How cheap are you? :D

AutumnOfMyLife said:
I put bubble wrap on my windows to keep the cold out in the winter and the heat out in the summer. Some windows are fully covered and others are only half covered so I can see out. I also changed all the light bulbs in my home to energy efficient 9watt bulbs and I have added large area rugs to help insulate the floor of my home and on top of all that, I have changed to washing in cold water exclusively. I've lowered my utility bill by $35 a month this way over the last year.
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That's being frugal, though.

Stealing a load of sugar packets from Starbucks and pouring them one-by-one into your sugar bowl at home, that's cheap.

Making sure the electric company gets as little from you as possible, that's not only frugal it's ingenious.

When you think about it, most of us are just being frugal.

Just remembered; My mom used to wash and re-use the straws whenever us kids got a fountain soda. She'd throw them out after a few uses. We liked drinking from straws, but no one else did. If she bought a package of them it would have been a waste of money.
 

Wrigley's said:
That's being frugal, though.

Stealing a load of sugar packets from Starbucks and pouring them one-by-one into your sugar bowl at home, that's cheap.

Making sure the electric company gets as little from you as possible, that's not only frugal it's ingenious.

When you think about it, most of us are just being frugal.

Just remembered; My mom used to wash and re-use the straws whenever us kids got a fountain soda. She'd throw them out after a few uses. We liked drinking from straws, but no one else did. If she bought a package of them it would have been a waste of money.
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Ah, I see the difference. My mother was cheap, she did things like wipe down the aluminum foil and reuse it, she cleaned all the bread bags for reuse. I swore I'd never do those things and I never have, but I look for all the ways I can be frugal without being cheap.
 
I am so tight that I squeak when I walk.
I can't resist used book sales.
My wife is always hot, I am always cold, it becomes a drag.
We bring our own cloth bags to the super market so that we don't wind up with a multitude of plastic ones.
 

Plastic bags, clean the litter toss it out. Clothes to donate? Fill to just before bursting and toss it in the box. Dead shrew on front lawn? Double bag and put in pubic garage can. Plastic bags can be reused easily.
 
I've always been the tight wad in the family but have loosened up the last few years. I'm at such an age and physical condition that I must buy all services I require. I have begun to treat myself more often, to smell the roses, get an occasional pedicure. I do like to shop for my own groceries, to eat out once in a while. I like to indulge my roommate and encourage her to indulge herself. I like to read and occasionally try to write some forgotten bit of family history. I now enjoy living well and can do so because I was frugal. I am, I suppose, becoming lazy.
 
My grandmother washed used Saran Wrap. She'd drape the pieces over the dishdrainer to dry out and then put them away to reuse. She had a lot of money but, to her, the wolf was at the door all the time. When I went to live with her for a year while I was attending college, she had nothing but 40 watt bulbs in the house. I changed the overhead light in my room to a 100 watt and I thought she was going to have a heart attack. I would have blamed it on the Depression, but she lived those years on a prosperous farm, so food was plentiful; they also owned the country store, so there was cash coming in regularly. After that, my grandfather had a good job in the city.

On the other hand, my other grandmother was somewhat strapped for money during the Depression but she wasn't the least bit cheap. She felt that money was to be enjoyed, not hung onto. And, boy, did she enjoy it.

My parents were frugal but not cheap. My mother could squeeze a nickel until the buffalo's nose bled. I'm not that good, but I am frugal. I'm not cheap.
 
fureverywhere said:
Plastic bags, clean the litter toss it out. Clothes to donate? Fill to just before bursting and toss it in the box. Dead shrew on front lawn? Double bag and put in pubic garage can. Plastic bags can be reused easily.
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And the younguns think we don't know how to recycle. pppffftt!
 
Just thought of something. I don't like using tiny bars of soap in the shower---takes too long to work up a lather.

When they get too small, I toss them in a dish. Every few months I put a dish of soap pieces in the microwave, melt them down, and make a giant bar of soap out of them.

I dont know why, but it seems to lather up even better than the original bars.:confused:
 
NancyNGA said:
Just thought of something. I don't like using tiny bars of soap in the shower---takes too long to work up a lather.

When they get too small, I toss them in a dish. Every few months I put a dish of soap pieces in the microwave, melt them down, and make a giant bar of soap out of them.

I dont know why, but it seems to lather up even better than the original bars.:confused:
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wow! I didn't know you could do that!
 
NancyNGA said:
Just thought of something. I don't like using tiny bars of soap in the shower---takes too long to work up a lather.

When they get too small, I toss them in a dish. Every few months I put a dish of soap pieces in the microwave, melt them down, and make a giant bar of soap out of them.

I dont know why, but it seems to lather up even better than the original bars.:confused:
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You can also throw them into the tied-off end of a panty-hose leg and it gives you a soap-filled scrubber.
 
I do all of my laundry in cold water, I freeze left overs, I only heat the main area because I like to sleep in a cold room and then I only cool the main area and my bedroom. I also save my plastic grocery bags to use for when I scoop my cat's poop. It just doesn't make sense for me to throw the plastic bags away and turn around and pay money for plastic bags to put it in just to throw it away!
 
AprilSun said:
I do all of my laundry in cold water, I freeze left overs, I only heat the main area because I like to sleep in a cold room and then I only cool the main area and my bedroom. I also save my plastic grocery bags to use for when I scoop my cat's poop. It just doesn't make sense for me to throw the plastic bags away and turn around and pay money for plastic bags to put it in just to throw it away!
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It makes me laugh at those prettily scented doggy poop bags (that don't really mask the odour) they sell with the little container that hooks onto the leash. I just used to have a couple of plastic grocery bags in my pocket when I walked the dogs.
 

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