HOW WE IRRITATE OUR PARTNERS WITH OUR FRUGAL WAYS
My husband has always referred to me as the coupon queen or told various stories of all the free things that I have received in the mail over the years. He does not however appreciate all of my frugal habits. Some of them may be just a bit extreme. I can laugh along with him at the fact that my years of frugality and being in debt, have driven me to some extreme measures. A recent debate with my husband Jason sparked a great idea for me to collaborate on a post, with some of my fellow bloggers. This post will share some funny frugal ways we irritate our partners with our frugality and how it irritates them. Thankfully they still love and accept us for these quirks, and they can mostly laugh along with us as we continue our journey to financial freedom.
My personal most annoying frugal ways would have to be
Forgetting my shopkick points while grocery shopping and having to back track for scans. Haha🤣 sorry honey.
Using grocery bags as lunch bags, reusing containers from lunch meat, sour cream, etc.
Saving sauce packets and napkins given to us in our fast food bags in excess and storing them up at home. My husband can not stand what he considers clutter so this makes him absolutely crazy 😜
Going to the mall just to pick up my freebies from Victoria's Secret, Godiva chocolate or bath n body works.
Free samples and products that arrive in the mail for everything from food items, tissues, haircare, etc. My husband Jason still tells the story about when I received yogurt on dry ice from a company that wanted my opinion. The conversation usually goes something like this, "she even gets yogurt sent to her in the mail!" Haha, the looks I get from people are priceless.
Robin from sidejambiz.com shares:
The frugal habit that irritates my husband the most is when I wash out a Ziploc bag so that it can be used again. Ziploc bags in general just kill me -- I feel like they are an absolute waste of money. But sometimes putting leftovers in a baggies makes more sense than using a plastic container, aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Ziplocs seal better, and fit into smaller spaces than a clunky container would. I'll typically use them to store cut veggies and salad fixings. Once empty, I'll wash the bag out really well, and then leave it to air dry. It drives my husband crazy when there are empty plastic baggies sitting all over the kitchen counter. He thinks they're totally disposable, and doesn't understand why I waste my team cleaning them when I could just grab another. But I just see dollar signs and money flying right out the window! Ultimately, I get my way because I'm the one making the salads for our lunches. -Robin
Adebayo from drbreatheeasyfinance.com shares:
I had my s4 phone up until last month. She tried to throw it in the garbage multiple times. But I would always would take it back out. The phone was very slow, it would freeze while texting or browsing the web. Making a call took far too long due to the freezing. She thought I should have upgraded sooner, but I was trying to be frugal and save money on an upgrade.- Adebayo
Clare from Simple measures at home shares:
“I have a lot of frugal habits that drive my husband crazy! The first one that comes to mind is saving plastic containers from yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. and then letting them build up in the cupboard until there is an avalanche. I hate throwing good stuff away, and I always think that these will come in handy for the kids’ snacks, painting, etc. I do fail a bit on actually using them. He’s adopted many of my frugal habits over the years, so I’m thinking it will just be a matter of time before he’s doing this too!” - Clare, Simple Measures at Home
The blogger behind thistimenextyear.me shares:
I’m a sucker for a bargain, so if I happen to be shopping when the supermarket put out the reduced food I nearly always grab something. Great idea, right? Well, I think so. The problem is that my partner is the one who does the majority of the cooking in our house, and he liked to stick to his regular meals or buy items to fit a recipe. When I breeze in with a bagful of cheap butternut squashes, sweet potatoes and parsnips (and a plan to create a batch of tasty soups and curries) he just groans. Because he doesn’t like using sweet veg. And I’m not a creative cook. And there is a very, very good chance that my wonderful bargains will sit in the fridge for weeks, waiting patiently for someone to actually use them. Or throw them away.
Allison the writer behind www.facebook.com/allisonnicolepearl shares:
The Battle of the Toilet Paper. In our home, it was a daily battle. Often my hubby, would come out of the bathroom holding the inexpensive paper I bought, one thin white square flitting off the roll, and ask, “What is this supposed be?” I would laugh and blush in shame but I just couldn’t help myself. I have a weekly shopping budget and toilet paper is not something on which I wanted to spend a lot of money. Why waste an extra three bucks on something that ends up flushed away and covered with—um…you know—when I can use that to buy my favorite brand of pesto? Or brownie mix? Or whole grain pasta? There are just so many delicacies waiting to be purchased! In the end though, I waved the white flag and sprang for the extra ply. People say happy wife, happy life but it’s pretty great when hubby’s happy too. - Allison
Steph from simplisticsteph.com shares:
Keeping the AC on 78 during summer and the heat on 58 during winter. Sorry, Zach! When I took a new job with a pay raise he said "great now we can use the AC!" Nope sorry Zach.
Do you have a funny frugal thing that you do that irritates your spouse or partner that you would like to share in this series? Whether you are a blogger or just one of my readers I would love to hear your funny frugal story. Submit your funny frugal story to me at savingjoyfully@outlook.com for review and I just might publish it in an upcoming post in this series. Please include a link to your website or online business if you have one. Your first name and your funny frugal thing that you do and how this irritates your partner. No partner bashing please, the point of this article is to share some humor with my readers. Also some possible tips that we can share with each other on the ways we stretch our money.
