My Ethical Dilemna

I saw that PaidTwice posted about a recent ethical dilemma she faced, which reminded me to post about something I had been thinking about.

I travel a lot for work. What amenity items are really mine for the taking and which are ethically questionable for me to take? I come from an ethnic background that is stereotypically cheap. I'm not that surprised when I see hotel emblem bearing towels at the homes of friends' parents. For me, anything that is not meant to be consumed while in the hotel is off-limits. In addition, large quantities of consumables put in the room for the comfort of the guest is also off limits in my book (that would mean the extra roll of toilet paper, etc.).

However, I am a big believer in taking the mini shampoos, soaps, etc. I use some of these items myself while at home, but I have decided to donate the majority to a local homeless shelter. On a side note, I can't believe it took me several months to find a homeless shelter to donate to - I called a few, expecting to get a call back and there was no response! My web searching wasn't too helpful in finding an acceptable place (i.e. in the San Francisco), so I finally contacted the city government office on the homeless and they were able to put me in touch with a shelter that was easy to give to and very grateful for the donation.

Now the area which I am starting to question of removal of the consumable goods provided for guests is on two fronts. The first front is on the coffee and tea packages provided in the hotel room. My thinking is if I only take what I normal person would consume in one evening, it's acceptable practice. Hence if I take home a bag of tea or two, that's perfectly acceptable (I don't trust the cups in the hotel, so it's unlikely that I'll enjoy the tea there, but I'm very happy to consume it in the comforts of my home).

The second area of my thoughts might be too much information for some of you, especially the men out there. I fly a lot - pretty much twice a week. One thing I noticed was that airplane bathrooms always have feminine products. Most planes seems to only have pads, but the airline I take normally has pads and tampons. Of course, these are amenity items for passengers to use. Most of the time I'm too comfortably ensconced in my seat to bother going to the bathroom, but on the occasions that I'm there, I will often grab one or two items. Would it be unethical for me to take a pad or tampon each flight I take, despite the fact that I'm not using it immediately? This could save me from every having to purchase feminine products again! Of course, so would investing in and learning to use the divacup.

How I Became Frugal

My experience with frugality began when I was living in NYC. I was a poor graduate student with family loans, educational loans, and sky high rent. In my prior life, I was a pampered college student that could meet all of my needs and most of my wants, courtesy of my parents.

Living on my own with no income was an eye opening experience. I remember passing up the jazz club with friends since the cover was $15. I wanted to go, but I remember thinking that I needed to make my money last as long as possible. With rent at $1,000 a month and less than $10,000 in the bank, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the year.

This was an important time in my life. Had I transitioned from parental supported college immediately to the working world, I may not have gained as much appreciation for the difficulty of managing money and making money. At this time, I found the dollar stretcher, a website that has been an invaluable resource in helping me find ways to save and stretch my money.

Of course, I can't say I'm the epitome of frugality. I think it's all about the choices and tradeoffs that we make. My husband and I are planning on spending an extravagant amount of money on a vacation later this year. We are doing out best to minimize waste in our everyday lives - both for our wallets and the environment. We want to consciously spend our money on items that will bring us happiness rather than let it slip away.

How Far Would You Go to Save Some Money?

Literally, how far would you go? My husband and I often go to a grocery store that's about 60 miles away in order to get a good deal on groceries and stock up. I sense that we are saving a lot of money, but I never bothered to do the calculations.

How much would we need to save to make it worthwhile?

If I assume that it costs us $.50/mile (I'm using this as a proxy since I am reimbursed $.485/mile for work related mileage), I would need to save $60 (60 miles *2 *$.50) in order to make the trip worthwhile financially. Of course, there are also the non-financial benefits of going.

1. Shopping at that faraway store allows us to spend time with some of our dear friends.
2. Shopping at this faraway store along with shopping at Costco allows me to shop less often since I have most of the food I need for a month or more

Ok now I think I'm looking for justifications for taking the trip out there! When we go, we do spend close to $200 or more. Next time we go, I'll try to come up with an estimate for how much we are saving to see if I can justify our trips based on financial reasons alone.

Things I Do to Save Money

Inspired by Mapgirl's post, I decided to think about some things I do to save money or live frugally. I was a bit disappointed that I could not think of more conscious choices I make.

Work
1. I try to carpool with my co-worker as much as possible (1-3 times per week)
2. I buy classic clothes from Ann Taylor. Looking at the price per wear shows the payoff
3. I pack lunches for my husband and I to take to work

Personal Care & Shopping
4. I only cut my hair about once every 1-2 years. When I cut it, I try to donate to Locks of Love
5. I like to use pre-moistened cleansing towelettes from Costco to clean my face, but before using each towelette, I cut it into 4
6. When using items such as shampoo or soap, I try to only use the amount I need
7. I always buy clothes on sale

Food
See #3 under Work
8. I clip coupons for the grocery store
9. My husband and I try to limit the number of times we eat out, especially the number of times we eat out with just the two of us

Other
10. We switched most of our light bulbs to CFLs
11. We turn off lights if not in the room

That's all I can think of that we do consciously. There are other things we do that contributes to frugal living, but it's not always something we think about.