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<p>My husband saves unopened ketchup packets from fast food places and never buys bottles of ketchup.</p>
<p>He washes and reuses *all *zip lock bags. We have about 80 of them hanging on clips in the garage. They’re just going to multiply forever because I have no way of knowing if they previously held a slice of bread (usable again) or raw meat (unusable). It makes him nuts when I buy boxes of new zip lock bags.</p>
<p>^^ Haha, that sounds terrifying! Not knowing whether a baggie contained raw meat or bread would drive me nuts. I suggest you march out there, throw them all out, and invest in some tupperware. Enough is enough.</p>
<p>My 2000 mini-van has 198k miles, the 1998 Dodge pickup has 240K miles and the “new” 2007 Toyota Matrix has 125K miles. Those re-usable Cold Cuts Zip-Loc containers are pretty good, we run those through the dishwasher. </p>
<p>The Electric bill just took a plunge of $48.00 from the previous month. While trying to wonder what was different, S said he unplugged the Wii … Who would have thought?</p>
<p>If he would just accept that some bags can be re-used and some not, it would be fine. I have no problem with reusing. For example, I have a small collection of the “liquids and gels” size bags that I keep with the travel stuff…no need to pitch a bag that has only held lip gloss and eye drops. But he insists that all are reusable after being washed…if you washed them at a high enough temp to kill the bad stuff, the bag would melt!!!</p>
<p>I reuse baggies all the time as long as there was nothing saucy in there. Dampness from fruit slices or crumbs from a sandwich can just be rinsed away. Plus my mom brought me a box of Hello Kitty ziploc bags from California, and they are just too cute to throw away after one time (I’m eating strawberries out of one right now).</p>
<p>I re-use my travel ziploc bags too. But hanging ALL the bags in the garage??? Hey, I use them for things like raw meat and leftover fish. Ewww. Missypie…you have my sympathies. Your husband is true ultra “Froog” (just made that up).</p>
<p>yikes, missypie! Tell your DH that co-pays for visiting your doctor due to food poisoning could easily wipe out the savings on baggies!</p>
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<p>We met at the beginning of his freshman year in college. As long as you live at home, you think that everything your family does is “normal.” Freshman year, he would proudly tell tales of his families frugalities (e.g. his dad installed one of those single sheet toilet paper dispensers in the bathroom and you supposedly had a two sheet limit) and we all would laugh our heads off. Little did I know at the time that I would be marrying into that family.</p>
<p>And yes, my inlaws still have the single sheet TP dispenser. And there is a sign by the shower that says to please turn off the water while you soap up.</p>
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<p>LOL. </p>
<p>If I take, say, baby carrots for lunch every day, nothing wrong with reusing that baggie every day for baby carrots. I draw the line at washing out baggies. </p>
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<p>I’m having a hard time believing this one. Though I’d really, really like to believe it, because it would be so easy to save so much money. :)</p>
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<p>This depends on so many factors–cost of housing, cost of moving, if there’s a family to be moved/schools to be switched, two adults working, what the job market’s like/how long you’re going to be at the remote location.</p>
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<p>This is what I tell my husband when he asks me if I think something old in fridge is still okay to eat! My motto, “When in doubt, throw it out!”.</p>
<p>We are famous for washing those big red plastic cups, which sort of defeats the reason to have them on hand. They are not for our daily use, but are used for larger gatherings, parties, outdoor events (those we don’t bring back home, but I 'll be somre frugal folks do).</p>
<p>My husband must be part armadillo or buzzard or something because he eats ancient food, food that has been in the Texas heat for 12 hours, etc. and never ever gets sick. Some of it I almost get sick just looking at, but he eats it with no ill affects. Am I wrong to wish he’d get horribly ill from 3 week old leftovers just once?</p>
<p>My 2001 Toyota Avalon has 118,000 miles on it. DH’s 2005 Tundra only has about 40,000. The 1996 Toyota T-100 that we traded in for the Tundra two years ago had 210,000 when we traded it. When S1’s 1989 Ford Bronco II finally bit the dust in 2006, it had well over 200,000 miles. </p>
<p>Glad to hear others reuse ziplock bags. I also save plastic containers that take-out Chinese comes in. They are great for storing/reheating leftovers or taking my lunch to work in. They even stand up to the dishwasher.
DH reuses plastic grocery store bags by taking his lunch to work in one every day.</p>
<p>I don’t like all the stories about plastic chemicals leaching into food when you microwave it. So I have bought a bunch of glass containers and use those to heat and store food. They wash up better in the dw too!</p>
<p>Well my 2003 Pathfinder has 210K miles on it. My H’s 2000 Honda Odyssey has about 110K. My oldest is a jr in HS and I have no intentions of buying another car til I find out how much we will be paying for college next year. I want an almost new car but will have to wait to see if I “need” an almost new car when I start paying tuition.</p>
<p>[Volvo</a> High Mileage Club](<a href=“http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/miles.shtml]Volvo”>Volvo High Mileage Club) The top volvo has 2600000 miles (2.6 million!)
[How</a> to make your car last a million miles - MSN Money](<a href=“http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/CarsThatLastAMillionMiles.aspx]How”>http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/CarsThatLastAMillionMiles.aspx)</p>
<p>Some advice sites for aspiring cheapskates
[The</a> Frugal Life - Living Well With What You Have](<a href=“http://www.thefrugallife.com/]The”>http://www.thefrugallife.com/)
[Living</a> On A Dime - Frugal Living, Money Saving Tips, Debt Free Living, Free Recipes](<a href=“http://www.livingonadime.com/]Living”>http://www.livingonadime.com/)
[Frugal</a> Living](<a href=“http://frugalliving.about.com/]Frugal”>http://frugalliving.about.com/)
[Frugal</a> Simplicity | Frugal Living, Frugal Living Tips, Frugal Recipes, Better Budgeting, Money Saving Tips, Frugal Column, Simple Living, Budgeting Tips](<a href=“http://www.frugalsimplicity.com/]Frugal”>http://www.frugalsimplicity.com/)</p>
<p>We recently gave up our 1983 car when we bought BIL’s used Volvo S70, with 130K miles on it. It’s now up to 145K, or so. It’s a “new 1998.” Our S has the BMW which has about 135K miles; it’s a 1992. The Toyota Sienna has 92K & is a 2000. We just recently acquired a new 4-year-old car that we’ll probably own forever. It currently has 11K miles on it.</p>
<p>The Lex was acting up recently and, with 218k miles, I thought this was the end. But we got a scanner to read the codes and signed up with alldatadiy for “instructions.” All it took was a little bit of sensor cleaner stuff. Car works perfectly now.</p>
<p>Some models, in some years, are absolute gems. Everything seems to come together to create a really solid car. Not worth tossing away (until I can’t pass smog inspection.) Oh, and this is our lower mileage car. Love those Toyotas!</p>
<p>My 11 year old Volvo has finally died. It feels like torture to shop for a new or newish car.</p>
<p>I used to joke that my husband had the first dime he ever made–until he married me: I spent it. We usually buy a new car and drive it until it dies. I always feel like I have a new car. The newest is a 2002 Sable wagon (woohoo) with 135K on it. DH drives a '99Volvo with 150K or so, and our low mileage vehicle is a '97 Mazda 626 with 83,000 miles on it, which we bought for 3K for DD to drive to her school. DS was talkng about what kind of cars his friends want and I asked him what his dream car was. His answer: “A Mazda 626.” lol The one in the driveway. It may rub off yet.</p>
<p>When I bought the Sable, it had a CD player for six CDs. I told my students that I had to go buy four more CDs.</p>
<p><em>clapping hands</em> 
No you are not alone…we finally turned in my Mercury Villager minivan (something like 317,000 miles or more can’t remember exactly about 3 years ago…it saw our daughter from toddler-hood to the first year of high school </p>
<p>lol @ missypie, I can picture the ziploc baggies decorating your garage, you need to take a picture of that! :)</p>
<p>on the other hand I think the frugalities have helped us prepare for the dreaded sticker shock of college tuition now :)</p>