Gross inconsistencies concerning money (our thoughts and behaviors)

[RobbieB]

I always stash the unused extra fast food napkins in the car. Makes for ready snot rags when I need them. If they're crumpled on the floor I toss 'em, new I save 'em.

Until they're crumpled on the floor _

 

[oiseux]

This thread is like ouch.

We have a cabinet just dedicated to leftover paper and plastic bags (often used for dog poop). Another drawer frequently gets jammed from the reused ziplok bags. And these are custom cabinets that could have paid for a lifetime of plastic bags.

You can find takeout condiment packs tucked near our Limoges porcelain containers holding our favorite Malton, fleur de sel and Trapanese sea salt.

Oh, and there is more....

 

[statsman]

Like many here have stated, it is more of a waste issue than being frugal.

When the yard debris recycling back in the Bay Area (near San Jose) included soiled paper products, that further reduced our wastage. Used paper towels, napkins, plates, pizza boxes, along with food scraps, could be included in the yard debris bin for collection. Any extra napkins and paper plates were saved and added to the yard debris bin once used.

The incentive to do so was readily apparent to us. The generated compost from this material could be picked up by homeowners, as well as being used in public landscapes maintained by the city and county. You hear all of the stories about the recycled collection being dumped into regular trash areas. This was a case where we knew some/all of our yard debris recycling was actually recycled.

It pains me, now that we're in Texas, to not have an option for this type of recycling. I guess I could try a compost pile, but I suspect the HOA here would bark about that. Or the neighbors from the resulting wildlife attraction.

 

[lucky penny]

Does anyone else press the sliver of a bar of soap on to the new bar?

Always.

 

[frayne]

Asking for friend, does anyone recycle dryer sheets ?

 

[audreyh1]

Asking for friend, does anyone recycle dryer sheets ?

We don’t even use dryer sheets!

 

[Zona]

We don’t even use dryer sheets!

Seems to me from this thread that maybe fast food napkins are the new dryer sheets. [emoji23] May need to recalibrate the er.org status bar…

 

[meleana]

We are just as frugal as we ever were. Cut the toothpaste tubes. Save, wash and reuse aluminum foil and baggies. Rarely shop except for groceries or hardware items. Not into the big toys. Keeping our 2013 and 2016 cars until they die.

Eat in mostly. Try to do free type things. COVID restrictions and rules have ruined our plans to travel to places we need to fly to, so we figure at least we’re saving money.

Not that we don’t do anything that requires laying out some money, but we are very selective.

We are simpletons I guess.

 

[meleana]

Asking for friend, does anyone recycle dryer sheets ?

I don’t but I cut them in half!

 

[meleana]

Always.

Yup! Lol!

 

[Camas Lilly]

I re-use plastic wrap (that isn't dirty, just wet).
I wipe down and re-use foil.
I stock the napkin holder with take out napkins when we get too many.
I rinse out and hang to dry zip lock bags that are not contaminated and other bags that can be re-used.
I pick up my unused napkin off the table when dining out at fast food (they have to throw them away anyway)
It's like everything has to pass inspection before heading to the trash can, LOL
When step son shows up with takeout and 45 bags of catsup, I have been known to stash a few for a road trip, but then cut the tops off and dump into the catsup container. I have done that with soy sauce and lots of other things that occasionally to show up by the dozens.

It was the way we were brought up. We didn't have much (let alone Ziplocks) and didn't waste anything. Now, it's not a matter of saving money, but more of why would I throw it away? I can see if I were to spend a lot of time doing these things, there might be better ways to spend my time, but I don't.

There is too much waste in this world anyway. I'll probably never change.

We don't eat out that much because we were brought up making everything from scratch at home. We still ask ourselves, do we have everything to make what we want at home? Then why do we need to go spend money for someone else to make for us something we already have? It is just one vicious cycle. Ha!

It makes you appreciate the little things. I will never forget the time we went to the local burger chain for a hamburger. We hadn't been out for the longest time. That was the best darned hamburger and fries I think I've ever had! I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much as if I dined out on a regular basis.

 

[Camas Lilly]

I don’t but I cut them in half!

Oh that is a good idea!

 

[aja8888]

Asking for friend, does anyone recycle dryer sheets ?

I don't do laundry. I'm not even sure what a dryer sheet is......

 

[Camas Lilly]

Always.

I use my soap right down to when I drop it I can't find it anymore, LOL. I see my brother a couple of times a year and apparently we didn't fall too far from the same tree. He taught me a thing or two about bars of soap last year. I had several pieces sitting the soap dish and he brought them out, stuck them together in a neat little stack and put them in the microwave for short bursts, re-adjusting the stack until they melted and stuck together. I was surprised they never did come back apart. (I am sure by now everyone is running to gather their little pieces of soap for an experiment)

 

[ncbill]

We don’t even use dryer sheets!

White vinegar in the rinse cycle instead.

Plus generic borax as pre-treatment/booster for those really dirty clothes.

 

[Camas Lilly]

Someone here keeps saving fortune cookies in the corner of the cupboard. They never get stale, right?

About the paper products - napkins, paper towels, etc. Remember the pandemic supply issues last year? You bet I'm saving unused napkins "just in case."

And add me to the list of people taking excess computer printouts and ripping them into 4ths or 8ths for quick notepaper! I've been doing this for years even though we print very little anymore.

LOL, since I started working from home, I use all of my big sheets of paper on the second side for notes, etc. Especially the lined paper. I use both sides of scratch pad paper. It just makes sense.

 

[hiker88]

Does anyone else press the sliver of a bar of soap on to the new bar?

I thought I was the only one in the world who did that.

 

[audreyh1]

Seems to me from this thread that maybe fast food napkins are the new dryer sheets. [emoji23] May need to recalibrate the er.org status bar…

There you go!

I was one of the early confused ones because I didn’t use dryer sheets 30 years ago either.

 

[audreyh1]

I thought I was the only one in the world who did that.

Honestly, after this thread, I think everybody does that.

 

[disneysteve]

Does anyone else press the sliver of a bar of soap on to the new bar?

I've tried and it just never seems to work with Dove. So the sliver from the shower just goes into the soap disk on the sink to use for washing our hands.

 

[RobbieB]

I've been doing that since I was a child. What else you gonna do with the sliver? You know you got the sliver, and you unwrap the new bar and put it inna shower. Then you use the new bar and make sure to baste the sliver with the shower water a few times for prep ya know and then you work that sliver into the new bar when you are done.

Yeah baby! Glued tight. You don't want your sliver slidin' off ya know. Not good to be bending over in the shower.

 

[disneysteve]

We don’t even use dryer sheets!

We do but ever since reading The Tightwad Gazette years ago, we've cut them in half or thirds. Does the job just as well at a fraction of the cost. And of course we only buy store brand.

 

[HMMY]

When we ran out of ketchup, I took all the packets from fast food places and squeezed them into the empty bottle and filled it 2/3rds full. My husband and kids laughed at me. I hate waste and try not to add to landfills. I use everything into the ground or donate, but I'm not cheap. When my laptop died, I replaced it with a very nice, very expensive one, but I tend to keep my things until they no longer work.

 

[audreyh1]

We do but ever since reading The Tightwad Gazette years ago, we've cut them in half or thirds. Does the job just as well at a fraction of the cost. And of course we only buy store brand.

We just don't get static in our dryer. It's probably that we dry mostly cotton and nylon, very little polyester.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I've tried and it just never seems to work with Dove. So the sliver from the shower just goes into the soap disk on the sink to use for washing our hands.

That's because dove isn't soap. It's a "cleansing bar" or something like that