Toilet Paper: As Precious As Gold

[JFN1]

So my wife and I were at Kmart today, stocking up on household items - cleaners, detergents, toilet paper and paper towels, sos pads, etc. We got to the checkout, paid the $67 for our stuff, and left.

As we were driving home, my wife was perusing the receipt. "Hmmm..." she said a couple of times, indicating i should take an interest in her thoughts, which I did. She said, "I couldn't figure out why it cost so much today. Then I saw how much our toilet paper was." She shook the receipt and looked at me. "Do you know how much it cost?"

I don't usually pay attention to these things, as my wife runs our day-to-day finances - I get an "allowance," and I'm quite happy with the arrangement - I don't have the headaches.

So I gave my typical answer, "I don't know - five bucks?" which seemed reasonable to me for a 12-pack of toilet paper.

"Nope," she replied, "Try $12.99."

"Thirteen bucks? For toilet paper?"

"Yup."

"Over a dollar a roll. For toilet paper. Not even the fancy stuff."

"Uh-huh."

We rode the rest of the way home in silence, both of us seething.

Toilet paper is, apparently as precious as gold.

When I think about what this signifies, I don't get as angry about it as I thought I would - I find I am more fatigued.

I AM FATIGUED BECAUSE I AM SO VERY TIRED OF BEING USED TO MAKE OBSCENELY RICH PEOPLE EVEN RICHER.

WFT? More than a dollar a roll for toilet paper?

I looked over the receipt myself, after we got home, and found myself wishing I had paid more attention to this, for the prices we are paying for everyday household items that used to cost us pennies and now cost us ridiculous amounts of money - it's, gods, it's fucking insane!!!!

The worst part for me, is I never noticed the transition from reasonable, to outright thievery.

Where is this going to lead? HOW MUCH PROFIT IS ENOUGH FUCKING PROFIT????????????

[XemaSab]

1. Wiping your a** is a PRIVILEGE,

not a right. :hide:

[Uncle Joe]

5. My dear deceased grandmother,

used to tell a story of accidentally using Poison Ivy leaves when she was a little girl. The lesson of this story is, when global warming really hits the fan and toilet paper is going for ten bucks a roll, know your leaves in case of an emergency.

[Bethany Rockafella]

26. lol!

Ouch! :)

[Warpy]

30. Everything out here has spines and/or poison

I have a feeling it's going to be a plastic squeeze bottle full of water for #1 and a rag for #2.

We'll have plenty of rags as the shoddy clothing from China decomposes.

[rox63]

2. We pay about $6.99 for a 12 pack of the store brand around here

$12.99 seems awfully high.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. Why Don't You Go To Costco?

I'm guessing that Costco would have been $10 or less.

When buying in quantity that large, i.e. 12 rolls, a place like Costco is your best bet.

Otherwise, use coupons. Keep in mind that stores inflate their prices to compensate for "Double Coupons," so by not using them, or sticking with a particular brand every time, you're paying a premium.

[JFN1]

10. We live in a rural area

So we don't really have coupons and such available to us - no one does double coupons, we buy our meat from a local farmer, we buy our vegetables, for the most part, from farmers, and our staples from the local grocer. We always pick up the flier at Kmart, to look for bargains. But the store itself is pretty small, so there isn't much selection, and there isn't much else around here for shopping, and we'd have to drive about 45 miles to a bigger town to look for bargains, which would eat in gas anything I managed to save, plus it's not very green, one reason we do our shopping locally.

And all of this is really beside the point for me. The Dow is over 13,000, profits are at record levels for corporations - and part of the reason for that is because shlubs like me are more or less forced to pay $13 for toilet paper.

[Missy Vixen]

24. Believe it or not, Costco is not the cheapest

We don't shop there as much as we used to because some stuff is just not cheaper.

The TP: If I get a good sale at a local grocery store, I can get a case of TP (the good stuff) for $5-7.00. By the time I've wandered through Costco and chucked stuff in the cart, seriously, it's not cheaper.

IMHO, YMMV,
Julie

[LiberalEsto]

35. 36 rolls, about $18 nt

[pnwmom]

37. We've been told not to use the Costco stuff in our septic system, unfortunately.

[iconoclastic cat]

4. There is no upper limit to the desire for profit. It is insatiable. nt

[BattyDem]

6. Paper towels are overpriced, too

It's outrageous what they charge for disposable paper products! :grr:

We buy all our paper products in Costco. For $15, we get 36 giant rolls (equivalent to 75 regular rolls) of Charmin. It costs about the same for a Bounty 12 mega-roll pack (equivalent to 20 regular rolls). The Kirkland (Costco) brands are even cheaper and they're just as good. :-)

[TechBear_Seattle]

25. I refuse to use

Disposeable paper towels, plates, cups, etc. (I do use toilet paper, sorry.) It is just as easy to wash reuseable stuff.

[BattyDem]

41. We don't use plates and cups, but there's no substitute for ...

toilet paper or tissues. We always try to use a cloth towel instead of paper, but sometimes (like when the dog has an accident) we have to use paper towels.

[DS1]

7. Sheryl Crow would like to have a word with you

[AlCzervik]

8. is it vellum? Where the hell do you shop?

i bought tp yesterday, 6 frigging enormous roll of Charmin for $7.00. Biggest non commercial sized rolls of tp i've ever seen.

[angstlessk]

9. I consider all paper products as simply 'pre garbage' products and

purchase only the cheapest always! the toilet paper we now purchase disolves in water...if your hands are wet then dispensing the paper..it comes apart...the BEST is the cheapest! Who wants toilet paper to survive after its initial use?

[kestrel91316]

11. kestrel's solution if the problem gets much worse: flannel wipies.

http://www.grizzlybird.net/2006/05/natural-homemade-diaper-wipes.html

I see no reason why non-babies couldn't use these handy little washables. For advanced, highly committed environmentalists.

Oh, and I do most of my cleaning around the house with CLOTH cleaning cloths, not paper towels. It's environmentalism 101.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

13. Instead of paper towels I bought a pack of shop towels from the hardware store

Thirty hemmed cotton towels for ten bucks. Put them in a diluted solution of ammonia and vinegar with a little borax thrown in...wipe down counters, appliances and whatever...toss them on the floor and push them around with a swiffer-type mop that I can't afford pads for anymore...throw them in the wash.

[BattyDem]

16. That's a great idea!

Thanks for the tip! :hi:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

22. One of my favorite sites:

www.thriftyfun.com

Use search to find all kinds of tips. Wanna see a list of uses for old dryer sheets? I tell ya, I'm scintillating in my old age. ;)

I have found a lot of cheap and safe homemade cleaning solutions online. Just don't ever mix ammonia and bleach, and you're good to go.
:hi:

[BattyDem]

42. My mother is going to LOVE this site, LOL!

I like it lot, too. :-) Thanks for the link! :hi:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

12. I can't shop that way anymore

I mean, I can't go to a store and just buy what I need.

I go online. I look at the store's site for their sales circular. I plan meals around the sales. I make a list of the sale items I can use. I take the list to the store and try not to buy anything that's not on the list unless it's an unadvertised sale.

It's a lot of time and effort just to save money. And I'm still paying 30% more than two years ago.

[BattyDem]

15. Yeah .. all groceries are getting more expensive

We've been trying to cut down on "extras" that we don't really need, we look for sales and coupons, we buy what we can at Costco and we don't waste food (we either eat or freeze leftovers) ... but our grocery bills are ridiculous!

[mentalsolstice]

14. Well, Larry Craig *was* picking it up from the bathroom floor eom

[Toucano]

19. LOL! With his palm turned up, no less!

You're too much! :-)

[Buns_of_Fire]

17. Sheeezzz... The solution is quite simple: STOP GOING TO THE BATHROOM!!!

Or stop wiping, your choice. Or start rinsing the TP off and reusing it. Or buy a bidet. Or use a handful of sand. Or just scoot around on the carpet like Fido does when he's got worms.

To paraphrase an old Buick ad: "This isn't your grandfather's bowel movement anymore!"

On edit: Or was that an Oldsmobile? Or was that my father? No matter, I suppose: I didn't dare crap in either of them...

[spinbaby]

18. The brand we like to buy...

...has gone from $4.99 to $6.99 in less than two years.

[AtomicKitten]

20. Food is so expensive -- less food, less, well, you know.

[NMMNG]

21. I've worked in retail

Whenever the TP would go on sale I'd cringe, knowing full well people would come in droves looking for it. It would typically sell out within the first day.

Now I'm among the droves. It's obscene what that stuff costs.

[Reciprocity]

23. Did you know?

What did people use before toilet paper was invented? <<

*Newsprint, paper catalogue pages in early US

*Hayballs, Scraper/gompf stick kept in container by the privy in the Middle Ages

*Discarded sheep's wool in the Viking Age, England

*Frayed end of an old anchor cable was used by sailing crews from Spain and Portugal *Medieval Europe- Straw, hay,
grass, gompf stick

*Corn cobs, Sears Roebuck catalog, mussel shell, newspaper, leaves, sand- United States

*Water and your left hand, India

*Pages from a book, British Lords

*Coconut shells in early Hawaii

*Lace was used by French Royalty

*Public Restrooms in Ancient Rome- A sponge soaked in salt water, on the end of a stick

*The Wealthy in Ancient Rome-Wool and Rosewater

*French Royalty-lace, hemp

*Hemp & wool were used by the elite citizens of the world

*Defecating in the river was very common internationally

*Bidet, France

*Snow and Tundra Moss were used by early Eskimos

[slackmaster]

27. $15.99 for 36 rolls at Costco

Buy in quantity!

[grasswire]

28. maybe those are "double" rolls

a twelve pack of good quality double rolls costs me $8 on sale, $12 regular price.

[guitar man]

29. maybe this would be cheaper??

that's certainly all it's fit for....

[JFN1]

33. LOL!!!

Oh, that's too funny! Maybe that's what Repubs do with all the Coulter, Rush, and Hannity books they buy - and maybe that's why they're always in such a bad mood! :rofl:

[AnneD]

40. Thank God for Half Price Books...

we can wipe our Dem Arses with the likes of Coulter, Cheney, et al for less than toilet paper.

[wiggs]

31. True rate of inflation and the M3 measurement is hidden from us. Costs for almost

everything are way up, IMO.

[Yavin4]

34. You Are Correct!!! With Another Rate Cut On The Way

Prices will climb even higher.

[bobbolink]

32. Go one step further, and imagine being poor, fixed income, and trying to stay clean.

"IT doesn't cost anything to be clean".

Yeah, right.

[GliderGuider]

36. look for 100% recycled content

Greenpeace is raising awareness about using NEW TREES :wtf: to wipe our arses with.
http://kleercut.net/en/

Kimberly-Clark: Part of the "Chain of Destruction"

A new Greenpeace report reveals that American, Canadian and European corporations are fueling the destruction of the Boreal Forest. The report is a powerful reminder of the damage wrought by Kimberly-Clark’s unsustainable appetite for Boreal wood – and the importance of acting now to change it.

Edit to add:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7pvq6UTlk
This is a link to a video of a Kleercut protest at the University of Chicago almost a year ago.

[shenmue]

38. I loves me some dollar store!

:D

Toilet paper is a gift from G*d. :patriot:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

39. When You Think Of All The Value One Gets Out Of A Roll Of Toilet Paper, I'd Say A Buck A Roll Is

quite worth it.

Comparatively, 12.99 for a 12 pack is a bit steep, but I can't think of anyone that if they ran out of toilet paper and needed some wouldn't pay someone a buck for a roll if someone offered.

I have no problem with the concept of profit though, except when to disgusting degrees like the oil companies. What kind of toilet paper was it by the way?