~image from the internet saveup.com~
I just wasted a couple hours of my day watching the show Extreme Cheapskates. Seriously, some of the things I saw on that show give a frugal person like myself a bad name. They might be saving money ... but some of the ways they go about it certainly gives them the title to their claims as being cheapskates. I think calling them tightwads would be more fitting.
Example, the millionaire lady who pees in a bottle so she doesn't have to waste water flushing the toilet. She claims to being frugal because she then takes it outside and puts it on her compost pile. Yuck! I sure wouldn't want to be sifting through her dirt!
Or, the guy and wife who share the toothbrush and dental floss ~ gross!
The guy who only flushes the toilet after he showers once a week with the bucket of water he collected while showering. He lets his stinking urine sit in the toilet for a week! Gross! His toilet works ... he just doesn't want to waste water.
Or the family that uses newspaper instead of toilet paper and they put in a plastic bag to burn instead of flushing .... gross groSS GROSS!!! I can only imagine how april fresh that bathroom smells ~ because they can't even open the bathroom window because they use the newspaper as insulation in the room too and the window is stuffed with it for 'extra' paper in case they run out.
That's not only being cheap ... it sick and filthy ... that's what these people are. It's not like these people can't afford the toilet paper ... they just choose not to.
Penny over at Penniless Parenting has a good read on it.
Half the people on that show are just filthy and disgusting and I really can't believe that there is a reality show glorifying their actions. AND what I really can't believe is that I sat and watched it for over an hour!!!
I think half of that show revolved around these families and their bathroom habits ~ or lack of.
How could I let myself get sucked into that show. I know one thing for sure, I won't be doing that again.
Now ... being frugal and living frugal to me is a whole different story then what these people were portraying. To me living frugal is a choice. We (Dear Hubby) and I CHOOSE to live this way. We watch our budget and live accordingly.
Many a family vacations have been subsidized by pitching the change in the jar and saving it for a rainy day. Even if it meant a tank of gas was saved that way, every little penny counts. That pocket change can add up quite quickly.
We garden and grow our own vegetables, not because we have to ... but because we choose to. We enjoy the fruits of our labor through out the winter months from all the canning and dehydrating I do. Plus, we know what we're eating! No chemically processed foods going into our bellies.
We live frugally, but we also live clean and healthy!! Or at least try to be that way!! We try to live quiet contented lives, and try to be as self-sufficient as we can. If we want something, we budget and save for it. We live within our means.
AND we use our toilet as intended ~ flushing after each use and we even splurge and buy 2-ply toilet paper ... so don't call us cheapskates! We're frugal ... and proud of it :)
Yes, being frugal means you can afford the little luxuries like 2-ply toilet paper if you choose, watch your pennies and save accordingly.
Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel
