THE THRIFTY (?) MRS. CRANKY

THE THRIFTY (?) MRS. CRANKY

Oh yeah, she's done this!

This cranky re-run is from November 2014

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.

Granted we use filtered water.  The filter costs about forty dollars and lasts about six months.  Our filtered water probably costs about .001 cents an ounce.  Now the Cranky’s live on a fixed income plus the part time income Mrs. C earns.  We need to watch our pennies, but I think we can let a few .001 cents slip down the drain from time to time.

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.