A week ago, I asked one of my daughters, who happens to frequent Dollar Tree, if she could pick up a bottle of liquid dish detergent the next time she was there. She looked over at the current bottle and asked if she should go that evening. At that point, there was not much more than a green film at the bottom of the bottle. I said "no, this should last us another 4 days." Well, here we are, a full week later, and by adding water, we've been able to do all of the hand washing with that little bit. (We also use a dishwasher for most items, so it's not like we washed ever dish, pot, or pan with that tiny amount of detergent.)
I'm just amazed at how much more we could get from that bottle. I think we have enough for another day of those items that need hand washing.
I about panicked when I saw my favorite deep conditioning hair cream jar was about empty. I made a special stop by Walmart to pick up more as a result. Without even opening the next jar, I decided to add some water to the bottom of the current one. I've been able to get enough conditioning substance to get through another week.
I co-wash with cheapo conditioner on a regular basis. When I could no longer get conditioner to come out of the bottle with a squeeze, I downgraded this almost empty bottle to my hair detangler.
Sometimes, adding water can lengthen the time you have to replace a substance. Sometimes, it's diluted to the point that you have to use the substance differently from its original purpose. Take ketchup. When the ketchup bottle is about empty, I add water and save this ketchup-water to add to soup or baked beans.
Imagine all of the bottles, jars, and tubes that go into the garbage without this extra effort to rinse and continue using to the very last bit. Waste bothers me. But also, I feel sorry for those folks who don't get that same sense of amazement or satisfaction that I get, by using it all up. They're missing out. Not only is this a free satisfaction, but it actually saves money. Maybe this sort of thing isn't on their radar for fun times.
Back to the question -- are you ever amazed by how much extra you can get out of a jar, bottle or tube simply by adding water? Tell me I'm not alone in my frugal fun.
