Rainy Day Pennies | Debt Free Living and Personal Finance

Frugality to me means efficiency. I use as much as I need because it’s efficient.

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about stupid frugality and such. Take Trent from The Simple Dollar’s response to Ramit from IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com’s The Challenge. I draw the line at rewashing ziplock bags. Rewashing and reusing ziplock bags is not efficient or frugal. Why? Because you’re using something disposable that is easily replaced by a high quality, truly efficient and reusable alternative.

Back in 2000 I went to a friend’s Tupperware party. I bought two ‘leftover lunch’ containers. One was compartmentalized into two sections. They both had tops with a small vent that opened to let steam out while microwaving. I love these things – I still have them to this day.

Here is their new version of the Tupperware lunch container. Mine doesn’t look like this but close enough. Look at the price – holy crap! $15!

Yep. $15. That’s about what I paid for mine. Let’s figure this out. I bought them in 2000, and of course, I haven’t used them every single day. Let’s assume that I only used them 40% of the time over the years.

365 days/year x 8 years = 2,920 days
2,920 days x .40 = 1168 days
$15/1168 days = $0.0128 per day

So it’s cost me a little over a penny per year to use if I only used it 40% of the time in a year. A rewashed ziplock baggie has an environmental impact – you have to throw it away at some point.

I also bought a Zojirushi Lunch Jar. I love this thing. It’s easy to put together a well balanced lunch. I put a salad in the big jar, protein in the small jar, and a starchy food in the medium jar. It’s been fabulous for my diet to manage portion control and carb/protein/fat ratios. It’s fun putting together bento lunches.

Note that I bought very high quality containers. Tupperware lasts forever. They were made to survive children torturing them for goodness sake. My mom’s Tupperware she bought in the 70s survived me, and she still uses them to this day. Don’t buy those crappy ziplock containers at the supermarket. I’ve done that and they last me a year tops before they become so mangled their lids don’t fit anymore.

Smart Frugality = efficiency.

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frugality by Cathy