Patience is a virtue..

I do all the above to squeeze out the last drops and recycle everything that can be recycled. Yes, I am a post war baby! That's ingrained I think for our generation. I would never open anything while there is one still in use but I do buy 'on offer' so I have a stash of most things (just in case) but no particular brand, just what is available cheaply!

My bathroom currently has at least 4 deodorants and even more half finished toothpaste tubes belonging to DS! I can't throw them out because they are not finished and he can't be bothered. SCREAM!!!!

GabriellaG5
I think you may have a point. I would like to be different.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.

*Above post to gmelon

Perhaps you could seek some counselling to help you overcome your not wanting to open gifts.
Have you always been like that? You may be missing out on the joy of ripping open the package and enjoying the contents and saving your OH from having to buy 2 identical gifts.
I understand the 'problem as my mum was like that. Carefully unwrapping some parcels but not with gay abandon. Oh no. She'd fold the wrapping paper and put it away then tell us we shouldn't have spent money on her. Even a humble chocolate bar would sit unopened in the fridge for months if not years. I put it down to her being put in a convent aged 7 > 17 and having neither parent visit her.

For the people who asked, I've washed my hair with the soap bar today (totally ignoring the 2 open bottles of shampoo ) and it has done a lovely job.
I now have a thick, luxurious mane.
Not really, still "2 strands and a nit", but it is looking quite good, for me.

Izabella you could try a soapnut...

Yeah, I dive in and try it out at once! I can't wait. And usually I take all the old shampoo bottles and decant the remains into just one - I've had some appalling results doing that so I'm jolly glad for the new bottle of shampoo I've cracked into!

Olliebeak. I am a 'decanter' too. I don't have to watch the pennies, as I did when bringing up 5 children, but I hate to see things wasted. The last half inch of handwash goes into the new bottle. The last bit of sauce in the bottle either goes into the new one or is washed out with a drop of water and goes into the stew. Washing up liquid bottles are rinsed out, and there is enough for a few more sinksfull. Plastic tubes have the ends cut off, resulting in me finding quite a lot left hiding inside. I fold over the end and seal it with a clothes peg.
The only thing that doesn't get the treatment is hand cream. I can't keep up with all the tubes and bottles I receive as gifts, or win on the tombola stall at charity do's, so I tend to be a bit more cavalier with them.
I think that we 'war babies' were so much exhorted to scrape the butter paper and the jam jar, and use up or re-cycle every little thing that we have a guilt-trip at the thought of wasting anything.

I have trouble using or opening anything new.
If it's a special product or a gift I'll not open it at all. Ever.
As a child I would never eat my Easter eggs or Christmas sweets.

My husband resorted to buying two as he despaired of me ever using the gift he'd given .

I like things to stay in their box or packaging just as they were sold. Applies to the smallest kitchen item to the most lavish gift.
I wonder if it's the secure feeling of having things just in case I can never afford it again.

I always slit the plastic tubes & use the residue
There’s heaps left inside that sticks to the plastic
Manufacturers don’t want you to know that !

Always finish one product before opening another, though tend to buy the same products regularly over a period of time re cleaning products and toiletries.i do usually try clothes on quickly. I put a few drops of water in the shower gel bottle to allow the last of it to be more easily used up!

I can't spend long in Lush either mcem I find the smells overpowering and give me a headache. My daughter loves their products though.

Hardly ever venture into Lush shops as the smell is overwhelming!
I once stood outside while DGD was shopping and read their clearly displayed mission statement. It was very worthy - lots about avoiding chemicals and protecting the wider environment.
Couldn't resist asking an assistant about the micro environment of the family bathroom and suggesting that they might point out to their predominantly young customer base that cleaning the shower and picking up soggy towels would also be worthy of consideration!

Those of us who live in the sticks have an inbuilt keeping stocked up mentality. As well as two of everything in the house I often store spare packs of loo roll and bags of dog food in the boot of the car.

Why waste a large, cool, vermin proof facility?

if the pleasure is delayed it is sweeter

Yes...I can attest to that as a fact.
My ex worked away for weeks or, depending on the weather, sometimes months at a time.
We all looked forward to his homecoming.

But I have to know there is a spare (or better, two) in the cupboard.
Temperamentally I would be fine living miles from anywhere as I have stashes of everything.

I was going to order a lush shampoo bar from eBay, but I couldn't bring myself to part with that much money!
I ordered a £2.99 one.
Apparently it does take time for your hair to get accustomed to them, as they don't contain any of the chemicals and so on.
I shall report back.

I try to wait but then I must be a bit of a masochist. I was once told that if the pleasure is delayed it is sweeter. Who knows if that's true.

jocelyne,

Try Lush Shampoo Bars. They are brilliant & last for months, as you only need a very small amount.

I'm another who just HAS to use up a bottle of something BEFORE opening a new one ....................... brought up by 'waste not, want not grandparents' in the 50's. I STILL rinse bottles out to get the very last bit out .

I freak out when I go to my daughter's house - there are so many opened bottles of different Shower Gel, Body Lotion, Shampoo, Conditioner, Hand-wash Soap on her window ledge. Makes me want to stand there and 'decant' them so there's only ONE of each left open .

use the old one up first. and then cut the bottom off the tube, as there is loads more in it..

Where did you buy your shampoo bar ? I would like to try a different one from the one I use now. Thanks.

I use every last bit before opening a new bottle of anything. I even cut plastic tubes in half to get the last bit of hand cream etc out. I find there's enough left inside for another week. I fit the two halves back together which seems to keep the contents fresh for a few days.

I've gone back to soap for hand washing to try and reduce plastic use and my goodness doesn't a bar of soap go on for ever!

Have also tried the shampoo bar and am not impressed. It's impossible to rinse out thoroughly, even with a final rinse of cider vinegar and water, which, by the way is a great de tangler.

I'll be interested MissA in how you find it.
Mine is now relegated to hand washing upstairs.

Misssadvenure
A 12 portion sized cheese cake I bought for half price and was to be frozen until my coffee and cake xmas eve event
Although having other cheese cakes in my freezer that particular cheesecake is now only a ten portion size.

We had to wear new clothes ( rare in those days ) to Mass on a Sunday , before putting them in the cupboard to wear the next important day . Old jumper got a go as everyday item , then got ripped back to knit into something else Sunday coat never got demoted , worn till it was halfway up my arms then passed to my sister