Article makes fun of frugal people

**greekislandgirl** · 11-06-2011, 10:02 AM

The Sun is a trashy tabloid but a lot of people in the UK read it. They appeal to a lowest common denominator sort of audience. This article kind of illustrates how certain non-frugal people see frugal people. Rather than taking the opportunity to congratulate this family on conserving energy and not wasting money, they make fun of them. I'm not up on British slang, but "potty" would mean "crazy" in the US, I assume it means the same there?

Rather sad.

Potty pair recycle tea bags three times each | The Sun |News

**Nishu** · 11-06-2011, 10:16 AM

The world economy is almost completely trashed, the EU is about to split apart, America is starting to eat itself from the inside, the divorce rate is shameful and the middle class in most first world countries is starting to disappear, all largely due to debt...

but LOL@ all you frugal people. You're so silly.

**greekislandgirl** · 11-06-2011, 10:20 AM

Well said, Nishu.

The reader comments are depressing.

**jas** · 11-06-2011, 10:22 AM

I do the same thing with my tea bags when I drink tea! I don't hang them up but I have a little ceramic dish that I set it in to use again the next day. I only do it twice though. I would not offer that to company for sure they could have a fresh one.

I used to drink tea everyday I don't anymore. I have more than enough for me in my stockpile so it isn't that I couldn't use a new one everytime but I can't drink my tea really strong anyway because the caffine make me jittery so just dunking the teabag a few times there is plenty to go a second round.

I say good for them with their money saving ways. I read some of the comments after the article and people are really harsh as usual.

**greekislandgirl** · 11-06-2011, 10:28 AM

I don't have tea all that often so this wouldn't work for me but I do stretch tea bags by making a large bottle of iced tea using only 2 tea bags. If I were going to make individual glasses, I'd be using at least 4-5 bags. I like to put fresh mint leaves in there as well.

I don't want my tea to be very strong because I like to drink it with dinner and the caffeine can be too much, so this works great for me.

If I wanted it to be stronger, instead of using more bags, I'd just leave the tea bags in the bottle in the fridge.

**Momto5RN** · 11-06-2011, 10:31 AM

they can be laughed at but i am sure are laughing all the way to the bank as i am sure they got paid something for this story .

**NikoSan999** · 11-06-2011, 10:33 AM

One thing I found strange was the comments in the fact that quite a few didn't see anything wrong with the things they did with the only exception being they thought the more than once usage of the tea bags. I don't understand why that would be "gross".

**Incognito** · 11-06-2011, 10:58 AM

I'd be proud to welcome that family to FV. They're kindred spirits.
And it's their kids who will know how to make ends meet as tough times worsen everywhere.

This summer, I figured out the best way for me to get the most out of my tea bags.
I boiled a big pot of water, set out 2 clean quart jars, a little jar, and my mug.
Put 1 teabag in my mug, and poured on water. Waited a minute, then moved the teabag to the 1st quart jar, added the other teabag, added boiling water, waited a couple of minutes.
Removed the 2 teabags, put them into the 2nd jar, added boiling water, waited 5 minutes, removed them and put them in a small jar, added boiling water and left them in the jar.
Sealed all the jars; they pop-sealed as they cooled. Drank the tea from my mug.
Stored the jars in the fridge and they kept for a week. I used the little jar with the 2 teabags in it first.
Variations: add 1/2 tsp. lemon juice per jar & sugar; tastes better than packaged iced-tea.

Coffee Filters:
I also discovered that the cheap, round, white coffee filters can be rinsed, dried and reused for up to a week, without tearing. I use 2 per day, then drop them into a little bowl half full of water. At night, when I do my dishes, I rinse them in the bowl to rinse off the coffee grounds, then hold them under the tap-water to final rinse them. Squeeze out water lightly, then lay them on a dishtowel, pat dry, place each one over a small juice glass to dry overnight. It's good to go next morning. The coffee grounds in the bowl of water get thrown onto the backyard garden. My coffee filters will last 7 times longer this way, so I'm saving money. The brown filters can also be washed and reused, but disintegrate sooner than the white ones.

**pollypurebred39** · 11-06-2011, 11:38 AM

Honestly I don't think most people know what poverty looks like. But I think they are going too. Won't they be the sorry ones when they never learned how to be frugal? Like Momto5RN said, they can be laughed at....but when the bottom drops out and the dust settles from this, I'm fairly certain a lot of people are going to be way down on the bottom of the economic ladder. Far more than ever before. We'll see how funny it is then.

Such silliness in the comments over used tea bags. Like Niko, I don't see that as gross. I don't dry mine, I do use each tea bag three times. But like Jas, I use a fresh bag for company.

Incognito, I never knew you could rinse and reuse coffee filters! I reuse coffee grounds, adding just a bit more on top of the old. So I use the filter twice there. Hmmm...I wonder if the brand I have would hold up to that?

**LynnLC** · 11-06-2011, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by greekislandgirl

Well said, Nishu.

The reader comments are depressing.

Ya gotta admit...Some of them were funny. I have a weird sense of humor though...Lol.

**Incognito** · 11-06-2011, 12:26 PM

The coffee filters I use 7 times each are the round, white paper ones from the dollar store; I think they are #4.

I've also tried to reuse my 1st cup coffee grounds by putting some fresh coffee grounds on top of them, for my 2nd morning cuppa. But invariably, the filter clogs and the coffee drips so slowly that it's cold by the time the cup is finally full. And that puts me in a bad mood.

There might be another way. Set the used filter gently into a small strainer placed in an empty cup, for air-drying overnight. Then reuse the dry coffee grains along with a bit of fresh coffee grains.
Would be worth a try; I just assumed that drying overnight would dissipate the coffee flavour, and the cuppa wouldn't taste right. And if my morning cuppa(s) don't taste right, I feel grumpy.

PS: I was unable to read the comments related to the article because my computer wouldn't load them, so I can only imagine. But they'd just be 'comments from the peanut gallery' anyway.

**many houseapes** · 11-06-2011, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by jas

I do the same thing with my tea bags when I drink tea! I don't hang them up but I have a little ceramic dish that I set it in to use again the next day. I only do it twice though. I would not offer that to company for sure they could have a fresh one.

I used to drink tea everyday I don't anymore. I have more than enough for me in my stockpile so it isn't that I couldn't use a new one everytime but I can't drink my tea really strong anyway because the caffine make me jittery so just dunking the teabag a few times there is plenty to go a second round.

I say good for them with their money saving ways. I read some of the comments after the article and people are really harsh as usual.

I have found that Red Rose tea can make a decent 4 cups from one tea bag - its really dark. I have to wonder how much debt the "fun-makers" have...they could stand to learn a few tricks from us

**Ponderer** · 11-06-2011, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by Momto5RN

they can be laughed at but i am sure are laughing all the way to the bank as i am sure they got paid something for this story .

Ha!! Good point.

**ladytoysdream** · 11-06-2011, 12:35 PM

I just read the article. It says 4 kids and I counted 5 in the pics. Buy maybe one is a friend. I only noticed that because down in the comments, there was several mentions of 5.

This article makes me think of the expression......
penny wise and pound foolish.
So they save pennies by reusing the tea bags, and the stuff from fast food places.
Seems so they would save a lot more money, by not going into the fast food places in the first place.
Also the mom and I think one of the kids color their hair. So they could save money by not buying hair color products.

Seems their priorities are a bit mixed up.
They save a few pennies here and there but spend bigger $$, on things that could be eliminated from their budget.

**pollypurebred39** · 11-06-2011, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Incognito

The coffee filters I use 7 times each are the round, white paper ones from the dollar store; I think they are #4.

I've also tried to reuse my 1st cup coffee grounds by putting some fresh coffee grounds on top of them, for my 2nd morning cuppa. But invariably, the filter clogs and the coffee drips so slowly that it's cold by the time the cup is finally full. And that puts me in a bad mood.

There might be another way. Set the used filter gently into a small strainer placed in an empty cup, for air-drying overnight. Then reuse the dry coffee grains along with a bit of fresh coffee grains.
Would be worth a try; I just assumed that drying overnight would dissipate the coffee flavour, and the cuppa wouldn't taste right. And if my morning cuppa(s) don't taste right, I feel grumpy.

PS: I was unable to read the comments related to the article because my computer wouldn't load them, so I can only imagine. But they'd just be 'comments from the peanut gallery' anyway.

Maybe you don't have to dry them out. Maybe you could put the coffee grounds in the fridge?