folks.

When the pandemic started Bounty napkins became unobtanium. We already had 2 packages but I knew I had to make them last. So I started cutting them in half. I asked DH if he thought it was awful and he thought it was fine. We got used to them!

Recently, Bounty napkins are available again. But we decided we like the halfs, so I’m going to keep doing this.

Am I the only one?
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