Frugal Friday: Frugal Fun!
Instead of my usual frugal fare this week, I'm posting a fun little list that my husband found for me on the You Know You Are a Dave Ramsey Fan If... Facebook group. Since I know not everyone here is a Dave Ramsey-junkie like us, I re-did the list a bit to make it more universally understood by us frugal zealots (though, being a "Dave Ramsey-junkie" and a "Frugal Zealot" should probably be synonymous!). So, here, in no particular order, is the You May Be Too Frugal If... list. Enjoy!You May Be Too Frugal If...
...the value of your car doubles every time you fill the gas tank!
...you buy a soda and immediately start calculating how much money you would have in 30 years if you had put that $1.00 into a Roth IRA.
...you scrape the soap scum off of the side of your tub to make a "new" bar.
...you think "I wonder if there's a way to reuse toilet paper."
...you do a cost per pound analysis on the tomatoes from your garden.
...you've filled up on leftover Hamburger Helper before going out with friends and only ordering iced tea.
...you clip coupons for $0.25 off at the $1.75 cleaners!
...you rinse out a paper towel and lay it on the counter to dry for use again later.
...you see furniture on the side of the road and you realize it's in better shape than your own.
...you price compare thrift shops for the best bargain.
...you enter a store and see no clearance racks and immediately walk out.
...your sons ask for a ROTH IRA for Christmas.
...you can spend less than $3 dollars at Wendy's and feed two people.
...you are eating off a card table because you would rather put your money toward a fully-funded emergency fund.
...you have a panic attack when you see someone spend money on toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant or aspirin.
...you catch yourself saying "what a rip-off" because a sale is only 75% off.
...after breaking your little toe, you ask your husband, (while crying from the pain) to check with the Urgent Care Center to see if they are cheaper than the emergency room at the hospital.
...you take off the labels off tin cans and use them for writing paper to save money.
...you cut off your hair to save on shampoo and conditioner.
Come on, 'fess up, have any of you done any of these? And I'd love to hear your own additions to this list. Maybe someone else could write up a You May Be Addicted to CVS Shopping If... list. Or how about a You May Use Too Many Coupons If... list?
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Join in Frugal Friday! Have a frugal tip or idea to share with the blogosphere? Post about it on your blog and then come back here and leave your link below. Remember to keep it family-friendly and to link directly to your post, not your blog home page. Have fun!
Labels: Budgeting and Finances, Frugal Friday, Just for Fun
posted by Crystal Paine at 5:04 PM
44 Comments:
I am sooo guilty (and more than just a couple of them)! I won't admit where half of my furniture has come from. ;)
I love Dave!!!! Anyway, I am laughing my brains out, those were so funny!!! Thanks for the chuckle!!
Ha! I'm not into DR at all, but I get where he's coming from. I've had a Roth since I was 18! We don't have any really bad-looking furniture (well, now that we finally got a couch that doesn't fall apart when someone sits down wrong) but a lot of it was dumpster-dived.
I'd have to add for me that you know you're too frugal when you work in the mortgage industry yet are always advising people to NOT buy a home. It always gets my goat that "the amount you qualify for" and "the amount you can afford" are somehow presented as synonymous... don't fall for it folks!
I'd add to this list "You know you're too frugal when you make a detailed map of all of your favorite Dumpsters, including the best times to hit them." Or "...you've memorized your neighborhood's trash pickup schedule so that you can get the best rummaging done." Seriously, I need to write a post on this. There's a gold mine in every alley.
DH and I got a kick out of your list, Crystal! We're sort of new at this really frugal business, but we've been reading Dave Ramsey for a while, so much of this struck a chord. Thanks for hosting Frugal Fridays!
Well, I have eaten leftovers or fed them to my boys before going out to lunch so to spend less, i would probably clip the coupon for the cleaners if i ever used a cleaners because .25 is .25! I would walk out of a store if there are no sales or clearance, but some of those are just funny!
The dumpster one may be you are too poor if you are dumpster diving for things like food in the packages.....at the time it did not seem like a bad idea!
I've done those too! Ha! Too funny.
I guess you wouldn't consider me frugal then - I wouldn't do most of these things. Most of them come off more as cheap to me than frugal. I'm all about saving money and not being foolish, but seriously, some of them are just over the top cheap. Why go out to lunch at all if you are trying to fill up before you go? Just skip it. I love reading your blog and get a lot out of the great tips like CVS shopping though.
Crystal, I was inspired by your suggestion and made a funny post on my blog called "You may be addicted to CVS if..."
I love Dave Ramsey. He is on the TV right now as I type this!!
Sonyia: These were purposely supposed to be "over the top" - it was supposed to be humorous. :) That's why I called it, "You might be TOO frugal if..." as in, you've taken this frugality thing a little too far. :)
Though I'm sure there's someone out there who has done some (or all!) of these. And I've been guilty of the price-comparing at thrift stores and garage sales and a few other things on the list. But I PROMISE we're not planning to scrape soap scum up and reuse it. :) There are limits to my frugality, believe me. :)
Just thought I should clarify!
Very funny! I can't think of any of these that I've tried and we thought of another.
You are a DR fan if you make seafood chowder out of ramen noodle soup (shrimp flavor, of course) and oyster crackers!
Too funny... and yes, I am guilty of several of these "cheapskate" habits!! We are Dave Ramsey fans too... beans and rice, folks!!
You may be frugal if... you can look around your house and can picture in your mind the garage sale you got each item (the $5.00 new in package king size sheets -300 thread count!!- the great kids clothes for pennies on the dollar, the exact replacement parts for your food processor) and your heart starts racing from the thrill of it all!! Thanks for the encouragement to keep on the frugal path! Sheri
I have done more of these than I really feel comfortable admitting. We do not have CVS or Walgreen's in Canada and I really try hard not to feel jealous sometimes.
When my husband was in seminary in Texas we routinely walked the garbage route to see what had been thrown out and if we could not use it we would sell it in a garage sale.
Thanks for a good chuckle!
Oh my! Those were too funny! Have you really done any of those things??
I've never read/heard anything by Dave Ramsey ~~ducking~~ which book do you recommend for a newbie?
Love it! We are ALL about Dave Ramsey in this house. Huge fans!
I think the furniture on the side of the road thing is us. One time my MIL went running, and she called us to let us know about a couch on the side of the road. We went down there asap, and sure enough - there was our "new" couch. She's been known to run back home with chairs, tables, etc. on her back, and she manages to do amazing things with them.
As a nurse I can tell you........break your little toe?? The hospital won't do anything for you, so SAVE YOURSELF THE TRIP!!
Too funny! :)
Where I think it's getting funny is to now watch our boys, ages 13 and 10 -- they are so frugal. Well, actually they do like to spend money, but they are not into having all this 'new' stuff. I have to tell a funny story:
Before we moved here, we lived in a nice neighborhood where everyone (but us! LOL) had these perfectly manicured lawns, etc. Nice neighborhood. Well, our neighbors across the street were preparing for their child's graduation, so they were getting rid of a lot of stuff and put stuff on the curb for garage day the next day. OH MY -- my boys were in heaven! LOL
They were outside playing and all of a sudden come in SO EXCITED with all these new treasures.....FROM THE CURB OF OUR NEIGHBORS HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET! LOL They couldn't believe all that 'God had blessed us with'! They'd even found an OLD metal flag to stand in our ground out front.
I was mortified! LOL I mean, dh loves to watch the sides of the roads in certain neighborhoods because 'ya' just never know what might be out there for us to use' that others are getting rid of. LOL And, I think our kids have picked up on that. BUT....you don't go get the flag that was in your neighbor's yard ACROSS THE STREET and pick it up out of their 'to throw away pile' and bring it across the street and put it in our yard for them to look at! LOL
Dh and I got a really good laugh out of that -- they were so proud of themselves and said, "one man's junk is another man's treasure"! LOL
Debi
My van probably gets an actual value when I fill it up too since it takes about $60.00 to fill it up!! Thanks Crystal!
Some of those were quite familiar but I had to laugh at
...you have a panic attack when you see someone spend money on toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, deodorant or aspirin.
I actually stopped a friend of mine who was going to buy a tube of tooth paste full price. I was horrified and wanted her to come home with me first where I could at least give her a coupon for a dollar off! lol ...she thinks I need help.
Crystal, these were great! Thanks for the "Too Frugal" list. :)
I posted my very first post for Frugal Fridays from last week. It has "11 ways I saved (over) $100 in 2007." I think one of them may qualify to be included in your too frugal list. :)
Whenever I go to our bank to cash a check or make a transaction I pick up a free Tazo tea bag from the Starbucks coffee table. Our bank provides complimentary Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea for their customers. I finally figured out that rather than making tea right then with the hot water they provide, I would just take the single tea bag I would use and save it for later. I have accumulated quite a collection of tea bags doing this. To me it is the same thing as if I got tea while I was there except I am just taking the tea bag. I am even saving them a cup! Does that sound too frugal?
Check out more saving/frugal ideas from my blog!
Kelly here from Unschooling @ Sage Manor!! And I too, love Dave's wisdom!! I posted on Frugality and what it means to our family. Our take on being frugal is alittle different, yet it all adds up...equaling more "freedom"!! woohoo!! Thanks for inspiration!
www.homeschoolblogger.com/sagemanor
Blessings!!
Kelly
My friend and I often see strangers buying things at Target, Wal-Mart, etc... that we just got for free at CVS and we want to run up and tell them to STOP!! I have actually told strangers that they could get a better deal somewhere else or "there's a coupon for that in the front of the store".
Love the list!!
That's pretty funny because there were quite a few things on that list that I have done/thought before. (ie. I wonder if I could reuse/figure out cloth toilet paper)...gross... I haven't considered myself to be a overly frugal, but maybe I am headed in that direction...hmm :)
Here I am!
you clip coupons for $0.25 off at the $1.75 cleaners!
you enter a store and see no clearance racks and immediately walk out.
...after breaking your little toe, you ask your husband, (while crying from the pain) to check with the Urgent Care Center to see if they are cheaper than the emergency room at the hospital.
Reminds when the Tightwad Gazette was in the heyday and always in the news,she was laughed at because of the many ways to reuse dryer lint.Outside of making fire starters for Scouts I just throw mine away.
Since we are in area with severe drought we buy bottled water.When we don't know who last drank out of the bottle and there is still water left,we mark the water as Snip Water and give it to our cat Snip.My son says when he gets older he is starting his own water company and calling it Snip Water.Buying your own water to drink may not sound frugal to many but since we are down to less then 90 days of water where we live it is better to buy some water so we can have the extra for laundry,dishes and fire emergencies.
Too funny, true as well. But, please don't laugh about finding good furniture or other items at the dumpster or side of the road. I have seen real antiques, money, (yes money), gold jewelry,clean clothing just washed and folded neatly in a garbage bag, clothing with tags, and much more in dumpsters.
Something interesting to note about dumpsters is.When there is one good item there usually are more, most people who waster usually waste a lot. If they are willing to throw out one good item, most likely they have thrown out more good items to go along with it.
I always enjoy reading the different blogs on Frugal Fridays! Thanks so much for hosting it!
I don't know if mine posted or not, but I enjoyed laughing at your list!
Sorry, Crystal. It did link- twice. Feel free to delete either one.
Oh and why go out to lunch with friends if you are not hungry? For fellowship of course!
I can relate on so many levels, especially thrifting. I think the $5 jeans are too much!
This is a copy from someone else's blog that I read month's ago. I have no idea who to give the credit to, but it is too funny not to share. We ourselves are Dave Ramsey junkies as well.
From the children of Dave Ramsey junkies:
Top 10 Ways We Could Tell Dad and Mom Were Trying To Get Out Of Debt
1. Every time we overheard mom talking to a friend the conversation always included the words, Dave Ramsey, debt and emergency fund.
2. When they made us go to bed at 7:30 to save on electricity.
3. When mom broke her chewing gum in half to make it last longer.
4. When we caught them looking in e-bay to see how much kids are going for now days.
5. When we had to learn to hide our games and toys so they wouldn’t sell them.
6. When our food pyramid suddenly consisted of two food groups, rice and beans.
7. When our youngest brother started screaming at the top of his lungs, “I’m debt free!!!”
8. When Mom cashed in the pop cans to go out to lunch with her friends.
9. When mom bought gas four dollars at a time.
10. When we didn’t want to play Monopoly with Mom because she had to use her Deluxe Envelope System.
What??? (Unfrugal) People spend more than $3 at Wendy's for two? That's nuts! :)
Um, would the 21 boxes of Hamburger Helper that I bought yesterday count here somewhere?? Hey, they were only $0.33 a box with triple coupons! ;-)
Ok the list really made me laugh! But for all of you who "dumpster dive" where do you live? I am pretty sure, or have been told, that was illegal in CA? Anyone know for sure??
I got a chuckle out of this list! I probably do a few things on the list, but since my dad and husband are furniture builders, we always get custom-made freebies (lodgepole style)! I would also NEVER do the soap scum thing or the reusable toliet paper thing!
I will admit to digging something out of our apartment garbages. I had gotten a plastic baby cradle at the thrift store for my daughter but after she tired of it and we no longer had the space, I gave it to one of the neighbor girls. Her family is TERRIBLE about wasting! They love to spend money at the thrift store almost every single day but then they just round up toys and clothes and throw them in the garbage and don't donate back to the thrift store. So, when I found this really nice plastic cradle I HAD GIVEN THEM in the dumpster one day, I hauled it out, cleaned it off and sold it at my yard sale the next day! The funny thing was that they CAME to the yard sale and totally saw the cradle and recognized that I had hauled it out of the dumpster! I was slightly embarrassed but hey, I made $2 off of it! Another friend of mine with daughters who lives across town bought it! I couldn't bring myself to tell her "where" it had been!
HI Crystal... this may sound weird, but a whiole ago you had a post about a couple who met through the comments on your blog, and were now getting married. How are they going, do you know?
I just went to CVS this morning and got my ExtraCare card. I saved $18.14 and received $5 in Extra Bucks! Thanks for the CVS tips!
The last one made me laugh! Last March I shaved my head to help raise $$$ for leukaemia research. (I'm a secondary teacher, and I knew that the kids would give more if a female was doing it.) I really like dthe look of it, so I've kept my hair clippered short ever since. Not to save money on shampoo, but I have to admit that the thought of how much shampoo I now no longer use has crossed my mind from time to time...
Uh...yeah. I was trying to find one of the things on the list that I don't do!!! Hee hee! Good list, though!
Ohhh hahahaha... that was FUN to read!
We LOVE Dave Ramsey!!! LOL
thank you for this!
There is a way to "reuse" toilet paper. It's called family cloth, and it is soooo much better than paper. Once you make them, it's free and you never run out. Email me if you want all the details...I suspect you don't really! heheinxmhxax
Yes, I see us in several of these, but the most recent was the Urgent Care vs. emergency room discussion ... And I decided to wait an extra 2 weeks to see a specialist instead because it wouldn't cost us anything compared to the $250 for either Urgent or emergency care (dumb insurance plan - don't ask). We just didn't feel like giving the beginnings of our emergency (and only savings) fund to the hospital! :)
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