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

[frayne]

Dryer sheets ! Need I say more ?

 

[CDRE]

Wash dishes, pots, pans, knives, silverware, cups, etc., by hand. Only exercise the dishwasher about once a year.

 

[REWahoo]

Wash dishes, pots, pans, knives, silverware, cups, etc., by hand. Only exercise the dishwasher about once a year.

Check out the water/energy used by a dishwasher vs. by hand.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-much-water-do-dishwashers-use/

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

+1. The second chapter of The Millionaire Next Door is called, "Frugal Frugal Frugal". For all the neighbors who can't figure out how we retired early in a HCOL area, I can tell they never read this book. Housing is expensive where we are, but other than that a lot of the other expenses are simply lifestyle choices, like shopping at ethnic markets instead of Whole Foods. Rich Roll had a cute video on what you can buy for $25 at stores like Whole Foods for $25 vs. going to an ethnic market (two fancy juice bottles at WF vs. several bags of fresh produce or ~25 pounds of dried rice and beans at the ethnic markets).

I would say we are the MOST likely to bellyache about the cost of streaming and cable.

 

[CDRE]

Check out the water/energy used by a dishwasher vs. by hand.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-much-water-do-dishwashers-use/

Thanks, and I have. Older dishwasher (not me) and it would take a while to achieve a full load.

 

[travelover]

..........Eta, you won’t find us paying big bucks for entertainment in general though. I’ve been to maybe three professional sports games in my life and all but one was through work.

I'm with you here. I can't imagine paying literally thousands of dollars to see Hamilton when I saw it twice for $7.50. I'm sure it was better live, but .....


And the prices for major league sports seats are insane. Even the food / beer prices are insane.

 

[kimcdougc]

I save the extra napkins from my take out orders, Depending on the quality, they can be used in place of paper towels as cleaning wipes, for floor spills, as tissues, and for cleaning kids sticky faces.

We do this too!

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

I make my own yogurt using a half gallon of milk and my crock pot. Super easy and good. I got tired of the cost and the waste of the plastic yogurt cups.

I camp! and sometimes camp on a road trip instead of a hotel, even for just a night, throw the tent up and sleep or I've even slept in the back seat of my car.

I am kindly ridiculed in my family for making anything out of paper bags. I entered a Christmas Wreath contest with a wreath I made out of the Sunday paper. And why would anyone "buy" a costume -made more than I can recall.

We don't have alot of storage space so when I travel and need a larger suitcase, I buy one at a thrift store or garage sale, then I donate it when I get back.

 

[harllee]

I make my own yogurt using a half gallon of milk and my crock pot. Super easy and good. I got tired of the cost and the waste of the plastic yogurt cups.

I camp! and sometimes camp on a road trip instead of a hotel, even for just a night, throw the tent up and sleep or I've even slept in the back seat of my car.

I am kindly ridiculed in my family for making anything out of paper bags. I entered a Christmas Wreath contest with a wreath I made out of the Sunday paper. And why would anyone "buy" a costume -made more than I can recall.

We don't have alot of storage space so when I travel and need a larger suitcase, I buy one at a thrift store or garage sale, then I donate it when I get back.

Love the idea of buying a large suitcase at a thrift store and then donating it back-- but I would need to quarantine it somewhere to make sure it had no bedbugs.

Clark Howard (who has the advice website) use to claim that he when he would travel he would not pack any clothes, he would just go to the local thrift shop at his destination and buy some. But that would not work for me because I have to wash every thing I buy at the thrift store before I wear them.

There was some comedian--can't remember who--who claimed he would donate his dress shirts to the thrift store, they would laundry them and put them on the racks for sale and the comedian would buy them back. The comedian claimed he could buy them back for less than it would cost him to laundry the dress shirts.

 

[Markola]

There was some comedian--can't remember who--who claimed he would donate his dress shirts to the thrift store, they would laundry them and put them on the racks for sale and the comedian would buy them back. The comedian claimed he could buy them back for less than it would cost him to laundry the dress shirts.

That’s like the guy who needed a ride home, so he went to a pizza place, ordered one for delivery and rode with them.

 

[Dtail]

I'm with you here. I can't imagine paying literally thousands of dollars to see Hamilton when I saw it twice for $7.50. I'm sure it was better live, but .....


And the prices for major league sports seats are insane. Even the food / beer prices are insane.

+1 on seeing major league sports. Just too much money and generally would rather spend time playing certain sports than watching those and other sports.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought everybody did that!

Also: serious question, when did nail salon visits become so common, even required? A bottle of nail polish costs $3.49. What does it mean if I don't visit them? Am I unkempt? Slovenly?

Huh? I don’t even varnish my own nails anymore. I don’t think the polish or remover is good for you. I simply trim my nails as needed. They stay pretty short as I play instruments.

Yes, I know ladies who go to the salon to get their toenails done, and also go to get their hair colored and whatever. I gave up on all that years ago and have never set foot in a nail salon, although I have walked by several and they stink.

 

[SecondCor521]

But that would not work for me because I have to wash every thing I buy at the thrift store before I wear them.

I don't mean this in an unkind way, but just as a suggestion. You could buy them at the thrift store then launder them where ever you are.

I remember it being a realization for me when I took about a 10 day trip and realized I could just pack 5 days worth of stuff and do laundry halfway through. It happened to be at a hotel in Hawaii, they had a laundry room at the hotel, and we just did laundry and read a book while it was going.

It's worth the trade-off *for me* to pack and port half as much clothing to "waste" some time in a laundry room. May not be for you or others.

But my point is it's sort of a mind-expanding concept to do laundry on vacation. (I also was close to getting a prescription filled in another state for the first time and that was something I had just never thought of as an option.)

 

[Gumby]

When the young wife and I went to Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and the Black Hills last fall, we did laundry twice during our two week trip - once at Colter Bay in Yellowstone and once in Billings, MT. It really cut down on the amount we needed to pack.

 

[Lewis Clark]

It's worth the trade-off *for me* to pack and port half as much clothing to "waste" some time in a laundry room.

We have stayed at Air B&B apartments that had small washers/dryers. Very easy to do laundry when the machines are inside the unit.

 

[harllee]

I will have to consider the travel tip to buy at the thrift store and laundry. I was thinking of our frequent trips to Scotland pre Covid. The little house we rent has a washing machine but no dryer--they hang everything outside.

 

[Winemaker]

We have stayed at Air B&B apartments that had small washers/dryers. Very easy to do laundry when the machines are inside the unit.

We've done this for years. Then we come home and just put a majority of stuff away. Anything dirty (?) goes int one suitcase and it goes to the laundry room when we walk in the door.

 

[VungTau]

I moved to Vietnam! Haha! Really HUUUUGEEEE savings!!!

 

[calmloki]

A lesser variant of shopping for clothes at the destination: I threw used socks away as we did a ten day trip. VERY unlike me to toss well worn but serviceable socks in the trash, but it was very freeing and shrank the bags, allowing purchased trinkets to be packed. Splurged and bought brand new Costco white athletic socks (8 pair for $12) when we got home. Also a treat.

 

[TrvlBug]

We've done this for years. Then we come home and just put a majority of stuff away. Anything dirty (?) goes int one suitcase and it goes to the laundry room when we walk in the door.

DH and I do the same. My SIL really appreciated that I sent the niece and nephews home after a 10 day visit 2 years ago, clothes laundered .

On longer trips we take old, but still wearable clothes, and toss them along the way.

 

[Sunset]

Pancakes fried up on bacon grease have the lovely crisp edge that they used to have when my mother made them. She used butter or lard.

YES !!!

I so miss my mother's crispy dark edged cast iron pan fried pancakes... Now that we are more healthy

 

[Lucie]

Didn't everyone's grandma used to save bread wrappers and twisties ? The bread wrappers went over your socks in the winter time before you put on your boots.

Bread bags in your boots are required when you have to walk 5 miles to school uphill both ways in 3 feet of snow ( so I was told).

Shaking the crumbs off your wet sock when you got to school was always an embarrassment around the “rich kids” that had new boots. My husband and friends used cafeteria trays to go downhill sledding in college.

 

[Ronstar]

Keep the bacon grease posts coming! I add it to my eggs and toast English muffins in bacon grease. But I never thought of bacon grease induced popcorn or pancakes as mentioned here.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I eat my road kill, but I never swerve on purpose to get it.

One day Mom brought home a dead ring-necked pheasant she had hit on the road while coming home from work. Damn right we ate and enjoyed it.

 

[Amethyst]

That's not even thrift. That's just plain serendipity (although not for the poor bird).

One day Mom brought home a dead ring-necked pheasant she had hit on the road while coming home from work. Damn right we ate and enjoyed it.