Tightwad Gazette Tour | Spring, from Book One
Alrighty! Time for the third edition of our trip through the Tightwad Gazette books. 🙂
This time around we are in spring from the first of the three books. Let's dive in!
(This starts on page 163 in my edition of The Complete Tightwad Gazette. And as usual, I'm just picking and choosing some things to highlight; this is not an exhaustive review.)
On Easter
Amy starts out by saying that the commercialism of Easter bothers her, and my first thought was....imagine her dismay at the current state of things!
In my lifetime, pretty much every holiday has gotten noticeably more commercial, with home decor, yard decor, specialty-shaped foods, holiday clothing, and more.
By comparison, the 1990s holidays were probably pretty mild.
I kept the Easter egg hunts pretty simple; I had a big collection of plastic eggs (which I stored in an old plastic file container).
I filled them with candy, hid them, and the kids hunted for them, basket or bag in hand.
And as they ate the candy in the weeks following Easter, we put the eggs back into the file container for the next year. Easy peasy, and no pesky Easter grass to deal with. 😉
Putting out the word
This article is one of those that has stuck with me over the years mainly because I have employed this practice faithfully.
In short, the idea is that if you let it be known that you are searching for x, y, or z, you may be able to snag something for a great price or even for free. You'll have more eyeballs looking out for the items you want, and sometimes even a friend of a friend of a friend might have what you need.
A very modern version of this exists in my Buy Nothing group, where people can put out requests for items they want/need.
A related strategy is to be unabashedly known as someone who accepts free things. When my kids were little, lots of people knew I cheerfully accepted big bags of hand-me-downs, so I was the recipient of many such bags.
Because of the volume of the hand-me-downs, I was able to find a lot of things my kids needed, and I was also able to be pretty picky about what I kept and what I passed on.
Similarly, since people know I accept free food and I want to avoid food waste, they've often given me their extra food, like when they're moving to a new state, or when they're making a dietary change.
And more recently, when I moved out of my marital home and started over, several people kindly gave me things like extra furniture and lamps; I don't think anyone worried that I'd be offended because I am quite publicly known as a person who appreciates free things. 😉
Converting Your Spouse
Lots of married readers wrote to Amy asking her how to convert a non-tightwad spouse, and she reluctantly gave her best tips (reluctant because this has not been an issue in her marriage.)
Another reason for reluctance: she says, "I suspect that if a change runs completely against someone's character, the best you can hope for is a small degree of behavior modification. The trust is that you cannot change your spouse."
She gives some tips for how to best accomplish some behavior modification, but in a follow-up article, she notes that less than six of her readers reported any success at all in converting their spendthrift spouses.
And that leads me to the end of the first article, where she addresses single readers.
"The very fact that large numbers of married tightwads request this article should be a red flag to you. Continue to weed out candidates until you find one whose fiscal philosophy matches yours. Every good tightwad knows that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Wise words. 🙂
Reusing a vacuum cleaner bag?
Amy is in support of this idea, but everything I have read says that the vacuum bag is an important part of the filtering system in a vacuum, and reusing the bags after emptying them will cause problems.
So I have never tried this hack. What about you?
Disposable Diaper Parent Syndrome
When I was a kid, cloth diapers seemed very normal to me, and I can remember folding cloth diapers in our family laundry, and I also remember changing cloth diapers on my cousins.
I always thought I would be a cloth diaper mom too, but I ended up having my first baby in a basement apartment where I had access to the upstairs washing machine just one day per week.
This was not a situation that called for cloth diapering; heck, even managing regular baby laundry was tough under the circumstances.
So, I started out my mothering career with disposables and just continued on that way.
I did employ a variety of savings strategies for disposables, so my total cost for diapering all my babies was probably much less than the average.
I read conflicting things about the cost savings from cloth diapers (some are sure it saves a lot, some say, "it depends"), but there are a lot of factors that go into the calculations (how many times a day do you change, how much is electricity in your area, how many years of diapering does your kid need, did you buy the diapers new or used, and so on)
It is almost certainly more eco-friendly to cloth diaper, which makes me feel very slightly guilty about my use of disposables. But what's done is done, and I figure that I do a lot of other eco-friendly things, so I'm not gonna lie awake at night and fret about this.
How to save on pantyhose
My current answer: don't wear them. I love that our current fashion trends do not require pantyhose at all times. I hate pantyhose, mostly particularly because if you carelessly look at a pair the wrong way, they get a run.
But back then, a reader wrote in to suggest buying "irregular" pantyhose through a discount catalog. I did actually do this for a number of years, and one downside is that sometimes the irregularities mean that the legs of the pantyhose are rather twisted.
So then you can never get them on quite straight and you feel vaguely uncomfortable the whole time you have them on.
I am very happy that I have had to wear pantyhose maybe 5 times in the last 15 years. Yay for modern trends!
Juice lid reuses
Is it just me, or did frozen juice concentrate used to be more of a thing?
When my kids were little, there was a big selection, but now at most stores, it's pretty meager.
(The jello section has shrunk similarly!)
Also, a lot of juice concentrates are entirely plastic, so there are no metal lids to save for creative reuses.
One way I reused them was not even on the list in this book; my kids used them as pretend money. We just used a sharpie to write the value of the "coin" on both sides of the lid, and we were good to go.
I think my kids made some juice lid coins that were worth astronomical amounts, such as $5000. Heh.
I wish I had a picture of these, but they are all still in the toy food bin that I left behind, and I searched in my blog photos to no avail.
There's probably a picture on here somewhere, but it's from back in the day when photos were unlabeled, and thus less searchable.
(Things have changed a lot in the blogging world in sixteen years!)
Budget Weddings
Amy notes that she once attended a lavish wedding, rumored to cost $40,000. But according to Forbes, the average wedding cost in 2024 is $33,000! Yikes.
I smiled at her suggestion to go to a pawn shop to buy wedding rings because when I went to sell mine from my marriage, the prices they offered were shockingly low, and they said they have more wedding rings than they know what to do with.
So, I'm guessing the selection of rings to be purchased at such a place might be pretty extensive! I'd definitely consider that as an option.
Any wedding in my future is probably going to be a slightly elevated elopement. I have zero desire to do the whole big wedding thing again. 😉
And going back to the dating topic we discussed in the last TG post: if two tightwads manage to find each other, they might both be perfectly happy to have a very simple, small wedding.
Conversely, if you are a tightwad and you are marrying someone who wants to drop $33,000 on a wedding...well, that might be a harbinger of financial problems to come.
A "seafood" (aka tuna) casserole
This recipe is so classic for the time: a pasta casserole with a sauce made of mayo and condensed cream soup, and a crumb topping.
Amy modifies the recipe to make it cheaper (homemade bread crumbs, homemade condensed cream soup), which is a practice I do regularly.
In fact, barely a month into this blog's existence, I wrote a post called "frugalizing a recipe".
But if I was going to frugalize this recipe, I'd probably just make a quick white sauce in place of the mayo and the condensed soup.
Also, I'd spend more to use freshly cooked shrimp. And there's no way in the world I'd use American cheese.
(Also: how does one even shred American cheese???)
But, the frugalizing concept is still a keeper! It's always good to look at a regular recipe and think, "How could I make this less expensive?"
Alrighty! Give me your thoughts on these Tightwad Gazette tidbits.
(and any others that you may have noticed if you are reading along with me)
What is American Cheese and why wouldn't you use it?
I mean it sounds like cheese and American is American?
@Lea, I think they are talking about Velveeta style cheese but back then we got the large government blocks of cheese as part of the food program. They did make great grilled cheese, but hence not "real" cheese.
@Mar, yeah, it’s sold in either plastic-wrapped single slices, in unrefrigerated cardboard boxes, or in pressurized cans as spray cheese (like whipped cream). It’s like salty orange Elmer’s glue when melted. Don’t get me wrong, I have fond memories of eating it as a kid, but once I had “real” cheese as an adult it was game over.
@Mar,
thank you for the explanation. I looked Velveeta (style) up on the Internet. Now I understand Kristin - I wouldn't touch/use that either. In Germany it is what we call "Schmelzkäse" - terrible packaging which is horrible for the environment and the "cheese" itself consists mostly of salt and loads of chemicals.
Yes. To me it is plasticky and waxy and not at all like real cheese!
@Lea, What a wonderful word! It looks and sounds just like its meaning!
@Lea, we used American cheese when I was a kid (I'm 55). It was sliced but not individually wrapped. It was my job to grate it for tacos, pear salad and hamburger casserole topping. I didn't much care for it but it's what we had growing up. I want to say it was Borden brand which happened to be our last name!
That recipe sounds disgusting.
Easter is much more lowkey in Europe than in the states, we have chocolate eggs and some with sweets inside but not Easter baskets or, at least, none that I've seen. When I was a kid my parents would occasionally hide chocolate mini eggs in the garden for my sister and I to find and we got larger chocolate eggs, but there wasn't much beyond that. Easter grass sounds terrible for the environment which is somewhat ironic as the point of the original pagan festival is renewal and rebirth of nature, which is interwoven into the Christian celebration today.
I don't think we have frozen juice concentrate here either, or if we have, I've never noticed it!
@Sophie in Denmark,
I'm with you, that recipe is truly disgusting! I think using canned soup as a sauce base is something we don't do in Europe.
Same with jello and juice concentrate. That is not something you can buy in supermarkets here in the Netherlands.
Those foods are definitely waning in popularity here, but if you were an American kid in the 1980s, you most definitely ate all of those things!
Just some quick comments:
I used cloth diapers "part time" - not at daycare and not at night. Quite happy to use otherwise (but also at the time we had a very convenient washing/drying situation);
Where we live only kindergarten age children do egg hunts and that is in the range of a few chocolate eggs per child;
We love modifying recipes, as it reduces the number of runs to the shop;
Nowadays Weddings is an industry - consider for yourself if you want to support;
Pantyhose suck;
I have no idea what makes American cheese American cheese. But we have very many excellent local cheeses ranging from fresh scoopable sheep cheese and gourmet goat cheeses to Gouda, Leerdam and Edam (not my fave, that one) etc so are spoilt for choice really.
This made me smile, I remember all of those frozen juice tops!
When I needed to get rid of my wedding rings, I sold them to a jeweler. At the time, gold was selling for a good price, and jewelers were buying gold. I then used the money to take a trip. 🙂
@MommaJo,
I did the same with a bunch of gold jewelry I no longer wore because it was broken or very out of style. There is a shop in my area, We Buy Gold, and it paid very nicely. The shop also buys diamonds. I bet Kristen could get a better price there.
Elopement for the win! That remains one of our best decisions as a couple. Indeed, my husband's mom (who had eloped with his dad, RIP) was so overjoyed that she didn't have to deal with "big wedding nonsense" that she gifted us a check which more than covered our entire secret wedding trip!
Related, neither my husband or I are gold/diamond people. We didn't buy our rings from a pawn shop, but I did find my husband's dead stock solid silver band on Etsy for $50. (I had it engraved for an additional $20.) Since my metal allergies are so ridiculous--if there's a trace of nickel, my skin will find it and blister--I have a $12 stainless steel band for myself. My husband wanted to get me something fancier, but I didn't want to risk the money on a ring that I might not be able to wear or that I had to be delicate with. (I can wear pure sterling silver, but pure silver is very soft. That's fine for earrings and the like, but my hands do not live delicate lives. 😛 )
@N, Us too! We picked plain, inexpensive sterling silver wedding bands, but as you said - silver is very soft. I don't know how many of my husband's rings were cracked/lost over the years before he picked a plain titanium band (maaaybe $10). He loves it. In fact he has 2: one for cold seasons and a smaller one for hot weather, when fingers swell.
@N, My mom eloped with my dad in their Wedding of Shame, which is why Mom had a fit when I wanted to elope. Sigh. So we had a low-key backyard wedding.
It bugged me a little when I was a kid that everyone else's family had parental wedding photos on the wall with glamourous moms in long gowns and veils and we didn't, even though my mom was way prettier than their moms. No photos of their marriage existed. Dad drove from town to town in upstate New York trying to find someone who'd marry them. I think they went up to Watkins Glen eventually.
@Rose, We had no engagement ring and no honeymoon. Too broke.
@Rose, We eloped with our three closest friends along to share in the day, one of whom became ordained so she could perform the ceremony. My husband and I both had thrifted outfits--me a dress, him a dashing suit--and a jeweler friend made pendants for our three wedding attendants as her wedding gift. It was a friend vacation that happened to have a 15 minute ceremony one morning, and it was perfect.
@N, We only had two: my sister and ex's BFF. I bought their clothing so that was their gifts! My BFF lent me her emerald ring for good luck. Welp, it fell off on the deck in the backyard, and the day after, my now husband and I searched frantically for it. After about an hour, we did find it and I never told BFF we'd lost it. She left it to me in her will.
@N,
My poor mom had to elope by herself. That was in World War II. After she graduated from high school, her parents made her work as a clerk in the family business -- no teacher's college or nursing school or business school for her, she was a girl! She considered it slave labor and was super unhappy. My dad was in the Navy, stationed far away, but couldn't get off to come get her. So she hopped on a train bound for the West Coast. Dad met her at the train station. They married in a downtown church's pastor's study an hour later. It wasn't until I was the executor of the estate that I saw the marriage license, and learned that my then-17 y.o. Mom had lied about her age (said she was a year older) so she could legally wed in California! (Momma! How could you?! LOL!)
@Fru-gal Lisa, your mom had a lot of courage to do what she did (and your dad too). May their memories be eternal.
@Rose, how beautiful of your BFF, both back then and to leave the ring to you.
@Fru-gal Lisa, Your mom definitely had moxie! Your story and your parents' determination to be together made me smile.
@Fru-gal Lisa, yeah likely the era when a female could marry at 18 with no issue but a male had to be 21 or have permission of one parent. Yep, my dad wasn't 21 and his dad signed for him. What a frickin' crock.
Glad your mom's decision did not come back to haunt her. Far too many women got married to "get out of the house" only to find marriage was even worse.
Ladies - don't raise your daughters to be doormats!
Our plastic Easter egg holder is a plastic drawer from a broken refrigerator. We reuse the same baskets all the time-- all ones that were given to us. And no Easter grass. I usually find a fun fabric in my stash to line the basket. Then it goes back in my stash.
I sold some gold jewelry to a coin shop, was paid the going rate for gold. One item was a ring I inherited. It had 7 diamonds set in an ugly 70’s style ring. (I was a little jealous of my cousin who received a really pretty ring). I had the diamonds reset in a nice flower shape gold ring, which I have worn everyday since. The gold part brought in more than it cost to remake it. The bonus is once I decided to change the ring, it wasn’t just stuck in the jewelry box and I was no longer jealous. Plus I’m really happy with it.
If you don’t want your rings you could try to sell them for scrap. (Gold is up last I checked, $2372.)Then treat yourself. Or ask one of the kids if they would like them.
One more thought on jewelry. I’m not someone who wears any. I have a tennis bracelet that I would wear to work. Now that I’m retired my wardrobe is jeans and T-shirts. About 6 months ago I was cleaning out and found the bracelet, which was an anniversary gift. I put it own and never took it off. At first it looked strange to me but now it’s strange not to wear it. It reminds me to use and enjoy my things and quit worrying about ruining them.
@cc,
There are many jewelers who buy gold. I have found good jewelry mixed in with costume jewelry that I have purchased and in most cases liquidate it for cash. There are some unscrupulous buyers out there, so beware and be informed when selling jewelry.
I always weigh my gold before I go to sell it. I have a little scale that will tell me the gram weight. I then look you the current scrap per gram price for gold. Prices vary depending on the gold’s purity. 10k sells for much less than 18k gold. I then do the math. Most jewelers will give you 80% of the gold’s value. The 20% is their profit when they sell it to the smelter.
If a buyer offers you too little, you can negotiate or find another buyer. If you can find a smelter you may get 100% of the value.
If there are stones in your jewelry or it’s a signed piece, things get much more complicated.
@Bee, Getting back to the dry cleaners, we were very careful always to return any pocket contents we found. Yet, since part of the shop was tuxedo rental, there was always a small box of cufflinks and studs from wherever, no one knew where, and they were of no value anyway.
This being the 80s and me being a cool girl, I liked to wear 1970s ruffled tuxedo shirts sometime, preferable in an awful peach or similar color. The owners were happy to let me take the ridiculously out of style shirts if I wanted them. I also had the world's most tacky tuxedo jacket made of 1000% polyester.
One day I was rifling through the cufflink /stud box when a pair caught me eye. I looked more closely and saw "18K" on them. Of course I asked the owner if I could have these out of the box and he said fine. I then hightailed it to a place that bought gold and sold them for enough to buy concert tickets at Radio City. Score!
It's probably my stage of life (kids all over 18), but Easter has become very low key for us. We do give each of the kids a small basket of snacks + a very small gc for something they need. Church celebrations have stayed the same, but the congregation looks vastly different than when I was a kid. I no longer see the new fancy outfits/hats.
As for weddings, I'm curious the average cost of a second (or third) wedding. Goodness knows you can have a lovely little celebration for way less than $33K! I remarried 7 years ago and spent less than 10K for the wedding (85-ish guests) including honeymoon. Cutting down the guest list, # of attendants, removing alcohol, having a brunch instead of a dinner, using less expensive venues, buying bulk flowers from Sam's Club-> all helped keep our wedding costs relatively low. And tbh, it could have been even cheaper!
As for wedding rings, we got ours off of Amazon. Etsy was another option that is slightly more expensive, but has some very nice options. I tried on some rings at our local jewelry stores to see what I would like, then found the exact style on Amazon for less than half the cost. Selecting an engagement ring that has a less expensive stone (I have Morganite) is also an option that is becoming more popular.
Frugalizing recipes-> Love this. I never follow recipes, but love to read recipe books/websites. I use them for inspiration using whatever I have on hand. It *usually* works great.
I was a cloth diapering mom. I even traveled to England with cloth diapers for a family wedding. I tried disposables once with my younger son and he had a horrendous allergic reaction. For me, this gets to the why of my frugality. I came to frugality through environmentalism, and my desire to not over consume is still at the heart of my money saving.
@Jeana, My kids' reactions were not as severe, but I had to limit the disposables. And this is also why my hive-prone body cannot wear pantyhose.
@Jody S,
My feminist prone body won't wear pantyhose!
@Jeana,
I was told by the director of our local domestic violence shelter that some babies have allergic reactions to one brand of diapers and not others, while other babies will be allergic to the other diapers and not that one brand. Of course, shelters have many babies in residence, so they found this out the hard way. The shelter even had to turn down the offer of free diapers from a local business because the offer had strings attached: they could only use one certain brand of diapers and not allow other brands in the place, if they accepted this charitable handout. Free diapers would have saved them a lot of money, untold hundreds of dollars per year, but they couldn't ban other diapers in case of a child having an allergy. I guess you could call that a "rash" decision.
To confine my comments to things I know about or participate in (which don't include Easter decor, diapering, or anything resembling that seafood casserole recipe):
I'm another reader who ditched pantyhose years ago. On the rare occasions when I do dress up, I wear knee-highs. (On the even rarer occasions when I wear skirts, they're long enough to conceal the tops of the knee-highs. I ditched mini-skirts in high school.)
I used to use juice concentrate, but DH and I decided at some point that life was too short not to drink real OJ.
I'll admit that DH was always more of a spendthrift than I was, and that most of our few arguments were about major expenditures or other money issues. However, (a) our fundamental love and compatibility were deep enough to enable us to surmount the disagreements, and (b) he mended many of his ways as he got older.
And I'm another reader who favors elopements, courthouse weddings (DH and I had one of these), or otherwise keeping weddings as simple as possible. I've often mentioned A. Marie's Rule of Matrimony, but I'll state it again: The happiness and stability of the union are [almost always] in inverse proportion to the eclat of the wedding ceremony.
@A. Marie, I love your rule! Interestingly, my parents and my in-laws wanted a bigger wedding (for us) than my husband and I did, and we struggled to keep it small and simple. We often say that if we could do it again, it would be a surprise wedding with parents only or an elopement.
As far as marrying a frugal spouse, I agree, and I think my husband is a bit of an aberration. He started out as a spender and has become increasingly frugal over our 26 years of marriage. I consider myself extremely fortunate 🙂
@A. Marie, if I get married I want to do it the same way as my parents, who got married at a registry office and then went to a pub for the reception. They are still very happy together over forty years later!
Aww, I love that. The wedding is one of the least important things in a marriage. 🙂
@Sophie in Denmark,
that sounds great! Like REAL fun without the stress and worry beforehand
@Sophie in Denmark, that sounds great. Cheers to your parents!
DH's and my courthouse wedding was conducted by a judge in my former hometown who lived across the street from us when I was a kid. He told me before the ceremony, "I've known you since you were knee-high to a grasshopper!", much to the amusement of DH and his parents. (It's a Southern U.S. expression.) DH wore his only presentable suit, and I wore a boys' tweed jacket from a menswear shop (I was a lot thinner then) and a skirt and blouse from the Salvation Army. My parents had long ago set aside money for my and my two sisters' weddings when the time came, and our wedding was so economical that they were able to give DH and me my share outright, which we spent much more usefully on appliances for the house we'd just bought.
@A. Marie, Yes, yes, yes! Case in point: (then-) Prince Charles and Princess Diana. No happiness or stability there!
@A. Marie, My husband's parents eloped two weeks after meeting (!!!) and were desperately in love for 30+ of marriage. After his dad died unexpectedly, his mom went on ONE date because he and his brother encouraged her to; however, she told them afterward that the one date just proved she had exactly who she wanted for those 30+ years, and she was happy with that.
My husband's older brother also eloped--it's an unintentional tradition in his family!--and is nearing 20 years with his awesome wife.
@Brooke, yeah kowtowing to one or both parents is BS. Partially due, I suspect, of the oh-horrors - it might be a shotgun wedding (which from family experience, is a bad, bad, idea).
We gave our kids a lump sum of money - theirs to spend as they wished but no more $ from the parental unit when/if they got married. One is married, the other is not but has been with SO longer than married kiddo.
IMHO, those $30K/plus weddings doom marriages. Usually bride side expenditure - more in love with the idea of getting married than being married. And good luck to the groom supporting wifey in the manner in which daddy/mommy/grandparents did.
About those diapers - I have data! References available upon request.
Summary: if you line dry, cloth is more eco/friendly. If you use a service, disposable is more eco/friendly. If you wash them yourself, it depends entirely on your dryer's fuel source and local prices.
Growing up, we did egg hunts with real eggs (no plastic) Easter baskets and Easter dinner. Our baskets had candy and inexpensive toys like a bottle of bubbles, crayons and activity books. I was shocked to learn that some of my coworkers treats Easter like Christmas or birthdays, giving their kids pricey shoes and electronics. To each his own. I just can't imagine spending that kind of money on Easter, or setting up those kind of expectations for my kids.
@Lorraine, right!! My children were born in the second half of the 90’s. They always had Easter baskets with candy and one or two inexpensive toys such as sidewalk chalk or bubbles. I was shocked when the mother of a neighborhood child asked how many gifts I planned to give my kids for Easter!!
@Lizzy, and Lorraine,
This is my question: if we're doing all these gifts and toys for Easter, do the kids even know one thing about the meaning of Easter? That Christ died for us and rose from the grave? I bet they think it's all bunnies and candy eggs; that's just not right IMHO.
@Fru-gal Lisa, Boy, I hope not! I raised my kids as atheists and said Easter was a spring festival. Which it is and was. Rabbits and eggs have nothing to do with Christianity, and even the name Easter is pagan.
@Rose,
My hubby, son and I are atheists (well, not so sure about our son, but he was raised that way), and we celebrate Easter as a secular holiday. Bunnies, eggs, and this year, some cute gnomes.
Boar’s Head makes an American cheese in yellow and white that is not like a Kraft single American cheese. We use the white to make cheese dip like from a Mexican restaurant and it is really good!
Homemade white sauce for the win as far as a flavor upgrade for casseroles. And a health upgrade too!
@Jan in GA, Yes, the Boars head american white is is good.
You are aboslutely right about frozen juice concentrate. The selection now is pretty limited. I still use it when entertaining; Minute Maid* lemonade and orange juice are much cheaper from concentrate, and honestly taste as good as the bottled version.
* Does this brand exist in the US? They make refrigerated bottled juices, but branched out into frozen concentrates in the '90s. Since they also have bottled juice, they have a vested interest in making the concentrate taste exactly the same. As long as you don't dilute it too much, it totally works.
@Meira @ meirathebear,
Yes we have Minute Maid
Yes! We have Minute Maid here.
@Meira @ meirathebear,
My son loves Minute Maid lemonade (either from concentrate, or bottled).
I didn’t realize vacuums with bags were still a common thing! It’s probably been twenty years since I’ve had one.
I will admit I love holiday decorations. I do employ some frugal aspects, though. My Christmas tree was purchased in the 90s. Our Easter eggs are reused every year, some dating back to my son’s first Easter in 2010, many were free. We’ve made so many decorations from paper we already had for crafts and printing, everything from snowflake cutouts to construction paper spring gardens. I love finding creative ways to save and reuse in this aspect of life.
Not just a frugal thing, but when getting into a relationship, you should assume you will not change the other person. It’s not that people don’t change over time, you just can’t mould them into specifically what you want them to be.
@JenRR, We like holiday decorations, too. And we still give each other Easter baskets; he puts the chocolates I love and Peeps in mine and I put homemade chocolate chip cookies and Jolly Ranchers in his. (I love stale Peeps. I slit open the package and let them sit on a shelf until about August.) My favorite basket was the year we lived in Scotland, on a sheep farm where the spring fields were full of daffodils. The husband made my basket by weaving the flowers together. I know a lot of folks don't do it as adults for each other, but for us it adds a little sweetness to life---both in receiving and in the fun of planning something for the other person.
Growing up we never did chocolate for Easter - with 6 kids and no dental insurance, you can see why. We were always jealous of other kids. We did hunt for real, colored eggs, but only my father would eat egg salad for the week because the kids only ate white eggs.
When my daughter was little, she got little chocolates and a bunny. We didn't really do the egg hunt thing with her. And we are not really religious, so we didn't have fancy clothes for Easter the way we did as kids.
One of the items I do remember from the TW, was the orange juice can lids as the knight in armor. For some reason that stuck with me for years. Not that I used it, but I remember it.
@Maureen, Yes, we always dyed hardboiled eggs (as kids and parents) and then hunted for them, and then ate a lot of egg salad. Candy was in the Easter baskets. I also used real grass in my kids' baskets which looked really pretty. No plastic eggs, no plastic grass.
@Rose,
I grew up in FL in the eighties. We boiled and dyed actual eggs as well, then we would have an egg hunt in the church cemetery. They would also hide one “Golden Egg” which was a pantyhose egg (remember those?) filled with candy.
Everyone would eat a lot of pastel-tinged egg salad afterwards which I always politely refused because I just did not feel ok about eating eggs that had been sitting out in the Florida sun for hours.
But yeah- no fake grass, no plastic eggs. Our parents did Easter baskets with things like new socks and underwear and granola bars.
Blechhh on tuna casserole. Besides, I hate tuna.
We usually drank orange juice from concentrate, growing up. And a college friend of mine made the most delicious iced tea I've ever had with a number of teabags and a container of frozen lemonade concentrate--I should try to duplicate it some time.
I'm not sure holidays are more commercialized than they used to be--I think it's just a reflection that there are extremely cheap consumer goods now from Asia, a lot more than there used to be, for everything, including holidays. Also, the way in which my family did holidays is far superior to everyone else's, as long as we're clear.
Re frugal spouses: I guess it depends how important frugality is to you. Seems much less important to me than lots of other qualities, and the wanting to convert frugal spouses thing is more about control than anything else. For instance, I would never have married or even dated someone who doesn't like dogs.
Pantyhose are horrendous. I loathe the very idea of cloth diapers--either you have to change them every time the baby urinates or they then sit in a cold, wet, gross diaper. Ew.
Regarding the spouses: yes, I think this is something to suss out prior to marriage. If it's a huge deal to you, then you gotta make that known ahead of time!
But I suppose some of these people converted to tightwaddery after marriage and then were in a bit of a pickle.
@Rose, The iced tea + lemonade drink you had that was so delish (it is) is popular all over Pennsylvania and called an Arnold Palmer. He ordered the mixture and it caught on. It’s been around for decades.
My neighbor made it with the frozen lemonade but most places just mix iced tea with lemonade (such as Minute Maid or any) in equal proportions. It’s beyond good especially made with sun tea.
On one trip to New Orleans, I asked for an Arnold Palmer in a restaurant and they said never heard if it. I said, it’s half iced tea, half lemonade. They said, oh we love that here, just never heard that name attached.
@Erika JS, Oh, I know Arnold Palmer is. They're popular everywhere! I just don't know the specific recipe for that iced tea. I think the last time I tried to make it, I couldn't find frozen lemonade concentrate.
@Rose, Ditto, a man who does not like dogs would never have ended up my husband. In fact, I secretly evaluate how nice people are by whether they smile at my dogs.
I am the opposite of you. For me, a requirement is for him to NOT want a dog. lol
I do smile at dogs, and I can appreciate a cute little corgi butt, but I really, really do not want to own a dog, particularly at this phase of my life. I feel as though I am on the cusp of being fairly footloose and fancy free, after having been extremely responsible from a young age (since I had kids so young) and adding a dog into the mix feels like it would really hamper my freedom.
Cats, on the other hand, are low maintenance, so I am ok with them!
@Lindsey, not only do I judge people by how they treat my dog, I also judge people by how my dog treat them! I've found my dog to be a good judge of character 🙂
@Lindsey and Rose, Agreed. On my daily walks, I find it almost impossible not to smile at every dog I come across.
This is timely! I performed a major surgical procedure on a used vacuum bag just last week after visiting 3 stores for new bags and coming up empty (apparently my vacuum is “vintage”). The patient did not do well. A few days later, I happened to be wasting time in a thrift store and found two big packages of vacuum bags—what are the odds?!!
The juice lids brought back a memory! I made a memory game type of thing for my then-toddler daughter with juice concentrate lids (probably inspired by Amy). I like your idea of money, that's a great hands-on way to practice math!
I read an interview someone did with Amy a few years back. She admitted she once ruined a vacuum by re-using the bags, so she no longer recommended that!
Most of my cloth diapers were hand-me-downs. I put borax and water in a given-to-me diaper pail and washed diapers about every 3 days because I had plenty. I had the waterproof nylon pants expenditure, but I never had more than two pair at a time - it was easy to hand wash and hang dry them. I also used cloth training pants for the kids. I used to have a pair tucked in my purse at all times and a pair with a change of shorts or slacks in the glove compartment of my car. I carried a few clean, damp washcloths in plastic bags for cleanups, and a travel-sized bottle of baby wash to help with that. I only had to use disposables for places where I wasn't allowed to send them in cloth, which I hated doing. They were both somewhat sensitive to disposables.
DH and I got married at his sister's house. She was so excited that he was getting married that she bought a small sheet cake and a bouquet of flowers for me although we told her we didn't need that. When she found out he didn't own a suit anymore, she bought him a classic suit (that he wore for thirty years!). I bought a cotton street-length dress and a pair of pumps for about $50 combined. He bought two very simple rings for under $100, and we tipped the officiant about $25 as I recall. It was his first marriage, my second. Our honeymoon was going fishing that evening at his workplace, where fishing by employees was allowed. We were married 45 years, so I'd say we got a good return on our investment.
One of my kids' had a classmate who spent $55,000 on her wedding. The marriage was over in 3 years. It's not a given that a fancy wedding equals a quick divorce, but it sure does happen.
Mayonnaise and cream soup sounds so like my childhood days. Tuna noodle casserole and green bean casserole with the canned crunchy onions on top come to mind.
@JD, I confess to really liking a casserole called Chicken Divine, which is broccoli and cooked chicken breast chunks in a sauce made of mayonnaise and cream of chicken soup, sometimes with curry powder, and covered with cheddar cheese and baked. It SOUNDS gross but is absolutely rich and delicious. My mom found the handwritten recipe care on the floor at work and it became a Christmas Eve tradition. I made it a few years here for my kids, and they liked it. Sadly, I can't eat it anymore due to allergies, but gosh, it was so good.
@Karen A., I love Chicken Divine too!
Guys, guys, it's Chicken DIVAN and it's named after the Hotel Divan in NYC. And while it includes chicken and broccoli, it most assuredly does not include canned soup.
@JD, kudos for your better half being able to wear the same suit for 30 years.
We never gave our kids big Easter baskets (though I saved mine and my brother's from our childhoods, and passed them down!), but hid eggs with either candies or small trinkets and let them fill their own baskets while they hunted.
As far as cloth diapering goes, I tried it and ended up a Cloth Diapering Drop-Out. I couldn't master the old fashioned kind of diapers (though they made great burp cloths and cleaning cloths, afterwards) and tried the fancy fleece insert ones and they just reeked, no matter what I did. Then I had my third baby while my second was still in diapers and just gave in. FWIW my kids had no rashes from disposables. I figured since we rarely bought paper towels, never used paper napkins (always cloth), that it balanced out. As DH pointed out, we'd only be diapering the kids (God willing) for a certain number of years, but people use paper towels and napkins all their lives and we weren't doing that!
Pantyhose are from the devil. I wore skirts throughout high school for my uniform, and hardly anyone wore them--sometimes we'd wear tights, which were somehow more comfortable (and durable). Mostly we girls would wear boxer shorts under our uniform skirts, and socks with our shoes!
I much prefer tights. You can treat them with a lot less care and they are still fine!
@Kristen, And they can be warm and cozy on cold days! Unlike pantyhose.
Yes. There is no time of year where pantyhose serve an "improving comfort" purpose.
Former irregular pantyhose wearer here! I still make baskets at Easter for my 2 adult kids and grandson, but the baskets are all over 50 years old and from my childhood and I have reused the grass for years. Grandson gets healthy snacks purchased on sale and a small on sale toy, adult kids get a gift card for something consumable like a haircut plus a couple of bags of favorite candy purchased on sale. I also mourn the scarcity of frozen juice. I belong to the Old Orchard juice club which gives you a free bottle or frozen can on your birthday each year just for signing up, Their bottled juice is hard to find in my area and the frozen juice is becoming more scarce as well.
@BethC, I love your adult basket ideas--I would welcome a gift card for a haircut!
@Karen A., and Beth C. and everyone,
Have you all seen the photo on the internet about grown children's Easter baskets being round laundry baskets containing detergent and housecleaning products? ROTFL!
RE: the juice concentrate
I went to the store to get OJ concentrate for my mom's whiskey wing recipe around the super bowl...$4.39 per can. Insane.
I marched down the aisle and got regular OJ.
Sigh, I know I'm dating myself by wearing pantyhose, but I don't like the feel of my bare feet in a shoe--it makes my feet perspire too much. Plus, since having skin cancer several years ago, I no longer try to tan my legs, so those pale things under skirts look hideous to me. It is very difficult to find them these days--everyone wants to sell tights, and they are entirely too hot for summer.
As for weddings, my parents eloped, so when I, the first daughter, decided to marry, my mother was all about making a big production out of it. I finally had to threaten her with my own elopement if she didn't back off. I was graduating from nursing school 2 weeks before the wedding, and my husband was in his last year of college, so we were poor.
We had the wedding at the chapel of the hospital where I was a student nurse, and we had no decorations, so that was free. Hubby's cousin played the chapel organ and our pastor performed the ceremony. (I don't know how much those cost us.)
We had a best man and a matron of honor, and my 9-yr-old sister was the flower girl (with a few rose petals.) My mother made my street length wedding dress, and a similar dress for my sister in my colors--blue and green--and she also fashioned a veil from netting. I carried a simple bouquet of daisies and 2 yellow roses--one for my mother and one for his, and my dad took pictures with his camera.
We didn't have a reception. Friends tossed a little rice over us at the entrance to the hospital.
Our honeymoon was a few days at a friend's beach house and then one of those "3 days, 2 nights free" motel stays for viewing property sales in Miami, Florida. On the way back to Alabama, we impulsively stopped by and took a jeep tour of a new amusement park opening that weekend, in a little town called Orlando.
The only thing we really "splurged" on were our rings, and that meant diamond chips in the bands and a tiny one in the engagement ring. I haven't been able to wear those rings since I had my daughter, 46 years ago.
We will celebrate our 53rd anniversary in Sept, good Lord willing.
@StephanieLD,
I can't stand bare feet in a leather shoe, either! I also have earned a few veins and scars on my legs that pantyhose smooth over. I'm with you, girl.
I had to wear a dress or skirt every workday for ten years -- don't get me started on sexist small town business owners, and bought irregular pantyhose. Never had any that were too weird until near the end of those years when one bunch of them had a pair with a peg leg.
We never went overboard on Easter because our son is on the autistic spectrum and all holidays had to be kept low-key so that he could cope. He used the same Easter basket for years and the grass was shredded green paper.
I used the casserole concept from TG for years to make all kinds of casseroles for my brown bag lunches. Also used her quiche recipe elsewhere in the book to use up leftovers. And the pumpkin pudding is a great idea for when there's too much pumpkin pie filling.
A few comments:
- We used cloth diapers for our first born but we did have a diaper service that cleaned them. We did it mainly because we thought it was better for her delicate skin. Switched to disposable diapers when 2nd child was born since he was in daycare.
- Pantyhose suck! Mom insisted that we always had to wear pantyhose to work, church, weddings, and funerals. After she passed, I found her stash of new pantyhose she kept "in case" of an emergency. So glad the days of dresses, pantyhose, and pumps are no longer required at work.
- We did spend a lot of money for DD's wedding but that was because it was what we wanted, not because we felt pressure from society to do it.
- Our grown kids still get Easter baskets, but they are still the same ones that they used in preschool, tag with them name on them included. We reuse the same plastic eggs year after year.
My parents were not wasteful. They were mindful of their spending, but not at all like Amy D. Thus, I found thriftiness in my 20’s out of necessity.
When I became engaged, my mother insisted that I have a wedding. She loved a party, so I complied. It was not anything like today’s Instagram-worthy extravaganzas, but it was lovely. However, I do wish that I invested that money instead.
My wedding gown is in my closet. I had saved it for years. My daughter always said wanted to have it remade when she married. However, she and her SO have been together for 7 years without ever talking about marriage. Thus, the time has come to do something with it. Thrift stores in my area won’t take them. Any ideas?
@Bee, No comments on the wedding dress but a general question: When was the last time anyone looked at their wedding photo albums?
I respect professional photographers for their abilities. But I also put photos of lined-up groups of wedding people very low on my list of things I would save from a flood.
@Bee, Our military base thrift store accepts wedding dresses; if you happen to have a base nearby you could check on that. People seem to like (some of the) vintage styles, so at least some have gotten new homes. I think organizations like Brides Across America (donates wedding dresses to military & first responder brides) tend to accept only newer ones. Depending on how "vintage" the style, it may do better in a retro clothing shop... You're right; it's tricky to find a home for them!
@Bee,
If your daughter said she wants to remake it, I would just give it to her and save a future argument. Tell her you're not trying to pressure her into marrying her SO, but you just want it out of your closet/attic/cedar chest/storage unit and she can keep it until she wants to wear/remake it or give it away.
If she then says she doesn't want it, there are other options. Could the local theater group or school drama dept. use it? Could some girl wear it for senior prom? I've heard that some costume shops accept wedding or bridesmaid gowns if they look like Southern Belles, fairies, Disney princess dresses, etc. Our local Goodwill goes hog wild at Halloween and is only too happy to accept/sell items for costumes. Some thrift stores have unmanned donation boxes around town.....you could dump it in there and be done with it. Or put it up on Buy Nothing -- maybe a penny-pinching bride-to-be would like it.
@Bee, I have no daughters, but my DH will not let me donate or sell my wedding dress...he has ideas that if our sons get married their spouses may want to use part of it, and in any case I think he is being very sentimental.
@Bee, a sweet, sad option: there are groups that use retired wedding gowns to sew burial outfits for severely premature babies that do not survive birth or live only a very short time. There are no retail clothes that will fit such tiny babies.
I signed up for the waiting list for this service a while back because heaven knows I do not want my dress and neither do any of my girls.
@Heidi Louise,
Photos can be ridiculously expensive and I’m not sure they are worth the money. Now almost everyone has a camera in hand and shares all wedding photos.
@Suz,
I like that idea. If I wait a little while longer it might come back in style. Things from my 20s seem to be making a comeback!
@Fru-gal Lisa,
Those are all great ideas, Lisa. I would give it to her now, but I really don’t want to encourage her SO. He also is a minimalist and would probably put it in the trash. I really would hate to see this dress destroyed. The silk and the could be reused.
@Ruby, I actually love this idea.i was speaking with a friend today who told me that she had her wedding gown made into 2 First Communion dresses for her granddaughter. Maybe I’ll make a table cloth out of the long, long train.
@Karen A.,
I think it’s sweet that your husband is sentimental. I think that’s part of my problem.
I often think about our wedding and how my mom made things 1000x more difficult by whining about wanting things "her" way. When she got married in August, roses were not in season, therefore she wanted me to have white roses in my bouquet the way she didn't get to. She wanted us to have a limo, preferably more than one, for escorting us and the bridal party to the reception. She hated that we were having a friend do the photography. She wanted a five-piece band, not a DJ. We finally had a big shouting match on the phone, with her saying she wanted HER family to show some CLASS at this wedding, at which point I yelled back that I thought it was about two people who loved each other getting married, not showing off to friends and relations. And then I hung up on her.
We managed it a bit by deciding what was important to us and what wasn't. The things that were important to us, we'd pay for, and the things that weren't, we'd concede to my parents. Flowers weren't important to me; they'd die anyway, so we agreed to let my parents pay for those and my mom could decree the flowers. Music was important; we wanted to be able to decide what songs/genres were played, so we went with a DJ that we paid for. We did NOT want a limo. Instead DH suggested we get a horse and carriage for us; he didn't want to be crammed in a limo with other people right after being married, he wanted a private moment or two before the reception and all the obligatory socializing.
We split the cost of the food, which was really nice and catered by the hotel at the reception venue. We nixed the open bar, which caused grumbling in my family, but DH's family appreciated. My family ended up going to the hotel bar and buying their own darn drinks. The cake was modest, but very delicious, from a local bakery.
If I could do it over again, i'd do things differently. I wouldn't worry about my dress as much, and try to do something different with that. Maybe I wouldn't invite my parents. Ha!
@Karen A.,
DH’s parents divorced when he was about 2 and they continue to loathe each other. His mother offered to pay for the food at the reception and then told us that we needed to have separate receptions bc she refused to pay for food for his father, stepmom, and sister. We said no thanks then, we will just get this done at the courthouse and not have a wedding at all. She relented at that point.
We had to beg both of his parents to agree to just show up. I remember saying, “look, you don’t even need to speak to each other. We’re not asking you to dance together or anything, just be willing to stand in the same room for a few hours.” It did end up working out at the end, and we just celebrated 23 years of marriage, but it added SO MUCH stress.
@Tarynkay, It's amazing how others can make a couple's special day all about them, isn't it? I'm glad it all worked out for you!
@Tarynkay, Wow, I kinda love your mom's pettiness!
That said, I can't picture either of my kids having a traditional wedding, so I don't worry about it.
I've recently converted back to pantyhose for a good frugal reason: they extend the life of shoes! Even many higher-end, pricy shoe brands these days use cheap plastic-based linings, and wearing shoes with bare feet can cause those linings to wear out more quickly. I work in a professional environment and wear flats or heels most days I'm in the office, and it's more economical for me to spend a little money replacing pantyhose than a lot of money replacing or repairing shoes. (And I buy thigh highs instead of regular hose--more comfortable, and if one gets a run, I can still use the other instead of having to toss the whole pair.)
@A.J., 70's: We used to cut the bad leg off two pair of pantyhose and stack the panty part. Not the most comfortable, and a pain in the restroom, but it saved them from the trash. I totally agree about plastic shoe linings. And they feel nasty on my bare feet.
We had a big wedding because it was important to my husband, and I'm really happy we did! We had over 250 guests (husband has 32 first cousins). Here's are some ways we kept costs down:
- We bought our flowers from a local grocery store floral department, and provided our own vases
- We only had a photographer, not a videographer
- We had our reception at a church social hall and had a catered buffet instead of a plated dinner
- The hall required us to provide our own alcohol. My husband and his dad went across the border to Canada for a big, discounted selection of bottled spirits. My girlfriends and I went on a tour of Michigan wineries and bought a few cases of wine. For beer, we bought two kegs, one a basic American-style lager, and another beer from a local craft brewery
- We had pies from a beloved local restaurant instead of cake for our wedding dessert.
The biggest frugal win was my husband, who had been faithfully saving up money for his someday wedding as soon as he bought his house, even though he wasn't dating anyone seriously. In his engineer's mind, he knew he wanted to get married eventually, and that he'd want a big party with his friends and giant family, so he saved. We didn't go into debt at all, thanks to his planning and saving. I contributed financially, too, but as expenses came in, since I didn't have a wedding nest egg.
We married when I was 34 and he was 30, after dating for under two years. Everyone in our lives was just so very happy for our happiness. We've been to so many family weddings since ours, many of them definitely more elegant and polished than ours was, and people still come up to us and whisper how this wedding is nice, but that ours was so much fun!
I was raised on frozen concentrate juices! Probably because it was cheaper, and with 4 kids - money was tight. Whomever drank the last of the juice, had to make new, and I still remember mixing the frozen blob in a plastic tupperware pitcher with the longest wooden spoon we had..LOL! As far as weddings, its ridiculous what people will pay!
I was so proud of my niece when she arrived one day to tell me she had gotten married to her college beau -- and since they could not afford her dream wedding (Disney) , they just went to courthouse and did it without telling anyone - her parents were not pleased they did not get to "give her away" , etc .... but my thrifty little heart was happy they chose not to start in debt! To this day (10 years later) those 2 are the money saving-est young couple I know. Both paid off all (masters degree) student loans before they were 30, and max their company 401k's annually.......they want to retire young and are well on their way!
I thought I would use cloth diapers, but we were in survival mode when my first was born in March 2020. So we have used all disposables. I don't mind the financial cost, but I do have guilt about the environmental impact. ☹️
My mother used to wear pantyhose every single day, including when she wore slacks. Somehow, she was able to keep them intact for many wears. She once bought a bulk order of pantyhose in order to save money and it took her so long to use them that many of them disintegrated in the back of the drawer.
I do wear them for court, especially if the judge is older, because I have heard horror stories of judges reprimanding attorneys for unprofessional dress. They are not comfortable in my opinion, but neither is wearing a skirt suit or pumps.
Easter is primarily a religious holiday for us, as is Christmas. But we usually do small Easter baskets for our kids with mainly candy and possibly new socks or something else they need. That’s what my parents did as well. However, we completely forgot this year and they did not seem to notice. They got so much candy at church on Easter that it just wasn’t a big deal, I guess.
Easter was always a simple but happy holiday in our family.
I used to make the casserole very often. I used that imitation’krab’ meat, but real cheese. I omitted the mayo and added extra dry white wine for the liquid part. I usually added frozen peas. I topped it with shredded cheese
Random memory from American 70s/80s era… there was a brand of pantyhose (L’eggs) that came in a large plastic egg (think smaller than an ostrich egg). Many women’s magazines and craft books featured interesting ways to reuse these.
Yes, I remember seeing those when I was a kid!
@Jennifer C-L, I remember helping stuff plastic eggs for a big Easter egg hunt and that giant silver egg had the golden ticket-type grand prize (not sure how they managed to hide it effectively given its bulk). I can't think of many other ways to reuse a giant plastic egg!
I love reading the stories of everyone's weddings! When I got married we were freshly out of training, had just bought our first apartment, and I was in the middle of starting my lab - the last thing I wanted to do was plan or spend money on a wedding. I'm also an introvert and being in the center of attention for hours on end was not my idea of a great time. We ended up secretly eloping on the anniversary of our first date and telling family afterward. My close college friend and her husband were our witnesses and the four of us went to a lovely dinner that evening. I didn't buy a wedding dress but got a gray blouse and pale gray lace skirt from jcrew and I am still wearing this blouse constantly for work events, it's held up beautifully. It always gives me a little happy jolt of memory when I wear it. This year is our 10 year anniversary and so far so good! Highly recommend elopement.
On the topic of “putting out the word” and the related idea of letting people you are open to free stuff…. a favorite quote from a precursor to The Tightwad Gazette:
Never feel obligated, humble or abashed at taking discards. You are doing the world a favor in making the useless useful, the ugly beautiful, the wasted necessary.
— Joan Ranson Shortney author of
How To Live On Nothing
Love that!
@Jennifer C-L, Out of curiosity I looked up that book on Amazon and it is so out of print that a hardcover edition is priced at.....drumroll, please..... $4,995.00
The mass market paperback edition is available for a measly $133.99, and for those on a very tight budget, a paperback version is only $27.99!
I think I'll check my library! 😀
That would be a....not-frugal purchase. 😉
I’ve always held the opinion that my yellowed disintegrating copy is priceless… now I know!
@Karen A., https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&kn=shortney&sts=t
Abebooks.com is my go to for buying books. Just have to watch shipping cost as some sellers are not in the US.
I am loving these trips down memory lane. It's funny how we don't notice these changes in the moment, and then suddenly we can't remember the last time we had panty hose in our sock drawers. 🙂
On the American cheese thing. Same, girl, same. BUT then I got a giant free block of American cheese from my mother in law. I incorporated it into a baked mac and cheese. (We had to crumble it because it wouldn't shred, as you note.) Good gracious that mac and cheese was something. The kids loved it. We loved it. I don't know that I would seek out American cheese, but I have reconsidered my stance, for sure.
Right? I am so confused about how you'd shred that kind of cheese. It would be like trying to shred fresh mozzarella!
I love the idea of "frugalizing" a recipe! I have never thought to do this even though I do improvise if I don't have an ingredient on hand.
The advice about marrying someone who shares your frugal values is spot on!! My husband is not super frugal, but through the years he has conformed to frugal ways, early in our marriage he was not frugal.
As for vacuum bags, I just cannot reuse one. I have a Miele and I tried to get the dirt out of it one time when I first purchased it. It was an awful mess and took forever; the bags just aren't expensive enough for me worry with that hassle. My last purchase included 8 bags for $35 and they lasted me for about a year.
I feel the same about my Miele bags. I will happily pay for them.
@Kristen, Me too. I am not risking ruining my awesome vacuum cleaner.
Eating tuna casserole because my aunt served it once a week and there were always leftovers is one of those long-suppressed memories that I prefer to not mention to my therapist. I agree that commercialism has engulfed all major holidays and Amy would not approve.
Making it known that you take used items is often helpful to others. Not only do I have joy seeing my no longer needed being used, but it helped me at a difficult time. I had a seemingly overwhelming number of items that needed to be gotten rid of fast and then Kristen came to my door and made some disappear! I didn't have to load them into a truck, find a place that takes donations and lift them again. Magic!
Regarding disposable diaper guilt, I think there are so many ecologically destructive things that modern societies do, that using disposable diapers is a small thing by comparison.
I guess my own mother was a tightwad before tightwaddery was cool. When I was a preschooler, my Easter basket was an old plastic purse that looked like a big daffodil. When I got to be around 4 or 5, I was given a bigger basket designed for Easter. The same Easter grass and the same Easter basket served me for the rest of my childhood. They were put on the highest closet shelf after the holiday and not taken down until the next Palm Sunday. I just don't get this trend of buying new Easter baskets every year, and I'm even more puzzled about having pre-filled baskets. Don't kids hunt for Easter eggs anymore???? Speaking of, a dozen of the Easter eggs would be dyed/decorated hardboiled eggs, most of which promptly went into the fridge after being found --and were eaten over the next several days along with a ham sandwich. (The bunny also left some candy ones, as well.) Of course, little girls always got brand-new dresses and shoes (and sometimes even white gloves) for church. No hand-me-downs for Easter dresses, praise God! (My older cousins were notorious for handing down hideous-looking tacky old clothes that I absolutely detested, even as a young child. They should've turned them into cleaning rags instead of expecting me to wear them!) Later, my parents stopped dropping us off at church so we wouldn't get new clothes for Easter.
Today, my Easter observances are strictly religious (no children, no family) and much more meaningful.
I appreciate Amy's write-ups on frugal weddings and would have opted for one had I ever tied the knot. In fact, all my life, my dad was fond of saying he'd give me and Prince Charming a thousand bucks to just elope, as it'd be cheaper that way. Later, when I was a senior in high school, we had a serious talk and Dad said he'd either help pay for college or help pay for a wedding, but not both. My mom wisely took me aside and told me to choose college. Good thing since no Prince Charming, Mr. Right or anyone else ever showed up. Decades later, after the grownups died, I found Mom and Grandma had a joint savings account neither Dad nor I knew about; I suspect that was my wedding fund. It'd be like them to make contingency plans and keep 'em secret. I had one cousin, a sorority girl, who had a church wedding (she'd switched grooms but went ahead with the planned-for ceremony; turns out she was already pregnant). All the others married in the brides' parents' living rooms or, in one case, outside in their backyard (they loved gardening and all the flowers were in bloom).
One of the most adorable weddings I've ever heard of was my friend Marcie's daughter. DD met her Prince Charming while country dancing, they went to a "cowboy church," so of course, they had a country-western wedding. It was outdoors on a ranch (the barn was ready in case of rain), and everyone was told to wear denim/Western outfits (and urged not to go out and buy anything special, just wear what you had). It was country-themed. Guests sat on hay bales. The bride wore a long white cotton dress, her fancy cowboy boots (which she already owned) and flowers in her hair. Following the vows, a Texas barbecue and country line dancing were the main events at the reception. Oh, and the couple didn't spend megatons of money on it, but everyone had a blast! Folks talked about it for months afterwards.
The whole marriage thing is interesting and complicated. My husband is frugal but in different ways than me. He is amazing at using coupons and ibotta, gas points, finding deals and sales etc, places where I don’t excel, but I am also more inclined to not buy much stuff and just use up and make do. So we even each other out.
Also our wedding was very expensive, but that was for cultural reasons. His whole life his parents expected him to have a huge wedding (and did help pay for a lot of it) because that it is a hugely important piece of their religion and culture. I didn’t love it, but I also love our family and I wanted to honor his culture. So I think finding a frugal person might not be as straightforward as is maybe portrayed here, but I do think it’s an important consideration in a more nuanced way.
I don't have much to add but I do want to stand up for Velvetta. I love almost all cheeses (except Swiss) but sometimes a toasted cheese with Velvetta is what I want (although I do put sliced tomatoes on it). I worked as a waitress twice, one of them quite high end and possibly desperate for help to have hired someone like me, with Bitchy Resting Face. Both places made versions of fancy mac and cheese, and both used a small amount of Velvetta in the mix because of its meltabilty. (How to get fired from a waitress job: when a drunk male patron says, "I'd like to get into your pants," reply, "I already have one asshole in there, thanks." Perhaps if I had smiled when I said it...)
@Lindsey, that is an incredible line!
@Lindsey, the BEST come-back ever!
Hehe, I love that line.
In nursing, I know that I am allowed to tell a cheeky patient that I will come back when he is ready to be respectful. But it would be more satisfying to use your line!
On the subject of disposable diapers, my mother used to tell me I was her favorite because, since I was born ten years later than the other kids, "Pampers had been created."
I'm sure this will horrify today's moms, but growing up German Catholic, we weren't easily offended. lol I teased one of my nephew's the same way, because people were a LOT quicker to babysit for the nephew in disposables.
When the first three were born, they were in a tiny city apartment and Mom had to walk her and three kids under the age of five to the laundromat. I'm pretty sure that in her place, I might have considered toilet paper, Saran wrap and some duct tape to avoid that situation.
Real American cheese is white or yellow and can be grated. As for "melty cheese," the kind that is shelf stable is not. I do like to use it for pimiento cheese spread with harder cheeses and use a fork to mash it into bits. I also like to use it for warm Mexican cheese dip and in soups.
As for weddings, I have catered a few weddings and made several wedding cakes. I have also done silk flowers and real flowers for weddings and bouquets. Nearly always it was for friends and I would use vacation time from work to do them. Nearly every time, the bride and groom and their families had no idea of the total cost involved. Asking for reimbursement for cake ingredients (and food, if catered) was always difficult. I finally learned to at least ask for "at cost" return and make sure the "labor" was known as a wedding gift. The lowest blow was when my brother was offended when I asked for "at cost return." He managed to marry twice and neither of the brides families paid for any part of the receptions. Truthfully, I am glad the subsequent generation has opted for different traditions and I am no longer on call for such things. The question now is, "What do I do with all of these cake pans?"
"Hand me downs." Our family received a lot of bags when we were growing up. My parents and I were very grateful. I still have friends that share "hand me overs," and have gained some very cute things I would never think to wear otherwise.
Panty hose. I dressed up for the last wedding I went to. I was sharing a motel room with a dear young friend/nursing student and had to have her help me put them on! I could not bend enough to get them over the other foot! I have since opted to use thigh highs if ever in the need to wear hose again! To make matters worse, my dress shoes, which had been kept in a closet with fluctuating temps, and not worn for a while, disintegrated as the day wore on. I had no other option but to wear them through the entire reception!
Easter decorations are simple, no baskets, an adult egg hunt (think dark chocolate, money, vintage jewelry from my auntie's estate), kids egg hunt is a farm wide riddle with eggs filled with chocolate and gummy things & skittles. My Grandma started the tradition and we have continued it.
My vacuum is a vintage Rainbow (water filter) that I bought at an estate sale for $25, 35 years ago, still running strong.
I purchase frozen Grapefruit juice for my favorite mocktail - selter water, 2 jiggers tart cherry juice and 4 oz Grapefruit juice - served over crushed ice.
The frozen lemonade I use for icebox pie: 1 qt vanilla ice cream, 6 oz lemonade. I make a shortbread crust (gluten free).
I am not a big casserole cook. We eat salad, veggie and protein.
I catch and can my own tuna, I would never dream of using it in a casserole.
I can the dark/blood meat for the cats and most people buy this grade at the store.
I once took tuna to a sick friend and I made tuna salad sandwiches w/my home pickles on the side and he thought it was chicken. I only process it every other year, but fish every year to help my cousin (his ocean boat). It is an amazing loooong day as we usually go out 40 miles to the warmer water. We know when we're getting into tuna when the black and white porpoises show up. So fun!
My husband and I had a farm wedding. Simple. easy. relaxing. BBQ, home made pies and cake, we went camping for the honeymoon.
@Blue Gate Farmgirl, I salute you for canning your own tuna. Once I canned salmon, an all day process done in a travel trailer that we borrowed and drove to the local salmon site. The equipment I had to bring so I could safely can was huge and the kitchen area very small. Husband and I each caught our max over two days, and the second day I canned while he gutted and prepared the fish and then while I processed that he caught his allowable amount. Never again!
I bet you are so grateful to buy canned salmon now. lol
I remember the frozen juice concentrate! It must have been expensive because I remember we were only allowed one glass a day.
I am an outlier here because I still wear pantyhose all the time. Norway is too cold for bare legs most of the time, and I like the way the sheer pantyhose even out my skin tone.
A couple of things struck me. I worked at a camp one summer, and we saved juice can lids to make medals for our summer "Olympics" for over 100 kids! I used cloth diapers only for my third child-she was a quiet, calm child. Had no dryer for a couple of years, so I hung them on the line to dry. After the fourth child came along, she was always on the road with her siblings, cloth didn't work out. My two middles got married the same year-One had a typical weekend type wedding at a local inn, with a lot of diy touches. The other opted to elope to the courthouse with just the parents. She didn't want to be the center of attention. Both were lovely, and just what each daughter wanted. I made cakes for both of them, and friends did flowers. Fortunately the one who had a traditional wedding received a retention bonus from her job that covered most of it! She even had camping at her house and rented a portapotty. Five years down the road, both couples are happy in their own homes. My son recently (age 40) recently thanked me for bringing him up frugally-he lives quite happily on a shoestring! I credit a lot of that from the influence of the tightwad gazette and it's teachings.
My baby, my husband and I love our cloth diapers & wipes so I feel compelled to share. We received a bunch from Buy Nothing groups & supplemented via local kids trade/resale shop & online resale (Poshmark), as well as our local zero-waste store. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to manage the garbage and constant purchasing of disposable! Very grateful for easy access to a washing machine & backyard (for outdoor drying); I admit it would be tough without these luxuries!
Well if you can purchase American cheese (in a block) from a real dairy, it can be shredded. Kraft used to sell Am cheese in blocks but I've not seen it for, well, decades. Tupperware sold a cheese holder for said block. Likely too much work to take it out of the frig, slice what you need, then put it back in the frig. Those "wrapped" slices are the absolute worse. No small wonder Am cheese is not popular these days but alas, I am a purist when it comes to cheese and certain foods.