What are the biggest wastes in household purchasing?

[slewfoot]

Solar.

[Rodnok1]

Originally Posted by Louie Detroit

At least they don't charge them on food anymore.

They tax food here, technically against NC constitution so they make it a temporary tax they keep renewing.
Been 25 years now of taxing maybe longer. They will never stop the greedy bastards.

Biggest waste is any sincle serve item, sodas, chips, cookies, whatever.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by slewfoot

Solar.

This is the best answer in the thread.

[Don Rickles]

Realtors

[CurtP]

Originally Posted by Louie Detroit

May I ask why you feel this way? They are so more efficient in comparison to wasteful plastic bottles.

Efficient? They're anything but. Pods waste detergent - you can't compensate for soil levels/water hardness and cost more per use. And it's not like pods don't come in wasteful plastic packaging too. You always have the option to buy detergent refills so the bottles can be reused.

I'm not a fan of liquid detergents either. Buying diluted product. For the last 10 years I've been buying commercial laundry and dishwasher powder in 50# pails.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Don Rickles

Realtors

Another good answer.

[slewfoot]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Ziploc bags. Most people (everybody?) uses them once and throws them out.

I was raised by very frugal parents, who were young adults during the Depression and learned to not throw anything out that was still usable.

I worsh mine and clip them above the sink to drip dry, and use them until they get a hole in them or the zipper is shot.

In the 52 years since I left home, I figured I've saved around $11.74 doing this.


Attachment 100416

You know those plastic t shirt bags used to put groceries in at the checkout in grocery stores? My wife collects those fkn things. This is what Jews do.

Has a large garbage bag full in the pantry. This has been going on for years. I have to be careful. It is stuff full so I will remove about 1/3 of the supply, then fluff them all up to appear full. Then hide the pile I removed in my vehicle and throw them out somewhere else.

If I put them in the trash outside, she will see this and flip out.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by slewfoot

You know those plastic t shirt bags used to put groceries in at the checkout in grocery stores? My wife collects those fkn things. This is what Jews do.

Has a large garbage bag full in the pantry. This has been going on for years. I have to be careful. It is stuff full so I will remove about 1/3 of the supply, then fluff them all up to appear full. Then hide the pile I removed in my vehicle and throw them out somewhere else.

If I put them in the trash outside, she will see this and flip out.

We have plenty of those plastic bags. I use them as trash can liners for the small trash cans in the bathrooms and office.
When the stock gets a little large I'll throw out a few bags full of them. And my wife is ok with it.

[Frankie the Fink]

My wife of 48 years grew up with 4 sisters in a single Mom household and NEVER had enough coat hangers. Its been a weird hoarding thing for her and I have 3 bushel baskets of coat hangers in the attic that I've moved from house to house.

My brother helped me on one move years ago and said, "if you don't throw this crap out you don't have a hair on your azz". 15 years and 3 houses later they are still in the attic and I have a bald azz...

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by CurtP

Efficient? They're anything but. Pods waste detergent - you can't compensate for soil levels/water hardness and cost more per use. And it's not like pods don't come in wasteful plastic packaging too. You always have the option to buy detergent refills so the bottles can be reused.

I'm not a fan of liquid detergents either. Buying diluted product. For the last 10 years I've been buying commercial laundry and dishwasher powder in 50# pails.

Never heard of "pods" before, but I'm guessing what they are.

I was always pissed at the price of laundry detergent; seems much more expensive than it should be.

For years I've bought Ajax liquid dish soap from Dollar General. It suds up nice, is a less-pricey offbrand, and always did a great job on dishes. Why not use it for laundry? -- it's made to cut grease, etc.

So I do and it works great (no reason why it wouldn't). Don't need a whole lot to get suds and it's cheap.

Also, when I was still working, when I'd come in the house my hands were always dirty: oil, grease, graphite dust. I used all kinds of hand cleaners: Boraxo worked well but rough on hands especially during winter, D&L, etc.

I put Ajax in a pump bottle and it worked every bit as well as the others (don't need it since I retired. My hands are always clean now like a liberal with a desk job).

So Ajax it is for everything here except regular hand/shower soap bars.

Another thing: I always wash clothes with cold water. It really doesn't make any difference from hot.

[slewfoot]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Never heard of "pods" before, but I'm guessing what they are.

Tide Pods, little cubes of detergent. Teens were eating them a few years back as some tik tok or you tube challenge.

[GTOguy]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Never heard of "pods" before, but I'm guessing what they are.

I was always pissed at the price of laundry detergent; seems much more expensive than it should be.

For years I've bought Ajax liquid dish soap from Dollar General. It suds up nice, is a less-pricey offbrand, and always did a great job on dishes. Why not use it for laundry? -- it's made to cut grease, etc.

So I do and it works great (no reason why it wouldn't). Don't need a whole lot to get suds and it's cheap.

Also, when I was still working, when I'd come in the house my hands were always dirty: oil, grease, graphite dust. I used all kinds of hand cleaners: Boraxo worked well but rough on hands especially during winter, D&L, etc.

I put Ajax in a pump bottle and it worked every bit as well as the others (don't need it since I retired. My hands are always clean now like a liberal with a desk job).

So Ajax it is for everything here except regular hand/shower soap bars.

Another thing: I always wash clothes with cold water. It really doesn't make any difference from hot.

The deal is that laundry detergent doesn't foam up excessively in the machine like dish soap can. I simply use Purex laundry detergent in the gallon jug for about $6. It's 1/3 the price of Tide or All and works fine.

[Yadkin]

Money saving tips:

1. Skip the expensive wheel cleaners and use a solution of diluted Simple Green in a spray bottle. It works just as well.

2. I have several pounds of granulated chlorine for my spa that I no longer use since I went with a salt water system. A half-teaspoon is all that is needed when doing a white laundry load, instead of the ridiculously expensive bleach in gallon jugs.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by GTOguy

The deal is that laundry detergent doesn't foam up excessively in the machine like dish soap can. I simply use Purex laundry detergent in the gallon jug for about $6. It's 1/3 the price of Tide or All and works fine.

Never heard of it but I'll check it out. Does DG have it?

When I was working my jeans would get very dirty from graphite, grease, cutting oil, etc. Ajax worked as well as any regular laundry detergent.

A side note on suds: My retired neighbor used to work at a chemical company somewhere near Philly. He said, and I've seen it online also, that the amount of suds is not correlated to cleaning power.

[Datawiz]

Originally Posted by DAB

$105,000 two seater sports cars.....

if you have money, enjoy it; don't covet what other's have.

Good thing mine's not 105k.

[owc6]

Waste of money that I see in other's baskets?

Cereal (horrible for you, empty calories)
Convenience food such as pre-done meals and other highly processed food-like substances
Soda, juice and fake juice
Paper napkins (I haven't bought paper napkins in 40 years. We use cloth napkins at home. I've probably saved many thousands of $ just in this alone).

It's amazing when I see a cart filled with stuff from the interior aisles, and not a single thing from the outside of the market such as produce, fresh meat, cheese, etc...

If people would learn to cook using real ingredients, they would save a ton of money, have better quality food, and not be waddling up and down the aisles looking for their favorite chips, 2 liter bottles of soda, Mac and cheese from a box, and frozen pizza.

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by owc6

If people would learn to cook using real ingredients, they would save a ton of money, have better quality food, and not be waddling up and down the aisles looking for their favorite chips, 2 liter bottles of soda, Mac and cheese from a box, and frozen pizza.

Food stamps should be redeemable only for dried beans and rice.

[jw38]

I don't waste the money I have. I buy what I want, when I want it, and I use what I want. Life's too short to worry about whether or not I'm wasting money. My daughters will get whatever is left over.

[LisaJohn]

I like the tide pods for the convenience. I felt like I was using too much or too little with the powders and liquids. I keep a bottle of liquid all free and clear in case I wash the grands clothes, towels and sheets.
Paper towels and toilet paper have increased in price. We seem to use a lot of paper towels.

[Kevin68]

Originally Posted by SurfnSun

You should taste the water in Florida. Bottled water = worth it

A carbon filter or reverse osmosis system on your drinking water tap will get rid the taste. As noted below, most bottled water is tap water. However, it is processed through some combination of softening, RO, carbon polishing, or nanofiltration with ozonation/UV disinfection and a little salt added to get their proprietary taste.

You might be shocked to know of the lengths some companies will go through to put "spring water" on the label...only to process it through the same systems they run tap water through. Most natural spring water tastes horrible until you get used to it. Just like most love the taste of water from their well.