I admit it.

I have seen frugal and I am not it.

Oh, I do things to save money. Some of them even work. I don't know how cost effective they are, though.

Example:
Everyone in our family except for Alyssa uses the same shampoo.

I buy a large pump bottle of it now and then. If you're familiar with pump bottles, you know the last half inch or so doesn't pump. So I break out the new one.

What I should do is turn the old one upside down into a funnel and pour it into the new one. And eventually I do. After six or eight bottles with a half inch of shampoo accumulate on the bathroom counter or  in the cupboard under the sink or in the hallway closet.

I spend an hour or so on an occasional weekend afternoon upending one after the other into a funnel and into one bottle. Did it last Saturday, in fact. Ended up with a bottle that's more than half full and stuck it under the bathroom sink. Rinsed and recycled the bottles.

Was the hour worth it? A bottle of shampoo is about five dollars. I didn't have to stand over the sink and babysit the process. Actual working time was probably a total of five minutes. Which averages out to a dollar a minute.

::shrug::

Let's see. How else do I save money?

I buy the cheapest per pound or ounce size of whatever product it is. A 16 oz box of cereal vs the 32 oz package... 16 oz for $2.99, 32 oz for $3.50. Obviously the larger box is a better deal, although I'm spending 51 cents more up front, I'm saving.

I don't worry about brand names on some items. Ketchup, for example. On the other hand, I prefer to have certain brands of other things.

I buy 99% of my clothing at Goodwill. Even when I didn't know about shopping at thrift stores, I wasn't label conscious. I don't like my body being used as a billboard for products, and the only people I'd impress with certain brands would be the bubbleheaded sort who find that sort of stuff important.

But I was looking for a white zippered hooded sweatshirt to dye recently. I have learned a couple new techniques/designs through messing around and wanted to try something specific.

I didn't find the sweatshirt I wanted at Goodwill. I didn't find it at Dharma Trading, either. I found one at Sprawlmart, but it was 50% polyester. That won't dye properly, and polyester makes me sweaty when I wear it. Not a bargain.

I finally found a 90% cotton one at Amazon. It was $32.00. Which is a lot. But I will wear the hell out of it. Unless I really ruin it with the dye process.

That's NOT frugal. I don't need the jacket. I have a lot of them. But I really, really wanted to try this idea.

I figure that I have saved so much buying my clothing at Goodwill that I've more than saved the amount it took me to buy the jacket. Which of course is rationalization, but what the hell.

:)

We buy bottled water. Yeah, I know. It's just tap water from somewhere. The bottles are a wasteful thing. It's not cheap. However. The shit that comes out of the tap where I live smells and tastes like a swimming pool. We have a filtration pitcher, but it doesn't do shit for the chlorine smell or taste. The school I work in is ancient. They have an ancient water system. And the water that comes out of the drinking fountains tastes and smells nasty. Oh, and then there's the yuck factor... ever watch kids drink from a fountain? So I take a case of water to work and store it in the back room so I won't get dehydrated. Eric takes it to work with him for the same reason.

I DO recycle the bottles. And I feel bad about buying them, but I won't drink the crap we get from the local tap.

I go to Goodwill first for most things. Clothing, furniture, dishes, towels, sporting goods, toys and games for work, lamps and light fixtures and office supplies and crafty materials... we've done the Goodwill Tour 2011 here already, so you know about my addiction.

We do drive a large, inefficient vehicle. But it's paid for. The insurance is very inexpensive. Even with the poor mileage, it still costs us about 250 a month to drive. Cheaper than a car payment, higher insurance premiums etc. Better for our bottom line.
And I'm still way greener than Algore, the guy who's the poster boy for greenest of the green. You've heard of him, right? Nine or eleven or whatever mansions... a huge houseboat manufactured in a different country, a fleet of private jets that he uses to travel around the world to lecture everyone about being green and caring for the planet. I'd be willing to bet just about anything that Al does NOT buy anything at Goodwill. I'll bet there is nothing in his closet that cost less than 500 bucks.

We have cable. The internet. Netflix. Several computers. This and that. Things we don't need. Definitely some luxury items, but not many of them. No expensive hobbies. Almost never take a vacation.

So I refuse to feel guilty over the few things I'm doing 'wrong'.

If we suddenly were faced with having to give up 'luxuries' there would definitely be things we could cut, but I don't know how much we'd really save.

So I guess I'm not frugal. Cheap on occasion would be a better description, I think.