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I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth (Read 8697 times)
Rat Man
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I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Feb 20th, 2019 at 2:23pm
 
    My parents were raised during The Depression.  It stayed with them their entire lives and much of it rubbed off on me. 
    I am obsessive about wasting things.  I will use the same oil four or five times to fry food in. In the Winter I will plug my tub and keep the shower water there until it's cold so I don't waste the energy it took to heat it.  If you are in my house and you leave a room you'd better turn the light off or you'll hear about it.  I even go around other peoples' houses turning their lights off. The same with ceiling fans.  There is absolutely no reason for a fan to be running in a room with no one in it.  Or a TV. I will only throw away leftovers if they're rotten.  I never throw bones away... they're used for stock. After twenty four hours slow boiling in the crock pot the stock bones become soft so I use them as dog treats. I won't even throw the seeds away from vegetables I've cleaned. If I can't eat them myself the birds and Tree Rats can. 
     The only new furniture I've ever bought in my life was a kitchen table and chair set I bought about thirty five years ago which I still have.  All the rest of the furniture I've had IN MY ENTIRE LIFE has either been handed down or trash picked.
    Speaking of trash picking, I have no qualms whatsoever about going through my neighbors' trash.  My late wife Marie was horrified when our daughter Kate started trash picking with me.  It's not something I do every week but if I notice something I can use in someone's trash I'll claim it without hesitation.
    I won't throw the tiny ends of my bars of soap away.  I stuff them in a scrubber and use them to wash dishes with.
    I keep my house at sixty degrees Fahrenheit in the Winter.  In the summer the air conditioner goes no colder than seventy five.
     I still have my very first bicycle that I got when I was five, almost sixty years ago.  I finally had to get rid of my Suzuki Samurai after twenty six years.  It needed a rebuild and I don't have the tools or expertise to do it.  Of my remaining cars one is my late wife's, a Suzuki Grand Vitara, which is fifteen years old.  The other was left to me by my parents.  It's a twenty eight years old Ford Escort Wagon. 
     I hate buying clothes for myself and will only do so when my old clothes are literally falling apart.
     Roomie Mike and his two lovely daughters love to hold the door open and talk to people on the other side.  I have no desire to heat or cool the great outdoors so I'll tell them "That door is my wallet. As you hold it open dollar bills are flowing out and evaporating." 
     Running hot water down the drain for no reason will drive me insane. When Chrissie was living with me she was a chronic hot water waster.  We actually had some pretty big fights over it. "I paid for that water and the energy to heat it."
     I know there are a few other things that I can't recall at the moment that I will  mention later. So what do you do that's cheap as hell?
Edit:  These things individually might seem ridiculous but if you can get in the habit of being frugal all the time in a year it can amount to some real savings.

Edit:  In the Summer I will only turn on the air conditioner if the inside temperature goes up to ninety degrees Fahrenheit.  Otherwise fans will suffice.
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« Last Edit: Feb 20th, 2020 at 12:06pm by Rat Man »  
 
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Kick
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #1 - Feb 21st, 2019 at 11:25am
 
I was brought up by parents that were brought up by people wo lived through the Blitz. As such I have inherited a lot of the same things you have. One thing I can't stand, that actually makes me angry, is food waste. Some of the most depressing days of my life were when I was working as a dish washer in a cafe attached to a garden centre (I say cafe, but they did aa cooked English breakfast and things like soup for unch and stuf like that). One of the worst times for food waste was one time that someone set the oven to it's deep clean wash cycle instead of simply turnng it on. About 3 trays of sauages and 2 trays of bacon got doused in industrial strength oven cleaner. All in the bin. The second time was when a kid threw up near the counter with all the cakes on it. The manager decided that the kid had been sick too close and didn't want to risk it. A large double decker chocolate cake, a large carrot cake and a Victoria sponge cake went straight in the bin. I almost cried. Now with those cases the food was actually inedible (or according to the manager it was...) but it was even more aggravating when food would be left over from the breakfast or there was a few slices of cake left unsold that were maybe a teensy bit dry. Perfectly fine, good quality food and we were usually told to chuck it. Just to really rub salt in the wound, the officially policy was that if the workers wanted to have it, we had to pay for it. Food that was destined for the bin anyway. Needless to say, I didn't stay long and the general morale of people working there was in the bin along with the perfectly edible cakes...

But back to the main point of your post, I don't see anything you described as being cheap. There's a big difference between cheap and not wasteful. I don't think I'm old enough to count as an old man yet, but KID'S THESE DAYS ARE TOO WASTEFUL! AND THEY SHOULD GET OFF MY LAWN!
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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walter
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #2 - Feb 21st, 2019 at 11:42am
 
My folks also lived through the GD. but I am not sure that is why they were so conservative. That is what I call it. "Waste not; want not" and all that. We were country people. Had our own wells. One for the house and one for the barn, yet we were very conservative with it. I was in the army when I found out some people turn on the tap and let it run while they brush their teeth!
Shutting off lights and closing doors is just common sense, but I noticed early on that a lot of people were absent the day it was passed down to us.  Wink
We also try not to drive a couple days a week, save the cleaner half sheets of paper towels to wipe down the kitchen floor and buy food in bulk.
Some people might be offended if I went around their house shutting off lights and closing doors Huh If someone did that here, I would say, Thanks Smiley
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Rat Man
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #3 - Feb 21st, 2019 at 12:43pm
 
    Although I have a dryer I still hang clothes on the line when ever it's possible.  Not only do I save on energy bills but line dried clothes smell much better.
    I'm with you on the food wasting, Kick.  As children when ever we didn't clean our plates, which wasn't often, Mom would conjure up visions of STARVING ARMENIANS!!!!  At the time we didn't know who the Armenians were or why they were starving but to this day my sibs and I have visions of them burned into our brains.  Seriously, with 3/4 of the world's population malnourished or starving if anything can be considered a sin it's wasting food. It makes me angry too.
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Kick
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #4 - Feb 21st, 2019 at 1:05pm
 
walter wrote on Feb 21st, 2019 at 11:42am:
I was in the army when I found out some people turn on the tap and let it run while they brush their teeth!


This gives me anxiety. No joke. I have to step in and turn it off. Leaving taps running is just... No.
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #5 - Feb 23rd, 2019 at 4:50pm
 
I'm going in to the sustainability field, and these are all things which would have a huge impact if they were adopted more widely. They save not just money for the person doing them, but a lot of resources, and allow a larger number of people to live on the same capacity grid. That last one is going to become ever more important as time goes on and the population increases.

I'll be adopting the drain-plug idea to hold the heat from shower water. That's extremely clever, and I'd never thought of it!

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Bill Skinner
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #6 - Feb 24th, 2019 at 2:16pm
 
I have a garden, it's on the small size compared to my mother's.  And I don't can everything as soon as it gets ripe.  I do pick it and eat it.  I used to freeze a lot of stuff from the garden until lightening hit my shed where the freezer was.

No television.  No cell phone or I Pad.  I don't get reception out here, anyways. Lights stay off.  I wear a sweater or sweatshirt in the house in the winter.  And put another blanket on the bed.  One window air conditioning unit, I use fans to circulate the air.  I do keep them on, otherwise the house turns into an oven.  The AC is only on when I'm inside, usually at night.
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Rat Man
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #7 - Feb 26th, 2019 at 10:37am
 
woodssj wrote on Feb 23rd, 2019 at 4:50pm:
I'll be adopting the drain-plug idea to hold the heat from shower water. That's extremely clever, and I'd never thought of it!



     An old friend told me about plugging the hot water to save energy.  At the time I thought it was eccentrically cheap, even for me. Then I thought about it. I learned in physics that it takes a lot of energy to heat water and once heated that water likes to hold on to its energy.  The more I thought about it the more sense it made.  I've been  doing it for over thirty  years. Not only does it add a small amount of heat to your home but it also humidifies the dry Winter indoor air.
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #8 - Feb 28th, 2019 at 10:24am
 
Specific Latent Heat and Specific Heat Capacity! I picked up something at least from those high school physics lessons Cheesy
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Dan
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #9 - Mar 1st, 2019 at 6:26pm
 
I think it makes sense that the group of folks who make a significant hobby out of throwing rocks with a bit of string to also be on the financially hesitant side haha.

I also hardly ever buy clothes for myself and I don't think I'll ever get a new phone or laptop until they catastrophically fail. However, I will definitely pay for an adventure or something that can enable adventure. I'll spend a couple hundred on a climbing rope so my wife and I can rock climb in the desert or a plane ticket or tank of gas to experience somewhere new.

Just depends what is worth more in life to you I suppose.
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perpetualstudent
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #10 - Mar 4th, 2019 at 8:55am
 
My Dad is an engineer and I remember lots of lectures about saving the water from baths in the winter. It's amazing how much paying the utilities changes your outlook.

Cooking the same way. The USDA has a budget for food (https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodJan2018.pdf) with "thrifty", "moderate" and "liberal" options and my family is well under what they consider "thrifty". And we eat just fine, our diet is balanced and we're all well fed (too well in my case, I need to lose about 10 pounds). We shop the sales and use the crock pot and cook from scratch. It makes a big difference.

And I think Dan is right. The point is to save money for what you actually want. But you have to take care of needs first. Younger folks tend to forget that includes saving for retirement.
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"Facts stand wholly outside our gates; they are what they are, and no more;they know nothing about themselves and they pass no judgement upon themselves. What is it, then, that pronounces the judgement? Our own guide and ruler, Reason."
 
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #11 - Mar 6th, 2019 at 9:58am
 
perpetualstudent wrote on Mar 4th, 2019 at 8:55am:
And I think Dan is right. The point is to save money for what you actually want. But you have to take care of needs first. Younger folks tend to forget that includes saving for retirement.


One sad thing about this I think is that a lot of people aren't saving because of apathy. The 24/7 news and instant access to all the horrors in the world on the internet have made a lot of people pessimists. Why bother saving when you feel like there won't be anything to save for Sad
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You are a great guy Kick but also slightly scary at times. - Morphy
"Nothing matters, but it’s perhaps more comfortable to keep calm and not interfere with other people." - H.P. Lovecraft, in a letter to Frank Belknap Long, 7 October, 1923
 
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #12 - Mar 6th, 2019 at 10:09am
 
There’s a big difference between cheap and frugal. I don’t believe in being wasteful, and that’s why as I get older I find myself preferring quality over low prices if I can’t have both. I’d rather buy something nice once than keep buying the cheap one that’s going to break.
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“My final hour is at hand. We face an enemy more numerous and cunning than the world has yet seen. Remember your training, and do not fear the hordes of Judas. I, without sin, shall cast the first stone. That will be your sign to attack! But you shall not fight this unholy enemy with stones. No! RAZOR GLANDES!  Aim for the eyes! May the Lord have mercy, for we shall show none!“  -Jesus the Noodler
 
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perpetualstudent
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #13 - Mar 6th, 2019 at 3:42pm
 
The "buy once, cry once" philosophy also the "cheap costs, again and again and again".

Frugality is an unsung virtue these days. And when you do actually buy quality? OH it can be so nice. I finally got sick enough of the pens that we've accrued over the years from I don't even know where that I bought midgrade new pens. And it's been a delight. No scribbling to see if there's anything in there, no "why are we keeping this pen if it's dead?". Just pull the pen from it's cup and write.
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"Facts stand wholly outside our gates; they are what they are, and no more;they know nothing about themselves and they pass no judgement upon themselves. What is it, then, that pronounces the judgement? Our own guide and ruler, Reason."
 
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Rat Man
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Re: I Am the 947th Cheapest Person On Earth
Reply #14 - Mar 7th, 2019 at 2:29pm
 
   One of my banks and my Radiology office give away free pens so I never buy them.  The ones from South Jersey Radiology are actually of a pretty good quality.  But I do understand about once in a while buying quality just because it's nice and it lasts.
   I lived in the barracks almost my whole time in the army.  Every day someone would accidentally leave their soap or shampoo in the shower.  My whole time in the service I never once bought shampoo or soap.  Of course I couldn't be particular about brands but who cares if it's free.   
   I have found or trash picked coolers that people threw away or left simply because they were trashed.  Something gross and rotten was inside and they couldn't be bothered to clean it.  I scrubbed, bleached, or what ever it took and have ended up with some pretty good coolers that way.
       I found soggy pair of boots that were in my size, muddy and soaked that someone didn't feel like cleaning and just left. I took them home, saddle soaped, dried,  and oiled them and they were as good as new. I don't remember the brand but they were pretty good boots.  I had them for years.
    It often amazes me what people throw away.
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