What is the super cheapskate habit you have?

Colleen said:
Another thing we're "connected" on, Marg!

My mother used Palmolive dish soap for years so that's what I've always used. I was in a cross stitch FB group (not on FB any more!) and someone asked how to get out a stain of some sort on their linen they were stitching on and everyone said soak in Dawn so I figured I must be missing something (I usually am). I splurged and bought a bottle of blue Dawn and I absolutely hate the smell of it!! I'm putting it in the cupboard to use ONLY in an emergency and getting my Palmolive back out. I also only use Ivory bar soap in the shower. It's what my mother used (and Palmolive) and I like the smell and it doesn't have a lot of ingredients. No fancy soaps for me :)

I'm also "frugal" with just about everything. Some times it works out to be a good thing but sometimes it doesn't. Just ask my husband. Here's an example:

Our sweeper died about 2 months ago and when I tried to find the same one to buy, it's no longer made. No surprise there. So....I found a "similar" one at a "frugal" price. Hated that vacuum! It didn't clean the carpet and had such a small tank that I'd have to empty it a couple times when I ran the sweeper. Either we're really dirty people or that tank was so tiny that it didn't hold much. We have a whole house that is carpeted except the bathrooms, kitchen and dining room (they're tiled but need vacuumed also). So, a sweeper in this house gets a workout. Besides, we have 2 long-haired kitties that shed...especially during the summers here in AZ. Anyway....that sweeper killed my back pushing it and it weighed a ton. The Amazon reviews must have been submitted by someone stronger than me and had no carpet or pets. It was boxed up (we save all our boxes) and we dropped it off at ARC for someone else to struggle with. It had low mileage on it so it should last someone for a while.

So, I didn't save any money by being "frugal". I had to buy another sweeper. So it actually cost me twice as much as if I'd just bought a good one in the first place... SHEESH!

Just a short addendum....everyone has mentioned ketchup bottles, etc., so here's another thing I'm "frugal" on. When we have spaghetti, I add the sauce to my meat and then I add a little water to the jar; put the lid back on and shake it to get all the sauce out of the jar. Then I add it to the meat mixture. :)
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I love it, Colleen! :)

So much of my frugal ways are the result of my own mom... watching and helping her do things from the time I was young enough to remember, frugality just stuck with me.

Waste... anything waste related bothers me something awful, just eats at me, always has.

We don't have much in the way of fancy soaps and things in the house either. Years ago, like maybe 8-9 years ago, hubby and I started using liquid body-wash... used bar soap before that, and we both like liquid body-wash, so we've stuck with that, but I buy Pears Glycerin Soap (has so for many years now), and for laundry I use Gain, and for dishes, Palmolive.

One area where I have never been frugal on is making my own household cleaner, I just have always loved store-bought household cleaners, so that's what I use. Back in the day when Pine-Sol still made their cleaner using real pine nut oil, that was my favourite, but when they quit making it with real pine nut oil the scent turned me off, so I switched to Lysol, and occasionally will buy a bottle of Mr. Clean, just to switch it up a little. For scrubbing sinks and bathtubs I use a sponge and VIM lemon scent cleaner.

My mom was big on vinegar and water for washing floors, and I just couldn't get into it, though moms floors were always spic-and-span clean! Her reasoning was protecting the shiny finish of her linoleum/vinyl floors, and I totally got that.

Ziploc bags, plastic bags, if it can be reused, I reuse. Wash by hand and hang on the line.

I still get down on all fours to wash the floors... bucket of water with cleaner and a cloth, though my knees just don't have the staying power that they once used to. I sure feel it afterwards, doesn't last, but one more sign that I'm not a spring chicken anymore.

Was always a stay-at-home mom, and in keeping with being the frugal and stay-at-home mom that I was... I put all of my children through good old-fashioned cotton-fold diapers, diaper pins, and rubber pants. Washing machine laundered and hung to dry on the clothesline. The very thought of filling the garbage with dirty diapers (disposables) never sat well with me.

Have had what I refer to as a rag-bag hanging in my laundry room since the dawn on time that I put all old socks, cotton t-shirts, rags, and towels in to use as general purpose cleaning and dusting rags. Holey ones that reach their end are passed along to dear husband to use for this and that.

Oh yes, your method of getting to the bottom of jars and bottles has been my method for ages! HP Sauce, ketchup and mustard bottles, a little water added, a good shake, and out comes a surprising amount more of the product out of the bottles!

Love your sauce idea!!!
 

Colleen said:
I've threatening for the last 5 years or so to cut the cord (we have satellite) because we don't watch anything except the evening news...which we can get on our Roku. We don't watch any tv at all. We watch Netflix or Prime for movies every night. The ONLY reason I've kept satellite is because my husband is a NASCAR fan and he likes to watch the races. I can't find anywhere else but FOX (hate them!) and CBS (I think) that televises the races. An antenna doesn't get any reception in my area here in the desert. If you know anywhere else I can get racing for him, let me know, and then I'd cut the cable in a second.
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please check conversations
 
The only thing I can think of that I do is...I'll dilute the Dawn dish soap. I buy a bigger bottle then I'll transfer a little at a time in to my smaller bottle and then fill it the rest of the way up w/water. It's still real sudsy.

And, of course I'll let my used paper towels dry so I can use them again.
 

dobielvr said:
The only thing I can think of that I do is...I'll dilute the Dawn dish soap. I buy a bigger bottle then I'll transfer a little at a time in to my smaller bottle and then fill it the rest of the way up w/water. It's still real sudsy.

And, of course I'll let my used paper towels dry so I can use them again.
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Holy smokes, Dob, you have me beat by a country mile! :love:
 
Washing paper towels doesn’t make any sense to me. Just keep a rag under the sink and when it’s dirty, toss it in with the rest of the wash. You’re not running water to rinse out a paper towel.
 
Jules said:
Washing paper towels doesn’t make any sense to me. Just keep a rag under the sink and when it’s dirty, toss it in with the rest of the wash. You’re not running water to rinse out a paper towel.
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Exactly. I cut up old towels, use them as rags and then throw them in the laundry.
 
Jules said:
Washing paper towels doesn’t make any sense to me. Just keep a rag under the sink and when it’s dirty, toss it in with the rest of the wash. You’re not running water to rinse out a paper towel.
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StarSong said:
Exactly. I cut up old towels, use them as rags and then throw them in the laundry.
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Did either of you ladies utilize what I refer to as a "rag bag"?

A bag with all of your household and general purpose cleaning rags/cloths?

Or did you/do you fold and stack your cleaning cloths and store them away?
 
StarSong said:
I've always folded and stack. Never had a rag bag.
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Embarrassed to say rags are one area where I slacked on, into one big plastic bag they went.

Learned that from my mom.
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Aunt Marg said:
Did either of you ladies utilize what I refer to as a "rag bag"?

A bag with all of your household and general purpose cleaning rags/cloths?

Or did you/do you fold and stack your cleaning cloths and store them away?
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Definitely had/have a rag bag. It actually was a ’rag’ bag. When it too became a rag, I switched to a tall laundry hamper with a lid. The old towels, cloths, etc go into it. The towels are used for car washing etc. For under the sink, I keep fibre cloths. They’re not rags, just called that from history when they were the raggedy dishcloths,

Paper towels are only for dirty, greasy spills.
 
Aunt Marg said:
Embarrassed to say rags are one area where I slacked on, into one big plastic bag they went.

Learned that from my mom.
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I learned to fold and stack them from my mom. It never occurred to me to gather them in a bag.

Jules said:
Definitely had/have a rag bag. It actually was a ’rag’ bag. When it too became a rag, I switched to a tall laundry hamper with a lid. The old towels, cloths, etc go into it. The towels are used for car washing etc. For under the sink, I keep fibre cloths. They’re not rags, just called that from history when they were the raggedy dishcloths,

Paper towels are only for dirty, greasy spills.
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I also keep a fiber cloth (and a sponge) under each sink.
Ditto on my paper towel use.
 
StarSong said:
I learned to fold and stack them from my mom. It never occurred to me to gather them in a bag.


I also keep a fiber cloth (and a sponge) under each sink.
Ditto on my paper towel use.
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Our house was always super busy, so while my mom was fussy about keeping home, she did have a few areas where she cheated, and the rag-bag was one of them.

No folding, no stacking, just into the rag-bag. :)
 
I sometimes buy those bar towels they sell at Walmart. I can use them in the kitchen, or for cleaning. They're cheap and useful, and I don't feel bad if I have to throw them away. They're small too, so I can use them easily in my hands.

Also, in my linen closet , on the top shelf...which I can barely reach I'll throw towels up there that have passed their prime. Like, if I've stained them or they've torn or something.
 
dobielvr said:
The only thing I can think of that I do is...I'll dilute the Dawn dish soap. I buy a bigger bottle then I'll transfer a little at a time in to my smaller bottle and then fill it the rest of the way up w/water. It's still real sudsy.

And, of course I'll let my used paper towels dry so I can use them again.
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I don't rinse paper towels but I will re-use. For example I keep a empty oatmeal container next to the sink and if I used a paper towel to eat, I put it in there and then can use it to clean up something on the stove or to clean the sink.

@Jules I have plenty of fabric so I made some re-usable wipes for the kitchen and some re-usable napkins. I even made a pair of thrift store pants into shorts for around the house and hemmed the fabric I cut off for kitchen rags. Because I don't use my dryer in the summer and don't like the lint on them from towels, I keep them separate and wash separate.

I buy recycled paper towels and try to use them mostly for cleaning up after the cats and for cleaning the feed and water dishes for the ferals I feed at work.
 
dobielvr said:
I sometimes buy those bar towels they sell at Walmart. I can use them in the kitchen, or for cleaning. They're cheap and useful, and I don't feel bad if I have to throw them away. They're small too, so I can use them easily in my hands.

Also, in my linen closet , on the top shelf...which I can barely reach I'll throw towels up there that have passed their prime. Like, if I've stained them or they've torn or something.
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I too prefer the bar size towels for the kitchen. I have some I've had for years. They are stained from rinsing berries in the summer. I don't care. They still wash up. I like them small so I can change them out as I need them and they don't take up as much room in the washer since I really watch water.

I also bought some cheap flour sack towels at Walmart. They seemed too big so I cut them in fourths and hemmed them. Better size. I buy the better quality sack towels to embroider on and keep them full size.
 
My rags are thrown in a bag. I never fold or stack them.

My cheapest habit is keeping those plastic bags for carrying groceries home much too long. They say, "Use 25 times" (are we supposed to be keeping score?) but I just keep using mine forever. This morning, I did some food shopping, and when I took the groceries out of my oldest and largest bag, I suddenly got a whiff from the bag - it really stunk! I realized the bag was probably filthy, although it looked clean enough, but still. So I threw it out. Those bags cost 5 cents.
 
jujube said:
I can't bear to throw a toilet paper roll away if it has ONE square of toilet paper on it. So I'll tear off that last one or two squares of toilet paper that's stuck to the roll and stack them up on the back of the toilet tank. There they sit until I get tired of looking at them and throw them away. OK, there's no understanding some compulsions...….
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we recycle the cardboard center to TP rolls. Since we have a woodstove we save on 'Firestarter' things by making our own. Dryer lint loosely packed in TP roll works great, if a sheet or two still on it we'll pull them off and stuff in the roll too.
 
Murrmurr said:
When I use a plastic straw in an iced drink, I'll wash the straw and reuse it a few times. I'm not sure why. I can get a bag of 100 straws for a dollar.
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We invested in two sets of steel straws. They come with brushes for cleaning. One set even had 2 short ones with a bend and 2 tall ones with a bend. Daughter takes some to work, we have some in car and some at home with utensils.
 

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