Most outlandish frugal thing you did

[Fern]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

Couldn't think of anything truly outlandish off top of my head, but it can be fun to take a visit to our local gourmet type supermarket just to take advantage of all the free food samples! Takes the edge off if you're shopping and getting hungry.

[Bluezy]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

I proudly pick up all change I find on the ground (including the dollar bills floating about in the parking lots), place them in CJ's yellow piggy, then cash in the change when it reaches $20. The money is replaced promptly into CJ's yellow piggy. I also add coin change from all purchases.

I am pleased to report that at the ripe old age of 18 months, CJ is managing $500 in savings using this method. (This amount includes the treasured $50 bill found in the hospital hallway right after his birth)

[Max'sMommy]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

WOW- great for CJ!

[akaivyleaf]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

The best place to pick up change, is at the drive through window. Never know how much change never makes it from the cashier's hand to the owner and falls to the ground. I shamelessly park far enough away to open my door and gather other folks change when I go through.

Of course its not frugal to go to fast food, but its my weakness. This is a consolation prize.

I suppose its very frugal to not like light. I very rarely turn on lights at night. I walk through my home in complete darkness and I can read from computer monitor or tv light. Probably not very good, but I've never liked artificial light like lamps and overhead lights. Even from a very small child. So while its not done intentionally for frugal means, It does save.

[niki_the_tiger]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

Yucky to the reusable toilet paper.

But if it works for you, great! LOL

[ken1706]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

This thread reminds me of a Bankrate article where they listed 20 extreme frugal ideas. My favorites were:

Use the squeegee at the gas station to wash your car

and

Unplug clocks in your house while sleeping

[pennywise]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

where is the article, can you link us. Sounds like I would like to read it. The unplug clocks while you sleep makes me laugh, this fall "everyone hates Chris" where the dad goes around the house with costs of everything (we really should watch this) and he wakes the kid up to tell him to unplug the clock because he can't tell time while he sleeps and it is 2 cents per minute.

[Fern]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

Yeah, i think we all should watch at least one episode of Everyone
Hates Chris and share what we think about it here, since it featurs such a
frugal father. Do you know the details of when it starts, what time
and network?

[ken1706]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

where is the article, can you link us. Sounds like I would like to read it. The unplug clocks while you sleep makes me laugh, this fall "everyone hates Chris" where the dad goes around the house with costs of everything (we really should watch this) and he wakes the kid up to tell him to unplug the clock because he can't tell time while he sleeps and it is 2 cents per minute.

Here's the link to that Bankrate article:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cheap/20031024a1.asp

Another good one was:

Instead of buying toilet paper, I use yesterday's newspaper.

It's kind of inline with the start of the thread

[cercis]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

I think I'll stick with my toilet paper. I have "issues" since giving birth, so I need the softer stuff.

My mom grew up using an outhouse and the montgomery ward catalog (this is before the pages were shiny). She uses the softest tp she can find and says she will never go back to that.

Craziest frugal thing I've done, emptying the free salt packets into my salt shaker. I also save and wash the plasticware you sometimes get when eating out. I use those to send in lunches with the kids or to take lunch myself.

[pennywise]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

make sure you wash the plastic well. One thing folks don't know is plastic is permeable (means things absorb into it). Just be careful.

[cercis]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

I mean the plastic spoons and forks, not the containers.

I stick them in the dishwasher.

[shengmei]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

The most frugal thing I did was to take all the glass covers off the light bulbs. I then only use one lightbulb per room. I also replace the lightbulbs with energy saver lightbulbs.

After I did that, I only used half as much lighting as I used to. Most of the lighting I used before were blocked by the covers of the light bulbs. They wasted lots of energy and created lots of heat.

I noticed a $30 per month saving right away.

[marglo]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

I wash the plastic storage, freezer, sandwich bags and sealer bags and reuse them unless they have had meat/fish or something rotten in them.

If I use foil on top of something, I keep it and wrap the leftovers up in it. This is usually meat like a roast. Or if I use foil for something and it doesn't get dirty at all I keep it and try and use it for something else.

I rarely use paper towels. I keep a dishcloth beside the sink and use it to wipe the counter, wipe out the sink etc.

[ScottO]

Re: Most outlandish frugal thing you did

i cut my toothpaste tube in half . there is always another weeks worth of toothpaste.. my dh laughs at me because i probably have a hundred tubes of toothpaste fre from the dollar store.lol

Toothpaste is one of the items you do not want to stock up on because floride has a very short shelf life. Much of the floride is already gone from toothpaste if it sits on the store shelf for very long.