Do you try to squeeze out every bit of shampoo or toothpaste out of the bottle to get the most for your money? The Simple Dollar crunches some numbers to show that might not be worth your while: if you aren’t sure, follow the “two second rule”.
Basically, he suggests you divide the cost of the bottle by the number of uses you’d get out of it. That’s your “per use value”.
It’s not an exact calculation but you should be able to estimate how many uses you get out of a bottle of shampoo or a tube of toothpaste. Once the easy uses are done and you have to start putting in time and effort to squeeze out the remaining bits, figure out of the if the per use value is worth that time and effort for you, or if you’re better off just chucking it. If the last five uses are going to take a lot of effort and only add up to 20 cents worth of savings, you’re just wasting your time.
If you want a simple rule to follow, if it’s really easy and takes only a second or two, a little extra effort to get the last bit out is worth it; if it’s not that easy, it better save multiple uses or it’s not worth it.
I’d suggest reading the full post linked below to get a clearer idea and detailed number-crunching. He also explains how the one minute needed to fold up a tube might be worth it, but the same effort for a shampoo might not.
The Last Bit In The Container [The Simple Dollar]
Comments
9 responses to “How Much You Actually Save By Squeezing Out The Last Bit Of Toothpaste”
I’d be more interested in hearing about if every household squeezed the last bit of toothpaste, how much toothpaste wouldn’t need to be manufactured, packaged and transported?
Exactly what I was thinking. It’s about reducing waste not saving money.
I call bullsh*t. What is your time worth if you were just going to spend those valuable 12 seconds on facebook? Your time is only worth what someone will pay you for it. Squeeze the tube or you are wasting the money someone already paid you.
I Squeeze it out because I have forgotten to buy more and can not be bothered going to the shops yet
Once it gets to the bottom of the tube where it becomes hard to squeeze I just cut it open and get it out that way. Same with bb cream etc. You can really get it all by then 🙂
Inspired by a combination of being broke, forgetful and lazy. But it works.
But he forgot to include a few factors: the amount of time and effort it takes to throw away the tube, open a new one, and indeed purchase that one in the first place. that probably adds a couple of minutes. if you average that over the whole tube it’d give you a couple of extra seconds due to time saved elsewhere.
Of course arguing over tiny details doesn’t change that all his advice is right, it just changes the ‘profitable’ window from about two seconds to about four.
but you eventually do that anyway when you run out of toothpaste completely.
If you get less out of the tube you will be replacing tubes more often.
if you can squeeze one more use out of it, then it’s up to the next person to replace it if they can’t 🙂
I do this with my brother at home. It is sneaky and hilarious.
The secret to getting more out of the tube isn’t to roll the tube, but slide the tube from bottom to top against the edge of the bench or door frame.