# What does your household consume \*less\* of than usual? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935 "2024-04-06T14:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/41 "2024-04-07T04:54:08Z")
Electricity. I found out ComEd doesn’t send you a bill if it’s less than $20/mo - they let the balance build up then send you one. My apartment ran a refrigerator, wi-fi router and a few light bulbs. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/42 "2024-04-07T05:32:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > “Smell” is one of those interesting verbs, isn’t it? “My dog has no nose.” “Then how does he smell?” “Awful!” More to the point of the thread, I cannot think of anything I use less of than usual. If pressed, I’d say maybe milk, but I always have 10% cream for my coffee. And cheese, so I’m not lacking in dairy. Alcohol? Got plenty of all types. Tobacco? Definitely not; I enjoy my pipe too much. Gasoline? Perhaps. I’ll typically drive everywhere I need to go, but I live in a small city. Nothing is more than a 15 or 20 minute drive away. I can go two weeks without filling up, so maybe that’s a contender. Ah! Thought of one: breakfast cereal. I cannot remember the last time I ate a bowl of cereal. I definitely consume less breakfast cereal than most people. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/43 "2024-04-07T05:43:33Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I always have 10% cream for my coffee. And cheese, so I’m not lacking in dairy. > > Alcohol? Got plenty of all types. Ahh, a fellow Canuck of good taste! Roll back the calendar half a century, and we could have been happy college roommates! We would just have had to deal with your very peculiar and aberrant aversion to Caesars! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/44 "2024-04-07T05:50:56Z")
Well, it’s my body’s aversion to Caesars, not mine. Still, as long as we had plenty of tomato juice and clamato juice, I’m sure we would have got along just fine—as long as we had enough vodka, of course. Which, undoubtedly, we would have. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/45 "2024-04-07T11:29:07Z")
We get coffee when company comes over, but that’s the only time I drink it. Same with wine. Seafood. I can’t eat it but will cook it for my wife once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/46 "2024-04-07T12:49:09Z")
Gasoline, since my husband and I both bought EVs last year. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/47 "2024-04-07T13:11:48Z")
Using local values for “less”, Water. Around here the majority are watering lawns frantically during the summer, and after comparing notes with a few neighbors, we’re using a quarter to a half of that of our fellow suburbanites. A lot of our yard is more hardy grass/plants, and I only water the foundation (soaker hoses). Sadly, I fear we’ll never know the joy of the “Yard of the Month!” award from the HOA. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/48 "2024-04-07T13:40:27Z")
Why do you water the foundation? I have a couple of beds i water. The blueberries and currants, and sometimes some trees. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/49 "2024-04-07T16:44:23Z")
Neither my wife nor I are teetotalers, but we both prefer to drink, when we do so, like when we’re out for a nice dinner or whatever. I doubt that I’ve brought home beer, wine, liquor, etc. from the grocery store in maybe a year. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/50 "2024-04-07T18:42:20Z")
I almost never use paper towels at home. I have a large stack of white terry hand towels that I use for almost everything in the kitchen. They get washed with bleach. When they get too stained, they become heavier-duty cleaning cloths, then rags. The only time I use paper towels is for things like cleaning up caulk or other gunk that can’t wash out. And pet accidents. I bought a roll a couple years ago and it’s still here. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/51 "2024-04-07T21:47:12Z")
Probably beef, if I had to take a stab. We predominantly eat chicken and pork, with about as many beef forays as fish forays. There are other things that I don’t know whether we’re above or below on- things like bread, cookies, sodas, etc… where we do consume them, but I’m not sure what other households consume relative to us. I mean, my wife bakes a fair bit relative to most people (it’s a hobby of hers), so we often have fresh bread, cookies, etc… but it’s not an every week kind of thing, and we do end up buying bread and cookies. I’m the only person in the family who drinks sodas - I might have two 12 oz cans a day during the week. Thing is, I don’t know if that’s high or low relative to others. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/52 "2024-04-07T21:52:30Z")
Toilet paper. Like everyone I use toilet paper yet, somehow, I seem to use less than most but I do not try to…I use what I need and don’t try to be stingy about it. I am always amazed at how fast toilet paper disappears when I have a girl friend living with me. I get the use should double but it way more than doubles. It’s shocking. And not just calling out women. Back when I worked in an office I often heard men positively going nuts on the toilet paper roll. I could hear them unrolling the TP and it was astonishing. I mean, really way more than I would expect anyone to need. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/53 "2024-04-07T22:43:05Z")
Coffee! Horibble roasted dirt shit. If I wake up and smell the coffee, you are getting your ass kicked out of my house. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/54 "2024-04-07T23:01:25Z")
My household - such as it is (me and my parrot) - use no tomato products whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/55 "2024-04-08T17:13:04Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Why do you water the foundation? In this region of Texas, summer drought plus the clay/sand ground can shift enough to cause foundation damage. So we learn (quickly) to keep it damp during the summer months. Even when watering restrictions are in place, they rarely prohibit watering around your house’s foundation. Like most, I have soaker hoses threaded amongst the bushes and just plug a hose in for a few hours in different spots during the week. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/56 "2024-04-08T18:04:26Z")
For us it’s potatoes. I’m diabetic and Mrs. Geek is on a low-carb diet. The last meal that we had with potatoes was Thanksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/57 "2024-04-08T20:35:38Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I am always amazed at how fast toilet paper disappears when I have a girl friend living with me. I get the use should double but it way more than doubles. It’s shocking. (pssst: you do realize that women, unlike most men AFAIK, generally use TP after peeing as well as after pooping, right? Given that the average person may urinate 5-6 times per day as opposed to pooping maybe once per day, you should expect to see TP usage FAR more than double when a pee-wiper starts sharing the house with the resident poop-wiper.) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/58 "2024-04-08T20:56:17Z")
Gas, as in gasoline, because I’m still working from home. When I was commuting to the office I was filling up probably every week and a half. Now I go months between fill ups. Also gas, as in natural gas, because I replaced my gas furnace with an electric heat pump last winter. Garbage bags. I used to use plastic grocery bags as garbage bags until California banned them. Now I buy small 4 gallon garbage bags. Either way, I only fill up one per week. Every garbage day I see my neighbors’ bins filled to the brim with multiple garbage bags, and I wonder how they could possibly generate so much trash. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/59 "2024-04-08T23:25:44Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Gas, as in gasoline, because I’m still working from home. Yeah. Now working from home, I use much, much less. But I’m still driving to take care of my moms house until we sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935/60 "2024-04-09T11:58:30Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Soda. My kids will pick up the occasional single bottle for themselves but neither my wife or I drink it so we usually have some Perrier or LaCroix in the fridge instead. My girls are 14 and 11 years old and neither has even tasted a cola. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-household-consume-less-of-than-usual/999935.md?page=4)