I accidentally left my razor at the hotel in Dallas. So I went through our bathroom cupboards and drawers and closets and finally found this — a replacement razor head — and have been using it to shave my legs this week. Yes, without a handle. It’s tricky, but when there’s a will, there’s often a way! 😉
Why am I shaving with a handle-less razor head? Because:
1) I do not *NOT* shave my legs daily. It’s right up there at the level of teeth-brushing; I can’t stand not doing it.
2) I am all about making do as long as I can instead of buying new. I AM going to order a new razor off of Amazon using a free gift card I’ve earned from Swagbucks, but until then, I’ll make this work.
And there’s your daily dose of TMI Weird Facts About Crystal. You’re welcome. 😉
And now it’s YOUR turn: what weird thing have you done in order to make do and save money? I’d love to hear!
I’ve been buying men’s razors for years because I realized the only differences are a) they’re not pink b) they’re cheaper!
I compared similar razors from the same brand, and the women’s razors were the same price as the men’s, but there were fewer in the package! They do the same job, and I feel better knowing I’m not playing into the “pink tax.”
I didn’t want to pay for reusable razors. I am in Australia and buy a pack of 10 disposables (about $2 – cheap brand too) about once every 2 or 3 years. How do they last so long? Like Rachel above (it must be the name), I dry it off after the shower on a towel or hand towel and store it in the top drawer of the vanity basin! It has become a habit I don’t even think about any more. It doesn’t go rusty and one razor lasts me maybe 6 months or more before getting too blunt. I lift my eyebrows at those saying they pay $36 a year like that is a good thing!
I’ve done the same thing with razors on multiple occasions! Love it! Another frugal tip my M.I.L. taught me is to cut all the way through the middle of tubes of expensive moisturizer or lotion when you think you’ve used it all. You get at least a couple more uses and those add up over time. A recent failure in frugality is that I didn’t want to pay for a haircut and had my husband do it. He actually did a great job!. Then I came along and tried to add a few layers and butchered it. Ha!
Frugality is one thing, but I would think that you lose TIME with the care and slowness that this itty bitty thing must take. I am super frugal, but I’m not sure I’d do it in this way. We all have our favorite ways to save! I love reading that you are real, and let us in. Thanks!
My new razor came in from Amazon today — hurray! 🙂
Hahaha. You make me laugh. 🙂
😉
I’m making my children’s handwriting notebooks now; after looking at the $10 price tag on a handwriting book which had 25 pages and only 8 words on each page, I decided to write out my own 20 words-on-one-page books. I have a case of five cent spiral binders ready to be used. 🙂
Speaking of razors . . . I heard many years ago that the thing that makes your blade dull is not the shaving but the moisture which breaks down the blade. Ever since then, I dry my razor off and store it under the sink (rather than in the shower). True diehards swish the blade in rubbing alcohol but I don’t go that far. I only shave a couple of times a week but a single blade can last well over a year that way. In fact, I just joined DSC after I realized that I’d been shaving with the same 5-pack of Venus blades for the last 8 years. Time for a change!
And I can’t get over the shaving every day part! That is right up there with having a tooth pulled for me! I am so thankful to have a husband who is patient with me. I shave once every few months in winter and once or twice a month in summer. It does help that I bought a home laser hair removal and used it for a few months. But still grows just lighter and slower. I just absolutely hate shaving! Never get all that time back! 😉
I love this! Ever since my husband left the military, he has been bouncing back and forth between shaving and not shaving his beard. So naturally, he now has a (nice and well-groomed) beard, but doesn’t use his razors as often as he used to. A while back, I had scored one great deal after another on razors for HIM. So whenever I run out of my stash or the deals are lackluster, I raid his stash of razors and shaving cream. Sure, my legs smell like my husband’s shaving cream, but that’s OK; at least they are nice and smooth right?!
I guess this was my TMI-filled comment. 🙂
To avoid making a special trip to the grocery store, which would take extra time and gas money, I’ve used the last coffee filter for at least 4 days. Rinse it out, reshape and dry it over an upside down cottage cheese container, and it’s good to go another round!
That is very impressive, I must say! No one is getting between you and your coffee! I LOVE IT! 🙂
This made me smile 🙂
I DON’T shave everyday because of how long I am in the shower. How long do your showers end up being out of curiousity?
It takes me 10-12 minutes, if I’m not washing my hair. If I wash my hair (which I only do every 3-4 days), it usually takes 15 minutes. I may be weird, but I love the time in the shower to think and just soak in the warm water and quiet. 🙂
It’s not weird….it’s the only time I can’t hear our kids AND I get to think in complete sentences!!
Love this! You are cracking me up. I can’t wait until in the morning so that I can have my 12 year old daughter read this post. I need for her to know that I am not the only woman who is not only frugal, but is quirky about her frugality. Thanks for your REALNESS, Crystal.
I have to shave every day too, my nickname when I was 11-12+ was “Apes” and not just because my name is April!! ?
And I’ve always hated it, because of sensitive skin, and razor burn, and expensive razors. And now I swear by Dorco disposable razors and coconut oil. I’ve tried most of what Dorco sells and the disposable ones are the same blade but attached to the handle, so they don’t break off when I drop them (daily), and they are the only ones I recommend. They are about $1.50 each. I actually wrote a post about it recently: http://www.lakelandmom.com/money-saving-shaving-secret/
It’s a local website for moms in my area to find kids activities and parenting info, and I’ve been so inspired by you and your positive thoughts and general encouragement as I’ve worked and worked to make it successful these past 6+ months!
We love Dollar Shave club!! My husband and I use the same razor blades and each have our own handle and pack of blades. We share the refills and only order once every other month, so $36 a year for both of us 😀 Frugal and I love how I never “run out” of refills. I don’t shave daily, although I wish I could. Thank goodness for blond hair! 🙂 With a 1 year old and 4 year old, sometimes getting a quick shower without a disaster happening in the background is all I can muster! 🙂
In case anyone is interested, Dollar Shave Club gets most of their razors from Dorco. You can order directly from Dorco instead and save money. (See this article: http://lifehacker.com/5903771/forget-dollar-shave-clubbuy-the-same-high-quality-razors-for-a-third-of-the-price.) Unfortunately, Dorco razors did not work well for us. I ordered some for my hubby, but they didn’t last as long as his usual (more expensive) razor blades. Too bad.
I am just so impressed that you shave everyday! 😉
Most of the time when I shower at night, I use a hybrid solar flashlight. I use the flashlight on the solar function. It is just enough light to see what I am doing in the bathroom. Sometimes, I will use the flashlight early in the morning. Also, I read in bed when it is dark with the flashlight.
I used to be able to read in low light. I can’t do that anymore. It would strain my eyes.
I NEVER throw away a tube of toothpaste or shampoo/conditioner without cutting it open and digging out every last drop !
I do that, too. I know it is just pennies but I hate to throw away perfectly ‘stuff’.
As your parents told you, “Pennies make dollars” 🙂
I still have a few shavers from my stash during couponing heyday at riteaid…I use them till they are worn out….I’ll have to actually buy some more in a few yrs…..I think I made money from riteaid for a yr. or two..
I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who has done this. It works surprisingly well! They should make a razor with a short handle. It would save on materials and would be easier to use than the normal version.
I keep handles from different razors, so when I find a good deal on blades I am set. It actually worked pretty good, recently I found my favorite blades on clearance plus there was a coupon and it counted for a mega sale at Kroger and took $1 more off.
My favorite blade is mens Gillette fusion 5 blade razor.
The scooping quinoa with a debit card! So hilarious!
Mine is pretty bad and if my husband knew he would buy me new ones. My sneakers are gray but each have a hole in the top where my toe has worn through. I have bought gray socks to wear so that you can’t see my white socks and then notice the hole. They are comfortable and broken in now. 🙂
LOL! Don’t feel bad about not shaving every day – I think it’s more common than we admit. 😉
And… I did the same thing after I left my razor at a family member’s house once. It was a disposable razor with one handle and three heads, and I couldn’t let those heads go to waste! 😉
Ha! You misread… I said I HAVE to shave every day. Just like brushing my teeth. 🙂
Lol, that makes so much more sense! I was sitting there lik, “she doesn’t like brushing her teeth?! I mean, it’s not like fun or anything, but..”
Clearly, I need coffee. 😛
You read correctly. It was mistyped.
It actually says I do NOT shave daily. Wasn’t getting why you would compare not shaving with brushing teeth daily but I guess you meant to say that you HAVE to shave daily???
Ha! It says “I do not *NOT* shave my legs daily” — a double negative which makes it a positive. 🙂
I probably should have just said “I can’t stand NOT shaving daily.” Or, “I HAVE to shave daily.” 😉
Didn’t even see the first not – only *NOT*! Guess I’m not too observant!
No worries at all! I just wanted to clear things up… since I wasn’t very clear in the first place! 🙂
After reading you shave daily, I started shaving every time I showered. I can’t go back. It’s SO much better. And now it’s a habit, I don’t have to contemplate it every time I shower. We use Dollar Shave Club, and just have two handles, and my husband and I use the blades. It works great for us and cheaper then what we ever spent on the name brand stuff!
YES! Yes! Yes! I’m so glad to have introduced you to the world of Daily Shaving! 😉
When I was pregnant with both of my kids I used a hairband to loop through the button hole and onto the button of my pants instead of buying maternity pants. I just couldn’t bring myself to buy maternity pants that I would wear for such a short time!
Haha! LOVE it!
You should order a safety razor. It’s about $25 on Amazon. And then you can order a set of 100 blades. I bought 100 blades in July 2015 and we still have lots left.
Jesse has one of those and loves it. The thing absolutely scares me because the blade is so sharp.
In college my neighbor and I cooked for an enormous group of friends. We didn’t want to buy disposable plates even though we knew we probably didn’t have enough real plates to feed everyone on. We figured we’d find a way to make it work. There were people eating off of pie plates, pot lids and other non traditional ‘plates’, but it worked and we all had a great time! Not only was it frugal, it was environmentally sound and funny as heck.
Have you considered Dollar Shave Club? I was so skeptical at first, but my husband and I both LOVE it. (We get the middle of the road razors and the cartridges are $6 a month for 4.) They will auto mail them out but one really good thing is that you can change it either from monthly to bi-monthly at any time AND they will email you a few days before they plan to mail it out and you can decide to change it to bi-monthly even at that time – or change razors. (Speaking from experience!) I even got my mom hooked on the program too.
My husband and sons use the Dollar Shave Club, and I plan to try them as soon as I run out of razors. I personally do NOT shave everyday; it would feel like mild torture.
Hmmm….crazy things I’ve done to save money…..
I “make do” with a lot of things (and have written several blog posts about such things), but a funny one I can remember is from college days. My husband (formally, “friend”, “boyfriend”, then “fiance”), and my good girl friend and I would scrounge bottles from the trash to buy some bulk snacks at Wegman’s supermarket! It’s a great memory!
I have actually done that in an emergency too! I only did it for a day or two before I bought a new razor…
I have just the handle and no more blades. Can’t/won’t go to the store for just blades. So now I wait and watch my hair grow. Maybe we need to meet up and have a shave party!
Well, yeah, been there done that…you’re not alone! And, I am totally with you on the “I do not NOT shave my legs.” I get it!
Thanks and have a great, smooth legs day.
Since college days, my friend and I decided that we will not be enslaved to shaving every day the rest of our lives…so we started plucking/waxing our unwanted hairs very diligently to the point where we got numbed to the pain and the hair barely grows or is very fine. It helped when we went on our two week missions trip where we had to camp out with no running water.
When my jug of laundry detergent is “empty”, I rinse it out while the washing machine fills. I usually get enough suds/soap out to wash another load! And then I can feel confident that it’s clean before I put the jug into the recycling container.
I do that, too!
My hair is super wavy and tends to stick out every where when I try and straighten it. I ran out of my Argon Oil spray, that normally tames it, and was looking everywhere in the house for something to help me out. Well I grabbed a dryer sheet and shoved it through the brissels on my brush then brushed aaway the frizz. Problem solved 🙂
Ha! Love it! I make most of my own skin care products. It saves a ton of money and is an easy all-natural option.
LOL! Love this. This is what we call in our family a “good enough” fix.
When I was in high school I wore panty hose. When they would get bad runners, sometimes I would cut off the leg at the thigh on each side and wear two pair! Crazy!
That’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that when I was in high school?
You might be able to use the handle from your husband’s razor. A similar thing happened to me and I tried my husband’s handle and it worked!
Love this! The handle on my hairbrush just recently broke (like, completely snapped off from the paddle part that has that bristles that untangle my hair), and I couldn’t bear to get another one just yet, since the most important part was still in good, working condition, albeit somewhat “nub-like”. 🙂 I finally gave in and got a new one when it fell into the trash (due to instability in my hand from it not having a handle, haha!) and got terribly disgusting with the stuff it picked up during it’s fall.
I try to bring my lunch to work with me everyday. A summer or two ago I brought a delicious southwestern quinoa dish but forgot a fork and I wasn’t near the office and I wasn’t going to go buy a package of plastic forks.
So I used a debit card as a little scoop to shovel the quinoa in my mouth. It worked quite well. 🙂 Pasta salad I probably would have eaten with my fingers but quinoa is such a teensy, tiny grain.
My husband and I have a contest to see how long we can make a tube of toothpaste last. We probably look silly trying to squeeze out one more use but neither of us wants to lose! It’s fun and frugal, although not as much as some things because I probably got the toothpaste for next to nothing.
Hahaha! That sounds TOTALLY like something we’d do! 😉
If you cut it open, you can get about three or four more days worth.
We even cut our tubes open! 🙂
I buy my razors and blades at Dorco.com. They razors are less than $3 and the blades are a buck each shipped free!
I bought some razors from Dorco for my husband, but unfortunately he didn’t like them. They didn’t last as long as his usual razors. Too bad because they were cheaper.
I’ve bought whole milk on a number of occasions and would split it in half and fill it up the rest of the gallon with water. I will sometimes make milk stretch with half and half if I have extra. 🙂 there are so so many things I’ve done to make things stretch.
I’m a BIG fan of watering down milk — especially for cooking and baking! 🙂
This is great! What haven’t I done to be frugal, I have done the same thing with the razor heads (however with couponing there’s always an extra handle around somewhere). My kids get annoyed the most when they hear no we aren’t buying that we can make that at home ourselves. When it comes to food my 8 yr son quite often says can’t we just have dinner from a box I am hungry now, I simply say no Mama is cooking you have to wait. Some day he will appreciate a warm, home cooked meal. I do treat him every now and then with Krap (Kraft) Mac n Cheese. My 12 yr daughter asked for a Victoria’s Secret Pink hoodie I told her she can have one when she finds on at the thrift store. What a face I got in return.
Love it! If you have an alternative, why not wait for a good deal or better buying opportunity?! Frugality at its finest!
This is hysterical! Have you tried veet or nair? Same smooth feeling without the hassle of shaving daily
I tried it one time with high hopes and it didn’t seem to work well at all + it broke my sensitive skin out. I was so disappointed! 🙁
I can only use Intuition razors or I end up breaking out/ cutting myself. I also break out with veet and nair (and several other things). I literally have specific brands for every product I use because otherwise I break out or have reactions. Honest company (this is not a endorsement, it’s not for everyone) has been a lifesaver for my sensitive skin.
Thanks so much for the recommendation of Honest Company — I don’t think I’ve ever tried them!
That’s great! It reminds me of something I would have done in the earlier years, when finances were really tight. I’ve gotten lazy about looking for the frugal way – you challenge me to go back to it, even though finances aren’t such an issue anymore.
My friends laugh at how frugal I still am, even though we have a lot more breathing room in our budget. I just can’t help myself! 🙂