I don't spend money on....

[notsocommon]

I have a stack of cloth, mostly used for those times when we run out of TP...because between the blasted cats and the kid who thinks she needs half a roll, we always run out. grrrrrr. It isn't bad, less icky than the cloth pads.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

It's not for me, but i understand it to be much like cloth diapering (flush any solids and drop the used ones in a wet bucket).

It is pretty funny to imagine one of those long cloth rollers, like in old gas station bathrooms to dry your hands...

That's my understanding too.

My local coffeehouse washroom has the long cloth rollers for your HANDS, the thought of butt-wipin' cloth working like that has me horrified but kinda laughing too. Talk about EWWWW!

Individual cloths don't gross me out any more than diapers do - wash 'em on hot.

[latraviata]

I've done that before. It's not as gross as it sounds but regular TP is worth the price in convenience if you can afford it.

I know the newspapers, paper coffee filters, paper handkerchiefs,but I honestly never heard of cloth tp.

[Soldevi]

I can see advantages either way, but does it actually save money? Toilet paper is one of the loss leaders that stores periodically offer below cost, to entice to into the store. Plus, hot water and electricity cost money too.

I was thinking this very thing, too. Sounds more expensive to me. Washing family clothes daily with hot water consumes a lot of energy, even more if you tumble dry them. Maybe in a big family with many small kids but now there is only two of us, our washing machine eats 7 kilos of laundry and I usually wash full loads maybe twice or thrice a week (black/dark, white and sportswear).

[notsocommon]

Maybe the fundies should try this:

[kb2]

I don't think I could do family cloth and I have no babies around to cloth diaper, but I do prefer using kitchen towels to paper towels. Living alone I would only go through one roll of paper towels a year, but now that I'm married my husband goes through multiple packs of rolls a year. He still only spends like $20 on paper towels a year though, so I can't say it's that big of a money saver!

notsocommon: lol

[Soldevi]

Oh my, it is almost 1:30 am here and I was afraid I'd wake up my husband because I just laughed and laughed :D Hilarious picture.

[xDreamerx]

The thought personally grosses me out and makes me want to bathe in pruel but to each their own (I'm kind of a germaphobe, even about my own germs).

Someone mentioned newspaper, which was quite common before the advent of TP. If something was considered particularly pulpy (plays, little pamphlets, cartoons), it was called bum-fodder, meaning it was only good to wipe your ass with.

I find the juice soda, newspaper subscriptions, and books much more shocking. I'm running out of room for my books and will likely live and die a paper girl. I grew up with my dad, who reads like 3 papers a day plus I watch newscasts so the idea of not having a morning paper is alien to me. Also the cheese thing is weird to me because as a Uni student I am uber lazy.

[Deleted03]

I have a stack of cloth, mostly used for those times when we run out of TP...because between the blasted cats and the kid who thinks she needs half a roll, we always run out. grrrrrr. It isn't bad, less icky than the cloth pads.

why is it less icky than cloth pads?

I would consider family cloth for #1 - less stress than for #2 and considering how often I need to pee, particularly in the summer... would save some money. Now of course I'm using common washing machines so no, I would not.

[Maggie Mae]

We recently switched to buying the preshredded cheese because it was less expensive than the blocks that we shred ourselves. I'm sure it's just my location thought. I also know that the gas (to heat the water), electricity, and water to do extra loads of laundry would be more than the cost of TP.

Canned Beans don't offer me that much savings, as the time to cook & prepare them can be better used to do other things, but other than that I find nothing really weird about her list. I mean, I buy juice, but that's because I love my daily cran & vodka. My booze budget is the largest part of my grocery bill :/

[Wolfie]

It's the same thing as cloth baby wipes. It's not one big piece of cloth being shared.

Yeah, for me it's a convience thing. I use cloth menstrual pads, I make diapers for my siblings' offspring, it's really no different once it's been well washed in hot water and the proper detergents. I just don't want to have to store the stuff in the bathroom all the time. (But I go through very little TP, because I'm at work most of the day, most of the year and live alone. BUT if we do have to take a big paycut next year I may go through the diaper making scraps and make some cloth just for myself, and leave the TP for the guests.)

[Conuly]

Also, um, it's entirely possible to use cloth for just pee and not poo, which strikes me as somewhat... easier if you want (or have) to do this but find it psychologically difficult.

[geniebelle6901]

My grandmother said she had to use pages from a Sears & Roebuck catalog in an outhouse. Speaking of pee (and this is so nasty and gross)....I ran across some links where people pee on a washcloth and use it as an acne treatment. Umm...no thank you I'd rather use Stridex pads.

[Maude]

My grandmother said she had to use pages from a Sears & Roebuck catalog in an outhouse.

Yup. My grandmother, who was born in 1933, grew up using an outhouse and an Eaton's catalogue. It wasn't until she met my grandfather that they got indoor plumbing (around 1949 or 1950).

[JenniferJuniper]

Newspaper was commonly used as well. Served a dual purpose. Can only imagine how many people must have suffered from hemorrhoids back then.

Of course, having a toilet outside, or as was the case in my grandparents' house, way down in the dirt-floor cellar (basement) probably played some role in curbing over-eating. Maybe in some ways we'd be better off if toilets weren't so accessible in our homes.

[ADoyle90815]

The thought personally grosses me out and makes me want to bathe in pruel but to each their own (I'm kind of a germaphobe, even about my own germs).

Someone mentioned newspaper, which was quite common before the advent of TP. If something was considered particularly pulpy (plays, little pamphlets, cartoons), it was called bum-fodder, meaning it was only good to wipe your ass with.

I find the juice soda, newspaper subscriptions, and books much more shocking. I'm running out of room for my books and will likely live and die a paper girl. I grew up with my dad, who reads like 3 papers a day plus I watch newscasts so the idea of not having a morning paper is alien to me. Also the cheese thing is weird to me because as a Uni student I am uber lazy.

I feel the same way about books and newspaper subscriptions since I like getting a daily newspaper. I'm also one of those who prefers actual books to a Kindle as I love the smell of books and being able to read them during an entire airplane flight while during takeoff and landing, Kindles and other devices have to be turned off. I happen to like the shredded cheese since it's much more convenient when I don't feel like getting the grater dirty to grate only a little bit of cheese. One reason why I will continue to buy rolls of TP is that in the long run, it keeps my water and gas bills lower since I have less laundry to do, and I'm a germaphobe.

[VintageJen1984]

Also, um, it's entirely possible to use cloth for just pee and not poo, which strikes me as somewhat... easier if you want (or have) to do this but find it psychologically difficult.

This would mean not using cloth at all for me. I pee very carefully so it doesn't get all over me and then drip dry so as to save toilet paper. But I also read (usually online...) on the toilet so I have plenty of time for that at home.

[terranova]

The list of things I would give up so I could afford tp would be epic. Honestly, it's not a luxury, it's a nessescity!

[CrazyCatLady]

The list of things I would give up so I could afford tp would be epic. Honestly, it's not a luxury, it's a nessescity!

I absolutely agree with this. i always have extra TP on hand because i NEVER want to run out!

[alba]

Netflix is only $8 in the US? We're getting ripped off here; it's £6 D; £6 is roughly equivalent to $9-10 US.

I do most of the things on her list, actually. We do have a TV licence, but that's a bit different from buying cable in that the majority of it funds the advert-free BBC, including programmes on BBC2/4 that wouldn't be lucrative with adverts (like my recent favourite, "Inside the Mediaeval Mind"). I also get most of my news from the BBC website or other online sources, so I've never actually bought a newspaper subscription. Regarding books, most of the books I own are either ones I bought for my degree, gifts, or things I bought second-hand or got free from the library. I also got an e-reader as a graduation gift from my parents, but I only use it for library books, free electronic literary magazines, and library books. I would *love* to be able to buy all the books I read, but it would be ridiculously expensive and I like showing my support for my local library, given that in the past couple years a lot of local libraries have either closed or gone private.

I don't really think of any of these things as being particularly unusual ways of saving money so much as I don't see the point in spending money or the cost would be prohibitive.

I also don't pay for birth control; my evil socialised healthcare system pays for it ^_^

[geniebelle6901]

I don't spend money on video games and don't own a game system. I also never get manicures/pedicures or buy nail polish. I don't have any magazine or newspaper subscriptions either.

[Koala]

The list of things I would give up so I could afford tp would be epic. Honestly, it's not a luxury, it's a nessescity!

+1. You should have seen my husbands face when I told him about this thread. :lol:

[asinglevoice]

They can do whatever they want, but honestly? You can get a pretty decent-sized pack of toilet paper for a dollar at the dollar store!

Toilet paper is one of my particular crazy areas, though. I keep a roll in my car! :lol:

[TXDuck]

I don't spend money on video games and don't own a game system. I also never get manicures/pedicures or buy nail polish. I don't have any magazine or newspaper subscriptions either.

But I'm guessing you do spend your "fun money" on something. ;) I don't have any subscriptions either but I get almost all my news online/from the Daily Show.

[lilwriter85]

A couple of months back, TLC or Discovery aired a documentary called the World's Biggest Cheapskates and they featured a family that used cloths instead of toilet paper. This family was small, but they went through some hard times a couple of years back and they claimed that they saved $200 a year but not buying TP. My boyfriend was really grossed out when we watch that. He said TP is something he would never got without because he can a be a bit of germaphobe. When I read that blog posting, it reminded me right away of that documentary. TP can be found for very cheap prices. I've bought some some good generic brands before.

I know a lot of people who don't spend money on books, cable, newspaper or magazine subscriptions. I admit I spend money on all those things. I have gotten some deals on magazine subscriptions. I don't mind spending money on satellite because my bf and I are sports fans. As for books, I like owning certain titles to reread them again. I always laugh when fundies complain about the ebil government, but they bite the bullet once awhile and will use public libraries to avoid buying books.