How far am I willing to go to save money?
I was reading a post at Money, Matter, and More Musings referencing this hilarious post at Wise Bread about “Frugal Things My Mom Does” that talks about refilling personal ketchup bottles with the free little packets given out at fast food places. Golbguru’s post was asking if this was really frugality or just not quite right, a very good question I am interested in, but it also led me to ponder - how far am I personally really willing to go to save money?
I can say one thing, I don’t collect ketchup packets from fast food places to fill my home ketchup bottle. We don’t generally go out to eat anyhow so I don’t get the opportunity even if I wanted to. But I will admit that when we happen to have fast food (like when my parents were visiting in July) I do save the leftover packets. Especially fire sauce from Taco Bell. I put them in the fridge and use them randomly instead of the bottles. I don’t ask for extras for this purpose though - I just don’t throw unused ones away. That’s frugal, right? Not wasting resources you already have and all that. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Yes I voluntarily eat at Taco Bell. I love 7 layer burritos.
What else will I do to save money? Probably a lot of things that don’t jump to mind but here is what does. I take my kids for walks around the neighborhood instead of driving to the park. I reuse towels multiple times. I wash all my clothes in cold water. I rinse out ziplock baggies and reuse them. I’ve been known to pick up the spilled duck food at the zoo for my son to throw in the pond. I shop at Aldi and Walmart, the two cheapest stores maybe on the planet, and I reuse the bags I get at Walmart at Aldi (where you have to buy bags if you don’t bring your own). I reuse them til they fall apart then I stick them in the recycling box at Walmart. In fact, most of our trash bags are recycled grocery bags.
And I save ketchup packets from fast food places. What do you do that someone else might see as going too far to save money?
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August 27th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I recently posted about how I work on my own car (if it is something minor) to save money. However, this plan backfired while changing a battery and I have a new problem that I don’t know how to solve. I never thought it was odd that I change my own oil (in nice weather) or wash my car myself…but a few of my readers think I’m a freak.
I also don’t have internet access at my apartment. I don’t have a landline, so the only option right now is cable internet and Comcast has a monopoly in my area.
My siblings also find my coupon cutting ridiculous and over the top…but do they know the rush of getting free toilet paper? or hot dogs on double coupon day?
August 27th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I wish I had the guts to try car repair. cars freak me out. I have changed the oil in a car once, but that was my GEO Tracker (a long time ago) and it was much higher off the ground than my current sedan.
I hope your car is easy to fix and cheap!
August 27th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Saving the leftover packets isn’t just frugal, it’s also good for the environment. It’s a shame to think about how many mustard/ketchup/mayonnaise servings get tossed every day. I save them not because I’m trying to save money but because there is no reason whatsoever to throw them away in the first place. I’m not perfect - the Chinese takeout always has duck sauce and I just hate duck sauce so I toss it - but I try not to be wasteful.
My client’s cafeteria charges $0.05 for a styrofoam cup for water or soda water or soda so I bring a cup to the cafeteria for soda water. I get a surprising number of weird looks every day for trying to save a nickel…
August 27th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
I wish you could teleport me your duck sauce. Mmmm…. duck sauce.
Which when I was a kid I thought was made of ducks so I wouldn’t eat it.
I would bring a cup too. Unless I forgot. Then I would pout.