Category: Frugality

The Razor Department: Where Fools and Their Money are Soon Parted

franciscanmom3 Comments

Home from college for a few hours, Middle Sister grabbed a few grocery items and tossed them into a plastic bag, asking, “Do you have any of my razors?”

linen closet AFTER
It had to be in there SOMEWHERE…but no. The right kind was not in stock.

I started rummaging around in the linen closet, where I keep those things, to see what was in stock. I found refills for a few varieties of razors–none of which were her preferred brand.

She likes the ones that come surrounded by their very own strip of lotion or soap or something that turns gooey when it’s exposed to water for very long.

You pay extra for that. It’s a feature.

K T Cat examined the 2-blade versus 5-blade men’s razor. But men’s razors have nothing on women’s razors, which are really just men’s razors with glitter.

I have a pink razor handle but I’m using a men’s razor refill on it, because those refills fit the handle, and I got them on sale, with a coupon. They were still expensive.

venus olay
There is a sucker born every minute. $1 per blade for these razors.

Yesterday I was at ShopRite, and I had a coupon for $6 off Middle Sister’s favorite brand of razor refills. I texted her to make sure I was picking up the exact variety she likes the best.

You know the razor refills are going to be expensive when there’s a $6 coupon. And they were! They were on sale for $19.99.

4 in the box. For $19.99.

And it turns out that my coupon was only good on boxes of 6 or 8. So I didn’t get to use that coupon.

That’s a $5 razor blade right there. $1 per blade. And she’ll toss them as soon as the gooey lotion runs out, which is well before the blade goes dull.

But, you know, they’re named after a goddess. So there’s that.

My cheapie razors contain only 3 blades, and they might or might not do as great a job as the ones my daughter prefers. And maybe if I was 19 and beautiful and athletic and had great legs like Middle Sister, I’d care about that. But I’m none of those things, so 3 blades do me just fine. I don’t need that built-in lotion. This is how I use up that bottle of conditioner nobody likes, but that smells really good.

Note: this post contains an Amazon affiliate link for Middle Sister’s favorite razor blades, in case they happen to be your favorite too. If you buy razors through my affiliate link, I get a little bonus in the change jar that will go toward my website expenses, or my next purchase of razor blades for Middle Sister.

Sometimes It Doesn’t Pay to be Frugal

franciscanmom2 Comments

I have a bin near the computer printer where I keep scrap paper that has printing on only one side of it, whether these are “rejects” from our own print jobs, school notices, or whatever. This paper is good to use for scrap printing (like untried recipes), printable coupons that are at most 3 to a page and huge paper-wasters, and drawing paper for Little Brother and his friends. It keeps them out of the “good” paper, which I reserve for the most special of projects.

So last night I attended the monthly cantors’ meeting at our church. The music director prepared us to lead the singing through Palm Sunday and we went over the troublesome spots in the sung penitential rite that we use for Lent. And that was all fine.

She also distributes a list of reminders each month. With the exception of the list of the new music and the date of next month’s meeting, these lists are identical month to month. Today, as I got my music ready for tonight’s folk group practice, I came upon last month’s reminders. I was going to put the paper into the scrap-paper bin when I came upon the little gem she’s got under Dress Code.

“Not too low, not too high, not too tight, no beachwear, no jeans, NO CRACKS.”

(Yes, it’s necessary that she spell it out to this degree, and unfortunately, some people still don’t get it.)

Anyway, there’s no way that this paper’s going into the reusable-paper bin. Little Brother and his friends can all read now, and I do NOT need to be explaining what “NO CRACKS” means.

Inquiring Moms Want to Know…

franciscanmomLeave a comment

…is there a way to make your own Lite Brite refill papers? $4 for an 8-pack is way too much to pay for these little things. Little Brother’s Lite Brite came with 2 “blanks” with just some dots on the page, so I hijacked one of those and thought about making some copies. I’m just afraid the paper might scorch.

Little Brother really is enjoying his Lite Brite, which I think is great in many ways: it promotes small-motor muscle use, encourages him to see patterns, to name just two. I’d love to encourage him to use it more if I could figure out how to make the refills affordable.