Was reminded about how JALLEN would joke about being cheap, and how he wasn't ashamed to admit it.

I'm not ashamed to admit that my wife and I have pretty good money-saving kung-fu as well. We're not tight wads, mind you. We spend money on nice things, travel a fair bit, and go out with friends--but sometimes we have a good chuckle at the lengths we go to not waste money.

So, in honor of JALLEN, post up some borderline embarrassing money saving habits.

I'll start: when I buy a Costco roasted chicken, I'll carve the meat off the chicken to serve but then use the bones to make chicken stock. I'll put the chicken stock in a plastic container and freeze it for future use. Probably end up saving like $1 in chicken stock from what started as $5 chicken.

I also just cancelled my internet service and signed up under my wife's name to get the special introductory pricing. We do this every year, alternating between our two accounts. Save $30/mo.

I work about 30 miles away from where I live. Gas out there is typically .20 cheaper. Filling my car up out there is a no brainer, but I'll also take the wife's car out there every other week to fill her car up as well.

Making stock isn't being cheap, it's good sense.

Our society is broken. Broken by safety and prosperity.

I remember what my grandparents did because they had to, and my parents did because it was a nice political idea.

Today, you are the product. Today, trying to save every dime and keep it for yourself from the corporations isn't exactly like living during the depression or wartime, but maybe it should be.

Luxury is the greatest threat to our future. Not because it is available, but because people think they are entitled to it.

There has never been a time when squeezing every penny isn't the best course of action.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
I'll start: when I buy a Costco roasted chicken, I'll carve the meat off the chicken to serve but then use the bones to make chicken stock. I'll put the chicken stock in a plastic container and freeze it for future use. Probably end up saving like $1 in chicken stock from what started as $5 chicken.

I'm going to call a "fowl" on this because this is not a "cheap" thing, it's common sense as you're going to have better quality stock than most anything canned you get in the store.
I'm going to accuse you of being a good cook before calling you "cheap".

Me being Dutch, I hope this call is official.

Brew coffee at home instead of going to A coffee house for an overpriced cup. I’m my own barista....

Cheapest thing I do is make custom recipes with cheap Ramen.
Anyone ever washed a paper plate and reused it?
Asking for a friend....

I've been known to wash Solo cups and re-use them.

When I order Chinese, I keep the packs of soy sauce as it's an ingredient I use on my steaks as they come to room temp. before throwing on the grill.
When I get Chic-fil-A, I save the extra Chic-fil-A sauce for when I get chicken tenders for lunch at my local grocery store.

Now, I shouldn't mention my fellow Dutch friend who is so cheap, he named his dog Penny (really).
The birds around his house don't say "chirp, chirp". They say "Cheap, Cheap."

I buy Chunky Soup, add 1/2 cup or more of rice to it, I now have two servings instead of one for only pennies.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
I've been known to wash Solo cups and re-use them.

I'll reuse ziploc storage bags unless the mayo has leaked out of the sandwich.

Agreed on the stock- I prefer my own, I can concentrate it to my tastes and I know exactly what’s in it. I also save all the chicken “juice” and bacon grease from the pans after cooking (the southerners haven’t told me what to do with the lard yet, but I know there’s a good reason- my husband secretly tosses it behind my back).
I repurpose used jam jars as drinking glasses (keep buying the same kind of jam, now I have a full set). I’ll save carry out containers with clear lids for Christmas cookies or starting seedlings in the spring. There’s more, I’m sure. This is just off the top.

I go around and turn off all the lights my wife left on. I need to get sensors, more sensors. Just so long as they’re not telling Amazon I’m home and what the last thing I shate was.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
I've been known to wash Solo cups and re-use them.

I'll reuse ziploc storage bags unless the mayo has leaked out of the sandwich.

I have a pile of ziplock bags for reuse. The ones that held meat or dairy are single use, but there is plenty of dry storage to be had.

Cut my own hair. Just cut it this morning.
Shop Salvation Army.
Wear old clothes.
Buy in bulk when items are on sale.

I do and I don't.

Some of it is because I grew up with parents that were adults during the Depression and they went to what seemed like extremes when I was a kid. Examples:

Breakfast OJ was served in 4 ounce glasses and you got ONE. No refills.

School lunch was packed in paper bags and you had BETTER fold that bag neatly and bring it home for tomorrow.

Tin foil was washed, smoothed, folded and stored for re-use, as was waxed paper.

Soap remnants were saved and stored in a quart jar with a little water and the resultant slop was used to wash hands in the "back room" after chores. (I still gag a little when I remember the smell.)

So, yeah, I rebel a little. Back when I could drink OJ without getting terminal heartburn, I'd drink a water glass full at a whack. I throw soap slivers the fuck away. I've never washed a piece of aluminum foil since I left home.

But we do little things. Plastic bags are re-used to collect returnable cans and as trash can liners. Ziplock bags that aren't completely disgusting are saved for parts storage. There are about 2 dozen of them in a box right now holding parts (with labels inside) from the dozer. The littel tupperware-like boxes lunch meat comes in get used to store small parts or as tubs to clean small parts in. Suitable (ie, cotton) discarded clothing is cut up for shop rags. Food waste is fed to the chickens and seagulls or composted. 2 or 3 meals a week are prepared from scratch, the rest of the week is leftovers. VERY little food gets thrown away and I bitch at SWMBO about that. (I don't give a drizzly shit WHAT the can says - if it ain't bulged or rusty, it's GTG!)

Those things are being thrifty, unwasteful. Cheap is when the restaurant tab is due and you "forget your wallet," dress shabbily to pass off as "homeless" and get meals from the soup kitchen, or send your daughter out to gather salt thrown up on the side of the road to melt the ice off your own front walk. (The latter is a true story. An ex-boss.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

Interesting question.

If anything, in my older years as I’ve cut back on other expenditures due to declining interest, in the little ways I’m more likely to not worry about their costs. One example is that I keep a small waste container in the kitchen for cooking and table scraps that I don’t want to risk down the garbage disposal (old house: several unfortunate drain experiences). I used to go to the trouble of finding plastic grocery sacks that didn’t have holes and therefore could be used to line the container, but I finally realized what a nuisance that was, especially when I didn’t notice a small hole. Now the grocery sacks go into a recycle pile and I use the proper bags that are intended for the purpose.

I also used to be very stingy about using zip lock bags, but no more. If there is any doubt that a bag can be reused safely or for other reasons, out it goes. I also have a box full of many different sized bags for specific uses, most of which will end up being a nuisance for my heirs to dispose of, but I got tired of “making do” for so many tasks. I recently ordered 100 small zip lock bags of a particular size for the sole purpose of storing the less than two dozen spare pistol barrels in my inventory.

I also recently stopped using our local tap water to make tea and for drinking. No fancy filter system or the stuff collected by gnomes in their high mountain fastnesses, just the $1 a gallon kind from the supermarket, but it was one of those, “Why did you wait so long?” experiences.

On the other hand, food is somewhat different. I’m not one who believes, like so many people these days, that I’m going to die of the staggers and jags if I eat something a day, or a week or so, after the “best by” date, or leave something out on the counter overnight. I don’t keep food around long after many people do not because I’m cheap, but because I like leftovers and it’s usually more convenient to heat them up than fix something new. I know how to judge whether food is safe or good to eat without looking for a date on the label.

I save the soap slivers. When I have enough I soak them in water until mushy and squish them together when they dry out, I have another bar of soap. I don't know why I do this beyond when we were young we did it to save money. Every cent we saved was a cent for food.

My dad could pinch a penny so hard that Lincoln would yelp. It rubbed off on my sister and I to various degrees. My wife was horrible with money when we met and now she’s almost as tight as me. She makes damn good money but shops at thrift stores almost as much as anywhere else. I still pick up aluminum cans and copper wire to sell as scrap. Wife makes the Costco rotisserie chicken stock as mentioned in previous posts. Instead of buying stakes for the garden at Lowe’s I just go out in the woods and get deadfall limbs. There’s lots of little things we do to save a little.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
I save the soap slivers. When I have enough I soak them in water until mushy and squish them together when they dry out, I have another bar of soap. I don't know why I do this beyond when we were young we did it to save money. Every cent we saved was a cent for food.

Soap slivers are just added to the next bar. Best done at end of shower as they usually stick together 1st time. Over the last 25 years don't buy much shampoo or soap as I traveled enough to have a constant supply from hotel stays. Non meat baggies get washed for reuse.

I'm pretty impressed by the way you folks save money. I do things similar to making stock, not to save any money, rather because "homemade," IMO, is always better.

But, we don't do any of the other things I saw here. We use paper plates, Hefty plastic cups, paper napkins and toss them after one use. Same with Ziplocks and small amounts or bars of soap.

I guess we are just wasteful, but I don't plan to change if I can help it.

We don't recycle, either.

I suppose we should be ashamed. I'll work on that.

Bob