If you’re new here: we’re doing an intermittent series where we revisit articles from The Tightwad Gazette, aka the Bible of frugality. 😉
It’s been a while! We last visited the Tightwad Gazette in November.
But now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get back into a groove. 🙂
Selective Squeamishness
In this essay, Amy rightfully points out that Americans* have an illogical sense of what is gross and what is not.
*maybe this is true elsewhere too?
For instance, her neighbor threw away an apple that her daughter had taken two bites out of (“I can’t save this germy apple!).
Amy was surprised at this, because as all good tightwads know, it’s very simple to cut out the bitten part and use the rest of the apple. And the same is true if a piece of produce has a bad spot; we tightwads remove the funky part and keep on rolling. 😉
People are also oddly grossed out by second-hand clothing (“someone else wore this!”) even though we all routinely try on clothes in a fitting room that have recently been on someone else’s body.
And really, that’s worse than buying, laundering, and THEN wearing secondhand clothing!
The knit, fleece-lined earband that I wear all the time on my winter walks is one I found on the road (I walked by it multiple days before assuming it was well and truly lost).
I brought it home, washed it, and I use it all the time. Some people might be grossed out by this but really, once an item has been washed and dried, I fail to see any hygiene problems.
Homemade convenience foods: sensible or not?
I remember this article! Amy talks about how she almost blew out her food processor by trying to make homemade Grape-Nuts. Ha.
Her point is that sometimes we frugal people put forth an enormous amount of effort trying to reproduce some cheaper version of a manufactured convenience food.

I would not try making homemade Cinnamon Toast Crunch, for example!
But sometimes it might be more sensible to just eat something cheaper; for instance, you could just eat bulk oatmeal instead of making homemade Grape-Nuts.
Or you could eat toast and jam instead of trying to replicate frozen toaster strudel.
She shared a few homemade convenience foods she does find sensible.
- seasoned salt (which surprised me because it’s so cheap in total and you use so little)
- taco seasoning mix (I made a version of this a lot when my kids were all at home)
- bread stuffing
- tomato soup (the basis of which is a can of tomato paste, so I dunno how much sense this one makes)
- onion soup mix
- chocolate syrup
- cream soup mix (a mainstay for the days when casseroles were such common fare!)
- seasoned rice mix (like Rice-a-Roni)
Payback Time
I think about this question all the time; if I buy something that can conceivably save me money in the long run, how quickly will I get my payback?
Funny enough, in the last Five Frugal Things, which I wrote before this post, I mentioned that the clippers I bought for Chiquita’s claws paid for themselves in the first use. That’s a quick payback!
This is a useful concept when you are buying non-disposable items too. A menstrual cup lasts for years, costs $30, and you only need one. It’s a no-brainer to see that it pays for itself in just a few months’ worth of periods.
But reusable period underwear don’t tend to last quite as long, and you need multiple pairs. The payback time for those is gonna be longer, and I don’t know for sure if the undies last long enough to actually reach the payback point.
I thought about this when I bought my lunchbox for work; it cost $24.99.
But given how many work/school lunches I pack, and how in general, homemade food is about half the price of food from a cafeteria/restaurant, I knew the investment in the lunchbox would not take long at all.
You know an area where I’ve seen people make false promises about payback?
Every time I’ve had to have windows replaced or a heating system replaced, I’ve been told, “Oh, this will save you so much money on your energy bills, it’ll pay for itself!” and honestly, I think the monetary savings from these items has been seriously overblown.
Never have I seen the level of savings the manufacturers/salespeople promised!
Dumpster Diving
I’m not gonna lie, dumpster diving does intrigue me. I know lots of great, usable, salvageable stuff gets thrown away in America, and it would be nice to put some of that to good use.
But I don’t know if I will ever be brave enough to actually do it. I think I would need an intrepid guide to help me get started! Ha.
That said, when my sister-in-law and I dug through the treasure house and salvaged things, that felt a little like dumpster diving (except it felt a little more above-board.)
And I have picked things up off the curb on trash day; just nothing that’s actually in the trash can.
Does a bread machine save money?
This question feels like a sign of the times because back in the 90s, bread machines were all the rage.
And bread machine recipes were so common, I found myself modifying them to be made without a bread machine.
Now, as I calculated before, homemade bread does save money, even when compared to super-cheap store-brand white bread.
But Amy wrote a long article detailing why bread machines don’t usually last long enough or get used often enough to pay for themselves.
For me personally, they have never felt terribly tempting. This is because:
- I am lucky enough to know how to make bread in other ways, using my Kitchen-Aid (decidedly NOT a unitasker machine)
- I have never wanted to devote kitchen space to such a large unitasker appliance
- I don’t like bread machine bread as much as regular homemade bread (assuming it’s baked in the machine)
You probably could get a very good deal on a used bread machine at this point in history, though, and in that case, it would probably pay for itself pretty quickly.
Alrighty! Let’s discuss bread machines, dumpster diving, homemade convenience foods, and selective squeamishness!
I’m so interested to hear your thoughts. 🙂
P.S. We’ll pick up around page 459 next time, if you’re following along in the big three-volumes-in-one book.
Jeg
Sunday 19th of January 2025
A good portion of my closet is from children, resale stores and friends.
Linda Phillips
Saturday 18th of January 2025
You could make a from scratch version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. check out Zimmerman Homestead on YouTube, look for "homemade cereal alternatives".
Diana
Friday 17th of January 2025
I embrace using used stuff. One thing I am a bit squeamish about is: eating out. I know! One of the reasons I avoid it unless I am traveling or really, really like the food is the cleanliness factor of the establishment. Even nice, fancy estuarine can sometimes have poor cleanliness standards in the kitchen (and less expensive places can have higher standards) and I also know there are food inspectors and such but if itโs a kitchen behind closed doors (which it oftentimes is) no one is watching the whole time. I have to stop thinking about it too much when Iโm eating somewhere!
Mary
Thursday 16th of January 2025
I have had a rare incident of dumpster diving or two but, I have picked up many "free" trash items set out curbside. Some of which I flipped for money, and some which I kept for myself. It's amazing what people throw out.
KLC
Thursday 16th of January 2025
People sleep between used sheets and use used towels in hotels all the time.