I have a bin of that stuff ready to get donated.
Hospital ones.
Hotel ones.
Samples I get.
Its usually a good amount.
When my bar of soap gets small, I just lather it up and stick it to the new bar. Works fine, and I feel all virtuous about saving money by using every last bit of the soap.
That’s not economizing, that’s saving something that you can’t get any other way. Bacon fat is the only way to cook some foods, you know.
When I was a kid we never took vacations longer than a weekend at the beach (a 150-mile drive each way over winding roads with an impatient driver, I hated it). The summer I turned 14 we finally took a longer trip, in a small trailer, stopping at camping grounds with, of course, communal bathrooms. I remember when my sister needed to use the bathroom, my mother would quiz her on which function(s) she was going to do there, because if she was only doing #1 she only needed a few squares of toilet paper, she didn’t need to take the roll. My mother was afraid of someone forgetting the roll in the bathroom and losing it forever.
eta: I didn’t read far enough before responding, I thought we were telling stories on previous generations. There’s stuff I do, although it doesn’t seem unusual to me. For example, I hate that lotion bottles with pump handles leave so much lotion in the bottle. So I took one of the used bottle tops, ripped out the pump handle, sealed the hole with plastic tape, and then when the next bottle is “empty” I replace the top with my recycled top so that I can leave the lotion bottle upside down on the counter, and get the last couple of ounces out of it.
I pour fresh coffee grounds on top of the used batch 1 time before throwing away. I mix a very small batch of dish water to hand wash my dishes. I only wash my Levis when they need it now. (they are lasting 4 or 5 times as long) I don’t buy any prepared foods and I throw away virtually nothing. If I am not going out I shave with my electric hair clippers. Unless I am just going for a drive I try to plan my errands so they are not redundant.
I never kept the bacon grease under the sink. I’m sure a dog would’ve found that real quick like.
I have a dedicated jar in the fridge. Certainly don’t waste it.
No one is going to become a captain of industry by saving partial ketchup packets, but it DOES point to a mindset that many wealthy people have in spades. It gets attributed to a variety of historic folks, but the quote is ‘take care of the pennies and the dollars (or pounds) will take care of themselves.’ It isn’t so much about saving a few pennies by doing something cheap, but rather, by adopting a mindset where one is always conserving resources in small ways it leads to substantial savings - or potential capital - in the aggregate over the long term.
When my days of corporate travel ended, I donated all those ‘amenities --’ a footlocker full – to a friend who runs/ran a school in (extremely) rural Guatemala:
We could do a ‘Four Yorkshireman’ one-upsmanship thing if you like.
Okay, this one may make you blanch, but when we were kids my father used to cut the bottoms off empty plastic bleach jugs so we could use them as popcorn bowls! I’m certain my mother rinsed them out reasonably well first!
I don’t do a lot of cheap things. But in temperate weather I keep some pop or protein shakes in the car. If going to a fast food place, and the combo with drink does not essentially include a cheap drink, I will sometimes carry my drink into the fast food place. If the sandwich, side and drink is more expensive than two sandwiches, often I’d rather have two sandwiches.
Back when I still used bar soap, my brand of choice was Dial because it had a little depression in the bar that was a perfect fit for the old soap sliver.
Doper verdict: That’s wrong!
Whew. I’m glad someone else does this too!
I bought a big tub of pickle slices and was enjoying them with sandwiches but then I started to get pissy about all of the paper plates I threw away because of pickle juice so I stopped eating pickles 
Or continue to eat yummy pickles and just serve them on washable plates.
Or use the lid of the pickle jar as a plate.
Somewhat relating to the pickle issue, I buy a jar of my favorite pickles Product detail page and after I finish them, I save the pickle brine and put in sliced cucumbers to make my own pickles. I do this again and again until the brine has lost the ability to make pickles. Sometimes I add salt or other seasonings to extend the life, though.
Curious as to how long this usually takes?
It depends on the thickness of the slices. If you slice the cucumbers thin enough, they’ll be pickled overnight. There’s a type of Japanese pickles called “ichiyazuke” (一夜漬け) which literally means “one night pickles”.
Thanks!
Growing up on the farm with a big garden my mom tried to save money by making home made ketchup…nasty! Even my dad said to spend the extra money and get the store brand stuff, but not the name brand such as Heinz. It was a treat to go to McDonald’s and get the “good stuff”.
Today my cheap thing to do is to save the paper towels from when I clean my car windows, place them in a pile, then use them for oil changes or other “dirty” work.