THE THRIFTY (?) MRS.
CRANKY
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| Oh yeah, she's done this! |
Mrs. Cranky
is not cheap; usually she is just thrifty.
What is the difference? She is
not afraid to spend money on things she needs, but she will not overspend on
those items. She is not particularly
label conscious. She loves her shoes,
but they do not have to have red soles.
Mrs. Cranky
is not cheap; she is thrifty, except when it comes to stupid things. Then she is cheap. What am I talking about?
She saves
Popsicle sticks. Why does she save
Popsicle sticks? Apparently you never
know when you might need a splint for a sprained finger, or a makeshift wedge,
or to make a roof for a doll house, or…hell I don’t know but we have a drawer
full of Popsicle sticks; cheap.
Mrs. C saves
paper towels. Just because you use them
to wipe up a water spill, don’t throw them away. If you leave them out flat, they will
eventually dry and you can use them again; cheap.
On second
thought, Mrs. Cranky is cheap.
I’ve learned
to not complain about this cheapness, and I’m glad when she is thrifty. I will not throw anything away without first
checking with the queen of reusing stuff.
I’m pretty sure she went through the depression in a previous life.
Sometimes
her strange cheap side will throw me for a loop.
The other
day I came home from toddler-sitting in Pennsylvania. Mrs. C was not home, she leaves for work at
around 3:00. Sitting on the kitchen
table was a glass with about one ounce of water and a paper towel over the
glass.
When Mrs. C
came home from work, I asked her,
“Why is there a one ounce glass of
water on the table with a paper towel over the top?”
“I didn’t want anything to fall into
my glass of water.”
“So you had a glass of water and you
didn’t finish the last ounce and instead of pouring that last ounce of water
down the drain, you covered the glass and are saving that ounce for later
consumption?”
“Yes.
It’s filtered water. It costs
money.”
“But one ounce, it is practically
nothing!”
“Well it is something, and you’re a jerk!”
Don’t even
get me started on our one-ply toilet paper.
I'm cheap - I'm decorating my bathroom at the moment and I didn't want to fork out for expensive paint to cover up the blue before I paint it pale grey so a bought an own brand £7 for 5L - that's cheap! Shame it's going to take 3 coats to actually cover the blue ... I can't be doing with cheap loo paper though, it's got to be 3 ply - I shall send you some for Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI'm speechless!
ReplyDeleteYou know, she's on to something with the 1-ply toilet paper. We usually use 2 ply but one time we were going to be out. The store had a sale on 2 ply starting Friday so I told hubby just to buy the cheapest thing he could find at the store that would last until Friday. He put 4 roll pack of 1 ply. That 1 ply lasted THREE times as long as the average 2 ply roll.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning to be cheap the older I get. Drives hubby crazy, but my latest kick is not turning on a light unless it is absolutely needed. Those pennies add up.
betty
laughing!
ReplyDeletei sometimes re-use paper towels, too. :)
Sometimes after I wipe up a spill with a paper towel I blow my nose on it before tossing. Does that qualify?
ReplyDeleteWe could do with more frugality at our house. My Mrs. C. refuses to use the last of anything. There are right now five jars of mayonnaise in our fridge, all with varying amounts inside. It falls on me to use the last of something and throw out the container.
ReplyDeleteSooo...is that why she still keeps you around? ;)
ReplyDeleteBest. Comment. Ever!!
DeleteFive jars of mayonnaise? FIVE?? ye gods!
DeleteEmpty them all into one jar. Stir well.
Remove label and call it Mayo Surprise.
I don't ever want to know about the toilet paper. Never. No.
ReplyDeleteYour wife sounds like my father. He was very cheap. Very. He would do things just like this.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Suggest that next time she place that ounce of water in the fridge to save on ice when she does drink it. It will also forgo the need to waste a re-used paper towel for covering as it's less likely to gather chaff in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteNo, just NO on the 1-ply. Queenie has always opted for the like-Grandma-used-to-stitch quilted froo froo paper that you need 6 layers of to be strong enough for the business at hand. Recently, bowing to peer pressure, she tried 1-ply and while she complains an gnashes her teeth about how rugged yet unsatisfying it is she says she'll never go back because she's not having to buy it but once a quarter instead of twice a week with the froo froo. She won'y listen to the voice of reason that there's stuff somewhere in the middle.
Or that the 1-ply lasts forever because everyone is holding it until they go somewhere else .... ;-)
My cup of water sits uncovered until I finish it. That can take all day. But, I'm not cheap. My mother was cheap. She stopped the dishwasher at the end of the wash cycle, opened the door, pulled out the racks and let the dishes air dry. "Saves electricity."
ReplyDeleteHa ha well she's saving the earth too by not wasting water. Like my mother used to say "save some water for the whales"
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Yes that's cheap. My spouse is not cheap. She is a hoarder. Meaning she never throws anything away. And more storage space does't come cheap these days.....:(
ReplyDeleteShe has my cheap brother beat by a mile. Well done Mrs. C. A frugal wife has to be a husband's greatest wish. Look at all the money she saves YOU.
ReplyDeleteMy mom rinses out ZipLoc bags to use again. It takes them a while to air dry.
ReplyDeletemrs c here. turn them inside out to dry. it goes a little faster
Deleteuse a teatowel to dry them, faster still.
DeleteWeren't you tempted to just drink that last ounce of water, yourself?
ReplyDeleteI'm frugal/cheap with a lot of things so that I can afford the things I really want. I reuse ZipLoc bags, eat a lot of inexpensive bean soups, bring my lunch to work, drive a fuel-efficient car...and drop big bucks on cameras. It's all about what your priorities are!
ReplyDeleteOne ply toilet paper? I'm surprised she hasn't learned about Marine Corp toilet paper. (Look it up.)
ReplyDeleteS
Oh boy,and I thought I was cheap! I guess not. I do have a half glass of lemonade sitting in the kitchen...but that is at least 10 cents more than an ounce of filtered water. Yeah.I don't think that makes me the most cheap person here right now.
ReplyDeleteI've tried saving teabags for an extra cup out of them, and they are just not as good, flavourwise. Of course if all you're after is coloured water that tastes vaguely like tea, then go for it, but not in my house. Saving a single mouthful of water is a bit silly too, just swallow it down and be done with it.
ReplyDeleteOne ply toilet paper is awful stuff. on the other side of the coin, I think 3 and 4 ply toilet paper is too much, too thick, too expensive and not enough sheets per roll.
Is that single ply made of tracing paper like I remember at school in the early 1970's??? My Grandmother used to save filthy cling film and wash it rather badly before using it again. Disgusting!
ReplyDeleteUh-oh. My wife shares that gene. But I refuse to embarrass her any further by giving examples. After all, I have to live with her. (But, saving used trays from t.v. dinners?)
ReplyDeleteToo funny! Things are even worse when you consider yourself "crafty." I have a large box full of 5 years of bottle caps waiting for the "robots" I plan to make with the grandsons. Popsicle sticks too, just like Mrs. C. Someday those will become furniture for Barbie. I think I'm blurring the line between being thrifty and just plain old "hoarding."
ReplyDelete