frugal sightings

[Sara Noel]

Take a look around your house and tell me how a fellow FV member would know for sure you were a fellow tightwad if they came for a visit.

Examples: A peak into your bathroom shows some laundry drying on the shower rod or they open your freezer and see saved leftover veggies for soup.

[IntlMom]

The rubber band on the liquid soap dispenser in the bathroom (it makes it so the kiddos can't get so much!) Homemade muffins and pancakes and waffles in the freezer. 6 boxes of Cookie Crisp (I got it for .49 a box last week) A box of ketcup/mayo/s&p packets that hubby brought home from a lunch meeting on the counter. OK, so I am sure there's more - but I gotta go to bed - my garage sale starts in 8.5 hours.....and I need sleep!!!

[bumplett]

ummm..... the collection of ziploc bags that I have drying in the kitchen - the fact that there are no lights on - the laundry hanging in the basement & over the doors -

[sunshine]

Solar lights on the front porch so I don't have to use electricity at night.

Solar oven in the yard - so I don't use propane

3 long laundry lines in the yard, plus lines in the rafters of the basement.

[Darlene]

They'd nod their heads knowingly & smile at my used, still good, wrapping paper and bows stash. I reuse until they don't look "new", lol. Kids just hand me the pretty things when they open presents now..."Here ya go Mom"
Did ya know that gift bags can go on & on & on? When we used to get the Sunday paper I'd save the funnies & wrap in that.

[TheRootedNomad]

ummm..... the collection of ziploc bags that I have drying in the kitchen - -

Me too!!! Me too!!! I also have laundry hanging over doors.

The other at the moment give aways are
~My husbands ancient truck as you pull in the driveway
~the tools laying near the current homeimprovement projects. .... The grout and wet saw in the extension bathroom, the measuring tape near the closet in the extension bedroom with no doors yet, the stain and polurathane near the side door that is refinished on the inside and have sanded on the outside....
~the freezer contains no store bought "convience" food but has lots of hommade "convience" food. ....a few remaining baggies of cooked down pumpkin, a tray of frozen ziti, containers of hommade sauce, frozen muffins, waffles, and french toast, as well as the base for three color cookies.
~the garage is stuffed with pieces of things .....molding, bolts, AC parts, etc.with I belive a currently in pieces weedwacker on what hubby call his repair table
~the older "redone" and homade pieces of furniture.....(although only other frugalites or people who know uswould think we'd done this ourselves)
~the homemade curtains and crocheted blankets
~the black marker prices from the salvage store priceing on some of the canned goods
~the cloth napkins and recycle bags
(If it was winter I'd say the coldness of my house)

I'm sure there's more but that's what I can think of off the top of my head

[Siebrie]

I do not think they can actually see anything.

My wooden floor needs a new layer of paint, but as I will move house in September, I would not paint the floor anyway.

My washing is line-dried, but that is common in my country.

I cook from scratch, but that is also common.

I have a second-hand furnace, freezer, washing machine, microwave. But they are second-hand as soon as you use them once, so if I do not tell people I did not buy them new, who will spot it?

My bike is second-hand and looking it, but bicycle-theft is a big problem in my university town, so the more decrepit-looking the bike is, the better.

My curtains are second-hand, but they're looking better on my windows than on my parents'.

My dining table comes from the thrift-store, but I think it is about 80 years old. So in another 20 years it will qualify as 'antique' and it will only have cost me $ 10!

[geckoace]

im not sure what they could see but i always give a "reba is so cheap" tour of the house where i point out every bargain i ever got and every DIY project we completed LMAO.

also the fact that nothing is name brand in our house (my sister finds my wal-dryl and wal-buprofen endlessly funny)

it also doesnt hurt that we live in a 824 sq ft house because it is a well know fact among family and friends that i wont pay to heat and inch that i am not actively using. and AC is out of the question

[FrugalMomof3]

I dont know if anyone would notice that we are frugal because the stuff I have while 2nd hand but in excellent condition although if someone notices something and asks where I got it I dont have a problem "bragging" that I paid "such & such" for it.

[Mom23boys]

Take a look around your house and tell me how a fellow FV member would know for sure you were a fellow tightwad if they came for a visit.

Examples: A peak into your bathroom shows some laundry drying on the shower rod or they open your freezer and see saved leftover veggies for soup.

Sara, actually you would fins both of those in my home right now. LOL! You might also see bread crumbs that are leftover from a loaf of bread in my freezer for when a recipe calls for bread crumbs.

[nuisance26]

~First off, the plainess of my yard; just basic grass and bushes, nothing fancy. My small, plain rancher. Just 750 square feet. Inside you'd notice that I have laundry hanging in the sunroom entryway and that the curtains in there are just twin sheets. The two pieces of artwork I have hanging, I drew/painted myself. You'd definately notice that my furniture is cheap and mismatched. My computer desk is actually two old school desks side by side and one is kinda rusty. Under the computer is a big box of printer paper bought super cheap. In the kitchen you'd notice my money-saving upright freezer filled with all kinds of sale priced meats, veggies, large batch meal leftovers, sale cheese, margerine and butter, and baked goods. I also always have baggies drying over the sink. I date my dish and laundry soaps to see how far I can stretch them. And in the kids room you'd notice the stack of cloth diapers I'm still using on Evie. In my room you'd notice that I have very few clothes in my 2 foot wide closet. DH's clothes fill just 5 dresser drawers. If you looked under the bed you'd see 2 boxes stuffed with FAR bath and body products. Oh yeah, you can tell a frugalist lives here!~

[Mom23boys]

I use solar lights in the front yard too so that I don't have to use electricity. I also have a clothes line the back yard and I reuse gift bags over and over. Oh, you might also tell when you notice my coupons sitting on the counter....ready to go at a moments notice.

[Marie78]

A fellow FV member would be able to spot the collection of used and reused paper lunch bags (at least 2) neatly folded on the counter behind the crockpot, waiting to be used until they tear and grow large holes in them. The bulk meat packaged into meal size servings in the freezer. The half a container of pasta sauce frozen for a later use. The flowers and plants growing from seeds in my planters on my balcony. The watered down liquid soap in pump containers in the kitchen and bathroom. They would see our bath towels hanging after every use (we each only use one every week). If it's after we do laundry some of our clothes would be hanging on hangers on the shower rod to dry. They would also spot a plastic grocery bag as a bathroom garbage can liner. They might also notice that our dishwasher is full, but not full enough of dirty dishes (we wait to run it until it's completely full-every 2-3 days) this helps save on electricity and detergent.

[Katybird]

Hmmm, let's see, the watered down jugs of laundry detergent, shampoo and cleansers for starters. The freezer full of leftover veggies and homemade microwave dinners, bulk meat broken down into smaller packages. Then onto an outside tour of my home and property, our wonderful covered deck that DH built from materials that he bartered for and built himself, it looks great and the workmanship is excellent. Our 2 car carport that DH also bartered and traded for most of the metal for it, looks wonderful and again the workmanship is excellent. The large garden that we are sharing with our neighbors, we are providing the plants and the labor and the neighbors are providing all the water from their their well and we are sharing the crops with them, they are an older couple and could not put in their garden this year and did not need a huge amount of produce so it was a win win situation for all of us.

[Radish4ever]

The cloth diapers, cloth wipes, cloth "toilet paper", cloth towels instead of paper towels, lights off most of the time, full loads only to run the dishwasher, the dozen loaves of bread in my freezer, the 4 gallons of milk in my freezer, the huge meat stockpile I have, the coupon organizer next to my purse, the computer on and on FV almost all day (even if I'm just browsing and not posting!)