Posted on 07/05/2011 10:07:34 AM PDT by Daffynition
We got over 226 comments when we asked you, "What's the most frugal thing your dad ever did?" You guys have some really crafty pops. Your stories were humorous, heartfelt, and inspiring. I seriously got misty reading some of them. Others made me fearful for how our generation of young men will ever live up to what these heroes of frugality and grit did on a daily basis. Here are 16 of the best.
1. "My Dad would melt down the last part of the deodorant stick from multiple different deodorants to create a deodorant Frankenstein of sorts..." - PhiTauBill
2. "My dad once received used carpeting from a retail store that was closing and had to be remodeled for the future tenant. This was industrial carpeting about as thick as a mousepad, but it was free and in good condition, so he brought it home and not only did the entire basement with the carpeting, but he actually wrapped it up one wall because it was cheaper than paint or wallpaper." - Costner
3. "I asked my father what to do when my car's check engine light came on. His advice was, "Alright. Go down to the hardware store, and buy yourself a roll of black electrical tape. Now, tear off a piece about about the half the length of your thumb. Get inside your car and turn the engine on. Now, where you see the "check engine" light, you're going to place that electrical tape right over the light. That'll stop it from bothering you". - Ahardy55
4. "We would pull old vacuum cleaners out of other people's garbage and then rebuild them into power tools. We built a belt sander, table saw, grinder, workbench, and a few other odds and ends." - Donke shorts
5. "We had an old 1950's Toastmaster for years - and Dad fixed it a few times. When finally it could be fixed no more, (in the 80's) he tossed it, and bought a new one. and another, and another. Every one of them died within 2 years, and toasted like crap. He finally found an old Toastmaster at an antique shop for not much more than a new toaster. It's still toasting bread to this day. And now, that retro toaster look is in style!" - Cheap Sniveler
6. "Mine eats Cheerios every morning, but will only buy them when they're on sale and then just stocks up. He keeps the boxes stacked by expiration date in the basement." - axhandler1
7. "my dad once flipped the circuit breaker to the dryer because he felt when it was warm outside my mom should be drying the laundry on the clothesline rather than in the dryer. When she couldn't get the dryer to work he said it was broke and he would fix it later. It magically started working again during an extended period of rain and when he started running out of clean underwear. I don't think my mom ever fell for that one again." - Costner
8. "Hooked up the tv to an exercise bike so that we kids had to peddle to watch our cartoons. TV lost its charm quickly and we went outside to play. Dad 1 kids 0" - WagTheDog
9. "Why buy shelving? Instead, my father took down the kitchen door and mounted it (as is) to the wall." - Ahardy55
10. "He wanted to resod his lawn which was quite large, and despite living in an area where there were lots of sod farms, he could never find a price that he wanted to pay. He also drove quite a bit as part of his job. What he would do is look for patches of sod that had spilled off of flatbed trucks and were abandoned and take them home. A sharp turn several blocks from a big box store was a favorite hunting ground. For several months his yard looked like a jigsaw puzzle, but when he got done it looked fantastic and it was all free! ...This was his crowning achievement of frugality, and he would tell people about it all the time. He even kept a copy of one of the quotes to resod that was over $300." - loueloui
11. "My Dad's favorite saying is "builds character." He once made my little brother hang out of the truck's passenger window and use a squeegee to wipe off the windshield in the rain because the wipers were broken and he didn't want to spend money on Rain-X." - Snip
12. "My dad made his own medicine. It consisted of castor oil and a bunch of other stuff. It worked - none of us kids ever got sick (we didn't want to have to take the meds). I had perfect attendance all through school." - tbax929
13. "Just after the nasty spring storms, my Dad would go buy a gallon of gasoline, and go around the neighborhood cutting up the trees that would fall down. He'd charge like 10 bucks each, which really is nothing. I always thought he was just being nice. Then in the fall, those same people whose trees he had removed in the spring, came to him to buy firewood, because wood stoves and fireplaces were popular then. He stopped selling when he got down to about 2 cords or so. He made out like a bandit, and we always had a nice toasty warm house in the New England winters." - attackgypsy
14. "I saw him purchase a suit at Good Will for himself while purchasing new school cloths for us at retail." - framitz
15. "He used to use hot glue on the bottoms of his running shoes to rebuild the rubber on the bottom." - bluetech
16. "He bought a Flowbee. :(" - Firevine
When I had a job that required a bit of travelling, I would bring home the hotel personal hygiene products an spare rolls o TP. Didn’t have to buy those products for 7-8 years.
A sheetrock screw got stuck in a tire once and rather than pulling it out and plugging the hole he just carried a Philips screwdriver and kept tightening it up.
Drained the shower into a bucket and used the water on the lawn.
My father fixed VW exhaust pipes with Campbell Soup cans and Wire Hangers..he wasn’t mechanically inclined but he knew his soup:)
Plain white vinegar (White House or Heinz is best; get grain vinegar instead of the cheaper petroleum based stuff) just rubbed on the underarms makes good deodorant. It kills germs, dries, and doesn’t smell.
The frugal story I have is a bit yukky, but I think it tops most frugal stories. - My MIL fishes out the Fleet suppositories, rinses them off, and reuses them. She tends to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel about being frugal though. - The suppository story was a bit too much for me, just too much frugality I think. In all fairness, maybe that’s the only time I’m aware of her doing that; but stuff like that is her trademark.
Oops! Sorry. This is a MIL story, not a FIL story.
1951 Father S/Sgt in Air Force transferred to Hickam AFB, had four kids, moved into off base housing but couldn’t afford furniture so he made a sofa out of a roll-a-way bed that was borrowed from the AF. Looked pretty darn good! fixed everything with duct tape if he couldn’t afford the part.
My Dad had a saying: “Use it up, wear it out - make it do or do without”.
He went for three years with a missing front tooth due to gum disease so my brother and I could have bicycles, clothing and sports gear.
“13. “Just after the nasty spring storms, my Dad would go buy a gallon of gasoline, and go around the neighborhood cutting up the trees that would fall down. He’d charge like 10 bucks each, which really is nothing. I always thought he was just being nice. Then in the fall, those same people whose trees he had removed in the spring, came to him to buy firewood, because wood stoves and fireplaces were popular then. He stopped selling when he got down to about 2 cords or so. He made out like a bandit, and we always had a nice toasty warm house in the New England winters.” - attackgypsy”
Oh hell yes. That’s just hilarious.
We have a sod story too. Wanted to re-sod, didn’t want to pay. Waited for a construction job pouring a large concrete patio, dug up the grass in neat squares, with roots and dirt, and brought it home. Got a truck load of manure from the local dairy. The yard looked like a checkerboard for the first six months, and nobody wanted to walk by it, but after it grew in it was the best lawn in the neighborhood.
Our dad was a great car mechanic...he could fix anything, or make the part himself. Rather than buy new, if he didn’t want to make one, he’d drive 80mi r/t to get one from a junk yard...of course, that was back when gas was only $ .17 gallon. ;D
I love this one: My Dad’s idea of building me a treehouse was wedging a pallet into the crotch of a tree. ;)
Our dad would find discarded lawn mowers by the side of the road, fix them up, sharpen the blades to surgical standards and resell them. Often they were made from parts of several different brands...as long as it had a Briggs & Stratton motor, he’d salvage it.
(I only heard about this one:) During the Depression one neighbor noticed that another frequently had a mop on the back porch set out to dry, but the handle was always pointed up, not down. When she made her inquiries, she noticed something strange on the mop handle. The “mop lady” admitted that she and her husband only had one rubber so they washed it and put it out to dry after each use.
***** “ Our dad would find discarded lawn mowers by the side of the road, fix them up, sharpen the blades to surgical standards and resell them. Often they were made from parts of several different brands...as long as it had a Briggs & Stratton motor, he’d salvage it.” ******
With today’s Ethanol Gas he could make a darned good living ...
TT
Ah yes, The Handyman's secret weapon. I used to use it to keep the bumper on my Plymouth horizon. I remember once buying seven rolls at one time and the Walmart checker asking if I had a big night planned.
My dad took mustard sandwiches to work for several years to save money for the family. Just bread and mustard. I didn’t know about it until years later from another family member, but I always feel humbled when I think of that. On the other hand, he had another frugal thing he would do that still grosses me out. When the catsup bottle got so low that nothing more would come out, he would pour water into it, shake it up and drink it. I would ask him why he did it, and he said he learned that during the Depression, i.e., that you NEVER waste food.
The poor guy still had unexplored options that wouldn’t give him children....
No-techs talk about high technology and complain about low-techs. ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.