Is there a such thing as being too thrifty? What would someone have to do to be go over the edge.
Yes, you can be "too thrifty": You're too thrifty if you lose the concept of VALUE and focus only on the cost of an item. For example, if you buy food or clothing that you really DON'T LIKE just because it's cheap, that's false economy. If the food sits there are goes bad because no one will eat it, or if the clothes just sit in the closet, it wasn't a good value no matter what the cost.
You're too thrifty if your
time and
money are out of balance. For example, I could save money by hanging out my wash, sewing kids' clothes, and baking homemade bread, BUT I'd save very little by doing these things, and I'd use up large amounts of time. By using that time to work at my job, I'm bringing home a good paycheck and building up a pension -- for my circumstances, that's time better spent. If I enjoyed sewing, making kids' clothes might have value beyond finances, but I despise it. For the same reason, I don't garden -- I'm not good at it, and I get little return on my time investment. On the other hand, buying books off ebay takes only a few minutes (LESS than driving to the mall) and saves at least 50% the cost of the book -- that's worth my time.
Finally, there's the "how long to recoup the initial cost?" touchpoint. Sometimes we're offered a new product that can save us money . . . BUT we have to consider how long it'll take to START saving money. For example, my husband drives as SUV, so he's pouring money into the gas tank like crazy. We could buy a new car that'd get better mileage, BUT we don't really NEED a new car now, and we'd get nothing for the SUV (which has almost 100,000 miles). We're better off to stick with the higher mileage vehicle (and use my Honda for most of our family trips) until his car MUST be replaced. Likewise, our BJ's membership just expired, and it's $45 to "join" again; I don't want to do so because although the prices are good, it'll take a long time for us to "save" $45 in groceries/gas there, so it doesn't seem all that worthwhile to me.
Save yourself the potential Podiatry bills later and don't hand down those shoes, just like you want proper support for your feet, your kids growing feet need proper support too. Each of us walks differently and shoes "break into" the form of the foot that wears them, when younger sibling wears used shoes the support may not be correct for their growing bones.
This rumor actually came from advertisers, not doctors. St. Stride Rite was thinking of profit, not healthy bones when he promoted this idea, but, boy, did it stick with people!
Of course none of us are going to buy used shoes that're really, really worn, but MOST of the shoes we see at yard sales and consignment stores look like they've been worn just a couple times -- especially kids' dressy shoes. People don't put out half-worn shoes; they know they won't sell. I've bought shoes that felt good in the store, but after wearing them once or twice, they just weren't "right". And I've "missed the season" with little girls' sandles (either by buying a size too big or a size too small), and then by the time the kids grew into them, the season was gone! Even if the shoes have been worn a little, normal, healthy feet are going to continue to wear them into "their own shape".
The used shoe thing is more of a squeamish thing than a factual problem.
. . . sanitary napkins . . . Man, the things only cost about $3 a bag, I can surely spare that on myself once a month.
Wow. I live in the land of cheap prices, and I can't find them for $3/bag -- unless you're talking about a small package of off-brand stuff. I bought a Keeper almost a decade ago (it was just under $30 then), and it's saved me TONS of money. Now I'm buying pads again for my daughters; they don't want to use tampons yet, so I'm not even talking to them about the Keeper.
Cheapest thing I've ever done was continue to wear a pair of shoes to work knowing the bottom half was coming off.
Reminds me: I used to have a pair of black loafers that were soooo comfortable, but the heel became rather worn -- and the inside of the heel wasn't black. Every couple wears I'd take a black Sharpie marker and "black out" the worn spot on the heel! I wore those things probably another two years.
I don't use them (yet) but cloth pads are said to help with cramps (from the chemicals and other materials in disposable pads), and are environmentally friendly because they're reusable
I don't think chemicals in disposable pads could actually be responsible for cramps -- how could they get inside the body? -- and if they were responsible, how come more people don't have cramps? and how come people who use tampons don't have worse cramps?
RE: washing and re-using ziploc bags. I do it for ecological reasons - I hate the thought of these things clogging up a landfill
I wanted to re-use ziplocks for exactly the reasons you listed, BUT I also despise washing them out and having them sitting around drying. My solution: I quit buying them altogether -- it's all Rubbermaid stuff in my house. I bought lunchboxes from LaptopLunches.com (wonderful things!). Think about it: When I was a kid, we didn't have any ziplocks, and we managed to keep our food sanitary. Like cell phones, ziplocks have become an "aquired need" in our society.
I also don't put money in Salvation Army kettles, or any other on the street collections . . . I'd rather put my money where I know it will be used effectively, and I refuse to support organizations that I don't know.
I'm so glad to see someone else who feels the same way! We tithe every week at church, and we know that our money's going out to various places in our community that need it. When the cashier at the grocery store asks me to donate money for this or that cause, I don't really know whether the money will actually get to the organization or not, nor (in some cases) do I know whether the organization is legitimate (some of them are just false fronts, others keep too large a percentage for overhead). I trust that my pastoral staff's donating money well on my behalf, and I feel much better about donating in that way.
Me, I won't skimp on cheese . . . No-name cheese tastes terrible
It's not the no-name that's a problem -- it's the fake cheese stuff. KRAFT singles aren't even cheese! Look at the package; the word cheese doesn't appear on it! They're "singles" or "cheese food", and they're mostly VEGETABLE OIL (as in high calorie and no nutrition). Try the store-brand REAL CHEESE or the Kraft Deluxe -- they're real cheese. It's never wrapped individually, and the slices are thicker than the fake cheese.
My grandmother did the same thing. I hated going anywhere near the bathroom, the thought just grossed me out.
