[JeanLynn81]

I'm not as frugal as some of you, but more so than all of my friends and family. I flip out when my mom buys any of the following items:

~paper plates
~paper towels
~expensive cleaning products like Pledge and Windex
~wrapping paper

Anybody else flip out over non-frugal household items? Can we get a good list going of non-frugal things that make us cringe?

[mcmama]

These can actually be frugal items. Check out the deals section to find how people get these for next to nothing, or are actually paid to take them away.

By combining coupons (sometimes they double or triple) with manufacturers rebates, or store rebate programs like the CVS extra care bucks (ECBs) you can actually be paid to take it away.

There aren't many deals on wrapping paper, but if you wait and buy it at CVS with your ECBs, it is free. Also, I usually buy mine at tag sales or at sidewalk sales. July sidewalk sales are a good time to get Christmas cards and wrapping paper.

Of course, I always get the weird cards no one bought. Then the people I send them to say "Where on earth did you find that....?"

My two favorite "bad" Christmas cards which I bought at sidewalk sales for next to nothing are these:
1. The one that features Bob Marley smoking over Ebeneezer Scrooge's bed, with those bedcurtains drawn behind him. The caption is "Scrooge is visited by Marley's Ghost".
2. The one with the cowboy cat riding the top of the Christmas tree. The caption is "Midnight at the Holiday Cat Rodeo".

Bought these for under a dollar.

[MissyChrissy]

I think she meant that they're high dollar items, when you can use old clothes as rags instead of paper towels, vinegar and water for cleaning instead of pledge, and newspaper or colored construction paper the kiddies drew on for wrapping paper.

Paper plates and towels and eating utensils drive me bonkers because they're ruining the planet...not only are they filling up land fill sites, but they're polluting the air by simply being manufactured. If we didn't buy them, they wouldn't manufacture more. I reuse my plastic grocery bags, and buy "real" coffee cups. They should outlaw Styrofoam altogether-perhaps our cost of a cup of coffee would drop some if they didn't have to supply everyone with a cup as well

I hate when people use high mileage as an excuse to buy a new car. That's ridiculous. Take it to the shop. I have 100,000 in my van, 210,000 on my car, and dh's truck has 300,000 on them. Mileage is NOT an excuse to buy a new car. It's cheaper to fix it (without car payments) and keep driving it.

Hm...I know there are more that bug me...I'll probably be back. Being frugal also saves the environment-that's what I'm all about.

Oh-and computers and cameras. Mine were over 6 years old before I bought newer ones. My replacement computer is used even. People don't "need" new computers every 1-2 years. That's stupid.

[mcmama]

I don't use paper plates a lot - but when you have a big party in a small space, they are very useful.

As for the paper towels, I could not have run a daycare without them. They really make a difference in the handwashing.

I hear you about the high mileage - 130000 on my car and climbing. Various parts are at the end of their life with that car, making replacement more cost effective than repair. And when I do replace it - no SUV for me, thanks, and I always buy used.

You will need a new computer depending on your use of it. If you are just doing basic internet and word processing, keeping it going forever is the deal. But if you do a lot of photo editing, publishing, and need high speed or lots of programs, then you have to update as needed.

[pattiewrites]

Originally Posted by JeanLynn81

I'm not as frugal as some of you, but more so than all of my friends and family. I flip out when my mom buys any of the following items:

~paper plates
~paper towels
~expensive cleaning products like Pledge and Windex
~wrapping paper

Anybody else flip out over non-frugal household items? Can we get a good list going of non-frugal things that make us cringe?

I generally don't buy these things, but it's not the cost. It's the environmental impact that bothers me. My girls are just as bad, if not worse. They get mad at Daddy if he comes in the door with a cup of coffee from Wawa. My 7 year old was just lecturing him about this last night. "DADDY we DON'T buy those cups! They are bad for the earth!!"

Computers get bought as the last one dies. I've had two that needed replacing after two or three years. The first was fried by my step daughter and my niece. My laptop was trashed by my then 1 year old when she dumped a glass of water on it. The repair place said it was toasted and would be cheaper to buy a new one.

Cars get bough as needed. I traded my Camaro for a van when my second was born. Mileage wasn't the issue, it was the space. The mini van went after our first mountain winter. We need a 4 wheel drive up here in the winter or I'd not be able to get out of the driveway. Also not mileage, but for a practical reason. After the kids and I were nearly killed a few times, I realized it was time for a vehicle that was better in the snow. As soon as I can afford it, this one is going and will be replaced by a hybrid. That's probably a couple of years off.

[Firespice]

Well our family has done the car thing for a VERY long time. My dad always told me millage of his cars by how far they are to the moon (and back) by the time his 64 Nova died .... it had gone to the moon twice ad was halfway back. my dad still does that. I am currently driving a 86 Nova, my husband an 87 nova. However they are really on there last legs (not built as well as the older models) and we need new cars soon.

Its funny how many baby items are our there that everyone says they need - and we dont! I used my daughter bath tub 2 times before I decided it was much easier and ALOT more fun to just take her into the bath tub with me. Now its a nightly affair - my husband sits by the side of the tub we both play with her and then he takes her and drys her and dresses her. SHe LOVES this routine.

Also I got a HUGE basket full of baby washing and stuff. I used the head to toe body wash, and occasionally the lotion and that is it. The diaper rash cream GIVES her a diaper rash. I use only cornstarch and it works 100 times better and i buy that at the .99 cent store.

I was given tons of fancy burp rags and my father in law works at a hospital and got some irregular diaper (cloth) and we use those for burp rags more then anything.

My husband HATES buying toilet paper. he says its money down the drain. He is right, but I will keep on buying it anyways.

I hate how my husband buys a new face soap every few weeks. he has TONS of 1/2 bottles everywhere. I found washing my face with soap less made it look much better. (I rince with water everyday though)

Things are marketed to kids that are TOTALLY unnecessary. My 10 year old stepdaughter gets about $2000 worth of TOYS every year at her bio-mom's house. TALK about a waist of money. we never buy toys here and we still have too much.

Suzie

[MissyChrissy]

Originally Posted by mcmama

You will need a new computer depending on your use of it. If you are just doing basic internet and word processing, keeping it going forever is the deal. But if you do a lot of photo editing, publishing, and need high speed or lots of programs, then you have to update as needed.

As a computer geek, I beg to differ. Just buy the newer, updated cards and processors. People make EXCUSES why they "need" bigger & better, but that doesn't really make them a need.

As for constant damage, I'd rethink where i kept my equipment.

[MissyChrissy]

I also reuse my grocery bags, until they're ripped out & won't hold anything. My living room tv is a big screen that was manufactured in 1988. There is a problem with the picture-orange faces-so I think a new one will be in order in the next year or so.

4-wheel drives aren't any better in the snow. People just need to slow down. I live in the country, on a hill, and drive 50 miles of rural windy, twisty roads with a front wheel drive. I've done it at 35 mph when necessary. I've passed 4-wheel drives who thought they could still do 50 in 24 inches of snow & got spun off the road.

My coffee table is over 30 years old. It is covered by a blanket, and is heading out to the trash finally, but it has lived.

I am the queen of cheap. It has made it so I don't have to have a car payment, furniture payment, and 1/2 the mortgage of most people I know. It also helps the environment, and I do feel we are all responsible to do our part.

[pattiewrites]

Originally Posted by MissyChrissy

4-wheel drives aren't any better in the snow. People just need to slow down. I live in the country, on a hill, and drive 50 miles of rural windy, twisty roads with a front wheel drive. I've done it at 35 mph when necessary. I've passed 4-wheel drives who thought they could still do 50 in 24 inches of snow & got spun off the road.

This is nice in theory, but NOT TRUE. Not where I live. And I don't do 50 or even 35 in two feet of snow. My 4 wd is normally in 2 wd unless I am stuck. Then I pop it in 4 wheel and suddenly, it moves. Without the 4 wheel I'd not get out of my driveway in the winter. I'm guessing you don't live on the plateau of a mountain.

[MissyChrissy]

Originally Posted by pattiewrites

This is nice in theory, but NOT TRUE. Not where I live. And I don't do 50 or even 35 in two feet of snow. My 4 wd is normally in 2 wd unless I am stuck. Then I pop it in 4 wheel and suddenly, it moves. Without the 4 wheel I'd not get out of my driveway in the winter. I'm guessing you don't live on the plateau of a mountain.

Upstate NY isn't flat. Not to mention I'm on the PA border & am often in those hills-and PA is notorious for not sanding, and rarely plowing their back hills.

When a 4-wheel drive is in 2-wheel, it's the equivalent of rear-wheel drive, which everyone knows is worthless in the snow. The extra bulk of a 4-wheel drive can actually make it harder to maneuver in the snow...weight can help, but too much hurts. SUV's are heavier-especially when you add 4-wheel to it. 4-wheel drive is only beneficial for "ba-ha-ing", or romping around in the woods on old logging trails. That is the only scenario where 4-wheel will work and front wheel will not.

I'm a car buff, raised by a mechanic, my brother is a mechanic, and my husband isn't a dummy around mechanics.

This thread was about being frugal. People make excuses to "need" what they want to have, but that does not make it a "need". You have totally taken this thread away from the OP's interest. 4-wheel drives are not frugal.