Oil & Fuel cheap or not

[CBW1999]

FRUGAL!!!!!! (never cheap)- when I purchase with my own money. :thumbsup:

THRIFTY- when I explain to my wife all of the stuff from the yard sales and "re-use" piles at the landfill.

SCREWED- when my wife uses any of the above terms when she returns home with a van load of stuff :mur: :confused3:

 

[FastPauly]

I get the most use I can out of shop towels.....when they are finally thrown in the trash they are well deserving of it. My bet is that the answer to this question is heavily influenced by the age of the user.....most younger people (not ALL mind you) in this day and age think nothing about what gets tossed. They didn't grow up through the soda bottle deposit days.

 

[pat32rf]

Around here paper towels are either for use by visitors or for cleaning the inside of the windshield. A couple of years ago my BIL donated a case of PT's from his day job. They are almost 1/2 gone.
The rest of the clean-up jobs are done with rags. NOT fancy colour matched blue squares, but old discarded clothing/bedding from various FREE sources.
We also find that those plastic grocery bags are one of the most re-cyclable items out there. We take a couple of those "green" cloth grocery bags into the store, but there are always a few more plastic bags in the bottom as spares.
A few will go into my pocket when I head for the bush, in case I want to bring home a few fiddleheads, mushrooms, partridge breasts, fish fillets or a venison liver. There is normally one with some dog kibble under the truck seat and one with MY lunch ON the truck seat. During the summer there is one with a wet soapy washcloth in the console.
Years ago I even made up a pine garbage box that matches out cupboards and holds a grocery bag in the open position, all ready for non-recyclables, non-burnables.....

 

[zman007007]

I agree with the age group thing, I remember the deposit on soda pop bottles. I also agree with the plastic grocery bags, we use them for small trash can liners. :thumbsup:

 

[tsteahr]

Mine go through a similar progression to Mace. My wife cleans her reading glasses quite frequently and uses a paper towel every time. I gather them up after the windex had dried and they go into the shop. From there they go through the same progression as mace. A paper towel is is pretty rough shape (falling apart and covered in grease) by the time it gets tossed. I hardly ever use a "new" paper towel off the roll in the shop.

I do somthing similar with my work clothes. I have to wear "business casual" clothing at work. Once something has started to fray so it does not look presentable, it gets downgraded to "work in the yard/shop" clothing. Once the stuff is ripped and torn up it gets a final wash and goes into a bin for rag use.

Problem is, most of the time I'm to cheep to use a rag when I have leftover paper towels available. Why waste a rag if I have a leftover paper towel around? So my rag bin is overflowing.

Yes, I admit it. I'm darn frugal. I'll take any way I can to avoid waste. If that makes me cheep, then guilty as charged.

 

[jimmysisson]

tsteahr - my optometrist says paper towels are too scratchy for glasses, fyi. I also use the paper towel right down to nothing. Cheap ones only can stand one use.
Jim

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with the age group thing, I remember the deposit on soda pop bottles. I also agree with the plastic grocery bags, we use them for small trash can liners. :thumbsup:

ditto to both of those. I remember even when the cardboard carrier had a small deposit.

we also use the grocery bags for can liners, and cat litter bags..

soundguy

 

[Nissan197]

I use old t-shirts and socks for rags. If I bought the heavy duty blue towels I would not have a problem reusing if able.

 

[pat32rf]

Princess Auto has the best bags in our area....Their closest store is two hours away but I've asked my kids for some of their bags for Christmas....

 

[zman007007]

T shirts and socks make great rags. Soundguy, what kind of cardboard carrier are you talking about? :confused2:

 

[zman007007]

Though I haven"t tried it, I thought the used and greasy towels or rags, if you have one of those little fireproof containers to save them in would be handy to start your brush fires with in case the wood is a little damp or green. zman

 

[Johndeere3720]

I use red rags to do all my shop work. I also for some reason still have every part that has broken on my tractors laying around, just in case i need them. :thumbsup: Yeah, a pully with a bad bearing may not work on my mower again but what if i want to make a pully for something else? I also have the steering parts that went out on my mower as well, yeah the gears are wore out but they have potential for another project. Gotta get all i can out of them, not be wasteful.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

I'd say it's cheap, but my grandfather hangs his paper towels on a clothes rack to dry when they get wet.

 

[Soundguy]

I use red rags to do all my shop work. I also for some reason still have every part that has broken on my tractors laying around, just in case i need them. :thumbsup: Yeah, a pully with a bad bearing may not work on my mower again but what if i want to make a pully for something else? I also have the steering parts that went out on my mower as well, yeah the gears are wore out but they have potential for another project. Gotta get all i can out of them, not be wasteful.

I do the same... something breaks and i save it.. then usually cannabalize it later to make something else..

soundguy

 

[buck12]

Mine go through a similar progression to Mace. My wife cleans her reading glasses quite frequently and uses a paper towel every time. I gather them up after the windex had dried and they go into the shop.

It is best not to use paper towels to clean eye glasses. A cotton tshirt works well. I will show my cheapness. I clean my glasses each morning by spraying them with alcohol (over 90%) than I grab a clean tshirt from the drawer and throw it back in the drawer when done - no wasted paper products.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Princess Auto has the best bags in our area....Their closest store is two hours away but I've asked my kids for some of their bags for Christmas....

Thrifty and shrewd. If I'm going to carry a bag into work, I prefer Northern Tool to Wal Mart or Lowes Foods.

I like old socks and T-shirts for rags. I turn them inside-out to refresh them. A rag hung outside for a month will just about wash itself..

 

[zman007007]

I'd say it's cheap, but my grandfather hangs his paper towels on a clothes rack to dry when they get wet.

Compact, once you move out on your own, you will quickly realize their is more than just food and rent to worry about when living on your own. So once you move out and have to pay for everything, come back and let us know the way you save money. We cheap, er, [frugal] people need all the help we can get. LOL zman :laughing:

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Compact, once you move out on your own, you will quickly realize their is more than just food and rent to worry about when living on your own. So once you move out and have to pay for everything, come back and let us know the way you save money. We cheap, er, [frugal] people need all the help we can get. LOL zman :laughing:

Will do!!!

 

[tsteahr]

It is best not to use paper towels to clean eye glasses. A cotton tshirt works well. I will show my cheapness. I clean my glasses each morning by spraying them with alcohol (over 90%) than I grab a clean tshirt from the drawer and throw it back in the drawer when done - no wasted paper products.

I agree about not using a paper towel to clean eyeglasses. I mentioned this to my wife once. I got the female equivalent of "Yes Dear"

One small aspect of a happy marriage is knowing when to leave well enough alone

 

[johnrex62]

I agree about not using a paper towel to clean eyeglasses. I mentioned this to my wife once. I got the female equivalent of "Yes Dear"

One small aspect of a happy marriage is knowing when to leave well enough alone

YES DEAR When did YES become a word a woman is permitted to say to a man with a BUT attached?