A few weeks ago I snagged a deal on a 2 litre bottle of diet Coke at Walmart – a buck a bottle!

I purchased 2 or 3 bottles that week, as I do like my soda. After opening the first one, I found that the carbonization was gone, for whatever reason.

Let me tell you, diet Coke without the fizz is just not worth drinking! I know, I tried. After the first glass, I put the bottle on the back counter, just in case I ran out of the other bottle prior to my next weekly shopping trip. Later I decided that I could try mixing it with a good bottle, just to use it up. I hate waste. But alas, that didn’t suit either. The flat Coke just took the fizz out of the glass of good stuff.

After trying that mix a few times, I decided that life is too short to drink flat Coke! There are just some frugal things that I flat out won’t do. I’m adding drinking flat Coke to the list! The rest of that bottle went down the drain!

Life really does fly by – ask any 80 year old! I’m 65 and every year goes by faster and faster. Why spend your life on things that don’t matter enough. Take a look at what you do to maintain a frugal lifestyle. Do a bit of a cost benefit analysis to see whether the savings is worth the cost of your time and pleasure!

Some things we just have to do, to be honorable, contributing, solvent members of our society. Others are just icing on the cake, sucking our time, energy and enjoyment.

Here are a few frugal things that I refuse to do, because I feel the cost is too great.

Clip coupons

I tried coupon clipping when first married. I found it more efficient and just as frugal to buy store brands unless there were products we just couldn’t take in the store brand.  In that case, we just did without.  The time it took me to find and clip the coupons (not to mention the cost of the newspaper), look for a store that would honor them and actually find coupons for things we actually used took too big of a bite out of my day.

I do look online for coupons if I am planning a large purchase, but won’t spend more than a few minutes searching!

Coupons are made to lure you into a store or to get you to try products you normally don’t, not to save you money!

Washing bras by hand to make them last longer

I used to hand wash everything that said to hand wash on the label. Now I just put it in the washer on gentle cycle and hang it to dry. Things seem to last just as long and I save a bunch of time.

Make my own detergent

This I’ve never tried, but I did try making lye soap when the boys were children, just to show them it could be done. It took time and resulted in a product I didn’t really enjoy using. I can’t imagine that any detergent I make would turn out differently!

Take the bus to work

I’ve been fortunate enough to have access to a car and enough extra money to pay for downtown parking. Where I live, some of the bus routes are pretty chancy – clientele wise. In addition, my work frequently required unplanned hours.

Share a ride with hubby to work

My spouse and I are both retired, but when we worked, we both worked within a few blocks of each other downtown. We tried altering our schedules so that we could ride in together, but it just didn’t work out for us. He is a morning person, and was always bright and chipper, talking the entire trip. I preferred silence in preparation for a busy day talking and working. His schedule was fixed, mine varied so sometimes he had to wait around for me. We jointly decided that it was better to stay married than shave a few bucks off our commute!

Darn socks

Mom taught me that darning socks was part of my wifely and motherly duties. I darned many a boy’s white tube socks when the boys were tweens and teens. I was working at the time and this task, along with fixing/cleaning up from supper and fixing any work issues consumed my evenings. The darned socks didn’t last much longer and I eventually decided it wasn’t worth the time.

Turn the heat to less than 65 degrees in winter

We have one of those thermostats that automatically cycles the setting to allow you to try to save money when you aren’t home. While we worked, this was a great way to save us money. Now that we are retired, my spouse would gladly wear his outdoor coat around indoors and leave the temperature at the economy level.

I won’t. I’ll wear a sweater, but we have enough money now to pay our bills with lots left over. Being cold is one thing I prefer not to tolerate! I lived in a house without central heat until I was 7 and remember being cold at night as well as standing by the coal stove in the morning, shivering while I dressed.

What frugal things do you refuse to do?