BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Extreme Frugal Confessions

So, what are some of the most extreme things you've done to be frugal? Share the crazy love here.

Um...i do a whole lot of crazy frugal things. I'll start by saying I reuse all the envelopes I get in bills in the mail. I just sharpie over their info and put on mine. I never have to buy envelopes. (Just like I don't buy trash bags and use all the grocery store bags).

I also keep all my twist ties in an empty prescription container, and my plastic bread ties have their own container too.

Cottonballs from vitamins go right to my cottonball holder in the bathroom, and i put all dessicant packets i see inside misc products to use in various drawers and other places I don't want humidity.

I reuse plastic toothpicks forever - I clean them with toothpaste.

Awesome, Susan! At least yours will be clean and nice smelling!

Another confession: I reuse dry cat food bags. The big ones, esp. I line trash cans with them, use them as sacks for mulch when gardening, use them to put recyclables in and even for hauling things like books around - they are very sturdy and don't blow out on the bottom with heavy or bulky stuff.

I don't spend money on large trash bags, but i do go through one or two large cat kibble bags a month, so they get well-used.

Jilly, reusing the cat kibble sacks is a great idea. I will start reusing mine!

A new confession. I pick up the free stuff at the drugstores (it's all in the circulars) even if i don't want the item in question. I figure I can use it as a barter item if the zombie apocalypse comes.

[hangs head in shame]

extreme confession of the day: when i use cottonballs to cleanse my face, i give them one more use in cleaning around my ears. Then I drop them in my kitchen compost bucket to take out to the compost pile the next day.

I have a friend who goes through prescription containers like candy. She throws them away! This really bugs me; when people throw away recyclables. So last time i was at her house I asked her if i could have them. She had about six empties for me.

I added them to my pile. I use these jars for things all the time.

I'm thinking of leaving a special bin at her place for her to save these for me. I hope i do it. I have to find a container that she won't mind looking at.

There were a lot of things left behind when we moved into our house, including gardening gloves. There must have been about half a dozen pair with duct tape on some or all of the fingers. After buying a new pair and having them worn out in a week, I saw why she did it.

These are some great conversations Jilly!

Where I'm at, it's like a fence. Just where I happened to end up. One foot dangling amongst "entitlement" people. The other on just the opposite side of the fence, dangling amongst wealth, "producers" but to an extreme effect. They're still not quite getting the bigger picture.

These conversations, the way you're doing is, is spot on! Masters of the trade and builders! People that follow end up being the winners, succeeding both financially as well as Soulful, in Spirit. Not to mention the wealth of information gained, going through it which could easily be endorsed as a book


Me, I use and reuse just about everything. Those nets onions and oranges come in, I ball them up and use them as scratchless scouring pads. Eggs, when I buy them, I get only the cardboard containers and use them as seedling starting containers that can go right into the ground and further compost which feeds the plant as well.

Produce, say I need some green onions. I cut off the bottoms (the roots) and plant them in some potting soil. They make real onions if you let them grow long enough. I can't remember the last time I purchased onions. If you catch them early on, you can use the early sprouts as chives.

I'm going to use that bread tie in the pill bottle idea. Those ties end up all over the place but magically disappear whenever I need them.

My ideas are not extreme and may have been mentioned before, but these are few ways I am frugal...

-Adding water to hand soap, shampoo, detergents, etc., when they get down to the end so that I can get out every last bit

-Turning lotion and conditioner bottles upside down to draw out the very last amount

-Reusing bread ties to seal any bag, including bagged frozen foods, and wrapping them around flowers I want to dry, making a loop at the end to hang them wherever for drying

-Reusing plastic grocery bags for my trash cans, picking up after my dogs outside, and for disposing of smelly kitchen wrappers, etc. on a daily basis instead of smelling up the kitchen trash can

-Using old kitchen scrub sponges for bathroom cleaning and for cleaning outdoor items

-Using old toothbrushes for cleaning jewelry and other small surfaces

-Reusing the larger plastic nursery pots until they get broken to plant flowers in, instead of buying plants already in big pots every year

-Grabbing extra napkins if readily available when dining out to keep in my car

-Extending the life of tomatoes and fruit that I don't want to refrigerate by placing them on a soft towel and turning them over every day to allow air to circulate

Pictures can convey so much or maybe it's just me w/my adult ADD..., lol.

But anyway I posted that I recycled, end tips of chives. I'm pretty much into anything that takes hold of common sense and isn't invasive.

This is just one, I never knew until I did it. Why I'm so proud is that I got a lot of guff. It was garbage, basically and many people told me it wouldn't grow. So here it is

[img:center][/img]

I like your ideas, Elleise.

The envelope saving was a new one for me. Since reading that, I have since started keeping all the little envelopes that come with bills. I haven't bought envelopes yet! One of the billing services many of the medical offices use locally puts in a totally blank envelope with a small open window in it. The way their cycles work, I get several of these things when I need to only use one. So, I reuse the others! Just tape the go to address over the window, or arrange your own written letter with address in the window , and mail away.

Eliese, I used to grow my onion bits just so I had some houseplants - I am going to start doing this again, and using them! Green onions don't last when coming home from the store, and the problem is worse during our cold winters - its like they can't handle the grocery bag to the car or something.

That is so cool, Debbie .... I do the same things you do for recycles.

I also use old toothbrushes for nail brushes. They work better than the actual nail brushes that cost too much.

Tea bags: I can use a tea bag up to four times if I dry it out in between uses. Then the bag and tea inside goes into a little compost pot for my patio containers gardening. Now that is getting a lot of use out of a tea bag!

I never buy new books. I always buy them used, usually from Amazon. Then when I have read them, I resell them on Amazon. I use the library a lot too, but prefer to buy and then resell.

In fact, if I want to buy anything I always check used before buying it new.

Instead of paying high prices (about $5) for "Lite" grape juice, I go to ALDI and buy a can of frozen 100% grape juice. Then, I add two more cans of water than the instructions call for and some artificial sweetener. Truvia works well. Shake and chill, then enjoy its sweet taste!

Okay, I totally love all you guys. Seeing these cool ideas makes my day every time I see them.

Elleise, I am going to plant some green onions tomorrow. I have a bunch that I am going to chop and dehydrate, but am excited to grow some roots into entirely new plants. How fantastic is that? Thanks for including photographic proof, lol.

I regrow my spring onions, when I use them I cut them about a half inch from the base and place the ends in just a little puddle of water on a saucer or short bowl and they will regrow. I do the same thing with my celery. I cut it about an inch and a half from the base all at once and put the base in a saucer with very little water it will regrow from the center.
It's also kinda nice to always have something green in my kitchen window.

Ooo, celery! Neat idea. I am going to do that too.

I've heard you can also do this with carrot tops.

I've not tried it with carrots, so let me know how it goes! I would think it would work with any root crop if you just want the tops.

Pineapple tops! I know these can be done too.

Root crops - so, then, radishes, parsnips, beets, garlic, turnips...what else?

More free houseplants/greenery - avocado pits, potatoes and sweet potatoes, grown in a water jar held up halfway with toothpicks.

Something else I do: i take good glass jars (with lids) out from the town recycling bin. I put my dehydrated produce in them, and food storage staples I don't want rodents/bugs/feral cats getting into. This way i don't have to buy Mason Jars. Free is good.

Reusing is better than recycling, BTW.

This isn't actually extreme, but I do take note of where the cheapest everyday items are and shop there first.

For example, I recently needed a plunger for my laundry experiments. I went to the Dollar Tree and they were out of plungers. When I went to other places to check on plungers, they were more like five dollars for the same thing. So i waited until the Dollar Tree restocked the plungers, which actually took them a few weeks.

It sounds a bit extreme to worry so much about four bucks, but those four bucks could be four entirely different items at said Dollar Tree. So would I rather have five things I need for the same price? Or one thing?

This is at least how my methodical madness goes.

There are certain things I purchase only at the dollar store. If I don't need an item right away I would not mind waiting for it to be re-stocked, as opposed to paying much more elsewhere. In my budget every dollar counts.

That is a fantastic idea about the green onions! Thanks! :)

DH was always buying sodas at the convenience store near his work. He likes to have something sweet - and probably really does need the carb jolt and fluids in his job. We kept the large, nice glass bottles (about quart size) from a recent juice sale. Now, I put 1/2 c sugar in a bottle, top it off with hot water, and stick in a tea bag. Screw on the lid, and give it as much of a shake as I can considering it is hot. I make several of these and place in the fridge. He has yummy iced sweet tea for far less than the cost of soda or purchased sweet tea.
Taking glass jars from recycling areas would work as well!

I did try the green onion thing, but then I got lazy and forgot to change the water. I ended up with a gross kind of green onion wine soup. Don't do it that way.

Lisa, what a great idea! Make your own energy drink! If you sneak in a little salt, you will have a good electrolyte balancer.

Here is another. I am traveling right now, and when i do that i often will go to a hotel in am not staying in (let's say i am car camping) and sit in their lobby and use their wifi. I even ask them for their passwords if i have to.

No one ever minds.

Jilly....LOL...I've always wondered about hotels. I have a friend who stays at hotels when he comes to town. I go visit, walk right in and right to the elevator. Makes you wonder about safety doesn't it? Granted even when they lock the other doors, you can always walk right pass the registration desk no questions ever asked...LOL...

I am so cheap I got audited by the electric company has that ever happened to anyone else before?

Just about yes.

When moving from an apartment some years ago I called in my meter reading. The powere company disputed ny reading, saying to me 'Nobody uses that little electricity.'

I had to wait all day to admit a meter reader, who verified my figures.

In the 10 years following, I almost always have had a credit with the electric provider as they estimate my usasge at around twice my actual consumption.

Recently had a wireless meter installed which has solved that problem.

[quote=FrankJBN]Just about yes. When moving from an apartment some years ago I called in my meter reading. The powere company disputed ny reading, saying to me 'Nobody uses that little electricity.' I had to wait all day to admit a meter reader, who verified my figures. In the 10 years following, I almost always have had a credit with the electric provider as they estimate my usasge at around twice my actual consumption. Recently had a wireless meter installed which has solved that problem.[/quote] good to hear that you solved your problem.

YES! This just happened to me. I got a letter from APS saying that I was using so little electricity that they thought the meter must be broken.

I let them know I was on vacation for that month and turned the house off at the breaker.

Unfortunately, we have the opposite problem. We use exorbitant amounts of electricity. It would be our civic duty to consider installing solar panels.

My extreme frugal confession? Re-gifting. I often get really nice gifts and think, "Oh, this is so nice. It would be a great gift for so and so." My family gets so mad at me. They think I don't believe I am worth a nice gift but that isn't it. I would just rather see someone else enjoying it because otherwise, it would just sit in a drawer in my house. The joy was in the receiving of good will. I received it and now would enjoy passing it on.

My newest confession: did you know you can use a paper towel, let it dry, and reuse it? For wiping off clean dishes, or for wiping the spots off your sink after use; things like that. I hate using paper towels, but I have some in this new place, and not a lot of dish towels yet...so have been experimenting to see how often a paper towel can be reused.

In my experimentation of used paper towels, it seems the secret is in reusing the ones that don't get dirty of ripped in the first use. Stuff that just wiped up water or lemon pledge or windex works fine in reuse.

Note - best to reuse the lemon pledge ones for more lemon pledge using.

Another confession; i get all my paper clips off the sidewalk. they are everywhere, once you start noticing them. near banks, school parking lots, by ATMs, in front of offices. and when i get a stack of things with a paper clip on them, i toss the clip in the little jar i keep such things in.

rubber bands too.

My husband's students give him their assignments on loose sheets of paper, then he grades them and puts a paper clip on. I keep telling him to stop buying paperclips to give away. If the college can't provide them the students should buy their own. But he keeps on buying them and he gets through hundreds of the things every semester. I'm going to start checking the streets for paperclips!

He buys his own whiteboard pens too.

I don't care how cheap these things are, he shouldn't have to buy them himself.

Agreed, he shouldn't be giving office supplies to everyone. Can he move to stapling?

We had take-out food yesterday that came with a fistful of little ketchup sachets, but they're too fiddly for Steve to open. So this morning I opened all these tiny sachets and decanted them into our ketchup bottle.

Grace, I love you! That is super thrifty. Waste not, want not.

I keep all my condiments packets in a little plastic container for times I am making a picnic, making a lunch to grab and go, or in case my big bottle of something runs out.

Even the organizing guru at Alejandra.tv does that. I was glad to see it's a thing. I don't like people throwing those so thoughtlessly away.

Today I cut up a ratty old cotton bath towel into four square rags to use for cleaning.

Anything that is cotton and no longer in donate-able condition gets turned into rags for me.

Cotton is the next best thing for cleaning after microfiber, but the cotton rags this way are free, and absorbent, and wash up clean.

Waste not the cotton!

I save my aluminum foil from one use to the next, unless it's from something goopy and not worth cleaning off. I just dry them off if moist, fold them up, and put them in the bottom of one of my kitchen drawers.

I save all the wire twisties that come around food and electronics, for reuse. I really love the strong, clean ones that come around electronics cords.

I roll the little buggers up and put them in a space in the tackle box that I use for my office supplies. I use them for all kinds of things.

I reuse all my ziplock baggies.

I use them for food first, then wash them a few times...and when they aren't looking too good for food anymore, I use them for my office supplies, packing stuff for a trip, in the workshop or craft area, and even as a seed planter for starter plants.

Anyone reuse their ziplocks?

I reuse my ziplocks. Pretty much the same way you do. If I use them for the babies diapers, I write 'Diapers" on the bag really big witha Sharpie so they will not get used for anything else.

I cherish my ziplocks - reuse them for traveling - supplies and snacks - and in my everyday handbag - even for my small water bottle in my purse.

I bought one of those can openers that doesn't leave a sharp edge, and I reuse tin cans a lot now. I took them to my classroom to organize random school supplies. I have been using them as catch-alls at home. Then I started giving them to the kids for toys. I showed them the old-school telephone from cans, and this summer I am going to show them how to make can stilts. for my toddler, I just put a toy in a tin can and rattle it a bit. He loves the noise and will practice pulling the toy out and replacing it in the can.
All from a tin can!

Lisa, that's great!

I like the look of a tin can, minus the wrapper, to hold and gather things, to use as a vase, to plant small houseplants in. I like the clean lines and industrial look.

Here's something I do that's ridiculous. I leave the spiders in my corners alone. The deal is: they stay in their corners and catch bugs, and I don't kill them or relocate them.

It works pretty well. I get free pest control, and they get a home. Very rarely do these guys leave their webs and wander around.

When I dust, I just avoid their little webs. Crazy?

I leave spiders alone if possible because I know if they are in a place, there must be food for them, and I would rather let the spiders take care of the pests. I have heard that breweries do not kill spiders as they are seen as natural pest control.

Right, guys, they have their jobs to do, and they use totally toxin-free, organic methods that are FREE to me.

Sometimes it weirds me out when I notice them over my bed or the toilet, but I remind myself that spiders, as a rule, mind their own business if I mind mine.

We are definitely spider-friendly here. We let the spiders catch the gnats and enjoy life.