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The little things add up...

April 26th, 2010 at 06:01 pm

This is the first post in a series I'm calling "The little things add up..." where I talk about little frugal things I do.

I'm a cashier at my job. If a customer's total is, say, $5.90 and they hand me $6, it's not uncommon for people to tell me to "keep the change". And keep the change I do. If you see me picking up a penny off the floor, laugh at me if you wish. I don't know if not so frugal people understand the value of a penny. Every month or so, the newspapers put out coupons for $1 off a roll of Marcal paper towel. One grocery store in my city carries this brand. So every month, I take my coupons and buy a few rolls of paper towel. After the coupon is subtracted and taxes are added, I pay 19 cents per roll. I then pull out my change and pay my bill. So those rolls of paper towel end up being free for me.

I just looked in my wallet and I have $1.19 in change. That would get me 6 rolls of paper towel for free!

Let me give another example of why I love change. I bring my own lunch/dinner to work with me. When I'm not scheduled a break, I don't bring anything with me and I'll just wait to eat when I get home. Sometimes, my manager asks me to stay a few hours longer and then I end up getting a break. Of course, longer hours means I'm hungry and then I have to buy something to eat. I can buy a 30 cent bottle of water and a banana for 25 cents using my spare change and I am content.

The best part? At the end of every month, I go to all 9 registers my store has and lift the printer where people seem to accidentally drop coins. I can easily make $1 this way. I'm cheap, I know. But I can get a lot of free things out of it. Smile

3 Responses to “The little things add up...”

  1. Ima saver Says:
    1272313225

    I would keep the change too, good for you!

  2. wowitsawonderfullife Says:
    1272324413

    I have no problems picking up a penny. I gave it up for a while but now I go to the grocery store every day to pick up fresh items and it's unusual when I don't find at least a dime. One day I found $22.43 in the reject bin at the coin counter. And that's one heck of a great deal on the paper towels!

  3. whitestripe Says:
    1272342380

    I don't find a lot of money but I'll always pick it up. I really don't care what people think about me when they don't even know me. Smile I once found a $10 note, that made my day lol.
    I don't think there's anything wrong with being cheap, to a point. DF and I are lazy too, which seems to often work in our favour. If something breaks, we're too lazy to go out and replace it straight away. And the cheap (or frugal) part of me says 'research it and find the best deal'. Usually we do, and more often than not we seem to get given the things we need anyway, for free! which is even better. Big Grin

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