October 2, 2006
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We're almost out of toothpaste. I like to squeeze as much out of it as I can before it goes into the trash can. Everytime the tube gets that flat, I'm reminded of my Grandpa. He didn't grow up in a rich family, so he learned to be thrifty and to maximize the use of any item. The toothpaste, for example, would be squished all the way flat. And when he couldn't squeeze any more out, he'd cut it open to get the rest. My Dad, on the other hand, has in the past blown into the tube, then shake more out.
Or pencils. The more you use, the shorter it gets... so short where you can barely hold it to write. So he'd use a rubber band and tie it around a taller stick. He's so smart!
Or paper. He loved paper. We used to throw away paper that we only wrote on one side, then the next day, we'd see them on Grandpa's desk. He'd use it to make scratch paper books or to write his poem or sermons on. Once I gave him two packs of new construction paper and he was SO happy. He is so cute. Which leads to...
Goodbye: Red Envelopes From Grandpa and Grandma
Our Grandparents were generous with their money. Whatever they had they mostly set aside for their Grandkids or to give to the church. We'd get red envelopes for our birthdays, for our weddings, for THEIR anniversaries, THEIR birthdays, Christmas... We'd get together as a big family, then they'd call our names, and we'd go and receive the gift. I remember being so touched when she even called Sam's name before we even got married. Publicly announcing that he is part of our family.
And every once in a while, she'd pull one of us over and hand us a $20. And then she'll tell us it's just because she loves us. To use it to buy something we like because she doesn't have a car.
These were the envelopes that they came in. Made out of used wrapping paper, scratch paper...
Comments (7)
That is so touching of your grandparents. Mine are like that too.
My dad scrapes his yogurt containers dry so he can get every last drop.
He also uses a rubber scraper and gets out every last bit of peanut butter. He's thrifty too.
-N
I hope one day to be such a loving, generous, memorable grandmother to my children's children.
my brother and i just had a conversation a few hours ago about something similar! we were talking about quality, pack rats & how we use things. our parents come from a different generation where everything got "fixed" whereas we come from a generation of more disposable products = lots of waste! the red envelops story is so touching! makes me miss my grandparents...
i love small pencils. my elementary school teachers used to always save the short ones for me to use cuz they were my favorite!
aw, that's really cute.
asian cheapness is pretty funny. but the toothpaste stories are the first time i've heard cheapness about toothpaste!
That's pretty smart!
OH NO, don't throw those away! It's so sentimental, put it in a picture frame. But I guess it's just time to purge. I still do the toothpaste thing too!
:smiley: thanks for sharing these stories...
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