One of the followers of The 11 Month Project recently shared a story she had read about a frugal living family who used cloth toilet paper. I have to admit there is NO WAY I am EVER going to do that…..E V E R!! I don’t even like camping because of the whole TP situation.
Sunday night I watched a show about the same family on TLC. This is a Mom of 6 who actually shops at a food outlet store that sells expired food. Now, I’m not opposed to eating foods a bit past their “sell by” or “best by” dates…a BIT PAST…but this Mom actually bought cheese what was well past it’s date and said “Well, I don’t see any mold” and a package of dry pizza sauce that was best by some date in 2009….SERIOUSLY? OK, so assuming this show was shot sometime in 2011 that package was at least a year plus out of date. That’s not frugal, that’s disgusting. I watched this show to get some ideas but what I got was an upset stomach. I will not be dumpster diving for gifts, singing for discounts (you’re welcome), or asking random strangers if I can take their half eaten meals home from a restaurant. Ooooo, and if my husband takes me out to a “nice” meal on our 25th wedding anniversary I do not expect to have a number placed on the table, a paper cup to drink from OR dead roses you gathered from a dumpster….call me a snob if you must.
BUT if you want to be frugal AND smart you have to check this out….
Cottontail Babies (http://cottontailbabies.org) made these GREAT kitchen towels. They are double sided, simple to make, will match your kitchen perfectly (because you make them) and with the help of small plastic snaps they will nicely roll up on your existing paper towel dispenser. THIS is the kind of thoughtful frugality I can get behind. Go to http://cottontailbabies.org/2011/01/unpaper-towel-tutorial/ for the full tutorial on how to make these unpaper towels.
This project is FIRST on my list…you know as soon as I find the presser foot for my sewing machine.
Meanwhile, next week I’ll share my recipe for spaghetti sauce seasoning mix and you can skip the bag of mix that is two years out of date.
I have been using cloth napkins for a long time. We have old stained up towels that we use for cleaning. I have bought maybe 6 rolls of paper towels/napkins in a year. Those would be for a birthday or for my husband to clean the car. I won't use cloth toilet paper or even cloth personal lady items (if you get my drift) either. Even though I have heard those exist.
ReplyDeleteI am ALL about being thrifty, however the story you described is way beyond pushing the limits. I told my husband about the unpaper towel, very cute by the way, and he said " you mean a rag?" Anyhow, I do love supplies that make house cleaning more fashionable, shallow maybe. We are doing well on the 11 month plan here in Idaho without having to sacrifice health and safety.
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