Low price gadgets target the new frugality
How do you get penny pinchers to spend these days? Pitch products that promise to save them money.
Demand is rising for kitchen and bath gadgets that squeeze out that last blob of toothpaste and help get the suds out of tiny slivers of soap, the Associated Press reports.
Items like toothpaste savers and caps that keep the fizz in opened soft drink cans, long the territory of late night infomercials, are showing up in big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and The Container Store.
And they’re flying off the shelves.
How many times have you stood in front of the fridge, scratching your head and wondering just how long those leftovers have been left idling? Well, then a digital day counter maybe just for you.
Just suction one to whatever needs to be tracked, reset the timer, and you'll always know how many days it's been since you, say, opened that salsa.
How much can you save by squeezing every last drop? Well, more than you might think.
When Consumer Reports ran a series of tests to gauge how much skin lotion, detergent, mustard, and toothpaste is typically left over after you think you’ve used it all up, they determined that, depending on the product, almost a quarter of the stuff you paid for could have easily been tossed in the trash.
The tests found out that lotions were the hardest to empty, and pump bottles leave 20% of the lotion behind. Liquid glass cleaners delivered most of the product, however.
To get the last drop, store skin lotion that comes in a bottle top-down and then cut it open, Consumers Reports suggests. Use a narrow spatula to get the last of the mayonnaise out of the jar and for ketchup, simply add a bit of cider vinegar and shake.
What products do you tend to toss out prematurely, and how do extract the last drops? Or do you even bother?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Spoolish | Sep 14, 2021 10:55:39 AM
I squeeze the last drop out of stuff in the shower. Shampoo, soap, razors. I think it has to do with that you said you weren't going to forget that new bottle of shampoo but of course you did and now you're all nice a comfy in the shower. So then you use that teeny sliver of soap. Toothpaste too cause it's one of those things you keep forgetting to pick up at the grocery store.
Posted by: Smart Saver A.C of Calgary AB Canada. | Mar 29, 2021 12:11:03 PM
I was raised to never waste anything. I have a easy remidy to the pop/soda can issue thought, I use a recycled water bottle with a twistable cap and when thristy I take a sip and place back into fridge it last a long long time . that wey im not flushing the pop litterly down the drain. why go out and spend more money on stupid gadgets when at same time you help recycle and help the planet. and with the soup slivers place in a used butter container with a lid or sour cream ect. you get the point then place all the slivers in place for a minute in the microwave and wait to cool walla instand new bar of soap and if you dont like the use of the microwave place out on a hot day on your poarch and nature will take its coarse and melt it for you then bring inside to harden I have lots and lots of things to save and helps recycle and save tons of money in the process. Hope that helped.
Posted by: Smart Saver A.C of Calgary AB Canada. | Mar 29, 2021 12:38:32 PM
I so hear people when they say darn forgot to buy shampo, toothpaste ect. and use try your best to shake,squezz ect out of thous pesty shaped containers take a pair sissors and cut the end squezz into a old small space saver size container I used to make it fun crafts for my kids to decorate the old jars like specialty jams their quite small and the kids would have a blast and I ended up with some beautiful memorablia of when they were little. and you will notice when you do scrape out the tubes its alot more then you thought was in it. Trust me frugal got me to Mexico one year penny pinching really does work...and its worth that little extra time I spend doing that because, I recieved the time all back lounging a week in the sun...
Posted by: Smart Saver A.C of Calgary AB Canada. | Mar 29, 2021 12:41:30 PM
Sorry forgot my spell check ha ha oppps I'm bad