i guess if you are completely sedentary and you start walking, some weight might come off. but i live in NYC, work out 5 hours a week, and still have to be ultra-strict with what i eat if i want to lose any weight at all. walking isn't enough, though obviously it's good for me.
You can sharpen the double edged disposable razors on a sharpening stone. You can also strop it - there may still be some razor holders for that purpose. So those cheap blades can last a pretty long time.
BTW, single-edge utility razors can be sharpened as well. You can easily give them an edge that beats the original edge.
Not sure where I read it, might even have been here on Wise Bread, but I use a Gillette Mach 3 and have been drying off the blades after I shave by dabbing with a hand towel. I'd say it's tripled the blade life! If you're not ready for the cutthroat, drying off your blades is a good intermediate step!
a very, very good article- anyone who has LOVED and i emphasize
LOVED an animal knows the pain when they die. personally,
i won't print how much i grieved over having to put my best
friend to death-
For similar reasons, I picked up a gillette super-speed safety razor on ebay. Unlike you, I have a heavy, fast-growing beard, so I have to shave everyday, and I shave my head as well. Quality double-edged blades can be picked up for pennies apiece, as compared to the $3.50 a cartridge I was paying for Gillette Fusion. A side by side test, judged by my wife and daughters, has them near equal in closeness (Fusion was judged better only by my four-year-old). And in about an hour after I shave, the difference is irrelevant. I picked up two years worth of blades for $25 on ebay.
I would add that you should not count on your spouse either. I don't particularly like dogs. Each time my wife adopted one, I issued the basic "OK, but I don't want to have anything to do with it" disclaimer. We now have four. However as the person who works from home, I end up taking care of them by default. I'm also the budgeter, and we're always going over. We budget $35 a month for four dogs, my parrot, an abandoned bunny we rescued from the park, and eight chickens. It's a rare month I don't have to pull money out of our grocery budget for pet food. I feel bad about that. No one seems to get $35 out of enjoyment from them. I'm still not quite prepared to frugal them onto Ol' Roy dog food though. I love them in spite of my objections.
I switched over to using a double edged safety razor last year and will not go back to using an disposable again. The best shave in my life and cheaper than the multi-blade cartridges, although not as cheap as the straight razor. The straight razor just seemed a little to Sweeney Todd for me.
One thing that was not mentioned in the article is the reduction of waste by switching over to a straight razor. It is a much more eco-friendly option.
Great article, I haven't paid money to Gillette for about 4 years now. I just have a couple things to add:
The strop paste is meant to maintain an edge similar to a light honing, not replace a regular stropping. Stropping on plain leather should be done before each shave to align the edge for a comfortable shave.
Shaving with a straight razor is daunting, so for those who aren't quite ready for it, but still want to save money, there is the double-edged safety razor. A good vintage one can be bought on ebay for ~$20 and blades go for ~$0.05 each if you buy in bulk on ebay.
Lastly, a straight razor can be considered an investment since it can be resold at a later date with a little depreciation. That can be considered in the cost analysis I believe.
... camping! don't pay $20 a night unless you're staying somewhere amazing like big sur. look for national forest campgrounds -- they are usually less crowded, more beautiful, and about half as much $. also look into "hike-in" spots. just stayed in one of these -- they had a wheelbarrow to bring our stuff up the hill -- and it was less than half the price and at least 5x as nice as the car camping spots.
... camping gear. do not scrimp. go somewhere like REI and get a good tent and sleeping gear that you can set up quickly and easily. crappy gear gets old real fast and you'll end up staying in motels, squandering all the money you saved by buying budget gear.
... national parks. you can get an $80 pass that's good for a year's worth of visits to any national park you want. it's usually $20 or $25 to get into any park for a week, so if you're going to more than a few, it's worth it. we didn't get ours till the 2nd half of the trip.
... drive the speed limit. you'll save gas, you won't get a ticket, and you can actually see all the beauty around you.
... go hiking instead of taking expensive guided tours. you'll burn off the inevitable fast food calories and it feels good to sweat when you're sitting on your ass so much.
... make your food easy. we had instant oatmeal and fruit for breakfast almost every day. lots of bean burritos and packaged indian food for dinner. after a long day of climbing up and down a mountain, anything more taxing than boiling water is going to send you straight to the nearest restaurant.
I did most of what you suggest some time ago, and it has worked beautifully. After signing up for several of these, I was still getting a few here and there. What I started to do was calling every vendor that would send me anything and request them to delete me from their list, some times I had to call them more than once.
Today, I can go for weeks without receiving anything.
It is a beautiful thing.
Great tips - thanks! I tend to spend a fair bit of time in airports, and have a marathon trip next month that will take me 36 hours in all, with a number of layovers in airports. I'll try this out myself, and report back!
If you take your own unprocessed fruits and/or vegetables (canned is fine), be forewarned that you can't take them into the state of California. (Last I knew anyway.)
@Gues - I don't know about filling out forms on behalf of others....but I guess if the form doesn't require a signature, then you may be able to.
@FabulouslyBroke - Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky in finding Canadian equivalents for many of these services. However I'm hoping that at least one of them works(!). When all fails, you can contact the sender of your mail directly and ask to be removed from their list (they're legally obligated to do so in Canada as far as I recall) - as you would do with Charity mailings.
@David - Just send a note to the Discover people in one of their postage-paid return envelopes requesting they remove you from their list. That should work (at least we can hope!).
@Deborah - I live abroad, and I too have managed to reduce most of my mail, but some still slips through the cracks. Have you been junk mail free since starting the PO box?
@Ami - Thanks! Hope you can make good use of these tricks.
And although I'd love to be responsible enough not to kill wasps, I have yet to find a way to deter them from being around me (and I'm allergic to them) without doing so. Any tips are welcome!
i guess if you are completely sedentary and you start walking, some weight might come off. but i live in NYC, work out 5 hours a week, and still have to be ultra-strict with what i eat if i want to lose any weight at all. walking isn't enough, though obviously it's good for me.
You can sharpen the double edged disposable razors on a sharpening stone. You can also strop it - there may still be some razor holders for that purpose. So those cheap blades can last a pretty long time.
BTW, single-edge utility razors can be sharpened as well. You can easily give them an edge that beats the original edge.
Great article, thanks for the info!
Not sure where I read it, might even have been here on Wise Bread, but I use a Gillette Mach 3 and have been drying off the blades after I shave by dabbing with a hand towel. I'd say it's tripled the blade life! If you're not ready for the cutthroat, drying off your blades is a good intermediate step!
a very, very good article- anyone who has LOVED and i emphasize
LOVED an animal knows the pain when they die. personally,
i won't print how much i grieved over having to put my best
friend to death-
If your interested in str8 and safety razors go to badgerandblade.com! They have the best info on wetshaving!
lol. Be grateful all you guys have to shave is your face!
I hate all the money I spent on hair removal products. I'm not sure I'd try a straight razor on my legs or underarms though :(
I need to do this for my next trip.
For similar reasons, I picked up a gillette super-speed safety razor on ebay. Unlike you, I have a heavy, fast-growing beard, so I have to shave everyday, and I shave my head as well. Quality double-edged blades can be picked up for pennies apiece, as compared to the $3.50 a cartridge I was paying for Gillette Fusion. A side by side test, judged by my wife and daughters, has them near equal in closeness (Fusion was judged better only by my four-year-old). And in about an hour after I shave, the difference is irrelevant. I picked up two years worth of blades for $25 on ebay.
I would add that you should not count on your spouse either. I don't particularly like dogs. Each time my wife adopted one, I issued the basic "OK, but I don't want to have anything to do with it" disclaimer. We now have four. However as the person who works from home, I end up taking care of them by default. I'm also the budgeter, and we're always going over. We budget $35 a month for four dogs, my parrot, an abandoned bunny we rescued from the park, and eight chickens. It's a rare month I don't have to pull money out of our grocery budget for pet food. I feel bad about that. No one seems to get $35 out of enjoyment from them. I'm still not quite prepared to frugal them onto Ol' Roy dog food though. I love them in spite of my objections.
I switched over to using a double edged safety razor last year and will not go back to using an disposable again. The best shave in my life and cheaper than the multi-blade cartridges, although not as cheap as the straight razor. The straight razor just seemed a little to Sweeney Todd for me.
One thing that was not mentioned in the article is the reduction of waste by switching over to a straight razor. It is a much more eco-friendly option.
Is this something that would be allowed on a plane trip? Would it get me a pat down each time I go through airport security?
Great article, I haven't paid money to Gillette for about 4 years now. I just have a couple things to add:
The strop paste is meant to maintain an edge similar to a light honing, not replace a regular stropping. Stropping on plain leather should be done before each shave to align the edge for a comfortable shave.
Shaving with a straight razor is daunting, so for those who aren't quite ready for it, but still want to save money, there is the double-edged safety razor. A good vintage one can be bought on ebay for ~$20 and blades go for ~$0.05 each if you buy in bulk on ebay.
Lastly, a straight razor can be considered an investment since it can be resold at a later date with a little depreciation. That can be considered in the cost analysis I believe.
Very interesting combos for repellants. Love the info. Thanks for sharing.
... and here are some things we did to save cash.
... camping! don't pay $20 a night unless you're staying somewhere amazing like big sur. look for national forest campgrounds -- they are usually less crowded, more beautiful, and about half as much $. also look into "hike-in" spots. just stayed in one of these -- they had a wheelbarrow to bring our stuff up the hill -- and it was less than half the price and at least 5x as nice as the car camping spots.
... camping gear. do not scrimp. go somewhere like REI and get a good tent and sleeping gear that you can set up quickly and easily. crappy gear gets old real fast and you'll end up staying in motels, squandering all the money you saved by buying budget gear.
... national parks. you can get an $80 pass that's good for a year's worth of visits to any national park you want. it's usually $20 or $25 to get into any park for a week, so if you're going to more than a few, it's worth it. we didn't get ours till the 2nd half of the trip.
... drive the speed limit. you'll save gas, you won't get a ticket, and you can actually see all the beauty around you.
... go hiking instead of taking expensive guided tours. you'll burn off the inevitable fast food calories and it feels good to sweat when you're sitting on your ass so much.
... make your food easy. we had instant oatmeal and fruit for breakfast almost every day. lots of bean burritos and packaged indian food for dinner. after a long day of climbing up and down a mountain, anything more taxing than boiling water is going to send you straight to the nearest restaurant.
I did most of what you suggest some time ago, and it has worked beautifully. After signing up for several of these, I was still getting a few here and there. What I started to do was calling every vendor that would send me anything and request them to delete me from their list, some times I had to call them more than once.
Today, I can go for weeks without receiving anything.
It is a beautiful thing.
Very interesting post Paul. All it takes is for some personal photos and people feel guilty? Definitely enjoyed this article.
Somtimes the Boys & Girls Clubs run free swimming and activity days. Have to keep your eyes open for these free summer activities.
Great tips - thanks! I tend to spend a fair bit of time in airports, and have a marathon trip next month that will take me 36 hours in all, with a number of layovers in airports. I'll try this out myself, and report back!
Great list of cheap ways to beat the stress.
We use vinegar for a lot of our household cleaning. It does a great job and definitely cheaper then most household cleaners.
If you take your own unprocessed fruits and/or vegetables (canned is fine), be forewarned that you can't take them into the state of California. (Last I knew anyway.)
Great tips here. With the cost of traveling these days, any budget tips are useful. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the tip. This is a definite must to remember the next time in the airport.
@Gues - I don't know about filling out forms on behalf of others....but I guess if the form doesn't require a signature, then you may be able to.
@FabulouslyBroke - Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky in finding Canadian equivalents for many of these services. However I'm hoping that at least one of them works(!). When all fails, you can contact the sender of your mail directly and ask to be removed from their list (they're legally obligated to do so in Canada as far as I recall) - as you would do with Charity mailings.
@David - Just send a note to the Discover people in one of their postage-paid return envelopes requesting they remove you from their list. That should work (at least we can hope!).
@Deborah - I live abroad, and I too have managed to reduce most of my mail, but some still slips through the cracks. Have you been junk mail free since starting the PO box?
@Ami - Thanks! Hope you can make good use of these tricks.
And although I'd love to be responsible enough not to kill wasps, I have yet to find a way to deter them from being around me (and I'm allergic to them) without doing so. Any tips are welcome!