Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tightwad Tuesday

Confession time...I don't buy paper towels.
I started thinking about this last night when I had to tell the other Cub Scout moms I couldn't bring in old paper towel tubes because....we don't use paper towels. Gasp.....crickets.... It was as though I had suddenly grown two heads. Honestly, dish cloths and old towels fill this spot really well. I just pitch them in the wash. Is it really that odd? The other moms said "Geesh, they're only a buck at the dollar store." So I did some quick (for me math). Say 7 rolls/week at $1 times 355 (maybe there'd be 10 days we were neat?) comes to oh, duh, $355. I can do some wash for $355. And yes, I totally believe we could go through that many if their tp usage is any indication.

6 comments:

Truth said...

I don't know if I could survive without paper towels. Paper napkins, no problem. But I use them for way too many things. I wouldn't want to use a towel to soak grease from the bacon, lol. Although, growing up I do recall my mom used paper grocery sacks for this purpose. Now that's a thought.

Anonymous said...

Things are really tight for us right now. Big changes in dh's work, and no jobs to be had. I keep looking for ways to cut back. I rarely use paper towels, but cannot get dh to give up ANYTHING. He sabotages every effort I make. It is so frustrating. DD and I are BOTH cutting back in EVERY possible way, all the while, watching dh continue to use one paper towel after another (I don't buy them - he does), plus he is constantly coming home with snack food that we don't need. Very, very frustrating. I love your idea. I just wish I could get him on board with it.

Anonymous said...

me neither! Been several years and we are slowly switching to cloth napkins. Great tip!

Gretchen said...

A 3-pack of paper towels lasts me months. We use washcloths and dish towels for everything. As you said, just throw them in the wash!

Anonymous said...

we don't use much paper towels either. i could collect 100's of tp rolls tho.

i like paper towel for bacon grease and puke :-P

Denise said...

My Mom thinks I'm a nut for not buying paper towels. I have even considered switching to cloth in the bathroom for #1 only....boys don't use tp for that, but now that I've got more girls than boys in the house we are using a LOT of tp. I'd probably have fewing chafing problems with my toddlers that way too.