2:30 pm - 10/18/2012
Kay Hashimoto dumpster-dives for food, doesn't use toilet paper, uses her shower water for laundry - and participates in human medical trials.
A New York City woman who dumpster-dives for all her food, doesn’t use toilet paper or do laundry, in an effort to have $250,000 in savings by next year has shared her secrets of frugality.
Kay Hashimoto, a Certified Public Accountant, hasn’t bought toiletries in ten years, but owns her own home in Harlem, which she bought in 2010 and paid off in nine months.
Her money-saving methods, featured in the new series Extreme Cheapskates which premieres tonight, includes using soap to wash herself off after using the toilet, participating in medical trials, cutting her own hair, washing her clothes while showering, and running to work instead of taking the subway.
Ms Hashimoto told the New York Post: 'I’ve always been frugal, but it was when I was laid off in the dot-com crash that I became extreme.
'No job is guaranteed, so I live as if I could be fired at any time.'
She added that Manhattan is a melting pot for quality dumpster-diving, admitting that she visits the Upper West Side three times a week to look for free food.
'Consumers in wealthy areas expect their products to be perfect, so upscale stores throw out a lot of items that are still good.
'New York can be the most expensive place to live, but it can also be the least expensive if you know how to work the system.'
Ms Hashimoto also takes surveys online to earn gift cards, tests products for free samples, and takes part in medical trials, which enabled her to have free birth control for five years, and she earned cash by participating in a herpes vaccine trial.
In the first episode of Extreme Cheapskates, which airs on TLC on October 16, she displays how she might use a small block of soap and a plastic water bottle to clean up after using the bathroom.
She explains: 'If I took a dump then I also grab soap, wipe myself down with the soap, then I take the water and rinse off the soap.
'I don’t believe in spending money on something that you’re just going to throw away such as toilet paper or paper towels.'
She then hangs items up in the bathroom and lets them dry naturally. She claims that the hand-washing technique saves her a total of $6 a month.
'Whenever I have dirty clothes I try to wash them while I’m showering. Today I’m using a free sample of detergent I got.
'Once I’m done showering then I lather up the clothes. I think the last time I did laundry was maybe three years ago,' she says.
Per month she spends $15 on food, $0.17 on toothpaste, $237 on her Harlem condo, $1,000 on her 401(k) and $0 on clothing. She saves $4,000 per month.
And while her furniture is a collection of second hand treasures she found on the street, she says she won’t pick up an old mattress for fear of bedbugs, and sleeps instead on used yoga mats.
She added that she won’t stay in a relationship for its cost effectiveness though.
She explained: 'I’ve been in a relationship where I stayed because I was getting freebies and gifts, but I got out of it.
'It’s better to be single and Dumpster-diving than to be with someone you can’t stand.'
Source
TLC debuts another "Extreme Cheapskate"
Kay Hashimoto dumpster-dives for food, doesn't use toilet paper, uses her shower water for laundry - and participates in human medical trials.
A New York City woman who dumpster-dives for all her food, doesn’t use toilet paper or do laundry, in an effort to have $250,000 in savings by next year has shared her secrets of frugality.
Kay Hashimoto, a Certified Public Accountant, hasn’t bought toiletries in ten years, but owns her own home in Harlem, which she bought in 2010 and paid off in nine months.
Her money-saving methods, featured in the new series Extreme Cheapskates which premieres tonight, includes using soap to wash herself off after using the toilet, participating in medical trials, cutting her own hair, washing her clothes while showering, and running to work instead of taking the subway.
Ms Hashimoto told the New York Post: 'I’ve always been frugal, but it was when I was laid off in the dot-com crash that I became extreme.
'No job is guaranteed, so I live as if I could be fired at any time.'
She added that Manhattan is a melting pot for quality dumpster-diving, admitting that she visits the Upper West Side three times a week to look for free food.
'Consumers in wealthy areas expect their products to be perfect, so upscale stores throw out a lot of items that are still good.
'New York can be the most expensive place to live, but it can also be the least expensive if you know how to work the system.'
Ms Hashimoto also takes surveys online to earn gift cards, tests products for free samples, and takes part in medical trials, which enabled her to have free birth control for five years, and she earned cash by participating in a herpes vaccine trial.
In the first episode of Extreme Cheapskates, which airs on TLC on October 16, she displays how she might use a small block of soap and a plastic water bottle to clean up after using the bathroom.
She explains: 'If I took a dump then I also grab soap, wipe myself down with the soap, then I take the water and rinse off the soap.
'I don’t believe in spending money on something that you’re just going to throw away such as toilet paper or paper towels.'
She then hangs items up in the bathroom and lets them dry naturally. She claims that the hand-washing technique saves her a total of $6 a month.
'Whenever I have dirty clothes I try to wash them while I’m showering. Today I’m using a free sample of detergent I got.
'Once I’m done showering then I lather up the clothes. I think the last time I did laundry was maybe three years ago,' she says.
Per month she spends $15 on food, $0.17 on toothpaste, $237 on her Harlem condo, $1,000 on her 401(k) and $0 on clothing. She saves $4,000 per month.
And while her furniture is a collection of second hand treasures she found on the street, she says she won’t pick up an old mattress for fear of bedbugs, and sleeps instead on used yoga mats.
She added that she won’t stay in a relationship for its cost effectiveness though.
She explained: 'I’ve been in a relationship where I stayed because I was getting freebies and gifts, but I got out of it.
'It’s better to be single and Dumpster-diving than to be with someone you can’t stand.'
Source
Edited at 2012-10-18 03:34 am (UTC)
i'm not sure tho
*grabbing my pearls in disgust*
I remember staying up late when I was about 12 to watch some guy get a vasectomy. They showed everything, uncensored.
And now it's this shit?
I'm not learning anything. Well, certainly nothing about how to improve myself.
music television is a good example
"I thought American TV bottomed out at Jersey Shore but then I finally YouTubed "Honey Boo Boo", I was wrong. What is worse is that the show is aired on the TLC aka The Learning Channel, once funded by NASA so people could learn cool stuff and not be a dumbass like Honey Boo or Snookie. Rant over."
This is a channel started by NASA.
it's a cycle, mang. it's a pretty stark of why the "privatize everything" mentality is so flawed, at least.
BTW, I set my dryer at the lowest setting.
I get being afraid that you'll lose your job but none of this sounds healthy.
OT: I cant get a man but this bitch who doesnt believe in toliet paper can? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. :/
I think that these people have the MEANS to have the basic commodities like toilet paper. Obviously these people are not THAT poor that they can't afford these things they just want to be as cheap as possibly. Slap in the face to people who are living in poverty in my opinion.
Oh, come on, now. I get that this stuff is intrinsically gross to most Americans, but a "slap in the face" to truly poor people is being more than a little ridiculous.
She said that she was previously thrifty, but became extreme after being laid off. She looked true poverty in the face. That's scary. And for many, it can lead to a near manic drive to save save save every penny, so they never have that feeling of helplessness again.