I'm not THAT frugal! What won't you do?

[Jill]

When I used to come to these boards years ago there was a thread about this and I thought it would be fun to post it again. What's too frugal or too simple for you? Personally, I won't:

* try to destinkify towels or washcloths that start smelling musty. They're never the same after that. I don't even donate them because they gross me out so much. I throw them in the garbage.

* eat eggs that are past the date on the carton. I know they're technically still good but I just can't. Thinking about it makes me gag.

Where does everyone else draw the line?

[catherine]

Well, my frugal MIL was in charge of cooking a chicken in the convection oven one time when DH and I had to go out, but she microwaved it instead, for about an hour. Talk about nuking your food!! It reeked and it was black and crusty! She was going to eat it, saying there was nothing wrong with it (she was never one to throw ANY food out), but we wouldn't let her.

[bae]

Remove nails from the plywood used in Chinese-origin shipping packages in an attempt to re-use the "plywood", which turns out to be utter garbage and unsuitable for any purpose but kindling, and even then the glue probably emits toxic fumes when burned. Nasty stuff.

[Nella]

Use coth rags instead of toilet paper. Yes, that was once a suggestion on the boards here and I saw it on some kind of "frugality" special once. I'm uber frugal, but sorry, but I'm just not goin' there.

[redfox]

I don't buy underwear or sox used. Also, no junk food, no matter how hungry, and this includes anything with HFCS, trans fats, nitrate cured meats, & non-organic produce. No longer buying upholstered furniture used.

[Stacy]

Use coth rags instead of toilet paper. Yes, that was once a suggestion on the boards here and I saw it on some kind of "frugality" special once. I'm uber frugal, but sorry, but I'm just not goin' there.

I'm with you on that one. Also, any rags I use for anything really disgusting, like cleaning the cat litter box, can be thrown away. By that point, they usually had been used many dozens of times already for cleaning less stinky things.

[Wildflower]

I will not wash out baggies and reuse.

I will not use cloth in place of toliet paper, kleenex, paper towels (to clean up pet messes only), and feminine hygiene products. I am very conservative with the paper products, but I'm not giving them up anytime soon.

I will not give up the one car that we have.

I will not suffer in extreme temperatures. I keep my thermostat set at conserving temps, but will not do without AC when needed or heat when it is freezing outside.

I will not give up quality organic foods.

[bunnys]

I agree with everything said so far. Especially the one about Chinese plywood. I'm just going to say it. The Chinese make the crappiest plywood! All full of melamine and other toxic stuff you can't burn!

Also, I won't dumpster dive. (Not that I wouldn't if I was homeless and unemployed) but so far it hasn't been necessary.

Also, I buy all my clothing new. I am so good at buying every single item I purchase on sale I am certain that on average I save about 80% of the original price. And I really like to look good. (It's the curse of us girls who used to be heavy and lost a bunch of weight.)

It's just too easy for me to get nice clothing at a really good price to wear used stuff. That said, if I were in a thrift store and happened across something I really loved and it was used but was something I wouldn't find elsewhere, I'd probably buy it.

[SteveinMN]

Hmm ... Like others, I'm much more careful about buying used upholstered furniture (thrift shop or random private party). I don't think I'm interested in used underwear and socks, but I might change my mind if I ever end up that poor. I'll also have to be pretty poor before I give up air conditioning -- and people around me might take up a collection if I am (I don't suffer heat and humidity gladly). I probably could think of a lot of other things I do that are not particularly frugal, but I think a drastic change of income might change my mind on a few things.

I'm kind of puzzled by the suggestion that people use cloth instead of toilet paper. Seems to me that -- aside from the ick factor -- one would waste as much energy washing the cloths for re-use (in hot water) as is expended in using toilet paper. Maybe there's another reason to do it?

[Maxamillion]

Toilet paper and paper towels are two things I won't give up. I do try to make the paper towels last as long as possible and only tear off just enough (sometimes I'll tear one sheet into 2 or 3 strips and stuff the unused strips in the top of the roll). I have bought used socks before but do draw the line at used underwear. Buying used shoes kind of icks me out but I have bought a few pairs in the past that were in really good shape. I have to have my air conditioning in the summer--Mississippi summers are brutal.

Grocery-wise, I'm trying to stay away from soybeans and high fructose corn syrup as much as possible. It's crazy how much stuff both of those are in. I was eating a can of soup the other day and read the label afterward and saw that it had hfcs in it! I'm slowly learning more about cooking and hoping to be able to cut out more processed food in the near future. My cooking skills are still rather lacking at this point unfortunately.