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

Not too many people are frugal ALL of the time. Everyone has their "gazingus pins." But I think most of us have that one thing that has their family and friends shaking their heads. My mother's best friend ironed used wrapping paper, and she admitted that she spent money on many things, but she hated wasting wrapping paper.

I was thinking about this the other day when I swept the floor before I vacuumed. I do that regularly, because the more I can sweep up, the less goes into the vacuum bag and the less frequently I have to replace them. I think that's probably one of my cheapest behaviors. My vacuum cleaner is a Miele, and the vacuum bags are high quality but expensive. I tried doing the Amy D thing and emptying it and reusing it, but it wasn't worth my time and it was really messy. So, I sweep before I vacuum.

What makes you an "extreme cheapskate?"

Free entertainment - going to city meetings, or on walks, or to the library.

Make my own toothpaste from baking soda and coconut oil.

Vacation close to home. This year I am staying within 55 minutes driving time, though that is as much green as frugal.

Most of my furniture I've picked up from the curb. Got two new pieces recently that way.

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Originally Posted by Yppej

Free entertainment - going to city meetings,

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Wow. You have a low threshold for entertainment if you consider going to city meetings fun. :)

But DH is like you--no matter where we've lived he always watches council meetings on the local cable channels. I just don't get it.

Catherine I dislike vacuuming too. I now have a vacuum sweeper that’s close to 40 years old, and I don’t wanna overly stress it.


90% of the togs that clothe my body are purchased at the thrift store, so I guess that’s the ongoing thing that would surprise most people.

We dug up nearly all of the woody shrubs on our city house to move to Hermann. That’s pretty wacky for most people. But keep in mind that we have very few woody shrubs because our city space was so tight where we always had to choose between shrubs or Iris and Lilies and vegetables.

I am digging up plants out of my flower garden to sell for donations to the park Conservancy. I have 30 pots out there right now in the patio waiting to be sold.

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Originally Posted by catherine

Wow. You have a low threshold for entertainment if you consider going to city meetings fun. :)

But DH is like you--no matter where we've lived he always watches council meetings on the local cable channels. I just don't get it.

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I always skim the minutes of the .city Council meeting in Hermann. I won’t sit through a video because that is too damn boring, I just want to grasp the content at my own speed which is skim reading. Same for my neighborhood association, library board minutes, etc.

For most of these meetings I would rather shoot myself in the head rather than attend and/or watch it on video, but skimming minutes gives me all I need to know most of the time.

I rarely buy plants anymore but start things from seeds or cuttings. I have been known to walk the alleys and start more plants from yard "waste" that people throw out. I collect seeds from all sorts of random places like parking lots. DH and I are both averse to spending in general and thus probably deny ourselves some creature comforts. As an example, I built a little patio area that has been without lawn furniture for two years save for a beat up patio table and chairs I found in the alley. I finally asked why do we deny ourselves a nice place to sit so we bought a used wrought iron set, spray-painted it to freshen and a brand new umbrella. I am still fretting over the cost of the umbrella.

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Originally Posted by pinkytoe

I rarely buy plants anymore but start things from seeds or cuttings. I have been known to walk the alleys and start more plants from yard "waste" that people throw out. I collect seeds from all sorts of random places like parking lots. DH and I are both averse to spending in general and thus probably deny ourselves some creature comforts. As an example, I built a little patio area that has been without lawn furniture for two years save for a beat up patio table and chairs I found in the alley. I finally asked why do we deny ourselves a nice place to sit so we bought a used wrought iron set, spray-painted it to freshen and a brand new umbrella. I am still fretting over the cost of the umbrella.

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Oh those umbrellas are expensive! We have purchased only one umbrella in our 32 years here, mainly because we managed to pull used items out of the dumpster. They are not nice but they are passable.

We’ve pulled a lot of patio furniture out of the alley over the years but seldom anything very nice. Just last month DH pulled a nice little honeycomb wrought iron table out of the alley to sell at our upcoming Park Conservancy sale, but I told him that was too nice and I wanted it for Hermann. It just needs a coat of spray paint.

The only thing I can think of at the moment is the rewashing and reusing of plastic baggies. I haven't bought a box in... okay, I can't even remember the last time I bought a box. LOL.

We have never bought a patio umbrella, the three we've had were all trash-picked. Ditto for all the patio cushions. And I re-wash baggies, as long as they did not hold raw meat - until they no longer seal. I haven't bought new clothes of any sort for 2.5 years, until I ordered a family reunion tee-shirt this week. But I spend freely/happily on many other things, lol.

UGG, to patio cushions. I don’t even have them because I’m not gonna deal with them in the rain.


And yes certainly I spend freely on the things I want to buy. I just talked to an iris grower who has an unusual historic iris and I’m gonna send him $44 for three rhizomes.