What frugal thing do you do that makes you an "extreme cheapskate"?

[ToomuchStuff]

I miss my clothesline at the old house. Since I am still waiting on the ass to get off his, and that is screwing up me getting this house, I haven't been able to see any deed restrictions. Talking to some that have been around since the early days of this development, clotheslines and those old huge satellite dishes were restricted I have been told. If so, the old house also had some in the basement, and I might put some in the garage here, which is heated and air conditioned. If not, the late owner put up a thing for bird houses that I may convert into one clothesline pool and add another. (or just run lines to it from the bottom of the deck)

[Rogar]

On the subject of "extreme cheapskate" I just observed how many half-used paper towels I have saved that are good enough to use for something else. DH and I also re-use aluminum foil. I guess a better version of the re-use of paper towels would be to not use them at all, but I think I would find it difficult to never use them.

Kitchen paper products might be a little weakness of mine. I'm in the half used school and try to buy paper towels made from what I guess they call recycled post consumer paper, which is a little hard to find in the big supermarkets. I reuse parchment paper if it's not to grungy or crispy.

Growing up we didn't have a clothes drier for some time and would use a folding wooden clothes rack inside for drying when it would be too cold for the clothes line. I have a friend who has one of the wooden folding racks and sets it up on his deck in the sun instead of a clothes line. There are days in the winter when I put heavier items like towels and jeans on the clothes line, which cuts down on the drier use, although they might take a couple of days to dry. Sometimes in winter I give shirts a little tumble in the drier and then hang them on clothes hangers to dry in the closet. That's probably getting a little too complicated and I haven't abandoned the drier completely in bad weather, but it's doable.

[Tybee]

Catherine, we have always reused aluminum foil and the other day I wanted a piece of aluminum foil to make a pond for my granddaughter's animal habitat she created. I asked for foil and dil brought out the box and I said "do you have any used" and she said, "oh yeah, I did save a piece" and we both laughed. It was a nice moment of "hereditary frugality." It's nice to see the kids doing what we have always done.

We also do a combo thing with the clotheline and drier. Drier is finicky and sometimes it doesn't spin correctly and you have to hang them because they are absolutely sodden. Was just saying yesterday maybe we ought to hang a laundry line in the barn. We got into a discussion of freezing clothes on the line (freeze dried laundry!) because we went to pick up a puppy on an Amish farm and it was below zero and their clothes were hanging outside and frozen. So does it thaw out dry? If so, sign me up.

[Tybee]

Wow, just looked this up, and according to speed queen, they actually do freeze dry. Will keep our lines up this winter, I think.

https://speedqueen.com/drying-clothe...le%20loosening.

[happystuff]

Thanks for the article on winter line drying. I always thought the clothes would be wet when thawed. I will be giving this a try this winter.

I also reuse foil as much as possible. My early summer hours at the school I would take my breakfast in to work to eat. I used the same piece of foil all summer. I think it is still in my lunch bag. LOL.

[iris lilies]

I hear you, happystuff! I feel the same!

On the subject of "extreme cheapskate" I just observed how many half-used paper towels I have saved that are good enough to use for something else. DH and I also re-use aluminum foil. I guess a better version of the re-use of paper towels would be to not use them at all, but I think I would find it difficult to never use them.

I don’t like paper towels and very seldom use them. I would like to use them for cooking greasy things to let the grease be absorbed by the paper, but because I don’t keep any in the kitchen, that doesn’t happen. DH keeps paper towels down in the basement for his own use. The only time that I really really want paper towels is when one of the pets makes a big vomit or poopy mess. That is when I don’t want clean it up with towels. I usually clean up their stuff with rag towels and then throw them in the washing machine.

I keep a supply of towling, worn out towels, for various purposes.


As for aluminum foil, we don’t buy it. A few ago we were talking about this topic with my friends in the Daffodil Society and one of them said her mother-in-law with dementia bought aluminum foil obsessively and she had boxes of it. I suggested that one place she could offload the boxes was with me! So I got a couple boxes. Prior to that, I used to like hosting potluck events because I would always be left with hunks of aluminum foil that I would use throughout the years.

[Rogar]

Thanks for the article on winter line drying. I always thought the clothes would be wet when thawed. I will be giving this a try this winter.

I've done it and it works. Jeans or towels seem to take a couple of days and sometimes are slightly damp when I bring them indoors, but it works. An indoor drying rack seems to make more sense to me, but you have to have a drying rack and a place to put it.

[frugal-one]

Went to the local compost site today. Just got 3 cucumbers and a green pepper this time. People pull out their plants with the veggies still on them and put them in the compost. The last few years I got green/red peppers, ripe and green tomatoes (ripened them in the basement... lasted until late Nov). We're supposed to have frost next week so will go again next weekend and see if more people clean out their gardens. Free local food is good.

[pony mom]

We switched from regular detergent to Nellie's powdered detergent. Loved having a clothesline at our house but we're now in a condo so everything is done in the dryer.

I was buying the cotton rounds for cleaning my face with micellar water. Now I've switched to one square of toilet paper and it works just fine. Until I get my bidet attachment for my toilet, I'm using a squirt bottle. Also using soft bamboo cloth as a replacement for toilet paper. The paper stuff lasts a lot longer now.

My 2003 Subaru Forester has almost 270K miles and I'm planning on using it until it falls apart. My commute to work is a short six minute walk so it's semi-retired now.

[iris lilies]

We switched from regular detergent to Nellie's powdered detergent. Loved having a clothesline at our house but we're now in a condo so everything is done in the dryer.

I was buying the cotton rounds for cleaning my face with micellar water. Now I've switched to one square of toilet paper and it works just fine. Until I get my bidet attachment for my toilet, I'm using a squirt bottle. Also using soft bamboo cloth as a replacement for toilet paper. The paper stuff lasts a lot longer now.

My 2003 Subaru Forester has almost 270K miles and I'm planning on using it until it falls apart. My commute to work is a short six minute walk so it's semi-retired now.

squirt bottle bidet. Interesting option.