Author Topic: Anything that you have to do to save money that others might find objectionable?  (Read 35443 times)

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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Things that kind of horrify my mother and sister:

I wash my hair with baking soda.

I use washable menstrual pads. (My sister's comment, when I mentioned this in passing perhaps three months after our grandfather had given me a cash gift: "You really earned that thousand dollars from Grandpa.")

I am still wearing my postpartum granny panties. My youngest is nearly 3. And I have mended holes in them.

I do not always flush when the kids or I pee.

They don't even know that I sometimes use cloth rags instead of toilet paper.

I never purchased maternity panties....just made do.

Everywhere else you've got me hands down other than the kids not flushing - but I am sure that is pure laziness vs frugality. :-)

My kids were born via c-section. You GOTTA have granny panties while you're healing from that--I can wear almost none of my pre-pregnancy underpants because three years later, the seam is still (a) numb and (b) the site of an awkward, unattractive skin flap that one does not want one's panties bunching into. I did find myself investing in maternity bikinis, too, while I was pregnant as I gained 45 pounds (sigh), but they were so comfortable, I have long since worn out every pair.

And to further my sort-of-gross frugal bona fides, I will point out that some of the panties in question were actually third-hand (previously worn first by my mom, then by my sister, who was pregnant before I was).

ferox

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Forward, backward, inside-out & turn it around. That's all I'm saying.

FatCat

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* Use a trap in the kitchen sink to collect crumbs and sludge off dishes and glasses. The slimy little collection is pretty gross to look at, but I empty it out in my worm bin and it's perfect for them.

Do you not use soap or detergent? Or is that ok for the worms too?

frugalnacho

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* Use a trap in the kitchen sink to collect crumbs and sludge off dishes and glasses. The slimy little collection is pretty gross to look at, but I empty it out in my worm bin and it's perfect for them.

Do you not use soap or detergent? Or is that ok for the worms too?

Who wastes money on fancy pants soap?

Cookie78

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* Use a trap in the kitchen sink to collect crumbs and sludge off dishes and glasses. The slimy little collection is pretty gross to look at, but I empty it out in my worm bin and it's perfect for them.

Do you not use soap or detergent? Or is that ok for the worms too?

Who wastes money on fancy pants soap?

*raises hand*

I do. But not any more! However, instead of throwing out everything I have and researching to figure out all the alternatives and home made recipes at once I've decided to learn them all one at a time as I run out of things.

Currently I'm trying out deodorant alternatives.

Next is probably laundry soap.

Then dish soap or maybe hair styling products.

Since I cut my hair very short and started washing it once a week it will probably be a very long time until I need to figure out shampoo and conditioner.

YK-Phil

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Sleeping in my office for weeks at the time...not during office hours although I am a pro at faking deep concentration :)

Drink water with apple cider vinegar and also use the same concoction as body wash/deodorant

Use vanilla extract as perfume.

Pick up empties if I come across one on the street

Still biking when it's -45.

Eating/Drinking expired milk.

pbkmaine

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How do you sleep in your office? Don't the cleaning and security people rat you out?

YK-Phil

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How do you sleep in your office? Don't the cleaning and security people rat you out?

There's no live security person in the building, and I got rid of the cleaning contract a few months after I took the job. Not only was it expensive but not worth it for a couple of paper pushers, so I do our own cleaning myself which takes me an hour a week at most. I am the director of this small agency but I take every opportunity to get off my chair to clean the place, run errands, pick up the mail, deliver things in the immediate vicinity of the office. Our office used to be the bachelor pad of the guy who built the place, so it is equipped with a full bathroom, couch, private storage area where I keep my two bikes, and basic kitchen essentials: mini-fridge, microwave...and I just got a nice espresso/capuccino machine. Visitors and colleagues don't like strong coffee so I keep it for myself, and they can use our old coffee maker with a year' supply of cheap Maxwell House coffee we have left :)

AJ

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).

purple monkey

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This is a really good idea.  I was thinking about the cost of water.

I might have to start fertilizing my plants.

frugalnacho

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).

Your plants need electrolytes.

midweststache

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).

Your plants need electrolytes.

You should water them in Brawndo.

pbkmaine

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).

Easy. Just get an earthenware pitcher (usually super cheap at Goodwill), the kind with a large opening, and pee into it. The roommates will think you are watering the compost. And indeed you are.

2ndTimer

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I keep an old cottage cheese container in the bathroom to pee in for the compost.  I always dump it immediately and wash it before returning it to the shelf where it lives.  No roommates and the neighbors aren't close enough to see exactly what I am dumping in the compost. 

catccc

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I live in a twin house (side-by-side duplex with separate deeds, very common in Pennsylvania). There's a huge premium for detached houses. One of my wife's brothers thinks we're absolutely ridiculous for doing this.

We live in a better school district than he does, and he has kids, too. So his priorities are very confusing to me.

We live in the same in nearby Chester County!

possibly objectionable:
I use cloth wipes for #1s and we don't flush pee much...

Eristheunorganized

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Well, I suppose it depends on your definition of "others."

Many of the non frugal freak out when I tell them I make my own laundry detergent.
I don't bother telling them that I use a diva cup, and family cloths. Hell, I don't even tell my roommates about the cloths.

Bracken_Joy

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Haha. Diva cup. It feels like indoctrinating someone into a cult whenever I bring it up to someone. Usually it's when a girlfriend and I are doing a happy hour or skyping with wine or something. And then, you broach the subject. Reactions have varried from pure horror with visible recoil (one friend... and she couldn't handle even the softest nursing school story, so that kinda ended). But shockingly, most reactions are open and curious, especially when you frame it with convenience (12 hours!) and health benefits.

forummm

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Basically everything I do to save money is something that others find objectionable. Some even tell me that. "You don't have cable?????"  "You could afford a much bigger house!" etc

Eristheunorganized

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Oh, I thought of another one. I don't shower every day. I shower every other day. This isn't so much for fiscal reasons, I just don't feel I get dirty enough most days to warrant a shower. Also- I'm prone to athlete's foot, so frequent showering is more likely to bring on a case.

FatCat

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This is kind of hard to answer because people I know find things objectionable that people on this website would find either normal or not frugal enough. lol

My friend found it shocking that I buy meat and produce from the manager's special bin. I didn't tell her I buy nearly all my clothing second hand. She said used clothing is for poor people.

handsnhearts

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This is kind of hard to answer because people I know find things objectionable that people on this website would find either normal or not frugal enough. lol

My friend found it shocking that I buy meat and produce from the manager's special bin. I didn't tell her I buy nearly all my clothing second hand. She said used clothing is for poor people.

Or rich people living like poor people so they can get rich...:)

FatCat

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This is kind of hard to answer because people I know find things objectionable that people on this website would find either normal or not frugal enough. lol

My friend found it shocking that I buy meat and produce from the manager's special bin. I didn't tell her I buy nearly all my clothing second hand. She said used clothing is for poor people.

Or rich people living like poor people so they can get rich...:)

That's how I see it! :)

Moonwaves

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Haha. Diva cup. It feels like indoctrinating someone into a cult whenever I bring it up to someone. Usually it's when a girlfriend and I are doing a happy hour or skyping with wine or something. And then, you broach the subject. Reactions have varried from pure horror with visible recoil (one friend... and she couldn't handle even the softest nursing school story, so that kinda ended). But shockingly, most reactions are open and curious, especially when you frame it with convenience (12 hours!) and health benefits.
Ha! I know exactly the feeling. Was delighted to hear mention of it in a new (to me anyway) sitcom the other day. Although the storyline revolved around the character not being able to get it out so at the same time as thinking "yay, it's gone mainstream", I was wishing they hadn't gone negative for the cheap laugh.

Bracken_Joy

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Haha. Diva cup. It feels like indoctrinating someone into a cult whenever I bring it up to someone. Usually it's when a girlfriend and I are doing a happy hour or skyping with wine or something. And then, you broach the subject. Reactions have varried from pure horror with visible recoil (one friend... and she couldn't handle even the softest nursing school story, so that kinda ended). But shockingly, most reactions are open and curious, especially when you frame it with convenience (12 hours!) and health benefits.
Ha! I know exactly the feeling. Was delighted to hear mention of it in a new (to me anyway) sitcom the other day. Although the storyline revolved around the character not being able to get it out so at the same time as thinking "yay, it's gone mainstream", I was wishing they hadn't gone negative for the cheap laugh.

Before nursing school, I had no idea how many people thought that you could lose thing "in" your body, through eyes, vagina, etc, Like contact lenses or feminine hygiene products.... and it's not always a patient.

sarah8001

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Third or fourth a Diva cup. Although, I would still use it if it cost 4X more! FREEDOM! I still have to change it every couple of ours during my heaviest time, but no more pads! Yay! Most people do find it disgusting, though. How blood soaked cotton jammed up there is more "clean" than a medical grade silicone cup is beyond me. Come to think of it, periods in general disgust most people, but I've never understood that reaction. Come on, people! Almost every female has one! Your mother does/did.

Beardog

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Minimal flushing of urine.
Day old yuppie bread at half price, half or one third original price canned products (beans, veggies, etc.)
Washing of 'critical areas' instead of shower several times per week.
TVP (textured vegetable protein) granules for protein with brown rice and veggies most days for lunch.
Keep my average cost per pound for vegetables and fruit at $1.50/pound or less in a HCOL area by buying loss leaders.
Walk or bus almost everywhere in all kinds of weather in the northeast.  Hardly every use my 1995 Toyota Corolla with about 125k miles.  (But it is really nice to have occasionally for places that are hard to reach by public transportation.)
No cell phone.  No tv.  (I use Ooma and pay about $4/month for VOIP phone.)
8 year old computer.





purple monkey

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So, I started something new recently.
I went through a neighbor's trash.
Oh, My! Please don't tell my NON-Mustachian husband!

kib

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).
"Roomie, just be glad I'm not peeing out the kitchen window" might do it.  :)

forummm

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I use our pee in the garden. It's great fertilizer. (No really!)

You have ruined me with this comment! Now every time I pee I can't help but feel guilty that this valuable fertilizer is going down the drain (along with a couple gallons of potable water). Not only does pee have nitrogen my plants want, but it is resource intensive to filter out that nitrogen at the water treatment plant. So not only am I wasting it, I'm spending resources to boot. Ahh!! My inner tightwad is screaming!

Any suggestions on urine collection for women? I live with roommates, who would probably look sideways if I just carried a mason jar from the bathroom to the compost bin (conveniently located just outside the kitchen window).

Fortunately, we only have grass that I don't want to grow (because then I have to mow it), so I don't need to fertilize it. And we have a septic tank, so there's no cost for filtration. Still, there's 1.2 gallons of water there, so if it's yellow, let it mellow.

forummm

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I wear my sweats (bottoms) at least twice before I wash them.

Only twice? I wear mine for a month or more. But just to sit around the house--not to work out in. If they actually got dirty I'd wash them.

forummm

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I wear a cheap white t-shirt under the tops. I wash the shirts after one day. I have like 30 of those shirts. I wear them under my dress shirts for work too.

Sailor Sam

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Before nursing school, I had no idea how many people thought that you could lose thing "in" your body, through eyes, vagina, etc, Like contact lenses or feminine hygiene products.... and it's not always a patient.

Game, set, and match, Bracken_Joy! Though, I suppose we could debate the semantics of 'lost' vs 'horrifically suctioned'.

http://thehairpin.com/2014/01/the-best-time-a-diva-cup-suctioned-itself-to-my-cervix/

Bracken_Joy

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Before nursing school, I had no idea how many people thought that you could lose thing "in" your body, through eyes, vagina, etc, Like contact lenses or feminine hygiene products.... and it's not always a patient.

Game, set, and match, Bracken_Joy! Though, I suppose we could debate the semantics of 'lost' vs 'horrifically suctioned'.

http://thehairpin.com/2014/01/the-best-time-a-diva-cup-suctioned-itself-to-my-cervix/

I will indeed debate those semantics. She knew exactly where it was, and it's not like it would migrate into her uterus. Awful situation and medical intervention called for? Yes. Lost into the abyss? Nope.

jengod

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* Use a trap in the kitchen sink to collect crumbs and sludge off dishes and glasses. The slimy little collection is pretty gross to look at, but I empty it out in my worm bin and it's perfect for them.

Do you not use soap or detergent? Or is that ok for the worms too?

Soap and detergent residue doesn't really do any harm to microbes, in fact some say that the soap actually help the soil food web to the stuff you want it to digest, although I'm not sure that's true. :)

Remember, it's the scrubbing, not the soap, that mostly kills bacteria in your environment!

(We don't use antibiotic soap on principle, but even if we did, the ratios would favor worm food anyway. The dish drainer ends up with much more food-particle matter than soap matter.)
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 09:47:56 PM by jengod »

MonkeyJenga

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Two work friends argued strenuously that I should pay for a haircut, even though they liked my cut before I told them I did it myself. They thought that it was somehow crazy and weird. I went through all the reasons I didn't want to: it takes travel and waiting time, it may not even turn out well, I'm learning a skill, etc. "But what about if you want a complicated style?" "I'll live without it." They could not grasp the concept.

Embok

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More basic than many posts here, but I cook virtually all our meals, make stock, render lard for pies, bake our bread, make all desserts (mmmm, homemade ice cream, pudding).  It takes time and organization.  I try different cuisines regularly.  I also have guests over for dinner rather than going out.  A surprising number of folks I know don't cook, and spend a fortune on food that's not nearly as good.

Also, no cable TV.  Rarely watch TV in any format.  Always surprised when people just have electronics blaring nonstop in their homes.

Merrie

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I wear clothes until they feel not so fresh, if there's no visible staining. Wearing sweatpants twice? I would definitely wear them more than that.

I don't find any of the stuff I do objectionable. If it bothered me, I wouldn't do it. I think my husband is a little bothered by the "if it's yellow, let it mellow", though we mostly only do it at night, and he's not a huge fan of the cloth diapers we use sometimes on our son.

BlueHouse

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Old expired medicine.  No problems

MrsStubble

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I wear my sweats (bottoms) at least twice before I wash them.

I find this objectionable.  I wash my sweat pants after like 20 wearings, unless I get them super dirty.  If I am wearing sweat pants though I am most likely just putzing around the house, and I wear underwear, so they don't really get dirty.  No need to wash those sweat pants (or most any pants) very frequently at all.  My jeans do get washed about once a week, but I also ride 70+ mi/wk in them.

Ditto. i was sitting here thinking, "wow, am i really that weird for wearing sweat pants for days and days without washing them?"  My husband and I go by the good ol' sniff test.  If they smell, wash em. otherwise, they're good to go.  (To be fair though, we too wear underwear.... most of the time)

Dicey

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Expiration Dates=Suggestions (at best, lol).

Selah

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I cut up an old fitted flannel sheet that we would never use again (DH says flannel makes him uncomfortably hot at night) and turned it into "pee towels." Now I use them for "number ones," and stick to the old California maxim, "if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down." It's working great and we are saving so much on buying toilet paper!

I get most of our household items (cookware, decorative items, clothing, etc.) from Goodwill. It's a good cause, it keeps stuff out of the landfill, and it's an inexpensive way to have good quality things at a fraction of the price.

We bought our last three cars (sequentially--we became a one-car household nine years ago) on eBay. Not particularly radical, but it scared a number of our friends and family members. All the cars worked out just great for us. Older cars keep the registration fees down, and as time marches, the better old cars become in comparison to the ones that are even older! For example, our current car is 13 years old, but it has power locks and windows, heated seats, auto-adjustable seats with "memory," a CD player, and so on. Hardly a hardship!

We gave up spending money to buy and maintain equipment for hobbies we rarely participate in. In my husband's case, it was golf. Then we got rid of our camping stuff. We did it a few times, and finally DH said, "why are we spending money to go out and pretend we are homeless?" We switched to bowling...much cheaper and a lot more fun!

DagobertDuck

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I drink cheap beer.

forummm

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Expiration Dates=Suggestions (at best, lol).

Definitely. We keep eggs in the fridge for months past expiration. Just cook them and they are fine.

We also eat leftovers for a week or more after they've been cooked. Some people throw out anything that's been in there more than 2 days. Just follow good cooking practices and keep your fridge at 35 degrees.

greengardens

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I make my own household cleaning products such as laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent and bathroom cleaners. I don't do it to save money but rather because I enjoy it, saving money is just a great by-product. People may not find this an "objectionable" way to save money but they tend to find it odd.

flamingo25

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Similar to the pee post, I empty my diva cup into my watering can and water the roses with it. Even my husband is unaware of this.

I bought used cloth diapers.
I make my own laundry detergent
We live in a small-ish house in an older neighborhood


coconutindex

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Biggest thing for me is drying my laundry outside when the weather is nice.  I had a couple neighbors pitch a fit about it when they were selling their house because they saw it as an indicator of being poor and worried how it would look to prospective buyers.

My neighbors were so horrified about my line drying (underwear, flapping in the wind!) that they put up a privacy fence.

I wish I had neighbours like that! Would motivate me to perform new, shocking feats of frugality..

Sailor Sam

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I'm intrigued by the pee towels. Please provide more detail. Is it a similar concept to reusable cloth diaper wipes, i.e. reach for cloth in supply basket --> use  --> chuck in used basket --> wash --> fold --> place in supply basket?

Any special laundry considerations? How did you introduce the idea to the larger household? The folks in casa Sam's use up astounding amounts of toilet paper. I've never been so brash as to suggest cutting back, but maybe I could sidestep the clutch by suggesting an alternative to toilet paper.

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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I'm intrigued by the pee towels. Please provide more detail. Is it a similar concept to reusable cloth diaper wipes, i.e. reach for cloth in supply basket --> use  --> chuck in used basket --> wash --> fold --> place in supply basket?

Any special laundry considerations? How did you introduce the idea to the larger household? The folks in casa Sam's use up astounding amounts of toilet paper. I've never been so brash as to suggest cutting back, but maybe I could sidestep the clutch by suggesting an alternative to toilet paper.

The OP seems to suggest that she is throwing away the sheet with each use--correct me if I'm wrong.

I use mine exactly like cloth diaper wipes and I also use them for small spills, nose wiping, etc. I keep a basket of them on the kitchen counter and just grab one on my way to the toilet. Then I toss it in the bodily fluids basket next to the toilet, which generally also contains things that Little Brother has peed on and Big Brother's hashmarked undies. These items are set aside for going through a rinse cycle before the regular wash. (I usually rinse cold and wash warm or hot, but if I am planning a cold load, then I will do a hot rinse instead.)

I am the only lady in my family, so I was the #1 consumer of TP and had no need to sell others on it.

jengod

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"Family cloth" explained on Extreme Cheapskates:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olWArpqK3F0

Nannooskeeska

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I wish I had something to share but I'm just not far enough into the frugality mindset to do anything too weird... My roommates and I all leave the toilet unflushed unless we poop, so there's that, but that's pretty much it!

I'm loving all these other posts though, keep em comin'!