Silly Frugality?

[brucethebroker]

Wow, that must be a long-lived fragrance. I usually find the scent turns a bit sour after a few years, let alone almost 20. And yes, perfumes are overpriced. That's why they are sold as "luxury" goods, LOL .... kind of like overpriced wines.

I know very, very little about perfume. But I know quite a bit about ebay, and there is a very large market on ebay for vintage perfume, even partial bottles. Maybe only certain brands turn sour??

 

[Chuckanut]

I reuse the paper filter for making coffee sometimes. I just clean out the of grounds from the filter and add some coffee and start the making coffee. LOL

You spendthrift!!! Why aren't you drying the used coffee grounds (for free using sunlight) and making another pot with them? Wastrel!

 

[Chuckanut]

When I'm following them I think "They are turning perfectly good gasoline into brake dust and heat! Global warming! Oh, the humanity!"

They need a hybrid. It is pure joy to watch the little gauge that shows my car's batteries charging when I step on the brakes.

 

[Chuckanut]

I invited her over for lunch. I made a beef stew with cognac, roasted vegetables, and garnished with creme fraiche. For dessert, we had warm berries with cream whipped with Frangelico, toasted and ground hazelnuts, and cardamom.

!

Gretah is cooking at the next ER reunion!

 

[Chuckanut]

I think it is that old habits die hard. But we do splurge on eating out and travel.

+1

I don't mind pinching a few pennies at home, especially since I can make a great meal for two with less than $5 of ingrediants, compared to $10+ dollars for take out of lesser quality.

But, when I go out to eat or travel, I like to enjoy good food (especially something I would not normally make at home) and will pay more to get it.

 

[limeyx]

I know very, very little about perfume. But I know quite a bit about ebay, and there is a very large market on ebay for vintage perfume, even partial bottles. Maybe only certain brands turn sour??

Quite possible. Besides, I'm married and the wife hasn't complained so far so I plan to keep using it (sparingly of course!)

 

[kcowan]

+1

I don't mind pinching a few pennies at home, especially since I can make a great meal for two with less than $5 of ingrediants, compared to $10+ dollars for take out of lesser quality.

But, when I go out to eat or travel, I like to enjoy good food (especially something I would not normally make at home) and will pay more to get it.

Today my buddy took us to La Cruz in his 40 ft yacht (it is about a 45 minute cruise but we stopped and watch humpback whales breaching for 20 minutes then he had to turn it on to make the schedule). There was a market and it cost 200 pesos for "parking" which I picked up. Then we motored over to a high-end restaurant at the yacht club and I picked up the 3060 peso tab. (I thought it was classier than offering to pay for gas or other costs of owning a yacht. Of course he did not expect it. There were 7 of us.)

This is my version of "blow that dough"...

 

[Scuba]

Today my buddy took us to La Cruz in his 40 ft yacht (it is about a 45 minute cruise but we stopped and watch humpback whales breaching for 20 minutes then he had to turn it on to make the schedule). There was a market and it cost 200 pesos for "parking" which I picked up. Then we motored over to a high-end restaurant at the yacht club and I picked up the 3060 peso tab. (I thought it was classier than offering to pay for gas or other costs of owning a yacht. Of course he did not expect it. There were 7 of us.)



This is my version of "blow that dough"...

May or may not be classier but certainly less costly and I’m sure your gesture was appreciated. We were guests on a friend’s 76 ft yacht in 2017. I was going to offer to purchase a tank of fuel until I realized one tank cost over $10,000 - yikes! So we bought several dinners instead.

 

[PawPrint53]

This is more gross frugality rather than silly. My Dad, who was in assisted living, would dry his Depends out, put them in a drawer and wear them again. Obviously once I discovered this (by smell), I put a stop to it.

 

[RobbieB]

Yuck.

Good you found it before he was evicted.

 

[tmm99]

I just had one that cracked me up. On the Discuss Cooking website, DW read that the best way to preserve ginger was to put it in a jar of sake.
Well, I went to the market, bought the ginger and a bottle of sake.
I then pointed to to her the ginger cost 50 cents and the sake was $5

I peel, slice thinly and freeze it loosely. It works really great and there is absolutely no change in flavor.

 

[NW-Bound]

I just had one that cracked me up. On the Discuss Cooking website, DW read that the best way to preserve ginger was to put it in a jar of sake.
Well, I went to the market, bought the ginger and a bottle of sake.
I then pointed to to her the ginger cost 50 cents and the sake was $5

Is the sake still drinkable? I bet it is. You get to drink that $5 sake, and your wife saves her 50-cent ginger. Win-win situation to me.

 

[Philliefan33]

Here’s a good example of silly frugality: DH and I just spent a week in an Airbnb in Puerto Rico. We bought some groceries our first day there, including a small jar of peanut butter and a small “squeeze” jelly. By the time we left we had eaten about half of each.

My intent was to leave them for the next renters, just as previous renters had left some mayo that I used on sandwiches. But guess what I found in the kitchen today? DH packed the partially used pb and jelly in his checked bag and brought them home [emoji23]

It was reasonable frugality to buy pb &jelly to fix our own snacks for the beach rather than buying lunch every day. Kind of silly to fly home with the leftovers.

 

[Meadbh]

It was reasonable frugality to buy pb &jelly to fix our own snacks for the beach rather than buying lunch every day. Kind of silly to fly home with the leftovers.

Ummm, I do that all the time!

 

[ivinsfan]

Right, if you get stuck on the tarmac you have something to eat!

 

[travelover]

Right, if you get stuck on the tarmac you have something to eat!

Darn right. Things would have been different on Donner Pass if they's packed PB&J.

 

[Philliefan33]

Right, if you get stuck on the tarmac you have something to eat!

Nope. They were in his checked bag. We would’ve had to eat the baggie full of Cheerios in my carryon backpack.

 

[MRG]

Here’s a good example of silly frugality: DH and I just spent a week in an Airbnb in Puerto Rico. We bought some groceries our first day there, including a small jar of peanut butter and a small “squeeze” jelly. By the time we left we had eaten about half of each.

My intent was to leave them for the next renters, just as previous renters had left some mayo that I used on sandwiches. But guess what I found in the kitchen today? DH packed the partially used pb and jelly in his checked bag and brought them home [emoji23]

It was reasonable frugality to buy pb &jelly to fix our own snacks for the beach rather than buying lunch every day. Kind of silly to fly home with the leftovers.

A former frugal co-w*rker, who checked out really early, full time RVing; said he supplemented his finances by working in an RV park with cabins. He counted on the left over food.

 

[tmm99]

Darn right. Things would have been different on Donner Pass if they's packed PB&J.

 

[audreyh1]

Foodstuff in the luggage is what usually gets it searched by TSA. We had checked a small cooler full of frozen tamales inside a duffle bag. As sure enough a card had been left behind inside the cooler by the TSA inspector. I'm sure it looked suspicious in the X-ray being dense and made up of many wrapped cylinders wrapped again in foil by the dozen. Fortunately flying out of McAllen everyone understands hauling tamales home for Xmas. I'm sure it was a good laugh. I actually left the printed order sheet in the cooler so they would know it was from Delia’s!

 

[Winemaker]

My bottles of wine are equally suspicious. I have a dedicated wine suitcase in which I take up to 12 sample bottles and return with 12 from the area. I know it's going to be searched anyhow, but I'm sure the 6 ounce package of cheese I would but in there raises a few eyebrows while going through x ray. If they want to play their games and search my 82yo mom, they can get their butts puckered up for the minute they spend checking out my wine.

 

[coalduck]

Makes perfect sense to me.



Would you take $10.83 out of your pocket and throw it into the street? I wouldn't either.

Exactly. In my state, pop cans have a 10 cent deposit on them. When I get a weird look for picking one up (someone’s litter), I ask if there was a dime laying there, would you pass it by? I’m chuckling out loud at this thread, as I am “guilty” of so many of them. Old habits die hard, I guess.

 

[Amethyst]

I'd also consider the labor involved in peeling and thinly slicing fresh ginger. Probably took 15 minutes, right? In Amethyst numbers, that's $12.50** So you spent $5.00 on sake to preserve $13.00 worth of ginger and labor.

**($50/hour is the arbitrary "price" I put on my time spent doing DIY things - if it would "cost" me more than a contractor charges, I'll hire out the job).

Is the sake still drinkable? I bet it is. You get to drink that $5 sake, and your wife saves her 50-cent ginger. Win-win situation to me.

 

[joeea]

I ask if there was a dime laying there, would you pass it by?

Hmm, probably not, even though bending over is less comfortable than it used to be.

 

[scrabbler1]

Exactly. In my state, pop cans have a 10 cent deposit on them. When I get a weird look for picking one up (someone’s litter), I ask if there was a dime laying there, would you pass it by? I’m chuckling out loud at this thread, as I am “guilty” of so many of them. Old habits die hard, I guess.

But finding a redeemable bottle is not quite the same as finding a dime. For me, it is a PITA to store the bottle, then to bring it to a store to redeem it. Most of the time, the bottle machines are either full, out of service, or in use by people with ~100 bottles to redeem. I either have to keep the bottles around for a while, until the next time I go to the store and hope I don't encounter the same obstacles, or, if I don't have too many bottles, go to the customer service desk and redeem them. If I find a dime, it is mine, immediately, without effort.