Remember this soap puff I made? It caught the attention of an AP reporter doing a story on cheapskates. She contacted me via Facebook to ask if she could interview me regarding my frugal ways.

First, I was like heck yeah! Interview me and provide a link back to my blog! Then, I remembered my blog doesn’t have much frugal or cheapskate-y content. My blog is about … um … yarn … and … houses … and decorating …. and … um … whatever happens to interest me at the moment. Cheapskate-y readers will be sadly disappointed and the AP reporter will lose some journalistic street cred.

The story ran all over the place online and in local newspapers. For better or worse, no blog was mentioned. Bummer, because I was coming up with all kinds of ways I have been more frugal lately:

• I now nuke yesterday’s leftover coffee. I used to dump out the old and make fresh – even if  there was a 1/2 pot or more.
• I used all those samples. I really did use every single one of them. One, the DHC Olive Oil sample, was fabulous leading me to buy the product. Hmmmm, wait. Is that frugal?
• I used old shampoo stashed under the bathroom sink for years. My mom bought it, didn’t like it so she gave it to me. I didn’t like either. Instead of throwing it out, I stashed it under the sink — just in case I ever ran out of the good stuff. I used it up before I bought new. Yes I DID!
• I make my own market bags. Not only are they less expensive in the long run, I enjoy making them and think they’re far cuter than the canvas ones you can buy at the store.
• I bought some Windex microfiber cloths. Not on purpose. Well, sort of on purpose. I was in the store for cleaning chemicals when I saw them, read the label and was intrigued enough to give ‘em a shot. If I didn’t have to buy expensive, bad-for-the-environment cleaners and could save on paper towel usage, they’d more than pay for themselves. And they have! They work fabulously on toothpaste gunk and make mirrors sparkle like magic using only water. Brilliant!
• Making and taking a lunch to work every day. The least expensive fast food lunch nearest my office is $4. Four times five days a week is 20, times four weeks in a month is $80. Ka-Ching! That’s 80 bucks I can spend on yarn. Just kidding
• Reading for free. There’s a library directly above my office that has a free swap bin in the lobby where I’ve been finding great novels and magazines, cutting my monthly Barnes & Noble expenses.

In addition to just spending less overall, those are just a few concrete examples of how I’m being more frugal. Have you been more frugal? If so, how?