Last night, while washing the crud off the trays from our outdoor grill in the kitchen sink, I accidentally whacked our paper towel holder into the warm, soapy water. It was a brand-new roll of paper towels.
“Shit! Damn it!” I yelled.
Mr. Saver asked what happened, and I told him. He laughed at me and said, “Just put a new roll on.”
This morning, he woke up and as he got ready for work, he was appalled at the sight of a long line of paper towels laid out in the back room, airing dry. Apparently, he was thisclose to tossing them out.
My take on it is that I can use those paper towels now that they’re dry. I rolled them back onto the cardboard insert, and although it doesn’t look very neat, I managed to salvage the roll for future use.
With this instance of money-saving mettle, have I crossed the line from frugal to freak?
Yes. Yes, you are a freak. Welcome to the club.
I would have done the same thing. Mr. BFS knows me well enough by now to just shake his head and laugh at me…
Frugalista most definitely! I would have done the same thing and kept them for something like washing windows or cleaning up the cat’s hairballs / litterbox. Although it does occur to me that I only use about one roll of paper towels per year.
I wouldn’t go as far to call you a freak, but I think it’s a cheapie move. Switch to cloth towels… then you can just wash and dry them!
Frugal, but not frugal enough to ditch paper altogether! You don’t use them that often? The easier it will be to get rid of them altogether!
@Heather: Phasing out paper towel use is definitely something to work toward. Any suggestions for replacement product, such as cloths?
I’m going to go with freak on this, because of the time it would take to unroll the wet papertowels, then re-roll them, and the fact that dried out paper towels seem to lose something, maybe it’s absorption.
I can pinch a penny with the best of them, but there are certain things I won’t do to save a buck if the time invested or the end result seem out of proportion with the effort that needs to be invested.
That said, your frugal heart is in the right place…
I would have done the same thing. So of course I think you’re a frugalista!
Hahaha I would totally do that…IF we still used paper towel. But they are a waste of money and bad for the environment, missy! Hehe. 🙂
@Rina: That’s true. We don’t use them that often, honestly, which is why I think I got so annoyed that I ruined a brand-new roll.
I would have tossed them. I am somewhat of a germ freak, so having them land in that water would have been enough for me to throw them away without a second thought.
I wouldn’t call you a freak for keeping them though!
I’m going to go with Frugalista 🙂
But either way, funny!
If you ask my husband you are a freak. If you ask me, you are awesome. Supreme frugalista. Paper towels are on the NO BUY list for me, but if my mother shows up she always marches out and buys some. My hubs, as well, likes them. Agree with previous comment re: freak if did that with TP. Cheers! Emma @ Tightwad
Hard to say. I don’t buy paper towels, so have no idea what they cost (assuming they’re pricey, though!)
I’ve got to agreed with danielle. It might be taking it a bit too far. 🙂
I don’t think that was freakish – if it had been a roll of toilet paper in the toilet bowl, THAT would have been freakish! So I say very frugal 🙂
FRUGAL! 🙂 Paper towels are expensive, and who wants to throw out all those trees (and money) before they’re even used? If you had dropped them in something gross (like Alana said), it’d be time to toss them, but if you can dry them and still get use from them, why not? My husband would have thrown them out while I wasn’t looking, ha.
@Red: I’m surprised my husband didn’t toss them! He wanted to so badly… instead, he just mocked me lol
Glenn and I would have done the same thing you did. Why waste the roll when it was only wet? If you dropped it in say, oil, then I could see you throwing it out. Frugalista all the way.
Love you and your saver ways, but yes, you have crossed the line! Sadly, because you and my husband are so similar in that way, I knew what your end result would be. Yes, it’s a waste of a roll of paper towels, but they arent the most expensive item in your kitchen, you can stand to lose a roll once a year. : )
@Danielle: Even I felt ridiculous doing it — I was laughing the entire time I was unrolling it 😉
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