"Extreme Frugalness???"

[deltachi8]

Hey, it is organic!

and tasty

 

[QJ411]

I don't know if I do anything extreme, like many posters here, I buy DD's clothes from eBay or on super clearance, even at consignment shops.

The super markets by us doubles coupons up to 99 cents so I am a huge coupon clipper, and I sit at the table for hours scouring different super markets' flyers (for the items I need) that has the better prices and have coupons for and if they have it for a really great price and I have more than one coupon for it, I definitely stock up! About once or twice a year, they triple the coupons!

Other than that, nothing outragous. I am subcribing to this thread!

 

[tink2dw]

I have a whole set of Red Neck Tupperware - butter bowls, 2 sizes, whipped topping bowls, a 3 piece set of 3lbs cottage cheese bowls, they are great for freezing they don't split like butter bowls. I like that butter lids of different brands fit each others bowls. And there is a never ending supply to replace old ones.

 

[Sally]

I haven't bought any clothes new in years, everything we buy comes from the thrift store or yard sale, and then they are handed down for one girl to the other. I think even clearence prices are too much to pay .
I bake all my own bread and rolls.
I reuse almost everything that can be reused, from tin foil to ziplocs.
I make quilts and I crochet blankets, usually the yarn and fabric is from a well used quilt or blanket.
I gladly stock my freezer from what my brother and dad killed during hunting season, and my kids do not know the difference.
I use coupons for all the groceries I buy.
To me this isn't frugal, this is everyday life.

 

[hsmamato2]

To each his own, but that just grosses me out.
we do not consume Bambi Burgers in our house.

...all burgers come from some 'bambi' -like creature somewhere.....
I'll keep reading more posts,but no one here on these boards has yet to be 'extremely' frugal,IMO....
That's usually on boards where people don't save to go on Disney trips,etc
Separate toilet paper layers,anyone?

 

[hsmamato2]

ok... I'm frugal,much of the time, but I don't think extreme.....let's see- when we camp I have a stash of old silverware I wash and use,I'd never dream of buying/tossing plastic ware all week.... ummm.made cloth napkins for use at home out of old unused material,all mismatched,but functional......sew holes in worn out knees,try not to buy clothes we don't need,even if they're cheap (who needs 25 t-shirts?) shop with coupons,keep the grocery bill down by preparing all food myself in my own kitchen...bake bread.... make yogurt...
but this is merely a budget board,the real frugal diehards are usually found elsewhere,as I will spend $$$ on certain things I feel are worth it to me...

 

[crisi]

Hey, it is organic!

Actually, probably isn't. Deer tend to eat heavily out of farmers fields and people's gardens, and most farms and gardens aren't organic. They are very likely antibiotic free, but that too can depend on the state Natural Resources department - if a disease is taking out the wildlife, sometimes the state will inoculate even wild animals. Florida is big on giving rabies vaccines to raccoons, for instance (not that people hunt raccoons).

The bar for organic is pretty darn high.

 

[edk35]

Well, I will just say I went somewhere with a friend and had to take a double take when she was washing styrofoam plates. I thought that was being extremely...........frugal.

I have a friend that lived next door to us in Japan when we were stationed there. She used margarine bowls and coolwhip bowls for "her tupperware" and she also washed out/reused zip lock baggies. To me...that was REALLY FRUGAL.

 

[shortbun]

I pack a mix of baggies & plastic containers. I have also found cheap plastic utensils at the Target Dollar Spot & I buy those & reuse them. I figure even if they lose 1/2 of them by the end of the year I've still saved money.

We reuse bags that have not carried meat, cheese or other bacterial carriers.
It costs just as much to use time, soap and hot water as use another bag sometimes.

 

[shortbun]

Just want to say that I like this thread. My parents raised my with two mottos. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" and "If your outgo exceeds your income then your upkeep becomes your downfall." When I grew up, I was suprised to find that my parents had beaucoup bucks. I thought we were poor. lol!

eta: my Mom is 79 and still can not spend an extra nickel. Old habits die hard. We keep telling her that THIS is the time she saved for, her old age and her comfort. My sister says she scrapes mold off the bread and eats other old food instead of throwing it out. So, my sister and her husband have been taking her dinner every other night and cleaning out the frig behind my mother's back. Sad that she can't let go and spend her money. A lesson for all you penny pinchers.

 

[jessica52877]

We do the bathtub thing here for flushing the toilet, after one of us has taken a bath, we save the water and flush with it until gone. It is not frugal as far as money goes, our water bill has not gone down one cent since we started this 5 months ago. We did it mainly to start saving water. We also catch the water in the shower, sink, etc for this purpose. I think we are at the lowest our water bill can be and unfortunately it is still 2x the price of neighboring areas due to the rates!

I am pretty frugal but nothing extreme!

On the meat, I could never eat it if I knew someone hunted it, yet it isn't a whole lot different then getting it from the store.

 

[stahshee]

My x sil was sooo frugal. My brother and her built a HUGE home. She replanted the flowers from her mothers garden to the front of her house. She reused the dry dog food she would not leave the store with out checking her list with a fine tooth comb and she would go back over a penny ..... My brother and her had a code if they called us...They would ring once and hang up , and we would call them back...Well she is a millionare and I am not so,I should take her tips

 

[loco4dis]

I think the fact that I rarely buy a new item of clothing that isn't off a clearance rack and isn't marked down multiple times & that goes for my kids as well. My DD & I went to the GAP a few weeks ago & she figured out that she could get several items off the clearance rack for the same amount of money as 1 t-shirt. It was a real eye-opener for her.

With two teen daughters, I'm right there with you. When I take my girls shopping, they head straight for the clearance rack. I literally do not buy any clothing at all that isn't marked down in some way. I refuse to. And my kids, like yours, now fully understand that they can spend their own limited funds on one full-price item, or several marked-down items. As an aside, they tell me when they go to the mall with their friends that they can't believe what their friends pay for a single regular-priced item. They think it's ridiculous, and they're dressed just as "fashionably."

 

[unbroken chain]

Just want to say that I like this thread. My parents raised my with two mottos. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"

My mother said this all the time too!!

I posted some of my mother's "extreme" (not to her) money saving methods in another thread...like reusing the water from the washing machine for the next load (start with hot/white, move to warm/dark).

Part of it is frugality, but actually, part of it is not about money but a moral concept that it is a "sin" to waste anything. There are limited resources on Earth, and throwing something in the garbage because you can't be bothered to darn the hole in your sock, for example, is just wrong, by this line of thinking. However, some of us just do not have the time or inclination to sit around darning socks.

 

[loco4dis]

My mother said this all the time too!!

I posted some of my mother's "extreme" (not to her) money saving methods in another thread...like reusing the water from the washing machine for the next load (start with hot/white, move to warm/dark).

Part of it is frugality, but actually, part of it is not about money but a moral concept that it is a "sin" to waste anything. There are limited resources on Earth, and throwing something in the garbage because you can't be bothered to darn the hole in your sock, for example, is just wrong, by this line of thinking. However, some of us just do not have the time or inclination to sit around darning socks.

A lot of those older folks went through some hard times, too, so they don't have the "throw-away" mindset later generations do. I know that both of my grandmothers, while extremely generous with us grandchildren and their great-grandchildren, were very frugal with expenditures for themselves. They always bought just what they needed and used it all. For example, neither grandmother had a closet stuffed with clothes and shoes like I do. They had ROOM in their closets! I always marveled at that. They could skim through the clothes on hangers so easily to find just what they were looking for.

 

[punkin]

Just want to say that I like this thread. My parents raised my with two mottos. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" and "If your outgo exceeds your income then your upkeep becomes your downfall." When I grew up, I was suprised to find that my parents had beaucoup bucks. I thought we were poor. lol!

eta: my Mom is 79 and still can not spend an extra nickel. Old habits die hard. We keep telling her that THIS is the time she saved for, her old age and her comfort. My sister says she scrapes mold off the bread and eats other old food instead of throwing it out. So, my sister and her husband have been taking her dinner every other night and cleaning out the frig behind my mother's back. Sad that she can't let go and spend her money. A lesson for all you penny pinchers.

At least you are going to get a nice inheritance at some point (not for many many long and healthy years obviously)

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I don't have much of my own to add to this very interesting thread, but have an example from an experience of mine.

When living in the northeast I used to love going to country auctions. It was great fun to bid on a "box of who know's what" and get it for .50 or at least something below $5.

Once, I found a small saucepot that had a screw and nut through it (in the "pot" part).

I showed it to my grandfather, and asked him what that was all about. He told me it was a repair! Someone had made a hole in the pot somehow (it was one of those old, thin aluminium ones) and fixed it by putting a small screw through the hole and using a nut to secure it.

I thought that was wicked frugal!

 

[unbroken chain]

A lot of those older folks went through some hard times, too, so they don't have the "throw-away" mindset later generations do.

I agree, we have a throw-away mentality that previous generations just would not have dreamed of. In the 50's, everyone mended their clothes. And in earlier generations, you put your rags out for the rag man. He picked them up and, I guess, sold the cotton content for paper. Now what are you supposed to do with worn out garments? Goodwill doesn't want them. No one collects cotton rags anymore. So you keep them until the clutter in your house threatens to overtake you, or you toss them and think what a waste it is.

I told my daughter I was taking my shoes to the shoe repair shop to get the heel taps replaced and she couldn't believe it. Do people really throw their shoes away when the heel taps are worn down? I guess some do.

 

[kellia]

I'm pretty frugal, but nothing too extreme. I did use cloth diapers for my twins, lots of people thought I was crazy, but wasn't that bad. I remember one forum I went to about cloth diapering, though, and there were people who used cloth scraps for toilet paper and then washed and reused them!! I will "splurge" on TP anyday over that!

 

[mickeyfan2]

It's worse than that, Venison is a luxury to them.

I grew up on a farm and wouldn't even eat the eggs from our chickens, but I would eat them from the store

Now I know how to solve our ground hog problem.

I would give up meat before eating them.

Since I live in the country I combine trips. I pack a cooler and ice so I can hit the grocery store for their sales and keep the needed stuff cold.