False Economy

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I would share a real world observation here.

Now, the Thrifty Rocketeer is all about saving money, doing things cheaper and saving a few steps.

But it occurs to me that there have been some "False Economy" moves over the last several years that run counter to your natural inclination.  Or counter-intuitive.

Case in point:  As we head into the  Thanksgiving season, everyone in America is beginning to shop for their meal supplies including cooking aides, consumables and food stuff.

Recently somewhere, there's been a suggestion made to the average housewife that she can save a lot of money by not buying paper towels.

Now, at first, this may seem to make sense, as most of us grab a towel for a spill or to wipe off glue, or oil or something. And then we toss it away into the trash...never to be seen again.

A number of years ago, manufacturer got smart and started adding perforations so you could tear off a half sheet instead of a square foot each time.  This saves a lot, when you only need a little.

But the latest wrinkle is that instead of buying and disposing of paper towels, you should invest in a dozen or so microfiber towelettes and keep them wrapped around an EMPTY paper towel tube.

What this means is that after washing and drying these towelettes, you roll them around the tube, and their natural clinging ability (gripping themselves) will allow them to stay on the roll.  Sheet after sheet, you add layer after layer, until you have a thick roll of towelettes to use.

When cleaning a spill, it makes sense to soak up that milk, or water or whatever...with the towelette. But instead of tossing into the trash, we toss it into the laundry hamper.  There it sits and waits, and possibly molds...waiting for wash day or a load of laundry to be done.

If you're using the towelette to wipe off some excess glue, you'll probably want to rinse that one out before it sets up. 

On wash day, you once again fill the wash tub with water, and soap and fabric softener, and run the cycle, possibly along with clothes.

After the load is done, you hang the towelettes out on a line or on a clothes hanger along with clothes pins, and air dry until dry.  You might also consider throwing them in your tumble drier, but I guarantee they will stick to other fabrics and have to be peeled off when done.

And we start the cycle once again.

Let's count up the supplies and cost of doing this.

You have the initial purchase of a roll of paper towels to get the empty tube. Then, you have a tub full of water, plus laundry soap and fabric softener for the wash.  You add in the cost of electricity to run the washer...and if using a drier, the gas or electric or both to dry them out.  Conceivably, you might actually be running an additional load to clean your towels.   

Is this a savings over the cost of a roll of disposable paper towels?  You can get a roll for a buck or so at the dollar general store.

Let me make another suggestion.

These days, we often eat at fast food drive thru or the local burger shop for lunch...maybe once a  week or more.

If you've ever been given a sack through the drive thru window, you know that you're getting a handful of paper napkins with your burger. Each order has a handful of these disposable paper products that help insulate the warm food and help you clean up.

How many do you actually use?  How many are extra?

Why not save each handful of unused napkins and use those instead of your roll of disposable towels? All you are out is your space to store them...and remembering to bring them in from your car or NOT to throw them out after your meal (if they are still clean).

I'm betting that you could save even more by skipping the recycled towelette routine that housewives are being pitched nowadays.

This has been the Thrifty Rocketeer who's wife is saying "Get out of my kitchen !"