Do you have a limit when it comes to frugality? Is there a line that you won't cross?

I once lived with a girl whose mom washed and reused ziploc bags and tin foil. She felt that one of the best things about moving out on her own was not having to wash out the ziploc bags anymore.

I feel that some of the stuff we do is well worth the effort. The amount of money we've saved having three kids in cloth diapers instead of disposables is well worth the minimal effort. Sometimes I wonder though if other things are worth my time.

I will wash ziploc bags but I will not reuse them for food, I reuse the large sizes ones trash bags for the car.

oh and I won't use family cloth in place of tp

When I was in middle school, I had a friend whose mother made her take a bath in the same water her brother had just taken a bath in. That's where I draw the line.

I totally wash Ziplocs! :lol I have little clothesline in the pantry that I hang them on (inside out, of course).

I won't buy b*llsh*t food just because it's cheaper. I could probably buy ninety nine cent white bread and break even vs. baking our own yummy bread, but no thanks.

My limit is the environment. I don't care how cheap it is, if it isn't eco friendly I will find another solution. I can't afford many of the fancy schmancy organic cleaning products so I try to make my own. I do also reuse tin foil and plastic bags, my parents did it like the gals you were talking about. I don't think it's too odd actually.

I'll re-use ziplocs of they had dry ingredients. But otherwise nope.

I cloth diaper when DH isn't home, as I prefer it and don't mind washing. But when DH is home I use sposies as he's clothaphobic. Don't worry mamas...I'm wearing him down slowly LOLOL

I would have two kids bathing at the same time to save water and time, but not if they thought it was gross, so prob only while they are little.

My (step)mom washes the styrofoam meat trays and reuses them for cookie plates. That's a bit much for me.

I would have two kids bathing at the same time to save water and time, but not if they thought it was gross, so prob only while they are little.

I bathe my two younger kids at the same time, but they're little. If I remember correctly, my friend whose mother wouldn't let her take a bath with fresh water was 12 or 13 and her brother was out of high school. It didn't seem to bother my friend, but it really grossed me out. :o


My (step)mom washes the styrofoam meat trays and reuses them for cookie plates. That's a bit much for me.

I will reuse Ziplocks, but definitely not meat trays.

I won't give up my paper towels for soaking grease out of hamburger meat.

I like my dimmer switches so I don't use florescent bulbs in some fixtures. I suppose I might be convinced to give it up one day. Or when LED lights get cheaper. So I guess that's not a total limit.

I would wash ziploc bags that's been used to hold fruits and veggies. The ones used for meat and other greasy food go into the trash. I just can't reuse bags that held raw meat.

I reuse tin foil and sometimes plastic wraps. I always tear off a whole piece, though. My grandma would cut off a piece of plastic wrap about 4 square inches just enough to cover the tiny bit of leftovers. I don't think I'll ever do that.

I must have a line, but everything above I would consider doing or always do anyway. :lol So I guess No, I don't have a limit.

Wait, I just thought of one. i buy crap food if it's for a potluck or something like that. No WAY am I springing for organic, etc for people who don't care anyway. I feel bad about it. But not that bad. :D

I must have a line, but everything above I would consider doing or always do anyway. :lol So I guess No, I don't have a limit.

Wait, I just thought of one. i buy crap food if it's for a potluck or something like that. No WAY am I springing for organic, etc for people who don't care anyway. I feel bad about it. But not that bad. :D

OMG I do too!!

If it's my local homeschool group I make something crunchy, but if it's just any ol' potluck then Cheesy Mac here I come! LOLOL

I have a house full of animals (3 dogs and 5 cats :uhoh ). I refuse to give up my paper towels when dealing with animal messes.

Other than that, though, I'm pretty open to anything that saves me money!

I have a house full of animals (3 dogs and 5 cats :uhoh ). I refuse to give up my paper towels when dealing with animal messes.

Same here. I have one cat who is a puker, and my little dog is a piddler. I do use cloth rags to soak up pee puddles (he's a old Chi, so they're small puddles and sprinkles), but cat barf is just disgusting.

I rarely use Ziplocs for anything BUT meat, so they usually get thrown out. If they have been holding breads or veggies or something, I'll wash and reuse.

I'll reuse ziploc bags but nothing with meat, mostly dry stuff or fruits and veggies

For me, no cloth TP and no dumpster diving. And I will only go so far to lower my grocery budget. That's all I can think of that would be over the line for me personally.

I had a friend who had to board with a family while she was in high school. They had a lot of kids and not very much money, and the mom told her when she moved in that if she tore off too much toilet paper and didn't actually use it all, she could just stack the leftover squares on the back of the toilet for the next person.

That's where I draw the line.

I won't eat junk for the sake of frugality. Like those cup of noodle soups - when I was scraping by, barely, they were always so tempting. Where I was, they constantly had deals on them. Sometimes they had them for 25 cents each.

However, I could never bring myself to eat the Ramen noodles or the 60 cent boxes of mac and cheese. I figured if I continued in that direction, I'd be paying for it with my health in the longrun.

oh and I won't use family cloth in place of tp

I thought I felt the same way, but we ran out of TP one month after the $$ in that part of the budget ran out (we are hard core budgeting- Dave Ramsey Style)... I reluctantly pulled out the baby wipes and we have shockingly never looked back!! I can honestly say I love cloth!! It feels SO great and I really love wet wipes for #2! Sorry TMI!!:o

My line could change depending on the cirucumstance; however, I would say that in general, wearing clothing that fits me is very important to me. If I can only afford second-hand or Wal Mart, so be it, but I will not be one of those women you see in the grocery store with the scraggly hair and gigantic wool sweater.

oh and I won't use family cloth in place of tp

Yeah, I really don't think it is worth the 6-7 bucks every 3 weeks (for my family). We rarely buy other paper products though. I can't think of the last time a roll of paper towels was in the house.

Nothing mentioned here freaks me out too much to do it. I am sure I have a line somewhere, though.

I sometimes throw away ziplocks or other potentially reusable plastic or styrofoam things. And feel guilty when I do, of course, but I do it anyway sometimes. I sometimes buy things at the deli in plastic containers that I have no other use for than to throw them away (we have plenty of reusables).

I still buy some things that I think of as convenience foods, because my family really enjoys them, even though money is tight. But I suspect that my idea of "convenience" might differ from some. For us it means hot dogs, pepperoni, chips/crackers, frozen burritoes for DH. Easy food. And condiments/salad dressing. I don't make my own and I bet if I tried it would not fly with my family.

We toss half-used construction paper into the recycling. I don't feel like going to the effort of saving the scraps for reuse. Even if it is expensive and wasteful.

I still use my electric dryer. We still take hot baths in the winter. I'm not willing to give up those things at this time. But I wouldn't be too freaked out if we had to.

We still eat meat half or most nights. I can't see my family happily/healthily going veg.

I value quality as much as, or more than, price. I won't buy something inexpensive if it's too cheaply made. Including food.

We do sometimes leave lights on in rooms that we are not using. Otherwise our house becomes a dark labyrinth after the sun goes down.

We have some things in our house that drain power with their little glowy and blinky lights - computer router is one of them, portable phones also - and even though we could turn them off at the power strip every night, we don't.

I don't know...those the lines I personally draw, I guess.

I won't use cfls in the kids' main play areas, I'm afraid that they'll break one.
I don't buy underwear or socks at the thrift store.

Oh, that's a good one. I always buy underwear and socks new.

I have a few things (food) that I'm brand-specific on. I'd go without before I switched brands. Only a few things, though.

Lots of the other stuff, I'm open on, though. I've never used family cloth, but I'd be willing to.

None of this seems too extreme. :bag: We don't do everything frugal all the time...our budget allows for some pleasant extras, but I do a lot of little money saving things just to keep my head focused on the pennies. If I watch my pennies, I am more mindful of bigger spending.

Things we could give up but haven't:

We have two cars. We have lived with one car before, but have really been enjoying the freedom of two.

We could turn our heat down more.

We could hang more of our clothes to dry. I do some, but not all.

We could cut back on variety in the garden and just grow the simple basics.

We could eliminate our monthly date night.

We could cancel the kids' activities -- piano, dance, various sports.

We are lucky that we still have room in the budget for some fun stuff, but we could trim some fat if we needed to.

Oh, and if things were really bad, I could give up coffee...but things would have to be really, really bad. So, I guess that is my limit. I won't give up coffee! :coffee

I won't buy used shoes unless they are in pefect condition. Underwear is always new but I have bought the girls socks from garage sales, I carefully unfolded each pair to see if they were stained (they were not.) I can't see my family using cloth tp, but we almost never buy paper towels. I've done cloth diapers but something about washing adult waste just icks me out.

Oh, and if things were really bad, I could give up coffee...but things would have to be really, really bad. So, I guess that is my limit. I won't give up coffee! :coffee

THERE'S my limit! :lol


Seriously, I use cloth napkins and such to wipe up the kitchen, but I can't give up paper towel for grease messes and such.

I don't recycle the art paper the kids use. When they glue beans and glitter all over it and it can't go in the recycle bin...I toss it. The sanity that the creation of art provides in my house (kids can't go outside when it's 2 degrees below) is worth a lot to me.

My dh takes the kids out to breakfast every Saturday morning. That would probably shock most of the hard-core frugalers around here - when I look at the money, I cringe - but having been at home for 3.5 years with only a very part-time job, I love love love love love the two hours alone each week. Plus, the kids have great "restaurant manners" since they have such frequent practice. I don't mind taking them out because I know they can sit still for an hour or two without going completely crazy. Worth the $$ to me.

I'm sure there's a line somewhere, but I haven't seen it yet! So far nothing that's been mentioned is beyond my line. :innocent

We have some things in our house that drain power with their little glowy and blinky lights - computer router is one of them, portable phones also - and even though we could turn them off at the power strip every night, we don't.

Yeah....I've made an effort to unplug things like the coffee maker and the XBOX when we're finished with it, but the computer power strip didn't work out. We're not all asleep at the same time, so if I turn off our main computer power, then others who are awake can't get online.

I grew up w/my parents washing out and reusing all plastic bags (bread,ziploc,bagel) and plastic containers (yogurt,togo boxes-not styrofoam,butter) and I do some of that ziploc bags (none taht have held meat products), plastic containers, and some tin foil- but only if not to wrinkled (will rinse and recycle tin foil if too used).

we are using cloth diapers for lo due april for me its for cost and the enviroment for dh its for cost only- but he's willing!

We use paper towels and paper plates for dinner- but w/5 kids + 2 adults it saves us alot of stress water and time to be w/the kids.We buy recycled products for these.

We buy store brand food and bulk- large family best way yo save money.We are thinking of installing locks on cabnents and frig to keep roving ds14 out of food after we go to bed.Hes been known to eat the next days meal! lol Tried to leave ok items out or tell him what not to eat but at 14 in one ear out the other!

We also only have one car.Were thinking of another but need to move and our rent will go up so rethinking this- we've made due so far can keep doing it for awhile.But will buy one that saves on gas- right now we only get about 20 mpg would like to get closer to 30.

PSA

Ok, DH, who is Mr. Food Safety (professional, teaches the ServSafe Certification classes) wants me to let everyone know to NEVER EVER wash and reuse a bag that held meat, cooked or raw.

Depending on the meat, it has to be cooked to a certain internal temp. Typically, if it is conventional meat, this is even more crucial than it is with organics. So, even if it isn't "raw" meat, it may still be raw enough to harbor nasties, even within a sealed, refrigerated container.

No, we never put meat leftovers in anything but glass or metal or Ziplocs here, and yes, we throw the Ziplocs out afterward. (Not a lot of meat here, DD and I are veg.) Metal and glass harbor far less bacteria than plastic, and are easier to santize, just wash in a dishwasher or pour boiling water on them.

If you have Gladware that sees meat and you aren't willing to give that up, machine wash it if at all possible, and then soak/spray with a very mild bleach solution.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread. :thumb

Reusing bath water is gross. And I can't seem to make cloth napkins works. I'm terrible at doing laundry and they just sit wet and moldy and I end up napkinless. Forced to use my pants and then I have dirty pants and twice as much laundry.

But I do dumpter dive. Love it, and I have an awesome spot, too. =)

I had a friend who had to board with a family while she was in high school. They had a lot of kids and not very much money, and the mom told her when she moved in that if she tore off too much toilet paper and didn't actually use it all, she could just stack the leftover squares on the back of the toilet for the next person.

That's where I draw the line.


We routinely do this because my kids love to unroll A LOT of tp at a time. What else are you going to do with it?

I draw the line at undies-good ones for everybody. Not sure why this is actually important to me, but it is.

We re-use ziploc bags and aluminum foil but if it's first been used with dry food and no meat or chicken was used.

Most of what I WON'T DO is in direct response to things I HAD TO do as a girl.

I won't reuse bathwater - all 3 of us girls had to use the same bathwater, and yes, it is gross.

I won't paint a line in the tub to show the allowed amount of water.

I won't limit the amount of toilet paper you are allowed.

I won't wait to flush the toilet.

I won't buy treats and hide them only for the adults in the house.

Otherwise, if I hear a money-saving tip I am always game to try it at least once.

I won't buy treats and hide them only for the adults in the house.

Is this a frugal thing? I thought it was just so I could actually have a bite of ice cream before it's all gone!:wink

Oh, and if things were really bad, I could give up coffee...but things would have to be really, really bad. So, I guess that is my limit. I won't give up coffee! :coffee

Oh heck no! I'm not giving up my coffee...and I refuse to drink cheap coffee either.

I sometimes wash Ziploc bags. DH makes fun of me. Although I don't do it to save $$, I do it to save the :earth: .

I refuse to give up Internet access, although that would save a lot. We don't have cable TV, satellite or even Netflix, but I must be in touch with the WWW to survive :wink .

We opted against being a 1 car family again. Both of our cars are paid for and insurance on the secondary car is nominal.

I refuse to turn the heat down past 68. I don't mind to dress like it's winter, but I'm not wearing umpteen layers to stay comfy in my home. Plus DD refuses to wear socks, so I don't want her feet to freeze.

I refuse to buy poor quality food for my human, canine or feline family members.

I wouldn't buy a used mattress either - unless it came from someone I knew personally.

If push came to shove, DH would give up coffee. But at $5/month, it's not a huge part of our budget.

Hmmmm lines... I don't have too many!
I even re-use twist ties!
I wash out milk bags to re-use for storage, same with zip-locks.

I do use paper towels...I have been using them a lot less

I just can't do the family cloth thing. Considered it, strongly considered it, but just can't.

We have pets and my quality of life wouldn't be the same without them.

I will not buy second hand underwear.

I will not live without hydro. We once had friends that actually lived without hydro on their farm. They didn't even have a fridge :) it seemed weird to me at the time but now I think it's kinda cool.

Oh, and if things were really bad, I could give up coffee...but things would have to be really, really bad. So, I guess that is my limit. I won't give up coffee! :coffee

Honestly....I don't know if I could do that! :lol I will buy generic :wink:

I wouldn't buy a used mattress either - unless it came from someone I knew personally.

Both our king sized mattresses came from a hotel that was getting remodeled. :bag:

We routinely do this because my kids love to unroll A LOT of tp at a time. What else are you going to do with it?

I draw the line at undies-good ones for everybody. Not sure why this is actually important to me, but it is.

OK, sure, when they unroll it a big wad and you're right there to ensure that none of it has actually gone in the toilet.

Would you ask that of your company, though?

I won't give up my paper towels for soaking grease out of hamburger meat.

I pour that grease off into a cup and use it to fry eggs! Saves me money on butter/oil.

I do reuse plastic bags that had veggies in them, I don't reuse foil - well, if I'm making something that day I will, but I won't save it to reuse it.

I won't buy a used mattress - it's actually illegal in this state to sell used mattresses.

I won't switch to cloth for cleaning up cat messes. But we have switched to cloth for everything else (although DH won't use the family cloth).

There's a lot of things that I can do that are eco friendly and frugal, but there are certain things I will not compromise my family's health and sanity for.

I won't drop the thermostat below 60.

I won't ask DH to give up coffee.

I won't go vegetarian.

I won't buy the Dirty Dozen conventional.

Oh heck no! I'm not giving up my coffee...and I refuse to drink cheap coffee either.



I refuse to give up Internet access, although that would save a lot. We don't have cable TV, satellite or even Netflix, but I must be in touch with the WWW to survive :wink .

I refuse to turn the heat down past 68. I don't mind to dress like it's winter, but I'm not wearing umpteen layers to stay comfy in my home. Plus DD refuses to wear socks, so I don't want her feet to freeze.



yep, to all these. I'll have to think of some more. Though, we do have netflix. That, I could get rid of.

The re-using the meat tray package thing is just wrong. Yuck!

Well I might have thought there were lines but I have crossed most of them at one time or another. :lol

When push comes to shove some things are just wrong (unhealthy or toxic) so no, but others are just all there is left when you have nothing.

I won't set my heat below 74. Because I work from home it's 74 24/7. Any lower and I'm frozen and miserable. Plus I have a two year old who likes to be naked most of the time. But my gas bill is only about $150 a month. I see people keep their heat lower with higher bills.

We have a lot of ways we could be more frugal but just choose not to be.

Right now, my biggest splurge, on both a frugality front and an environmental front, is paper plates.
I know, they are awful for the environment, and money that totally does not need to be spent, but not having to do dishes all teh time every day makes my life SOOOOO much easier.....it saves me both time, and a huge amount of annoyance, since I HATE doing dishes. It is totally worth it to me.

I thought reusing ziplock bags was normal. Most people I know who are not even superfrugal do it. There are even bag dryers for them.

I guess my frugality limit is probably long hot showers. We have a large hot water heater - a huge one. My husband loves long hot showers - sometimes 30 mintues at a time. We have a flow restrictor to make it more effecient, but there's nothing effecient about a 20-30 minute shower. But it's his splurge.
I take a normal 3-5 minute shower.

OK, sure, when they unroll it a big wad and you're right there to ensure that none of it has actually gone in the toilet.

Would you ask that of your company, though?


Well, I understood the pp to say the the person who experienced this was a boarder in the house, which I think is differently from a guest visiting for a shorter time. So, if I had a boarder I would probably find some way to talk about TP use, especially since we're on an aging septic system. It tends to be not only a frugal, but save the septic at all costs measure, here. We haven't done family cloth, so this is where I draw the line at the moment.

Now, I don't routinely talk to friends, dinner guests, etc about their TP use, so. For me, I wouldn't feel OK about that, and one overuse of TP is going to kill my system.

My aunt lives in England as she married a Brit and he grew up in the era of the war so everything is about frugality for him. First their two girls would take a bath, then their mother would get in and take a bath in the same water, and THEN her husband would get in after her and bathe in the same water! He didn't care if it was cold. He wasn't aware of the existence of deodorant as he never bought anything but basic needs. He knows about it now but sees no need for such a ridiculous item.

I try to be frugal but I am not going to wash ziploc bags. I will re-use one, if dry, to store crayons and things in, and I don't buy trash bags, I just use grocery bags. I don't cloth diaper. I am was always interested but never seemed to have the start-up cash for it. I won't turn the heat down lower than 68. 68 is pretty much our nighttime level but I turn it up during the day to 69-70. I don't buy used clothing unless it looks new. I am a little proud that way, I don't like faded clothes on my girls even though I really don't have the budget for new ones. I usually compromise by buying like news ones on Ebay.

I focus more on the BIG things and forget the little things like the ziploc bags, etc. We drive old vehicles, but I love my 95 Explorer and I do not need a newer one. My husband drives a 25 year old vehicle. Some people might draw the line at that, lol. He doesn't feel ashamed at all. It isn't a classic either, it looks like a junker sort of. I also draw the line at homemade gifts. No offense to anyone who does that, it just isn't my thing. Unless I was really talented at something and knew my gift was going to be around in someone's home for a good while. That's all I can think of right now.

I think it was already mentioned here? I won't take something overly healthy/organic to a public function, or even extended family sometimes.
It's expensive and they just don't appreciate it.
I know I should lead by example, but honestly, when the marshmallow jello salad goes over so well, then so be it.

I don't dumpster dive.

Family cloth is a non-starter in my house.

I'll wash out some zip top bags, but not others. If they've had meat in them, forget it.

I didn't use cloth diapers. In my particular situation, they didn't make economic sense.

I don't take particularly long showers, but I want to have them and I want them hot. I grew up in a huge family with a small water heater and it's one of my issues. No reused bathwater in my house. Ick.

I do clearance sales, but not thrift shops. Mostly because I just don't have the time to pick through things, and the thrift shops around here are dreadfully disorganized.

I won't buy something that doesn't work as well just b/c it's cheaper/better for the environment/etc. I'd rather pay more or use a product that actually works rather than waste time, money, and resources on something else.

I also don't reuse foil or most ziploc bags. If I've had something like chips in the bag and I know I'm going to need a bag for the same item the next day, I'll reuse the same bag, but not otherwise.

Man I don't have many lines, lol. My kids wear hand me down undies, lol. We use family cloth (except hubby who thinks I'm nuts). Paper towels are used for greesy meat but since we don't eat that a lot, we have been out of pt for a month and I haven't remebered to buy them. I 2nd the used matteress, wouldn't do that. I can save tons of money with out eating boxed mac and cheese, that being said we eat a lot of rice and beads, soups and homemade bread. we wash all but meat ziplocs, thermosat is down to 62 (which was hard for dh) but we try to keep the fire going so it's always warmer in the living room. My kids share bath time and I only shower @ the gym work. We use cloth everything (daipers, napkins, tp), eat a lot of meatless or very littel meat nights and no organics. I've dumpster dived a little my husband is around them at job sights more then me, I havent found a good spot so I don't do it often. Coffee, internet and a 2nd car are things I would be hard pressed to get rid of;)