My DH's "Most Frugal Thing We Ever Did" Story

**Nada.Leona** · 05-01-2010, 02:23 AM

I talk about FV all the time to DH, so he suggested I tell the story of the most frugal thing we ever did. (Ain't he cute?

)

It all started one rainy Saturday. We had moved into our new apartment and we were bored. The rain was pelting down in big ol' splashy drops and we looked outside, thinking about how fresh and clean everything looked... except our cars. Both our vehicles, at that time the Cavalier

and the traitorous Grand Am

, were dusty and grey from city driving.

Suddenly, we had an epiphany -- why waste our time and money going through a car wash when God was providing the car wash RIGHT NOW?!

We ran to the bedroom, jumped into our swimsuits and baggy t-shirts, and ran outside with bottles of cheap shampoo and sponges. Within half an hour our cars were covered in thick, perfume-y soap, and the big splashy rain was rinsing them clean. We scrubbed both cars all over, DH reaching the high spots and me cleaning the detailed areas.

Once we were finished, we ran back to the shelter of our apartment, laughing and curious as to whether our new neighbors thought we might be insane. We stripped down, hopped into the shower and spent the rest of the day laughing at ourselves and our frugal ways.

What did it cost us? Maybe a dollar for the use of the shampoo. Likely not even that much.

What did we get? Two clean cars, an afternoon of fun, and a fantastic memory.

**Liane** · 05-01-2010, 03:55 AM

How adorable you both are. I can just see it in my head, the suds and laughter. Great story. Thanks for sharing it.

**Megareader** · 05-01-2010, 05:58 AM

I would not have thought of using shampoo to wash cars with...it didn't leave any weird residue on the cars? I'm going to give dh this hint when he wakes up, thanks!

**McD** · 05-01-2010, 07:43 AM

I've mentioned this on FV before but shortly after DH and I were married, we were grocery shopping together. There was a bottle of ketchup with the label torn off marked down to 37 cents. Of cours, I bought it.

Later as we were using it, hubby starts gagging and says, "There is NO SALT in this ketchup!" I told him for 37 cents he could add his own salt. He started laughing so hard, then I started laughing until we were crying.

Whenever I have a moment of extreme frugalism, he reminds me of the 'no salt ketchup'. In his defense, it was horrific.

**Jamielane** · 05-01-2010, 08:24 AM

Those are awesome stories. I think the most frugal thing we ever did involved the kitchen table. We bought a wood table about 5 years ago and had it in the kitchen of course. We NEVER sat at it and ate. It was to big for the room and total pain to get around to sit at. I really wanted a small pantry in the kitchen and had one in the garage that could be easily moved into the kitchen if the table was smaller. We thought we would go get a two person table and it would cost about 100.00 if I found a good sale. Dh said how about I cut this one in half, re router the ends and put the legs back on? I said wont it looked like you cut the table in half and put the legs back on it? He said well let me try , you dont want to use it anymore anyways so what difference does it make? He took it out to the garage. Worked his magic and spent a total of about 5.00 for a small can of wood stain/varnish to give it a fresh new look. I challenge anyone to tell which side he cut. I live with it and still cant tell which side it is. We have a table that fits the kitchen perfectly and the kids use everyday for homework. Plus I got my pantry brought back into the house for my stockpile. Win Win!

**KathleenCG** · 05-01-2010, 07:10 PM

Jamielane,
That's a funny story about the table! What did you do with the other half of the table???

**Jamielane** · 05-01-2010, 08:56 PM

Well it was just the table top but very good strong wood. Oak actually. Dh used it to make some planters outside and a bench .

**Debbie-cat** · 05-01-2010, 09:01 PM

Great stories! I love them.

**ladytoysdream** · 05-01-2010, 09:24 PM

The car wash thing........
I was listening to a show on tv this weekend and they were talking about cleaing cars. A car show. The one guy mentioned that you need to buy special soap for a car. If you use other soap, you take the chance of messing up your paint.

**Rebookie** · 05-01-2010, 10:18 PM

It sounds like an entry to "chicken soup for the Frugal soul" !

**Luckybustert** · 05-01-2010, 10:20 PM

Everyone in my family has used a mild dish soap for washing cars as long as I can remember and never had a problem with it. Sometimes I wonder whether these "experts" have stock in the special products they recommend we use instead...lol

**frugalwarrior2** · 05-02-2010, 09:59 AM

We've always used dish soap to wash cars. How often are you really going to wash them anyway? When we were younger I used to time the car wash sprayer. I could wash and rinse my car for $1. I used to wash it every week. Thats kinda a BK thing though too busy now.

**ahmom** · 05-02-2010, 11:07 AM

DH and I have done the car wash in the rain too. I backed it out of the garage, it got rained/rinsed off. Pull it into the garage, big bucket of soapy water to wash it the back it back out of the garage to rinse off.
DH used a swing set leg off of an old set for a piece of exhaust on our truck. It worked perfectly.

**daughter of pearl** · 05-02-2010, 11:45 AM

Lady N, that is a great story! I also love the story of the table.

I kinda feel sorry for people who haven't found FV, because we are truly the most creative, fun people!!