How Cheap Are You?

When I was cleaning house last week, I learned that I'm pretty cheap. I'm not a pack rat, really, but I have trouble throwing some things away, since you never know when you might need them.

-safety pins from the dry cleaners. They're nice and big and every year we have Red Ribbon week at school, and they're perfect for pinning the ribbons on the kids. Never mind that it takes me a year to collect enough, when it would cost, what, a dollar and a half to buy some?

- any plastic container that seals. Forget Glad (though I have some of those, too.) The Country Crock container is perfect for taking leftovers to school

- cups from restaurants, the big plastic ones with the name of the restaurant. I don't even like drinking from plastic cups, but hey, they're proof you've BEEN to the restaurant

- bread ties. I have never ever found a use for these outside what they're designed for. Still, I keep them.

- jars. No idea why.

- plastic cutlery

- bags from the grocery store. I have a tube to keep these in, and use them to take my lunch (even though I have a very cool lunchbox from Cafe Press) and occasionally use them to clean the litter.

What do you save, and why?

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9 comments:

Dana Pollard said...

I'm too cheap to buy hangers, so yes, I have the ugly wire hangers you get from the cleaners. At least they say Comet on them, which makes them designer wire hangers! hehe

And I'm with you on the Country Crock bowls. We have a ton of them!

Unknown said...

I'm the same way! I have everything tucked away somewhere. I need to clean house and just start tossing. Everything except my pens.

Anonymous said...

I am half Irish and half German. The Irish side says, "Live and be happy, let go of all this stuff and be free!" The German side says, "Are you nuts? Waste is a sin! What if you need this stuff someday? Then you will not have it, you will have to go buy it new, and that would be bad!" The eternal genetic push and pull. I let each half rule in equal shares. So half of my mess in the house is clean at any single time, the other half is pack rat heaven.

LOL Love you, Mar.

Hugs,
J

Anonymous said...

I save bags, until there are too many to fit in the drawer. I also save small plastic bottles from Coke - but I try not to use them too much. And I used to save mags, especially my fav ones. When you re-read articles and stories you read as a teen, they produce an absolutely different impression, you know?

MJFredrick said...

I save the hangars, too - perfect for my son's millions of t-shirts, all black. And I save pens.

Why do you save the Coke bottles, Olga? I save magazines, too, but usually for art projects with my kids.

Shesawriter said...

I am as cheap as they come. I shop at the dollar store and I only buy things on sale. Why? I dunno. Like I said, I'm cheap. :-) Saving money is an obsession with me.

Tanya

MJFredrick said...

Why, oh why, can't saving money be an obsession for me???

Trish Milburn said...

Okay, I don't view it as "cheap". It's just being "frugal". There's a difference. :)

Safety pins -- for pinning curtains in hotels together when they don't completely shut.

plastic grocery bags -- for the small trash cans throughout the house.

bread ties -- tying together bags of frozen food when I only use half the bag at a time; used them to tie my Christmas lights together so they won't tangle

I keep scrap paper for notes.

MJFredrick said...

Ohhh, paper - I forgot about that. I print everything on the back of old contest entries, and if I could find a use for DVD/CD spindles, I'd use those, too.

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I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
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