Bah! Stupid quiz tells me to check back next week. I WANT INSTANT GRATIFICATION AND I WANT IT NAO!!!!111!

@MostlyHarmless: Agreed. Boo!!! j/k I know I am among the thrifty. My mother hoards plastic containers like they're going out of style and I have picked up on reusing them for storage a few times. The scratch paper thing is something I do often. When I was in college and worked for our athletic ticket office, we often reused computer printouts and made notebads for each workstation. Better than buying notebooks or using yellow legal pads. This habit has stuck with me and can save money in our budget (my co-workers make fun of me for being recycling crazy). And considering the size of many restauraunt meals nowadays a doggy bag is a must. Dinner one night equals free lunch for the next day.

how many respondents insist on mashing up all the old soap into a "new" bar in the bath. (I do this, but because I think it's fun, not thrifty.)

I do this also, but I try to keep the brand imprint on the bar of soap as long as possible...I think right now I have 2 bars worth of words on the bar of soap (I can see them because the imprints become holes after it wears down, then I smash it on the words of another bar, etc). Good times...

@Cat_In_A_Hat: hahahahaha are you some long lost brother of mine?

Yeah, what's up with "Take the Quiz Now"**

**Don't get any results...

Didn't like the question about parent's thriftiness, how does one answer when one parent is extremely thrifty to the point of embarassment and the other is the exact opposite?

I do some things but not others. I used to do the scratch paper thing, but I get so many freebie notepads in junk mail at work and from vendors it's not worth it. I'm a scavenger; I'll glom samples of pens and stuff that come in the mail, to the point of putting a note on the piece "Do you want this? If not, can I have it?" Scored a new, really nice address book that way for the last two years, ha ha!

Doggy bags: yes, I can't eat those huge portions in one sitting.

Washing plastic flatware: Yes, if it's the good heavy kind. The crappy stuff goes in the garbage.

Washing zip bags: if they aren't greasy. Someone said to put them in the washer, but that makes me sort of queasy. I reuse the big ones sometimes for packing shampoo bottles in my overnight bag too.

I don't save jars and stuff. I tried, but I don't use them. I have a couple of those varying size container sets with the universal lids, like the Smart Spin thing on TV, that I bought very cheap at Tuesday Morning. I really don't have the room for a bunch of jars and I'm trying not to eat margarine so much anymore so don't keep the tubs.

@12-Inch Idongivafuck Sandwich: This was so irrelevant for me because I don't use bar soap!

@HogwartsAlum: Agreed. I like doggy bags and have no shame in doing that. But washing zip lock bags just screams cross contamination for me. Blegh. I have a ton of pens and pencils culled from various freebie events, but I've stopped in recent years because there's too much of it all.

With the question ". If you had to pick ONE of these sources for all your clothes, what would it be?" I admit that I picked Nordstrom because I love Nordstrom and I don't look at Wal-Mart or Goodwill as being thrifty, not if all of your clothes had to come from there. At least at Nordstrom there's a mix of high and low and you can get less expensive clothing and more expensive clothing. You have options. Wal-Mart doesn't give you that choice.

@12-Inch Idongivafuck Sandwich: i keep them in a jar and add water. when they fully dissolve i put them in the soap pump.

@pecan 3.14159265: i save the freebie pens and post its for the cat rescue. pens walk off at adoption events like they have their own legs.

And they're in NC! I like a local survey.

I imagine that my family would give different results if my husband had been the one to take it; his mother never met anything she couldn't wear out past the point of usefulness. My mother knows when to quit while she's ahead.

5 questions determine my thriftiness? No wonder people mock psychology.

@pecan 3.14159265: I've bought a short-sleeved shirt from them(Wal-Mart), one wash cycle on cold water and the thing shrunk comically.

@MostlyHarmless: Could be a long lost sister (I'm a girl).

@Cat_In_A_Hat: Well sorry bout that :P

Or its quite possible that you are my real sister, but I havent seen you protesting loudly against animal cruelty and organizing petitions for iranian revolution, so I am guessing you are not :P

@xenth: Seriously. And I myself can think of atleast some ways where one can be judged reasonably thrifty by these questions, but on the flip side do something incredibly stupid and unthrifty.

@MostlyHarmless: I agree. I don't wash out plastic baggies, save plastic forks, or re-use containers from grocery stores. Apparently I'm super unthrifty. But I always look for the lowest price of what I want to buy and I wait for sales (unless it's ridiculously low). I'm pretty sure the $7 I save off a DVD replaces the 60 plastic baggies I could wash out, considering a box of 200 can last us most of a year.

I picked The Gap, because well my work wardrobe pretty much does come from the Gap. Banana Republic, and Old Navy and their respective outlets, so i guess it averages out to the Gap. I have like a cable knit sweater in every color of the rainbow from one of these places. Maybe some from J Crew, but its all about the same. And their jeans fit so well too... As for the paper.. I don't have a working home printer so anything printed is at work and i usually keep a few sheets and recycle the rest.

@pecan 3.14159265: If that's because you use liquid soap, you are decidedly unthrifty. If that's because you don't wash your hands or bathe--you are UberThrifty.

My husband lost points because I've never seen him fail to finish a restaurant meal.

@pecan 3.14159265: I went with Macy's for the same reason - wide selection, better quality than Wal-Mart (and will last longer), but not as pricey as Nordstroms (in general).

So will the Consumerist post a link to the results next week?

Weird questions. If I rewash plastic tableware, it's not just thrift, it's also to keep the plastic out of the waste stream. Ditto with the containers.

@pecan 3.14159265: That's why I went with LL Bean

@misokitty: I had problems with that one because my mother is a hoarder. Yes, she does keep plastic containers from the grocery store (but she never uses them) in addition to buying mountains of tupperware. I think I'm probably exempt from the survey and have skewed the results by taking it.

@pecan 3.14159265: I went with Nordstrom, too and I am a legendary tightwad. They have good quality things that last a long time, they have awesome end-of-season sales, and their return policy means I'll never get stuck with a defective item.

@AdamBC: Yes.

@OneTrickPony: I know using liquid soap is unthrifty, but I also haven't purchased any for about two years because I've received so much as gifts. I think that's a thrifty tradeoff.

@The Porkchop Express: I love LL Bean, but I can't get work clothes from there - unless I quit my job to become a park ranger or nature guide.

@MostlyHarmless: As opposed to wanting your instant gratification later?

@catastrophegirl: That's a really good idea! I think I'll start a pen box along with our food box for the animal shelter.

@tungstencoil: I don't think it's as much a quiz as it is a poll.

@pecan 3.14159265: I went for Macy's because they have some excellent sales. Last time I was there at an end-of-season clearance I bought six tops (two tanks, four cardigans) and spent less than fifty dollars. All tops have proved very satisfactory as far as wearing, both in the 'I am often' and 'it's holding up with' senses.

I think there should be added questions:

Do you take plastic tableware from fast food restaurants instead of buying your own?

When I was a kid, we had a drawer in my grandma's house full of plastic forks and spoons and knives, and nearly all of them said KFC or McDonalds or Wendy's on them.

@pecan 3.14159265: I went Goodwill because it's a habit I started in High School (back before "vintage" was cool and you could actually find cool old clothes from the 60s/70s for cheap) and ever since then I have a hard time buying tshirts at fullprice when I know I can dig through a Goodwill/DAV/Salvation Army/St. Vincent du Paul's and come up with a bunch of neat stuff.

However, now I am thinking about it, and I absolutely could not shop there exclusively, because that would mean buying used underwear, and no matter how cheap I am with clothes, I will never be THAT cheap.

@pecan 3.14159265: Wendy's has the best plastic tableware.

@korybing: I went with Gap because we have one here (no Nordstrom, no real Macy's), and I figured I could interpret it as including Old Navy and Banana Republic if I chose.

But really, I discovered that there are several thrifty habits I don't have and don't want. Though thanks, catastrophegirl, for the tip on the soap ends--I can never get mine to mash to anything!

@MostlyHarmless: Ouch, sorry that you confused her for a guy or sorry that she is a girl?

@mazzic1083: Hahahaha low blow.

Obviously sorry that I confused her for a guy.

@floraposte: But really, I discovered that there are several thrifty habits I don't have and don't want.

Hahaha I know. Same here. Sometimes I read something online, and I go "no, im not doing that". I think 'put less hot cocoa in your milk' was one. No way i am drinking watered down hot cocoa. Especially considering that I drink it rarely and do it exclusively for the hot rich thick goodness.

@Cat_In_A_Hat: I *covet* the plastic containers.

And am also annoyed by the lack of telling me how thrifty I am.

Maybe we also need an overacheiver quiz.

@pecan 3.14159265: I got so annoyed with this question that I skipped it. Yes it is stupid to be so annoyed - but one store for everything? I'd probably fall closest to what people would consider LL Bean-type clothing in what I wear - but I don't think I actually like most of their clothes. And Nordstroms has nice stuff - but it's just not me. So apparently according to that quiz, I will go naked.

@OneTrickPony: I wasn't sure how to answer that for my SO either...I guessed that he wouldn't leave food behind since he always urges me to take food home with me if I don't finish?

@JulesNoctambule: the rescue i work with also loves clipboards, old clean towels and bottles of bleach. but those are harder to come by than free pens usually

@xenth: I don't think this is meant to be actual research, though, as it would obviously be valueless as same; it's just on-topic goofing around.

@pecan 3.14159265: Personally, I collect Chick-fil-a sauces and use them on chicken I cook at home. (not fried!)

On the doggy bag question, I needed another option: I've mostly stopped going to restaurants because the portions are always way too big and I hate doggy bags. Instead I had to answer "unlikely", which made me look unthrifty.