used clothes 800 a year but just how far is she willing to go a used pink bra for 150 i probably would i have bought bathing suits at thrift stores weber said im not a squeamish person to begin with what could possibly be wrong with it i wash everything in hot water when she washes her finds from the thrift store weber uses her homemade laundry detergent this is all stuff you can get at any grocery store basically the ingredients are one cup of borax and one cup of this super washing soda she said adding in one bar of grated ivory soap she says her homemade supplies will last her years laundry savings 15 a year but weber said her homemade supplies will last her years the more things you can make yourself the more money you can save she said whether its anything from bread to clothes to birthday cards shes also mastered the art of making something out of nothing her apartment is furnished with other peoples trash discarded furniture shes found on the street this is one of my favorite pieces in the apartment weber said pointing to a 70sstyle case i dont know what its original use was but i found it in the trash outside my building its actually the perfect size for all my records and magazines were just very prone to toss things out without thinking too much about the long term consequences weber said i think the figure is something like 500 billion pounds of trash gets thrown out by americans every year frugal no matter your income weber says cheap is chic again at least for now people are rediscovering some frugal skills she said and asking whether or not its good to be living in debt whether this lasts i think is another question history is full of periods when weve triumphed or championed frugality as a virtue and then as soon as soon as the crisis passes their appetites go up a notch or two higher than before but billionaires like investor warren buffet have remained frugal through cycle after cycle buffet has lived in the same nebraska home he bought in 1958 for 31000 ikea founder ingvar kamprad drives a 15yearold volvo and flies coach and according to forbes david cheriton of google reuses tea bags and cuts his own hair amenities that many consider standard dont even cross webers mind like cable tv something she says shes never had and never will as for luxury beauty treatments like botox weber says others should embrace aging gracefully its a lot cheaper so opposed to waste shes adopted some elements of the freegan lifestyle those who dumpster dive for food our mission was to find endofday bagels just put out with the trash theres actually a technique to this you dont want to just stick your hands into any bag you kind of feel around for the feel of a