I wonder how everyone defines themselves to be frugal. How cheap do you think you are??? How cheap is someone else???? I wonder. I wonder if I am not as frugal as I think. I wonder if I am a freakishly frugal person that needs to chill on my cheapo.
Well I thought I would put it into perspective with a list of what I actually spend my money on and what I don’t. I thought I would break it down though by week so this week we will start in the bathroom. I would love to hear your comments and what you spend your money on. Let me know! So here is the bathroom list…(that sounds bad)…Taking a deep breath….OK here goes: Bathroom:
TOILET PAPER: I splurge if I have to and buy Cottonelle or Charmin toilet paper, but I found the Walgreens store brand is just the same. (I will poke my finger through the plastic of a toilet paper wrapper to feel if it passes my soft test before I buy it) I do use my end of the trip Register Rewards or CAT $$ to buy this stuff because we always can use it.
Ajax (the scrubbing powder): I have tried a CA-ZILLION bathroom cleaners for the toilet and shower… nothing compares to you…Ajax LOL! It wins because it is cheap, and it works. As side from having to rinse out the shower it is perfect. (I have used baking soda before, but for the shower I prefer Ajax)
Clorox: Cheap and good works for just about everything. I dump out my bathroom trash can fill it up with some Clorox and water and set it on the side of the tub then soak the bottom of my shower curtain in it to remove all the yucky stuff that grows there.
Vinegar: works great in the bathroom, but I cannot use it when the guys in my home are around (they hate the smell). You can hack into your Shower Sprayer and fill it with vinegar and water to make a nice automatic shower cleaner.
Clean Up Wipes: I don’t have a brand preference but I like to have these on hand in my bathroom. I live with THREE, yes count them THREE MALES! I have to wipe, pick up or clean SOMETHING almost EVERY SINGLE time I go into the bathroom! Lawd, they are messy! The ones you get at the dollar store work just as well for these little WAY TOO COMMON clean ups, so if they are not on sale and I cannot get them for a $1 or less with a coupon I get them at the Dollar Tree.
Q-tips: For some reason I cannot most store brand Q-tips so we just splurge on the good stuff, coupons sometimes help.
Mr. Pumice: I have posted about this little wonder before, so CLICK HERE if you want to know more. Basically it’s a supped up pumice stone that I LOVE and can save on pedicures with this number. It keeps my feet wonderfully soft. If you don’t have one go…GO NOW out and spend the $2 to get one!
Olive Oil: I use a homemade recipe of Olive oil and some essential oils to moisturize with. I am planning on posting that recipe soon. But I use extra virgin olive oil, and lavender, and a few other oils mix it up and slather that as my moisturizer. It is awesome!
Vaseline: This is a cheap and awesome product. The uses are endless. I will have to post those some time. But I use this on my feet to hold in moisture. Wear with socks after washing your feet well and your feet are so nice and soft. My daughter used to have really itchy eyes and I would put Vaseline on them at night and they were fine the next day. It is great on your elbows, especially in winter dry months. I will have to stop there because there are so many other ways to use this awesome stuff!
Bag Balm: I know, I know! If you didn’t grow up in a farm house you don’t know how great this stuff is. Put bag balm on your feet it is like a super hero version of Vaseline. It works great as an anti-itch cream for mosquito bits! I swear!
FACE WASH: I use something simple like Dove or Ivory bar soap for my face wash (If I don’t have a freebie one from Walgreens) One of my dear old family members who had fabulous skin at a really old old age told me to wash my face gently every night with hot water and then apply cold cream in an up wards direction every night (The direction your face life would be LOL!) Then in the morning wash your face with cold water and put on sun block the same way. I like my face so I guess it is working for now!
CREAMS: I get every sample or freebie that I can that is anti-wrinkle or anti-aging cream. All of these add up fast and I can use a freebie every night and never have to buy one.
Shaving Cream: My hubby hates it when I use baby oil in the shower to shave my legs, mostly because it leaves the tub slicker than snot and he is accident prone. LOL Really you could hurt somebody doing that! I do use men’s shaving gel all the time. Whatever is on sale is what we use, but sometimes I pay full price for it because we all shave and use it lots…like toilet paper I can rarely stockpile this stuff.
Shower curtains: I used to just get $1 store shower curtains and replace them when they became yucky but that got expensive when my kids started taking their own showers because well, kids are slobs. They never close the curtain and so stuff grows when it is wet and all jammed together. So I got the more expensive one and take care of it and clean it often and it lasts…and lasts…and well ya know lasts!
Most of the rest of the bathroom supplies like toiletries and stuff you know how to save that…save your coupons and get it when it is a good deal at stores like Walgreens for FREE to REALLY CHEAP! I have so much soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and stuff like that right now I don’t see myself buy that for a long time. Yeah Stockpile!
So tell, tell! What are you spending your $$ on in the bathroom???
I like that you shared the inner workings of your bathroom :) I think we all wonder sometimes, is everyone doing this, or I am the only frugal (or wierd?) one. I have an Aldi's grocery store in my area and I am happy with their cheap toilet paper and tissues and buy them almost exclusively now. Except during the winter cold season, then only Puffs tissues will do for runny noses. I also cannot do without my spray/on, leave/on shower mist cleaner, but I can find those on sale for about $1.00 so it's not much of an expense. And it's good to hear someone else is using Vaseline as a moisturizer. Me too! Great for dry hands in the winter.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bev Puffs or Kleenex brand only with a cold. I do buy Lysol brand toilet cleaner. We hard water and the toilet gets yucky quick. I too use my products up, and even have posted about how long it takes for me to squeeze out every last drop.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely Puffs Plus when we have a cold running wild in our house too! Thanks for mentioning that, I hate it when your nose chaps from blowing too much.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn I used to have a hard water problem and I would use those Clorox drop in tabs in the back of the toilet. They are really cheap too.
I also forgot to mention a cleaner that I use in the bathroom as well as other areas of the house and that is Greased Lightning. It really works well on soap scum in the shower.