You know that you're in a frugal household when the sight of upside down, empty containers, propped over bowl and pots is a normal thing.
Of course, the amount of liquid that can be drained out of an "empty" jug is in direct proportion to the size of the container to be emptied and the viscosity of the liquid. A larger container holding a thick liquid will yield a greater volume of resulting liquid than a smaller container of a thin liquid. The photos, above, are from a 7.5 gallon container of vegetable oil that was presumably empty. I left the jug propped, upside-down, over a bowl for 6 hours and it yielded about 2 tablespoons of oil, enough for salad dressing for a marinated lentil salad.
Above the mixing bowl, I propped a gallon-size jug of molasses, again, presumably empty. After draining for about 4 hours, it yielded about 3/4 tablespoon of molasses, enough to make 1/4 cup of light-brown sugar, out of white sugar, for a batch of bread.
Of course, you do have to be creative in how you prop your jugs. Sometimes, I can just leave them resting against something else on the counter, like the crockpot. Other times, I have to wedge the jug partially inside a cupboard, as with the molasses jug, if I don't want the jug, itself, sitting in the ingredients, like this bread dough.
Will 2 tablespoons of oil make or break us financially? No, probably not. But it's the principle of it all. I paid for all of the molasses in the jug, not 1 gallon less 1 tablespoon of molasses. I want to use every last bit that I've paid for. And sometimes, tipping the jug gets that last bit out, that I need for a recipe, meaning I can still make what I had planned, without a last minute dash out to the store.
What do you think? Do you prop jugs upside down to get every last drop? Do you think it's worth the effort?
