Silly Frugality?

[NW-Bound]

It is said that, 'Common sense' is not all that common. And manufacturers are making it harder to get the lids off shampoo bottles to get the water into them. I know that my 80+ year old mother certainly couldn't get the non-screw lid off the generic Head & Shoulders bottle...

Repeatedly squeezing and releasing the bottle with its cap under the shower head will get some water in there. You can then shake the bottle to get some more shampoo to finish washing your hair.

 

[6miths]

Thought of this post the other day. Saw a Chap-Stix on the ground. Thought about dialing out about 1/4 inch and slicing it off and pocketing it. I didn't.

Reminded me of this. Roger Miller had a Grammy nomination in 1966 for this. As a kid I had it on an LP of Dean Martin's Greatest Hits. 'Old stogies I have found. Short but not too big around.'

 

[Winemaker]

I agree. I think they are more about presentation than anything. I followed a recipe exactly one time and bought pearl onions (I think it was some kind of red wine stew with herbs) and I didn't detect any taste difference. That was the last time I bought the pearl onions.

Pearl onions, peas, small new potatoes, cream/white sauce with some garlic, thyme and rosemary. Yum! I'm hungry and it's lunch time!

 

[tmm99]

Pearl onions, peas, small new potatoes, cream/white sauce with some garlic, thyme and rosemary. Yum! I'm hungry and it's lunch time!

That does sound good!

 

[Music Lover]

Thought of this post the other day. Saw a Chap-Stix on the ground. Thought about dialing out about 1/4 inch and slicing it off and pocketing it. I didn't.

A few years ago the building I worked in had a cafeteria...a co-worker used to check out the rack where people dropped off their empty trays and would sometimes take uneaten food off them to supplement his lunch.

 

[thumbs]

I find golf balls on the course when walking my dog in the mornings and run them through the ball washer. Most are good as new. Old one's and off brands I hit into the practice range. Can't remember the last time I purchased a golf ball. Am I frugal or what?

This is just like my Dad. I don't think he has ever comes home from a golf game with less golf balls than he arrived with.

 

[thumbs]

Often if I got to the washroom to grab a Kleenex to blow my nose, I will instead use a couple pieces of toilet paper because it's cheaper.

 

[Music Lover]

Often if I got to the washroom to grab a Kleenex to blow my nose, I will instead use a couple pieces of toilet paper because it's cheaper.

Just step outside, plug one nostril and blow it out...

 

[thumbs]

Just step outside, plug one nostril and blow it out... [emoji23]

Most of it ends up in the beard...which my wife finds unappealing for some reason.

 

[limeyx]

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.

CK One and as far as I can tell still smells good (pretty sure my wife would object if it didn't)

 

[kcowan]

Repeatedly squeezing and releasing the bottle with its cap under the shower head will get some water in there. You can then shake the bottle to get some more shampoo to finish washing your hair.

Just cup some water in your hand and it works like a charm!

 

[gretah]

I cook without carbs and starch as much as possible.

It is false economy to "stretch out" a meal with pasta, rice, tortillas, bread, potatoes, etc. Cereals, too. There is very little nutrition in these foods. Better health is achieved without them.

So life is longer and medical bills are less.


The common sense of this was truly proved to me last month. My 50yo neighbour had surgery to remove cancer from her lower digestive system. Even after the surgery, she continues to eat premade chicken pot pies, lasagne from the supermarket, nacho casseroles, tuna noodle casseroles, sloppy joes with white hamburger buns, etc. (She proudly told me how nice her friends were to bring her all her favourites while she was recovering at home.) Yuck! How does she eat that junk?

She hates fresh produce. And she wonders why she got cancer.

 

[street]

I do a lot of the frugal things mentioned in this thread. LOL

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

 

[athena53]

I cook without carbs and starch as much as possible.

It is false economy to "stretch out" a meal with pasta, rice, tortillas, bread, potatoes, etc. Cereals, too. There is very little nutrition in these foods. Better health is achieved without them.

So life is longer and medical bills are less.


The common sense of this was truly proved to me last month. My 50yo neighbour had surgery to remove cancer from her lower digestive system. Even after the surgery, she continues to eat premade chicken pot pies, lasagne from the supermarket, nacho casseroles, tuna noodle casseroles, sloppy joes with white hamburger buns, etc. (She proudly told me how nice her friends were to bring her all her favourites while she was recovering at home.) Yuck! How does she eat that junk?

She hates fresh produce. And she wonders why she got cancer.

It's sad but for many people, especially those who have hectic lives or who don't know how to cook, the processed food you described above is cheap and easy to prepare. My weekly grocery run is heavy on nuts and vegetables and more often than not it excludes meat.

I agree with you, though- I just survived 3.5 years of post-retirement private health insurance with a $6,000 annual deductible with very little paid out-of-pocket- a couple of cases of raging poison ivy and a couple of bad colds that I was afraid might morph into something worse (they didn't) plus the usual preventative visits. Part of it is the grace of God, I know that. The rest was healthy living, which didn't really cost me that much extra other than my gym membership. Medicare kicked in on 1/1. Woo-hoo!

 

[harley]

I cook without carbs and starch as much as possible.

It is false economy to "stretch out" a meal with pasta, rice, tortillas, bread, potatoes, etc. Cereals, too. There is very little nutrition in these foods. Better health is achieved without them.

So life is longer and medical bills are less.


The common sense of this was truly proved to me last month. My 50yo neighbour had surgery to remove cancer from her lower digestive system. Even after the surgery, she continues to eat premade chicken pot pies, lasagne from the supermarket, nacho casseroles, tuna noodle casseroles, sloppy joes with white hamburger buns, etc. (She proudly told me how nice her friends were to bring her all her favourites while she was recovering at home.) Yuck! How does she eat that junk?

She hates fresh produce. And she wonders why she got cancer.

Eating that stuff probably has nothing to do with getting cancer. Otherwise lower digestive system cancer would be raging throughout our society. While that doesn't sound like a diet I would follow, it's not all that different than what the entire "Greatest Generation" ate. Except they did eat vegetables. Canned peas, mostly.

 

[joeea]

She hates fresh produce. And she wonders why she got cancer.

I love fresh produce. I've always eaten healthy. Never smoked. Only a social drinker. And I have cancer.

Try not to be so judgmental.

 

[Moemg]

I love fresh produce. I've always eaten healthy. Never smoked. Only a social drinker. And I have cancer.

Try not to be so judgmental.

Absolutely ! When I tell people I have COPD they always assume I was a smoker and I wasn't .People who do everything right get crap .

 

[athena53]

I love fresh produce. I've always eaten healthy. Never smoked. Only a social drinker. And I have cancer.

Try not to be so judgmental.

I know- I've seen studies that indicate that consumption of fatty foods increases cancer risk, but that doesn't mean that NOT consuming them means you reduce your risk to zero. Sometimes I wonder what carcinogens I'm ingesting from the pesticides and fertilizers used on all my yummy fresh veggies, especially since I can be lax about washing them.

A friend who developed colon cancer in his 40s- young, fit (he recently posted a report on FB that showed he had 7.8% body fat) and otherwise healthy- has given up all animal-based protein except for fish. He keeps posting pictures of dishes of exotic sushi. That, of course, has risks of its own.

 

[kgtest]

My dad just comes over to my house and looks for leftovers in my refrigerator. He does this at all of his kids homes when he visits. Last night, he did it just before he left. We are leaving for HI, WITH HIM and have been purposefully dwindling down the food supply in the freg.

As he opens it and pokes around he grabs our beef stew leftovers, and tosses them back. He turns to me and I kid you not asks me "Don't you have any grapes, or strawberries?"

Oh i'm sorry dad, let me go run to the store or better yet the vines and grab you some (it's not even grape and strawberry season).

He tossed the container back and mumbled something about how "he had chilli at his place".

Good, go eat your chilli, I never invited you to the beef stew leftovers lmao.

I SWEAR he does this because he feels we children owe him for all the extra food he had to feed us in our lives.

He re-uses dixie cups and toothpicks and he's passed 2 comma a long time ago. I keep telling him he doesn't need to re-use them but I guess old habits die hard. At least he doesn't re-use floss.

 

[6miths]

Doesn't reuse floss?! I sure do. And the the little Christmas trees until they are broken.

 

[Marita40]

I don't think this is silly, necessarily, but this little thing keeps me on budget each month: I often have 5-6 "no spend" days per week, meaning I spend absolutely nothing on those days--no coffee out, no purchased lunch or snack, not even any bill paying. On the "spend" day(s) I do the necessary shopping and bill paying. The "no spend" days go a long way in keeping me focused on what I really need vs. want.

 

[NW-Bound]

I love fresh produce. I've always eaten healthy. Never smoked. Only a social drinker. And I have cancer.

Try not to be so judgmental.

Absolutely ! When I tell people I have COPD they always assume I was a smoker and I wasn't .People who do everything right get crap .

I ran across blogs from young people who died of colon cancer in their late 20s and early 30s. They were vegetarians!

I knew some people who died of lung cancer in their 50s. Never smoked. Then I also know people who smoked like a chimney, and lived to 90.

Of course living healthily does help, but it's not the only factor. There's still a lot of crap shoot to affect the outcome.

 

[ivinsfan]

I cook without carbs and starch as much as possible.

It is false economy to "stretch out" a meal with pasta, rice, tortillas, bread, potatoes, etc. Cereals, too. There is very little nutrition in these foods. Better health is achieved without them.

So life is longer and medical bills are less.


The common sense of this was truly proved to me last month. My 50yo neighbour had surgery to remove cancer from her lower digestive system. Even after the surgery, she continues to eat premade chicken pot pies, lasagne from the supermarket, nacho casseroles, tuna noodle casseroles, sloppy joes with white hamburger buns, etc. (She proudly told me how nice her friends were to bring her all her favourites while she was recovering at home.) Yuck! How does she eat that junk?

She hates fresh produce. And she wonders why she got cancer.

I've heard comments like this before and they do sound harsh, but in my opinion it's from people that want to think "it won't happen to me because I eat right, exercise, don't drink or smoke or whatever"....


Blame the victim they must have done something wrong as if cancer follows any rules, instead doing what it D$%m well pleases. It's a form of magical thinking..

 

[karen1972]

I know- I've seen studies that indicate that consumption of fatty foods increases cancer risk, but that doesn't mean that NOT consuming them means you reduce your risk to zero. Sometimes I wonder what carcinogens I'm ingesting from the pesticides and fertilizers used on all my yummy fresh veggies, especially since I can be lax about washing them.

A friend who developed colon cancer in his 40s- young, fit (he recently posted a report on FB that showed he had 7.8% body fat) and otherwise healthy- has given up all animal-based protein except for fish. He keeps posting pictures of dishes of exotic sushi. That, of course, has risks of its own.

This thread just reminds me of the microbe exhibit at the museum which was incredible. Basically scientists believe cancer is fed through microbes and if people can "feed" the right microbe they also fight cancer. They haven't exactly figured out which but are working on it. Sugar is one source they believe feeds the bad microbes. My take from it all is that people should try to eat a very diverse diet and be exposed to as many things and people as possible to get the most diverse microbe mix in your body. Studies are showing too much of any one thing is bad because it decreases that diversity in your system which keeps you in balance. Unfortunately, pesticides etc play its own role because they can block microbes... overhand sanitizing kills good and bad microbes, etc.

So moral of the story I think is that being frugal is healthy.. ie growing your own garden, making your own cleaning products from vinegar, water, salt, baking soda, lemon etc instead of buying all those one-use antibacterial items.. etc. Heck even finding free events to go to because well they often lead to walking around and accidental exercise. I know the women in my family often live into their 90s, my great grandma 100 plus 2 weeks. I just do what they did, including cutting up old towels. My honey gave me crap about it but guess what he takes to the gym to wipe off with between sets... yep those same cut up towels and I use old socks to dust. The only thing I wish I was better at was sewing as that would save me even more money.

 

[Souschef]

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