32 Habits That Folks Will Never Give Up Even If They Are Supposed To Be For “Poor People”

Our local curry house, serves fabulous tasty food, and lots of it. They have no problem in us having the leftovers put into containers. Very often we have had a full meal on another evening from the remaining food.

Same with my car !

I did that when I was young and struggling too (we’re talking eighties and early nineties here, I started doing better financially in my thirties). They’re the perfect size for small bedroom and bathroom trash cans. Hell, you might as well do something useful with them. I got to bring my groceries home (back then that is, I now have reusable bags so no longer use plastic) AND throw my bathroom and bedroom trash away in the same two bags, instead of throwing them both away and spending my meager salary (at the time) on yet more plastic bags, ffs.

Don't forget to label it clearly :-)

Buy good quality and take good care of them, and certain pieces of clothing can last you absolute decades before wearing out.

Sometimes the people still inside complain, but "it sucks to be them" :-)

I can’t get over people who object to the concept of doggy bags if they don’t clean their plates at a restaurant. Why not take it and warm it up for lunch or dinner the next day? You paid for it, and probably paid too much anyway, so it’s yours. Why waste it, especially if it was really yummy?

Adding a little water and shaking the container or kneading the tube to mix it in can make lotion, shampoo, conditioner, etc go a hell of a lot farther. Cutting open the bottle or tube can be messy, and risks making it dry out or spill—-and heaven forbid you have pets who can get on or up to the counter—-before you’ve used it up.

I am forever reusing glass containers, and asking my husband if he has a use for any that I’ve already cleaned out (yeah, I clean them out first and make them look good before offering them to him). Guess you can tell I don’t buy a lot of small containers.

Just, don't write comments in the margins. Save this for books you get at Charity shops

Make that "....to everyone you meet"

Cars are tools, not jewels

And checking my bank account right after finding out the prices, to see how much is in there which would decide what I can and cannot afford to order, plus tip. Same with grocery shopping. I would make note of the prices of everything I put in the shopping cart, then add it all up and estimating the tax (edible items are generally not taxed, but non-edible stuff is), then putting back anything I couldn’t afford and could do without before going to the checkout. I am now way more financially stable than I was back in the day, and my bank account is very healthy, but I still make note of the price of everything I buy and add it up and check my bank account before checking out. Old habits die hard. If you have ever been caught short at checkout and had to put things back, right in front of everyone else in line—-which is incredibly humiliating—-you TOO would get in the habit of making sure you can afford everything in your cart first, and discreetly put back anything you can’t afford and can do without.

I paid for it all, I'm eating it all

I sometimes suffer from GAS attacks (Gadget Acquisition Syndrome).

That's some gourmet cuisine.

Buying a metal-detector for this is maybe a bit unwise, though

Please don't tell me that there are people that... gulp... just throw them away?

This is essential. Big packs are not necessarily better value. I'm looking at you, Lurpak !

Same. I always check the clearance aisle first, to see if there’s anything there that I like AND that fits (usually only either the tiny and/or huge sizes are left, and I have the misfortune of being in the medium range, which always sells out first). Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I strike fold, but a lot of the time it’s a bust and I have to either pay full price, which I hate, or do some more research to find a better price.

This is a USA thing though, free ice water with free refills is uncommon in several other countries.

In my town Aldi is as expensive as any other supermarket. Lidl is cheaper.

Use a tea towel. Why spend money throwing away paper when you don't need to? Save the paper towels for nasty spills.

There is a point where you have enough. Achieve this, then relax !

You know, it's not fancy cooking or anything, but if you add say some spring onions, if you'd stir an egg in the boiling makeshift broth, if you batter and fry a piece of chicken now that you can afford it and if perhaps you sprinkle sesame seeds on top of it all, instant noodles aren't the worst of meals you could possibly have.

I’m still frugal, and spend the time necessary to comparison shop, even though I’m a lot better off than I was when I was younger. I just CANNOT pay full price for something of a little research can get it for me at a discount. I just cannot do it.

Second hand or consignment stores, online or brick and mortar, and of course eBay (though not so much anymore, tbh, as the deals there really aren’t good deals that often), are my go-to places for things I need. Got used to doing that when I was young and starting out on a very low entry level salary. Even though I’m way better off now, I still cruise the resellers to see what they have that I can use.

And only squeeze a bit out, not a huge splurge

Povvo? Must be an Aussie.

Except I take my own bags to the stores, so there are never disposable ones...

Which, when you're actually "grossly rich", doesn't really limit you at all. For really poor people that would mean never eating out at all, which might not be such a bad thing, mind.

I dont mind spending money to buy something for someone else but feel guilty if I buy myself something.