I save twist ties, rubber bands, re-use aluminum foil and plastic wrap. A child of Depression-Era parents, these things were instilled in me at a young age. I was always embarrassed, though, to be the child required to neatly fold and bring home their paper lunch bag and Saran Wrap.
Your kids will have 50 years’ worth of old fish boxes and egg cartons and plastic bags and. . .cleaning out my aunts’ old barn when they passed was REALLY something. I swear to gawd, those fish boxes STILL smelled. . .
My grandmother would unravel her old knit dresses by hand and reuse the yarn to knit another one. She saved all her Nat’l Geographics and wouldn’t let my sister use an old one to cut out pictures for a school report. Eventually the garage leaked and ruined them all.
When I was an undergrad, a friend had 2 copies of every TV guide. We kept asking him why he had so many. Then, one day, another friend asked him what was on TV the day he was born and, out came a copy of the TV guide for that day and my friend said, “That’s why I have them.”
I’m the same way – saved all kinds of stuff (might need it, might save a trip to the hardware store ETC). Anyway, now if I need something, I can’t find it until I give up and buy another whatchamacallit. Then I find the old one.
I used to work at the IRS. My manager saved every single rubber band she took off any paperwork she got (and since she was OCD about assigning work and insisted on putting our employee numbers on it herself, that was a LOT of rubber bands). She had so many piles of rubber bands that she had to move them around to do her work. This, in spite of the fact that there were literally supply cabinets full of bags of brand new rubber bands every 30 feet in a half-million-square-foot building. She didn’t use the rubber bands for anything, she just took them off of stuff. One day, just to mess with her, I snuck in and took all the rubber bands off her desk and threw them away. She blew a gasket and ran around yelling that someone had stolen all her rubber bands and she was going to find them and fire them. She was also a micro-manager, but that is a story for another comic.
I’m thirty-five, grew up middle class, and currently make more than the median income for my county. I save rubber bands because they are SO HANDY to have around. Whoever invented the rubber band contributed positively to human flourishing.
swanridge over 4 years ago
But, if you put it in the bank, at the end of ten years interest will boost your savings to….. nothing.
Templo S.U.D. over 4 years ago
well said, Earl, couldn’t have worded it better myself
RAGs over 4 years ago
You won’t need anything you save, until the day after you get rid of it.
iggyman over 4 years ago
We all have junk drawers full of stuff we “might need some day”!
hariseldon59 over 4 years ago
I’ve got a drawer full of twist ties. You need know when you might need one.
scote1379 Premium Member over 4 years ago
My Mother-in-law used to save cool-whip bowls to send left overs home with her kids, Problem was she couldn’t cook worth a damn!
Breadboard over 4 years ago
Earl brings up a good point . When does one cross the line from saving ….. to hoarding ?
jagedlo over 4 years ago
I thought she saved rubber bands so that she could use them to wake Earl up in case she needed him to do something!
dlkrueger33 over 4 years ago
I save twist ties, rubber bands, re-use aluminum foil and plastic wrap. A child of Depression-Era parents, these things were instilled in me at a young age. I was always embarrassed, though, to be the child required to neatly fold and bring home their paper lunch bag and Saran Wrap.
jpayne4040 over 4 years ago
The look on Nelson’s face in the last panel! Mind blown!
1953Baby over 4 years ago
Your kids will have 50 years’ worth of old fish boxes and egg cartons and plastic bags and. . .cleaning out my aunts’ old barn when they passed was REALLY something. I swear to gawd, those fish boxes STILL smelled. . .
V45mikky over 4 years ago
The rubber in rubber bands dries out and cracks in 3 to 5 years.
ERBEN2 over 4 years ago
Please forgive me because I’m not going to mention that there is no Roscoe or Muffin today : ( Please
kab2rb over 4 years ago
That is too much hording. Money is different, wished we could save ours up.
Ratkin Premium Member over 4 years ago
My grandmother would unravel her old knit dresses by hand and reuse the yarn to knit another one. She saved all her Nat’l Geographics and wouldn’t let my sister use an old one to cut out pictures for a school report. Eventually the garage leaked and ruined them all.
Tentoes over 4 years ago
When I was little, the newspaper always came with a rubber band. Mom would carefully hang then on the door knob to the back door.
I'll fly away over 4 years ago
I keep enough on hand because the less I have to clean up/around the better my life is. I want to own stuff but not have it own me.
ForrestOverin over 4 years ago
Or in your case, Earl, how little you learned…
mi_sbs over 4 years ago
When I was an undergrad, a friend had 2 copies of every TV guide. We kept asking him why he had so many. Then, one day, another friend asked him what was on TV the day he was born and, out came a copy of the TV guide for that day and my friend said, “That’s why I have them.”
assrdood over 4 years ago
I’m the same way – saved all kinds of stuff (might need it, might save a trip to the hardware store ETC). Anyway, now if I need something, I can’t find it until I give up and buy another whatchamacallit. Then I find the old one.
cuzinron47 over 4 years ago
You also realize how much junk you’ve amassed.
slowlearner2 over 4 years ago
At 65 I have decided to finally get rid of my college text books. Even though I packed and moved them I have lost count of how many times.
sparkle 13 Premium Member over 4 years ago
Got that, kid?!!! Lol
zeexenon over 4 years ago
A great pre C-19 example of investing in our economy, especially based on Financial Planners!
onespiceybbw over 4 years ago
I used to work at the IRS. My manager saved every single rubber band she took off any paperwork she got (and since she was OCD about assigning work and insisted on putting our employee numbers on it herself, that was a LOT of rubber bands). She had so many piles of rubber bands that she had to move them around to do her work. This, in spite of the fact that there were literally supply cabinets full of bags of brand new rubber bands every 30 feet in a half-million-square-foot building. She didn’t use the rubber bands for anything, she just took them off of stuff. One day, just to mess with her, I snuck in and took all the rubber bands off her desk and threw them away. She blew a gasket and ran around yelling that someone had stolen all her rubber bands and she was going to find them and fire them. She was also a micro-manager, but that is a story for another comic.
CalLadyQED over 4 years ago
I’m thirty-five, grew up middle class, and currently make more than the median income for my county. I save rubber bands because they are SO HANDY to have around. Whoever invented the rubber band contributed positively to human flourishing.