Mustachian things you do that "ordinary people" think are strange...

[Monkey Uncle]

Walk to work every day.  Less than a mile, and people think I'm something of a curiosity.  Especially when it's raining or snowing.
Bring leftovers for lunch every day.
Practice selective flushing.
Heat the house almost exclusively with wood.  Which I cut myself.  And split myself.  With a sledge hammer and wedge.
Rake my own leaves with an actual rake.
Re-use paper plates and paper napkins until they are really gross.

[kyanamerinas]

Re-use paper plates and paper napkins until they are really gross.

the others i get, but this? when do you have occasion to use paper plates and napkins? surely reusable crockery of some type is infinitely better in so many ways (cost, health etc).

[Goldielocks]

One thing that drives me nuts is when my son tells his friends he can't go swimming (or to the movies, or the mall, or lately the "Halloween Store") because he doesn't have any money and they (usually the parents...not the kid) offer to pay his way. My son has plenty of opportunities to earn money...and when he wants something bad enough...he does. I don't like it when they (the parents) pop off with "Well, it's only $10.00...we'll cover it" like we can't afford to give our poor kid an allowance, when the fact is we're trying desperately to teach him not to be a mindless consumer and learn the value of earning his own spending money. I want to rant and rave and point out the fact they are not doing their own kids any favors by spoiling the shit out of them. We've won the battle with him (He'll usually decline on his own if he doesn't have the money or better yet...doesn't want to spend the money he does have on XYZ activity). But still we get annoyed at the rolled eyes from the parents. They already think we're terrible because we don't provide him with an iPhone with unlimited text and data! Sheesh!

How about from the other viewpoint.  We choose those $10 and under activities especially because we can have our kid invite a friend and we intend to pay for everyone from the start. It is only pricier activities like skiing do we ask for $$ and then the " no" because of money answer is normal.

But sometimes the value to me, to have your son come along is more than the cost. Maybe your son is a great kid with good attitude that I want to rub off on my son?  And i will pay his way to encourage it to happen?  And i just forgot to say " my treat"?  Or maybe they spend time together, so I can swim\ski\have coffee on my own?

[Monkey Uncle]

Re-use paper plates and paper napkins until they are really gross.

the others i get, but this? when do you have occasion to use paper plates and napkins? surely reusable crockery of some type is infinitely better in so many ways (cost, health etc).

Generally, yes.  But sometimes we just don't feel like washing dishes.  We usually limit paper plate use to "dry" food items that don't make much of a mess.  They can be re-used many times for these items, and we save a little water by not washing dishes.  Paper napkins can be re-folded until there are no clean sides left.

[resy]

I'm always amazed how often some asks me "Have you seen the commercial where..." and they almost always pause right there to think about how to word the questions or remember who the commercial was for and I can squeeze in "Probably not" before they waste their time finishing the question. Gets me funny looks until they get to know me.

Haha! Same here.

[allergic2average]

Especially here in NYC, people are shocked that I head to a local park to sit in the grass and just chill. Also that most of my activities are free (sports, biking, hiking) or low cost like going to the gym or chilling in the steam room :) And that I smile at work, people always ask "How come you're so full of energy?" And I always respond "Because every day above ground is a good one. There are starving children with no running water in Bolivia, why should I be unhappy?"

[resy]

Especially here in NYC, people are shocked that I head to a local park to sit in the grass and just chill. Also that most of my activities are free (sports, biking, hiking) or low cost like going to the gym or chilling in the steam room :) And that I smile at work, people always ask "How come you're so full of energy?" And I always respond "Because every day above ground is a good one. There are starving children with no running water in Bolivia, why should I be unhappy?"

I like your thinking :)

[tracylayton]

Last year, I used our Southwest Credit Card miles to buy each of our adult children a $100 gift card to Walmart for Christmas and $25 restaurant gift cards for my parents. Everyone was happy, and it didn't affect our budget at all.

[RootofGood]

We still play our almost 30 year old original Nintendo Entertainment System fairly regularly.  Mrs. RootofGood especially (she favors Tetris).  "Real" gamers make fun of us of course.  However casual gamers that come over are bit by the nostalgia.  Recently had a friend come over with her daughter (a classmate of our daughter), and the adults all sat in one room playing NES while the kids played dolls in the other room.  So our NES habit isn't entirely strange to everyone.

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television. 

[GardenFun]

- Cut my husband's and both son's hair
- Put washed clothes on hangers, then hang from door frames around the house vs. using the dryer
- Shut off water during various stages of the showering process
- Garden and can/freeze as much as possible
- Take rhubarb from neighbors who don't know what it is or what to do with it
- Monitor electricity usage daily (trying to figure out what causes higher/lower usage)
- Shovel our driveway vs using a snowblower
- Don't chemlawn our lawn (my gosh, it has the word "chem" in the title!)
- Push mow our 1/2 acre lawn vs. riding around on a dual-blade chariot, complete with drink holder.  If anything should have a drink holder, it should be a push mower. 

[ketchup]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

[Beric01]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

Yes indeed. These days I simply refuse to spend more than $10 for a PC game, and I target more of $5 or less, which means I never buy new releases and tend to go for more indies. PC gaming is a weakness of mine, but it least it doesn't have to be an expensive one. If a game gets good reviews, I'll get it at least 2 years after it's out for bargain prices. If it's not good, I didn't waste $50-$60 because I couldn't wait for a review. Pre-orders are the most anti-Mustachian thing possible - you're letting a company collect interest on your money for a game that may suck. At least wait for a review!

[Paul der Krake]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

Yes indeed. These days I simply refuse to spend more than $10 for a PC game, and I target more of $5 or less, which means I never buy new releases and tend to go for more indies. PC gaming is a weakness of mine, but it least it doesn't have to be an expensive one. If a game gets good reviews, I'll get it at least 2 years after it's out for bargain prices. If it's not good, I didn't waste $50-$60 because I couldn't wait for a review. Pre-orders are the most anti-Mustachian thing possible - you're letting a company collect interest on your money for a game that may suck. At least wait for a review!

Not too mention all the money saved by not giving a rat's ass about the latest developments in modern hardware... if you know how many cores your CPU has you've already lost. /ducks

[Beric01]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

Yes indeed. These days I simply refuse to spend more than $10 for a PC game, and I target more of $5 or less, which means I never buy new releases and tend to go for more indies. PC gaming is a weakness of mine, but it least it doesn't have to be an expensive one. If a game gets good reviews, I'll get it at least 2 years after it's out for bargain prices. If it's not good, I didn't waste $50-$60 because I couldn't wait for a review. Pre-orders are the most anti-Mustachian thing possible - you're letting a company collect interest on your money for a game that may suck. At least wait for a review!

Not too mention all the money saved by not giving a rat's ass about the latest developments in modern hardware... if you know how many cores your CPU has you've already lost. /ducks

Sadly, PC hardware is the one thing I spent a lot of money in the past (I was frugal on games, but spendthrift on upgrading my PC). My CPU is a quad-core and my GPU is beyond excessive (can still max out any new game in existence). But I won't be upgrading these parts for years because as a Mustachian, I have no need. I also no longer visit those PC hardware forums where the peer pressure to spend more is high.

[Kaspian]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

Exactly!!  I have lots of friends who are ribbing my to "not be so cheap and get a PS4" but they haven't even finished most of their PS3 games yet.  ...All those great titles that were worthy of at least a replay, all those titles they've never even tried.  I still haven't finished "Alice" and have never even tried the last "God of War" or "Batman: Arkham Origins".  These are just mind-blowing games.  Why would I move to a new console to try new things when I haven't even finished the old ones?

[ketchup]

I did recently purchase a lightly used PS3, which makes me only 5 years behind the times now.  Plenty of "new" games for the PS3 are $5 each, so it's a pretty frugal purchase for cheap entertainment that's more involved than passively watching the television.

http://xkcd.com/606/  It makes a lot of sense.  Last-generation games are always the cheapest, too.  Old enough to be "yesterday's news" but not old enough to be "classics."

Yes indeed. These days I simply refuse to spend more than $10 for a PC game, and I target more of $5 or less, which means I never buy new releases and tend to go for more indies. PC gaming is a weakness of mine, but it least it doesn't have to be an expensive one. If a game gets good reviews, I'll get it at least 2 years after it's out for bargain prices. If it's not good, I didn't waste $50-$60 because I couldn't wait for a review. Pre-orders are the most anti-Mustachian thing possible - you're letting a company collect interest on your money for a game that may suck. At least wait for a review!

Not too mention all the money saved by not giving a rat's ass about the latest developments in modern hardware... if you know how many cores your CPU has you've already lost. /ducks

Sadly, PC hardware is the one thing I spent a lot of money in the past (I was frugal on games, but spendthrift on upgrading my PC). My CPU is a quad-core and my GPU is beyond excessive (can still max out any new game in existence). But I won't be upgrading these parts for years because as a Mustachian, I have no need. I also no longer visit those PC hardware forums where the peer pressure to spend more is high.

I did something similar in the past, sans the fancy graphics card, although I'm sure I would have done that if I had the means at the time of the build (2008/2011).   But I was always very careful with upgrades, hit sales when possible, upgraded to an i5-2500K with 16GB of RAM from a Q9550 with 8GB of RAM for a net cost of $40 almost three years ago (Black Friday deals plus timing).  That was the last upgrade I made to it luckily, and it's still chugging along just fine.  Last game I bought at release was Skyrim (Nov 2011), and I can play it just fine at 1920x1080 on medium settings.

[LennStar]

I too saave money on games by playing only "old" ones or less demanding cheaper ones like from the humble bundles. I do"invest" a smaller bigger amount in hardware, but thats because I just like the higher efficiency and since I donate via my CPU (BOINC), the hardware cost isnt that big if you discount the energy bill.
My current computer bought 2 month ago is using lesss then 100W including the screen and plays any game I want, admittadly MWO in not very pretty settings. But Skyrim runs at maximum settings just fine and Shogun II on medium if there arent 3 armies.  Also it doesn't makes a sound (I nearly get a high at my completely silent new rig anytime I think about it :D )

And people ("gamer") just cant understand why I dont put a nice GPU into it. LOL
Everything runs, cheap energy, silent. Nothing to improve.

[2ndTimer]

Who needs new video games we are currently trying to master the newest version of K-mod for Civ IV.   We'll add Civ V when it shows up at Half-Price Books for $19.99. 

[LennStar]

Who needs new video games we are currently trying to master the newest version of K-mod for Civ IV.   We'll add Civ V when it shows up at Half-Price Books for $19.99.

I bought the Sid Meier Humble Bundle for 10$ - including Civ 3, 4 (all expensions including colonization) and 5, pirates, ace patrol, railroads.
I did have the original Civ 4, even bought full price at that time (one of my last full price games, at that time they startet with the "pay now, pay later again 5 times for DLC" scheme.)
Still have to win with all except 2 civs ^^ Somehow I always end up building one wonder after the other.
The technical advantage is always too fast for me. Just when you have build up something that resembles an army of knights and crossbowmen, there is gun powder. Build 10 of the first gun powder units, and the next advantage is here. You never fight with the most advantaged. :(


But I think that is a tiny little bit OT :D

[oinkette]

I don't own a TV, but that isn't strange in my set.  Most of my friends stream even with TVs.

I do take the bus, and my neighbors think I'm crazy.  Especially since I have a perfectly fine car in my garage.  Each morning I get looks as I walk out of the neighborhood to the bus stop.  But I'm happy knowing I'll be sitting reading my newest book while they are sitting in traffic the whole way in.

[RootofGood]

Not too mention all the money saved by not giving a rat's ass about the latest developments in modern hardware... if you know how many cores your CPU has you've already lost. /ducks

Hey, I know my quad core chip has at least 2 cores!  ;)

Absolutely true though.  I have what was a midrange computer 5 years ago with a low end graphics card and it plays the games I want to play perfectly well.  I almost bought a new desktop with a sweet graphics card until I realized I have so many awesome games I want to play that are older that I can wait for new hardware until I'm ready to move on to newer games. 

[RootofGood]

I do take the bus, and my neighbors think I'm crazy.  Especially since I have a perfectly fine car in my garage.  Each morning I get looks as I walk out of the neighborhood to the bus stop.  But I'm happy knowing I'll be sitting reading my newest book while they are sitting in traffic the whole way in.

+1  Pre-ER when I used to commute to work, that is.  I would enjoy the 5-10 minute stroll to the bus stop, pass by some other early retirees, chat for a minute, then say "hey, gotta run to catch the 8:36 bus!".  They probably thought it strange since they knew I left my car sitting in my driveway.  I'd enjoy a 10-12 minute ride to work (almost always seated) and get off at the back door of my office.  And the employer paid for the bus pass. 

[RootofGood]

FYI for my fellow video/computer game nerds, Humble Bundle out today has a cool looking bridge building game and two tower defense games.  Pay a buck or a penny or whatever for those games. 

[Doaner19]

I get double use out of the toilet paper by using both sides.  some think it's gross, I call it economical.

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I dye black clothing items that have faded. I mentioned owning leggings that someone else in the office had on, but said it was almost time to re-dye them and she and another girl literally busted out laughing and said I should buy another pair. I've extended the life of so many cotton things that they would have discarded. All you need is a pack of Rid Dye and a pot and tongs (that are only to be used for this - you are not supposed to cook with items that have been used for dying clothes).

I have a laundry basket full of black clothes just waiting to be dyed. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

[lizfish]

I dye black clothing items that have faded.

Badass. You used to see clothes dye all the time 15/20 years ago. It was pretty normal. Now, prob only in yarn shops or whatever. I live in the UK so maybe it's different here.

I bow to your badassity. Keep on dyeing!

[chouchouu]

I have never owned a car, we were given a tv that still sits in its box, unopened. We live in an apartment and never turn on the A/C, dishwasher or drier, instead we use cross ventilation and drying racks. I  bike my twin daughters around in a modified bicycle.

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in. 

[ruthiegirl]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

We just moved to a new house and I put up a line in the back yard.  My neighbor's response?  "Oh great.  You're one of those.  Now I have to look at your underpants flapping in the breeze." 

I had to laugh.  She is a crank, but honest and I like her.  And my undies will not be flapping in the breeze.  They politely hang inside and keep to themselves. 

[Rezdent]

Glad to see you've a sense of humor.
My response would have probably been more like 'well, if you've nothing better to do than stare in my backyard...flapping undies will be one of the things you're gonna see'.
Probably a good thing that I live in the country and my clothesline is out of my neighbor's view.  Even nicer that my neighbors have clotheslines too.

[justajane]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

This is very true. My crunchy neighbor who never buys anything new, embraces most environmental principles, and even lived without hot water for six months (no really) was astonished when she found out I line dry my clothes in the basement.

[fb132]

Apparently the fact that I eat healthy and never order from restaurants makes people go crazy. I always get a comment from coworkers, reminds me of this meme...

[marty998]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

What did you guys do before the dryer was invented?

[flamingo25]

-Have a dumb phone.

-Like many others here, we have a TV but no cable or channels. I enjoy NFL football but don't mind listening to it on the radio or occasionally watching online.

-Use pretty much all cloth except for toilet paper (to each their own, but we just can't go that far). This includes napkins, hankies, rags, etc.

-Buy used or use hand-me-downs whenever possible.

-Rarely eat out except for special occasions or when we receive a gift card. We eat PB&J or leftovers for lunch most days.

-Use the library. I was actually surprised that people found this weird b/c going to the library was a regular occurrence for me as a child. I was in a book club a few years back and I was the only one who had rented the book from the library as opposed to buying it brand new. The other women in the group actually thought it was amusing.

-A few years ago we went to switch credit unions when we moved to a new state. The guy helping with us asked how much we planned to put in the savings account. He seemed very surprised when we told him it was in the tens of thousands.

[Rural]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

What did you guys do before the dryer was invented?

Line dried. This is a fairly new thing.

[emily2244]

We are living the dream:

1. No car
2. No TV
3. Very little furniture... actually, people usually comment on how large our (small) house looks rather than how little furniture we have.
4. Get two kids around in a bike trailer
5. No preschool (in our area everyone does it)
6. Our house is not over-run with toys. We keep out only a few high-quality ones.
7. We do yard work without any power tools.

People think we are insane. Also, people often feel sorry for us, which is embarrassing to me. I wish that I could just show account balances and get on with it...

[Pooperman]

Being happy when my 401k info came in the mail (allowing me to finally set it up) was weird to my SO's mother. Apparently it makes me 'obsessed' with being frugal. This woman is very afraid of compound interest (on both sides of $0).

[austin]

- ride my bike to work
- don't have a smart phone
- don't have cable
- don't have money problems

[Shropskr]

We make our Halloween costumes.  There only going to be used once for about three hours.  Why spend so much money.  Plus cool craft and oooo the kids have to THINK.   Olaf and robot(again)this year.  Wish I'd saved the last robot costumn

[frugalnacho]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

What did you guys do before the dryer was invented?

According to wikipedia the dryer was invented over 70 years ago.  How many members were doing laundry 70+ years ago?

[johnnyapple]

-we pack our lunches everyday (PB&J? Yes, please)
-live in a studio apartment and love it!
-share meals when we go out to eat
-despise debt

[Grimm]

New poster here.  Just cruising through the various threads trying to come-up-to speed.  This topic reminds me of one another site I frequent, where posters were listing stupid, cheap, or frugal things they did to save a buck, or because they were too lazy. I know not all of these are completely relevant to the title of this thread, but here are some of the funnier ones anyway:

Separating 2 ply toilet paper helps save on money.

Re-using the cardboard round discs that take-out pizza is put on top of as a serving platter for holiday parties also cuts down on spending and is eco-friendly.

Ate Hamburger Helper without the hamburger.

Had to wear tie/dress pants to work. My iron disappeared. Warmed a frying pan on the stove and ironed my clothes with it.

I walked into a Holiday Inn once and told them I was out of towels. They gave me 4. Went home and my lack of towels problem was solved.

Desperately needed to wash some clothes. Was out of Laundry detergent so I threw a bar of soap in. Don't do that. Ever.

Threw plates out instead of washing them and bought new ones at a garage sale. (Ten for a buck!)

Tied flashlight to a ceiling fan/light that didn't work.

My bed frame had broken on one side so I just slept diagonally for a couple of weeks before finally fixing it.

Put down someone else's old carpet that they were throwing out on top of my regular carpet, so I wouldn't have to clean it when I moved out.

Had a clog in the shower. Instead of doing anything about it we just put a chair in there and stood on it.

About 5/6 years ago, Alex Trebek was doing contestant interviews on Jeopardy!, and came to this girl and said "Says here on the card that you don't buy toilet paper." She replied, "Considering what it's used for, I find it hard to justify spending money on it. If you're resourceful, you can get it elsewhere for free."   Haven't bought TP since.

Buddy of mine decided to go to Mardi Gras with some college friends. They were all in Florida together. Knew they couldn't find a hotel room, so they drove to NOLA in a U-Haul with a mattress in the back.

Three of us left the bar and only had enough money for either some cheap food or a taxi. We walked to a pizza place and ordered a pizza to be delivered. Asked the driver if we could catch a ride with him. He drove to our apartment with the pizza and the 3 of us in the car. When we got to the apartment we paid him for the pizza and invited him in for a beer for his troubles.

[RootofGood]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

My mom and grandma here in the US still line dry (and they aren't any where near environmentalists!).  They both have dryers but grew up line drying and so keep doing it even today.  My mom does it mostly to keep clothes from wearing out (which means some of her clothes from the 80's and 90's are still intact). 

Where I live there are a lot of immigrants from developing nations, and many still line dry.  Maybe it's to avoid the electric or gas bill, maybe it's what they are used to. 

[fartface]

TOILET SQUARES!

That's right. Recycled t-shirts turned clean cloth butt-wipe squares (pictured in the decorative basket).

Used cloths (Exclusively FOR #1 ONLY) are then placed in the  'former' TP holder.

Throw em in w/the whites on laundry day and...Viola!

[Nudelkopf]

Line drying is common in Australia though and every other country I've lived in.

It is still very unusual in the States, even within the environmentalist crowd. 

My mom and grandma here in the US still line dry (and they aren't any where near environmentalists!).  They both have dryers but grew up line drying and so keep doing it even today.  My mom does it mostly to keep clothes from wearing out (which means some of her clothes from the 80's and 90's are still intact). 

Where I live there are a lot of immigrants from developing nations, and many still line dry.  Maybe it's to avoid the electric or gas bill, maybe it's what they are used to.

I've never owned a dryer, and nor has any family member I've met (except for one fuck off aunt who married a millionaire wanker). I didn't even know driers existed until a few years ago :-/

Also, my clothes dry in ~ 15 minutes (we timed it once) in the sun. Quicker than any drier, I bet.

[Eddy]

I just fucking admire all of you people. I am just impressed, and it's funny though, because I don't think that most of the things you do are inappropiate or crazy! I actually think most people should follow them!

What a crazy world these ''ordinary people'' live in, seriously!

I don't do any crazy stuff. However,

- I've been working since April and haven't even bought a shirt. I'm proud of that.
- I live with my mom, and she asked me if I wanted a TV in my room, she would buy it if I wanted to. I said no. I still don't regret it.
- I sincerely don't think I need to buy anything else.
- I have a list of things that I'd like to buy. Most of them will produce just a little bit of money.

[riverffashion]

I do many of the same things, and all my friends think I am crazy for each! I know it's paying off though;) and with each "little" change I have made (and yes I was frugal before) I experience the urge to find ways to tweak things even more:)

*No TV or microwave or smartphone. downgraded to a "dumb phone" and removed data plan. It was the first time the customer service rep had dealt with that and had to ask for assistance.
*I feel bad every time I get into the car & certainly do not wash it.
*cook simple healthy foods from scratch & bring meals to work each day.
*goal to achieve FI. Almost nobody I interact with can fathom this is possible, especially early retirement. This alone makes people think I am in lala land.
*have not bought any clothes this year. receive many hand-me-downs from coworkers and friends:)
*wear/use items until they wear out.
*do not use any disposable paper products or cleaning supplies. old clothes for rags, water, and baking soda work great.
*do not use the heater or AC.
*drink tap water.
*order books from the library.
*when my lipstick gets low, I scoop it into a pot and apply with a brush.
*no longer use any shampoos or hair products and very much liking the results.
*re gift 99% of gifts & save tissue paper and gift bags so I never need to buy any.
*do not purchase art/craft supplies- everybody gives me ample fabrics, threads and needles when a loved one passes away.
 
I enjoy getting more ideas from you guys about ways to save, and love that we do many of the same things:)

[clarkfan1979]

These are based on comments from co-workers of myself and my wife

-No car payment
-Owing a house & rental house
-No cable
-Bring own lunch to work
- Grow some vegetables and citrus
-Cut my own hair
-Savings rate (30-40%)

My wife's coworkers ask her questions because her behavior is different than most. When she says that we save and invest 30%-40% of our income its as if we landed on Mars. I think she is rubbing off on a few people at work because her examples are not that complicated. The think avoiding a new car every 5 years is the biggest saver. Many people seem to do this not because they need it, but perceive it to be the norm.

[Cheddar Stacker]

@riverfashion, I get my car washed for free. I purposely park it outside vs. in a garage whenever it rains.

[LennStar]

@riverfashion, I get my car washed for free. I purposely park it outside vs. in a garage whenever it rains.

We use natures washer, too. Not that we have a choice, beeing withaout a garage ^^
The exception is after (or during, when it gets warmer for a few weeks) winter. You should really wash away the salt you got from the streets anti-ice-squad on the underside of your car with high pressure, because salt there is really really bad for the metal, "stainless" or not. You can always change a tire, but not the body if it gets holes.

[Zikoris]

We do surveys on our lunch breaks and some of our spare time in exchange for Best Buy gift cards, which we spend at Futureshop (you can do that now that they've sort of merged). Literally every single purchase we make there is discounted with a gift card since they accumulate pretty quick.

The employees definitely seem to think it's strange that every single time we're in the Futureshop store we whip out a fresh Best Buy gift card to pay. Over time I'm sure we've cashed in a fortune.