I'll go to quite some length to be frugal. $50 worth of bathroom tissue if it's a really good price. Picking up change off the ground. Fixing the riding lawn mower, again.
I questioned this one: Those little packets of coffee that the hotel gives you? The ones that might brew four cups of coffee with the little percolator in the hotel room? I had about 15 of them. After cleaning out part of the pantry, I decided to use them. They were all sealed, but some of them were pretty old. The coffee still tastes all right — not great, but all right.
I might get a few full-size pots of coffee out of these little packets, but somehow this just seemed like a waste of time. Now, mind you, I've long since cauterized my taste buds from coffee, so the quality isn't as important as it used to be. (I'd never be able to taste the subtleties of this expensive brew.) Still, did I really need to hoard these little tiny packets of cheap coffee like Scrooge McDuck's long lost cousin, Brewge?
Probably not. I doubt that this will start me off on the road to reckless, hedonistic consumption.
My dirty little secret … I always grab the hotel soaps, and those little bottles of shampoo, mouthwash, etc. I wound up with over a dozen soaps from our last trip. I'm still using them.
Many people who buy in bulk forget some of the hidden costs associated with storing all you bulk purchases. The stuff that you store is taking up valuable living space that you are or have paid for. The less stuff you have the less living space you need. Many people buy an extra refridegator to store frozen items that they buy in bulk and are paying extra money for the fridge and for the electricity to run the fridge.
Funny what we will save, huh?? I've got a growing stash of freebie moisturizers and wrinkle creams of all sorts. I'm going to be old, rich and wrinkle free I guess!
If you have small, travel type samples of shampoo, soap, moisturizer, etc. that you don't intend to use, please donate them to a homeless shelter. They're the perfect size for overnight guests who tend not to stay for more than a day or two.
We actually donate shampoos and soap to a homeless shelter as well.
Thats a great idea about donating shampoo and soap to homeless shelter – I got a ton of those things that I haven't used. Thanks for the idea.