Instead of buying our own sodas, my husband and I will share a $1.49 soda at a fast food restaurant and then refill it.

We got to restaurants like Olive Garden for lunch instead of dinner and then just order the Soup or Salad, not even both!

I will take family members leftovers home from a restaurant if they don’t want to.

Are we terribly cheap?
Rhiana from A Frugal Life´s last blog ..Frugal Food: Sweet Potato Salad

Sapporo Ichiban Chicken Ramne $0.90 w/ hard boiled eggs, green onions (scallions) and the left over chicken. You can add some greens (recommneded: Bok Choy) and some carrots. This takes a difference for a dull noodles.

My family uses their towels for one week before washing. Likewise, we try to wear our clothes more than once before washing unless there is evidence of dirt or sweat. I refill name-brand bottles with generic products and I definitely think it’s fine to regift.

When my daughter was small, Guess jeans were all the rage. I received a couple pair as hand-me-downs and after she outgrew them, I removed the Guess emblems from the back pockets. I went to a department store, bought some inexpensive jeans and stitched the emblems on them. I reused the emblems several times. My daughter and her friends thought she was wearing Guess jeans for several years, and I saved a ton of money!

Kathryn in Waco

i like to write my own poems and verses in cards so have many times
bought blank cards to send. in very recent years i got the idea of
recycling the beautiful cards we have received over the years from
others. went thru them all and set aside the ones i couldn’t bear to
part with and cut the front pictures from the rest. it not only freed up space in the drawer where i keep letters and cards but has given me smthg very nice to write personal notes and verses on. now i buy a nice card for someone with a verse or blank, and instead of writing in it and signing our names, i write a verse or personal note on the back of one of these recyclable pictures, and add smthg at the end like “you can send this card to someone in the future, let’s save the trees.” no one has complained, not to me anyway. it’s now in vogue with the present “going green” trend.

one other way to save the trees is to stop all the junk mail. when smthg comes in the mail with an offer and a “no postage required” envelope enclosed, i write on the application in red ink, “please take our personal info off you mailing list and do not share it with anyone, lets save the trees. ” i always draw in a cute smiley face so as not to offend. have been doing this for years as well. if the return envelope needs postage i look for an 800 number and call the company instead.

i’m not sure i would be comfortable giving a gift i had received. i’m
too sentimental for that, would worry about hurt feelings, also it seems a bit ungrateful. could not give a second hand store item as a gift either, (depending on what it is) altho nearly all my clothes and most of our furniture and electricnonics come from second hand stores. but i do browse the clearance racks and tables and if the price is too good to pass up, i would buy it for future gifts.

my first vacuum was a Kenmore i found on the curb in front of someone’s house on junk pickup day. the householder told me it was shorting out so they put it out for junk day. with their permission i took it home unscrewed some screws found the problem and used it for probably ten years or more. it was the best vacuum i’d ever owned. i think i remember going back to see if they wanted it back since it was fixed but they had already purchased another.

presently our dishwasher is a low end GE that we found on a curb. again a few screws removed revealed the soap dispenser prob she told me about and we have been using it for going on 9 yrs! there’s somethg to be said for the dumpster!!

to carpet my daughter’s bedroom, she and i went to carpet stores and
bought up samples, some were free. we used masking tape when laying it out. it lasted untill she left the nest. we still get them for our front and back doors. they make excellent car matts, are easier to cleanand can be replaced when looking worn.

instead of buying expensive plastic containers for left over food, save widemouth glass jars and other suitable containers to use instead. glass is much better than plastic anyway. i save the glass gallon jugs that apple juice comes in to store rice or dried beans in.

if one keeps an ice cream bucket with a tight fitting lid in the freezer, the family’s dinner plates and all the table scraps, bones etc can be scraped into it and when full, boiled with a little salt and vinegar to dissolve the calcium from the bones, strained, and used to make a delicious and very healthy broth for soup making, or to heat and sip when one is ill. even wilted lettuce or cabbage leaves, potatoe pealings, celery leaves etc can be used in this way. also instead of throwing away the juice from a can of peas, beans, corn etc pour that into a container in your freezer to use for soup broth. i used to keep two separate such containers.

this story could go on but you get the picture, am i too frugal?

you know Sara, …. i had never thought that asking for a slice of lemon with my water at a restaurant was like getting free lemonade! i never did like water but would drink it, instead of buying a drink, if i could get a slice of lemon. have never added the sugar from the table! thanks for bringing that to my attention. i just may rethink this one and try to do without the lemon!!

Janet M

Had never thought of that. I generally buy cleaning products as cheap as I can get them. I’m not by any means a clean freak either.

MAKE A CALL: Could you call a manufacturer using a toll-free number and request free samples or coupons? Could you give them as gifts?

Yes and maybe

NO SPEND: Could you dedicate a weekend, week, month or year to no additional spending outside of the basic necessities?

I can and have.

UNPLUG: Would you unplug everything not in use to be sure you’re not paying extra for phantom electricity?

No Those clocks come in handy.

MOVIE SNACKS: Is it acceptable to sneak your own snacks into a movie theater?

Yes but I can go two hours without eating so I just don’t.

PENNIES: Would you take time to pick a penny off the ground?

OF course.

Books I still buy. Sometimes full price and sometimes not. We love the library and the thrift stores have been wonderful in helping me build my childrens’ library here at home. I love love love our used bookstore. I’m totally hooked on old cookbooks, too. So any secondhand source is awesome. I had sworn off collecting for the last 10 years (used to buy and sell antiques and collectibles), but am truly enjoying building up a vintage cookbook collection.

But even with some of my “not the cheapest chick in America” ways, I am still quite frugal in how I live my life. I’m just no longer extreme and have found a comfortable balance. I like knowing there are always strategies I can pick up again if I choose/need to. That balance is my key to staying motivated to reach my goals. I also think that some of my time is best spent making money than looking for ways to save money. That’s another thing that will vary from person to person according to their priorities and goals. Years ago, when I was in guerilla frugality, I didn’t think that way.

Straws: Do this one all the time. Dishwasher them.

Heating n AC: AC does go on when it is 85 inside, themostat is set at 67 in winter do have a programmable to drop and raise temp when we are not at home.

Tissue, would reuse

Trickery: no family has accepted off-brands a long time ago, and I mean sub-store brand

Clothing towels: Oh yeah towels get washed every 2 weeks. They are just wet, you are clean when you get out right?

Coffee grounds: I did try this one. Couldn’t make it last. When I did it, I need to try again. I did add a fresh sccop to the old grounds then threw them out on the second day.

Curbside mall: I belong to a freecycle group. Practically the same thing.

Left over bucket: NOPE sounds gross to me, growing up we fed the scrapings to the animals

Timed showers: no but do have a low flow shower head

regifting; oh yeah, to whomever I can get away with it.

Lemonade: have done this one, now I am kind of grossed out about the bacteria on the lemons

WhiteLie: Sometime if I know that I will not see the person till after the holidays I will go by the gift one the sales

Comparison shop: I have asked for a “price match” discount on big ticket items.

Books : Can’t remember when I bought a book. I usually wait for someone else to pass it along, or to the libary

Cleaning products; These I do buy but not many I make due with a cheap all-purpose cleaner for alot of things.

Make a call: I am a big couponer. Download alot of them then copy more.

No spend: I like to see how long I can go during the work week till I dip into my pocket money.

Unplug: I need to do this one, pure laziness

Movie snacks; I saw someone’s tote get searched, ans I have been leary ever since.

Pennies: Oh Yeah!! My kids find more money than I do! Lower to the ground??