January 8th, 2007
Im REALLY REALLY Bad about this
So I got this from Muneera's website:
"Ways to know if you're really frugal - You know you're frugal when you...
1... go window shopping at the thrift store. (I actually do this.)
2...keep trying to reuse that glob of sticky stuff with which the fake credit card was attached to the sales material. (I am ashamed to admit that I have tried to reuse it to fasten down pictures. But alas its only really made to be used one time.)
3...take the long way through the parking lot back to the car in hopes that you'll find money on the ground.
(I would do this if I had time, but alas, I am always in a hurry when doing anything car-related. My dad once told me about a friend who found $1500 doing this, so now Im halfway obsessive about it. I have a feeling the money my dad's friend found was drug money, though)
4...try to find ways to "make do" until the next sale on toilet paper. (This is a bit beyond me, but only because the dollar store is walking distance from my house. If things get THAT desperate, I can always go buy a roll for what, a quarter or so?)
5...estimate how long you'll be gone from a room so you'll know whether it's cheaper to turn out the light or leave it on to avoid a spike in electric consumption.
(Do you one better: Estimate how many layers of clothes to put on the babies to justify not turning up the heat at night!!! LOL If it were up to me I wouldn't turn it up, but their daddy has some level of compassion and usually turns it up at night, lol)
6...lightly use the eraser on your pencil so you won't use it up before the pencil is used up. (How about: Dont bother with pencils because if you time it right, you can get pens FAR ~Free After Rebate~ from your local office supply store!! OR, even Worse....you could 'forget' to give pens back when signing for stuff at the store!!!!! LOLOL)
7...refuse to resharpen a pencil until the lead wears almost to the wood. (See my comment about pens, above.)
8..save the elastic from your old underwear to use on your new (homemade) underwear. (Two thoughts on this one - first, just sew up the holes in your old underwear, and you will be good to go. And the other is a gross thought - you know they sell underwear at the thrift store.....ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww but hey frugal is frugal)
9...take your shoes off when you come into the house for the purpose of saving wear on them. (My thought: Thrift Store Shoes are cheaper than dirt)
10...save thread from the seams of clothes you're cutting up for rags - to darn your socks. (Again, thrift store socks are 50 cents a pair.)
11...use saved fast food ketchup to flavor soup, and put a little water in the package to get the last of it out. (I do this with soy sauce/duck sauce from the chinese store.)
12...save the salt in the bottom of pretzel bags to reuse. (OR, just buy salt in bulk when its like 10 cents a pound)
13...won't take a shower when it's dark to save on the electricity it takes to light the bathroom. (How about just taking a shower in the dark? I love dark showers, they are so peaceful)
14...go to bed an hour early to save on electricity. (egh - I am a firm believer that you save more electricity leaving certain appliances on rather than turning them on and off and on and off and on. It might just be superstition on my part, but I am a firm believer. So the TV stays on, on a blank/black channel.)
15...you rejoice when the electric blanket goes out because now you have all that wire to tie up tomatoes or make a mini clothesline. (Of course you remove it carefully; you'll still use the blanket to keep warm.) (THAT wire makes the BOMB Jump rope, and if you are lucky, you can get enough for a Double Dutch rope!!)
16...plan your children to be born after Christmas and before New Year's so you can take the full deduction for them for that year without having the expense. (Hey, WE plan, and then ALLAH plans, of course.)
Are you really frugal?
YES.
Sometimes I wonder if I dont have a problem, becuase my thought processes take me to the limits of moral goodness with being cheap on stuff...(case in point, 'stealing' pens from when you sign for stuff)....
but I do know I've got it BAD!!!!!!
PS. I dont actually DO #6-#9 because Im forbidden to by my financially normal husband. And #8 is just too icky to contemplate. But this is where my miserly thoughts take me!!! :-~