What's cheaper than cheap???

[missypie]

DH's family is so cheap. In college we used to just howl over his stories of how "resourceful" they were...little did I know that I'd end up related to those people!!!

His dad complained about the kids using too much TP so he installed one of those holders that gives you a single sheet at a time (I forget the limit.) I went to DH's house one time in college and took a picture of it for all of our friends to see. Now they don't have one at their regular house, but there it is at the lake house.

At both houses they have little signs saying that you're supposed to take a "Navy" type shower...you turn on the water, turn it off, lather up, then turn it on again. No WAY!!!

Of course, DH has inherited lots of their traits. We have a huge zip lock bag a ketchup from fast food places. If I didn't buy ketchup, it would be the only ketchup we had.

DH is perpetually washing out zip lock bags. I try to hide the ones that have had raw meat in them in the trash, so we all don't get some horrible illness.

DH's twin brother and his wife are the cheapest of them all. The brother stops and opens his door at toll booths to look for dropped money. Their gifts are legendary. One time when DS was about 10 their birthday gift to him was this men's size extra large M&M t-shirt, in the M&M advertisement bag, that they'd gotten free in Vegas. On the rare occasion when we're at their house for a meal (we live hundreds of miles away), afterwards, BIL will tell DH how much our share of the meal cost was. (This guy has TONS of money [because he never spends a dime]).

I could go on and on.........

 

[Shugardrawers]

This is all reminds me of the family on Wife Swap last night. They were so cheap they made their children pay for a portion of a family vacation out of their allowances, and the kids were quite young, I believe the oldest was between 10 and 13.

 

[Lyn5]

When I was a child I would spend Saturdays with my Dad at work. He had one of those electronic calculators that would print onto a skinny roll of paper that he used a lot. When he was done using the roll he would rewind the roll so that he could use the back of the paper to do more calculations....some days I would do it for him. At his bathroom at work he had two trash containers. One for yucky trash and one bucket that was only for the paper towels that people used to dry their clean hands. He would reuse those paper towels for odd, dirty jobs like wiping down a washed car or stuff like that...We always reused sawdust shavings for lining pet cages and I remember pulling the nails out of lumber so that they could be reused.

Actually, I wish I was more like him...I have been reading this thread and I think I am more wasteful than I should be and I know my kids are too.
I sometimes reuse containers, but never reuse plastic baggies. I do save the plastic grocery bags and nice paper packages....Of course, TP, flushing and floss reuse and limitations are beyond gross for me

 

[Mari annie]

My in laws beat all of you!
We never bother with them.

Saving this or that=and they could outbuy anyone!
HORRIBLE.
They make me skeeve

I remember one of the worst one:
giving my kids cheap checks for bday's/christmas and putting large XXXXXX
and lines-------------------------------------through EVERY space on the check, a couple times the teller told me I am only cashing it because I know you, this is horrible, looks like a child did this (then the monster in law replies
We have to be very careful these days, even the people at the banks can add more $$ and try to cash the check DUH WHAT?
She was afraid we'd add more money, bank/what duh?!
They have false teeth and use a sample tube (it's like 2 years old) of toothpaste, they don't buy denture tabs.
AND THE BEST ONE
They live in FL and have a trailor in a trailor park (snow birds) DODO BIRDS is more their real name, a couple locks broke off their bedroom windows, what do they cost? under a buck? My monster in law dad said "I have some at home, Ill bring them down next year", YES! That was the year in FL that catburglers were crawling in the windows in that part of FL!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK

2 weeks for 2 weeks to see the MICK!!!

 

[msdznyduck]

My grandmother was also very 'frugal', to the point of being ridiculous sometimes. I remember as a child getting a present from her and opening the wrapping paper, (which was folded and reused........nothing wrong with that, I do that also, especially really pretty paper and bows.) but hers was really old and wrinkled and needed to be just thrown out. Inside one present was a Phila cream cheese box......she put the gift in that and wrapped it. I don't even remember what was in the box, just seeing the box was weird.

But the worst..........when my oldest DS was a baby (he is 33 now), she watched him on the weekends when I worked. I would come to pick him up, and she had the Pampers on the clothes line drying.....she just refused to believe they were disposable.

And jars.....she had every size of glass jar, never threw them away, since she 'might need it'. And she also saved every styrofoam meat tray. What for ???

 

[aprilgail2]

I remember as a child getting a present from her and opening the wrapping paper, (which was folded and reused........nothing wrong with that, I do that also, especially really pretty paper and bows.) but hers was really old and wrinkled and needed to be just thrown out. ???

I have that one beat...my aunt used to use the sunday comics to wrap Christmas gifts..we still make fun of her 25 years later LOL!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Do you do something special with them or just wrap the dirty diaper up in newspaper and throw it out?

She said she uses the newspaper bag, not the actual newspapers!

 

[TinkerBess_SnowTori]

I have that one beat...my aunt used to use the sunday comics to wrap Christmas gifts..we still make fun of her 25 years later LOL!!

I do that - with my DD b-day presents -- it is just the four of us at family parties -- so I wrap them in the comics -- with a red or blue bow and ribbon -- I think it looks kinda cute

Guess I am a frugal freak

BTW -- Mari Annie -- what is Skeeve?
(be paitent with me - I just learned snarky the other day)

 

[AnaheimGirl]

My uncle once rationed the toilet paper to us. He made a chart up and under each name would place squares of toilet paper. The girls got 3 squares for #1 and 4 for #2 and we got 10 squares total for the day based on 2 pee pee trips and 1 poo poo trip.

Oh, I would be in big trouble in that house! I need to pee wwaaaaaaayyy more often than that!

While a lot of what's being talked about here is pretty gross, there are other things that I find perfectly acceptable and I agree with the person who said that our society is getting too wasteful.

I also keep leftover fastfood paper napkins and put them in the paper napkin holder on our kitchen table, along with the ones I buy. Why toss them when they're perfectly usable? If we grab a bite to eat in the car, I put the extras in the glove compartment for whatever spills or situation comes up that I may need a napkin in the car for.

I'll re-use zipper bags on occasion. If dd had pretzels in one in her lunchbox one day and I know that's all that was in it, I'll put more pretzels in the same one for the next day. (I don't do it with the one her pb&j was in, though.) Ditto for bags that have held grapes in the fridge. I just put the next clean bunch in the bag that was just finished off.

I've got several Cool-whip, etc plastic containers that I'll use to store leftovers or send them home with others, but since I have a pretty good stock, I don't keep saving them anymore -- maybe I will again when enough of these disappear.

I save both paper and plastic grocery bags and nicer shopping bags to use to carry things in later. Although again, I've got a good size stock of plastic bags right now, so I'm tossing them in the trash until I run low again.

Oh, and I have 4 airplane barf bags that I took with me to keep in the car for carsickness.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

BTW -- Mari Annie -- what is Skeeve?
(be paitent with me - I just learned snarky the other day)

Skeeved out means to be grossed out.

Which snarky definition did you learn? Hopefully not the ones from Urbandictionary.com

 

[LoveWDW]

My parents and grandparents learned to be frugal during the Depression. My family was poor when I grew up- we didn't lack for any necessities, but we didn't have extra money. Combine this past with caring about Mother Earth upon which we all depend, and I am very careful. I wash foil if it isn't very dirty and use it again- the object is to recycle as much as possible to avoid filling our landfills any more than necessary. The same goes with plastic bags, and plastic containers. I don't put compostable food in the trash but into compost instead. I recycle glass, plastic containers and paper. I take short showers and try to not leave lights on when no one is in the room. Newspaper tube bags I save and use for my granddaughter's diapers. I used and washed cloth diapers for our babies because I didn't like the idea of filling landfills, also they were cheaper than buying disposable. These days I am pretty sure I'd buy disposable. I use the plastic grocery bags to line trash cans and to carry things.

 

[TENIA66]

My parents raised us pretty frugally too. Hen we got toilet papered around halloween, my friends and my bros friends would pull this on us all the time, dad would rewind and collect the unwound rolls for use. My mom re used ziplocks, although i'm sure they weren't brand. I just recently, after 39 years got over the ziplock thing. I forced myself to throw one away. i went back to the trash can a couple of times to collect it but i controlled myself.

also, i do still use plastic store bags as small trash can liners.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I save and reuse a lot of things, but more from a sense of trying to be environmentally friendly than being cheap. I found a special plastic bag drying rack online and I do wash and reuse any plastic bag that hasn't had raw meat or anything "growing" in it. Ditto on plastic tubs and containers, twist-ties, and paper bags. We've got a good recycling program here, but I still cringe when I think about how much DH & I throw away each year and what that does to the environment. I've learned how to iron gift wrap, ribbons and tissue paper to make it look new, and so I re-use gift wrap, bows and ribbons that don't have tears or major wrinkles in them, and I try to use gift bags instead of wrap since they are more easily re-used.

My SIL's family has a tradition of seeing how many uses they can get out of each scrap of wrapping paper. Gifts in their family often look like they were wrapped in a patchwork quilt, and they can tell you exactly what has been wrapped in each kind of wrapping paper over the years. I thought it was crazy until I witnessed it in person one year - it's really pretty cool, and it does save on both cost and environmental impact.

Now as for TP rationing, DH is threatening to start this in our house! He says the biggest surprise for him in getting married is how much TP girls use!

 

[JVL1018]

Do you do something special with them or just wrap the dirty diaper up in newspaper and throw it out?

No, the newspaper BAGS, not the newspaper. LOL
Just tied it up and threw it away, no smell.

 

[HonestAbe]

Okay...I just found out that DH's grandma rinses and re-uses her dental floss.

I knew they were cheap, (they keep the TV unplugged because keeping it warm uses electricity) but that takes the cake to me.

My husband said he was only allowed 4 squares of TP for a "big" job at their house.

Know anyone cheap??

Oh yeah?? Well, my grandma would rinse her used TP in the toilet bowl then hang it out to dry on the clothesline. Then reuse it at least 2 more times.

She uses a 6 inch length of dental floss year round. At Christmas, she trades it in for a new length. She's had the same box of floss for 23 years.

OK - I am kidding. I thought I was cheap until I read some of this stuff. Some of you people have friends and family in need of SERIOUS help.

 

[princess pooh]

DH teases me because I reuse the aluminum containers that takeout food comes in. I'll toss it out if it's flimsy but some of them are really good quality.

We keep plastic bags and use them as garbage bags. We live in an apartment building and real garbage bags don't fit down the chute.

I also reuse gift bags if they're in good shape.

 

[Shugardrawers]

No wonder they don't stink!!
As for the funnies for wrapping paper, here's a great tip to save some money, you can use either a plain paper lunch sack or a solid color gift bag and use the funnies at the tissue paper inside. It's really cute actually! I got a ton of gifts as a kid wrapped in the funnies. For men, you can even use the sports page.

No, the newspaper BAGS, not the newspaper. LOL
Just tied it up and threw it away, no smell.

 

[Aidensmom]

I'm cheap and proud of it! And apparantly I am gross too, as posted on this thread.

Yes, I do not let my family flush every time. If it's just #1, you have to wait until the toilet has been used several times before flushing. Yes, I learned this from my depression-era grandparents.

I also reuse ziploc bags, use the plastic grocery bags for other ocassions, and save plastic containers from the deli or from things like cool whip. We also buy a lot of household items at garage sales, and clothes from thrift shops. Lights must be turned off when not in use. A/C and heat cannot be set above/below certain temps. We eat a lot of store brand foods. I clip coupons. I save the napkins and ketchup packets from fast food to-go orders..............I could go on and on.......

I have taught my 4 year old this stuff so well, when he woke up dry in the morning one day this week, he asked if we should save the pull-up for the next night!

 

[FroggyinArk]

i still think i should just stay away,,lol,, i fit several of these posts..lol... i will admit to using salvage lumber to build furniture and cabinetry though,,, ( stay out of my kitchen if ya dont like "creative recycling")

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I have taught my 4 year old this stuff so well, when he woke up dry in the morning one day this week, he asked if we should save the pull-up for the next night!

We reuse the dry Pull-ups, as long as there aren't "tracks" in it and it's not worn out! For my son it's more "insurance" since he's usually dry, but will sometimes wet the bed. I hate washing sheets.