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The Toilet Paper Chronicles, Part 4

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

You can click to read the original Toilet Paper Chronicles, The Toilet Paper Chronicles Part 2, and The Toilet Paper Chronicles Part 3.

Sometimes I think my life has been defined and can be explained by the prevalence or lack of toilet paper. In previous installments, we have discussed how access to toilet paper is often a function of poverty. Being able to purchase toilet paper in bulk in a privilege. There is a cost savings to buying a package of 20 rolls compared to a package of 4 rolls. 

I am going to take this one step further and think big: imagine a case of 48 rolls. Now, imagine a case of 48 rolls delivered to your home. You don’t even have to go to the store, perform the acts of tetris required to load it in the car, bring it home and then unload it. 

To make this even more exciting, for an ultra-posh, super-rich experience, imagine said box of 48 rolls being delivered to your home on a SCHEDULE. It’s like magic! A case of toilet paper appearing on a regular basis so that you never run out. 

This is the ultimate fairytale luxury. 

Speaking of luxury, another vivid toilet paper memory I have from my childhood comes from my grandparent’s house. As you’ve read in previous installments, I grew up in poverty. We often did not have any toilet paper or would use other items to substitute like paper towels or Kleenex.

However, I remember that my grandparent’s house always had toilet paper. I loved going there. I also vividly remember that my grandmother always had a roll of “super fluffy” toilet paper that was for her use. Grandchildren would get spoken to if we used too much of it. As a child, I never understood the whole super fluffy toilet paper. Why did she need super fluffy? What was the point? 

Now that I am an adult of a certain age, I completely understand why my grandmother had super fluffy toilet paper. When you reach a certain age, fluffy toilet paper becomes something on which you need to splurge. 

The past few years I have been splurging on 12 packs of super fluffy toilet paper. I have noticed over the past 2-3 years or so, that even the super fluffy toilet paper is not so fluffy anymore. Quality of toilet paper across the board is declining. However, I need the super fluffy for a comfort issue.

Recently I heard about bamboo toilet paper. Bamboo is a grass and not a tree. It’s supposed to be more sustainable, as grass grows faster than trees. I heard that bamboo toilet paper is supposed to be soft, but is it “super fluffy” soft? 

Back to this fairytale luxury of having 48 rolls of toilet paper delivered to your house… 

It’s called a toilet paper subscription, and it is a real thing.  

I ordered a box, just to try. I am in love. Yes, I did get the bamboo toilet paper. Unlike all other toilet paper that has declined in quality the past few years, bamboo toilet paper is on par with the high-quality toilet paper I remember. 

In fact, I will say that bamboo toilet paper is even better than “super fluffy” toilet paper. Believe it or not, bamboo toilet paper is SOFTER than super fluffy toilet paper. It is also the strongest toilet paper I have ever encountered. 

Now, I have tried items on subscription before and it is just not for me. For a while, I had shaving razors on subscription. I ended up with way too many razors. I canceled the subscription. I am still using razors I received through the subscription program 2 years later. Other than having our cat food on subscription, there is nothing that I use enough to have on a repeat order.

Enter toilet paper. I now have a toilet paper subscription. Given my personal history with toilet paper, I am thinking this is a subscription that may work for me, we will see if I need to make any adjustments to the frequency or have any issues with it. For now, I have a box of 48 rolls of the best toilet paper I have ever used in my life. 

With all the challenges I have had in life, I can now say I have achieved the ultimate luxury of not only not running out of toilet paper but having amazing bamboo toilet paper on subscription. This is truly hitting the jackpot in my life. 

Have you tried subscription toilet paper? Thoughts? 

Power of One: One Subscription

/ rachelgoes262 / Leave a comment

The cost of living is rising all over the world and many people are adjusting their budgets. The pandemic has seen a rise in the use of subscription services as people seek entertainment options at home instead of going out. 

For me, going out to a movie has always been a treat. I only went to see a movie on the big screen if it was something I really wanted to see. If I had to guess, I would say I saw a movie in the theatre maybe once or twice a year. Often, I wait for movies to come out on DVD and check them out of the local library.

My entire workday is spent sitting at a computer. When I am off work, I do not want to spend my personal time in front of a computer as well. I need a break. I have never gotten into streaming services for this reason. For me to sit at the laptop and watch a movie for 2 hours feels too much like work when I just spent 8 hours at the laptop for my paid employment.

Television was a luxury growing up. We never had cable. We always had bunny ears. The TV set got maybe three or five channels. I grew up on radio. Radio was free. It was everywhere. It was a constant companion. I love music. I always have music playing in my house and in my life when I am not working. 

As an adult, I have never paid for cable TV either. I just don’t have the money for it. I grew up poor and as an adult am working poor. I don’t have money for TV. For years when I was in the apartment, I got 10 channels for free on bunny ears. The TV was nice to turn on for an hour or so when I got home from work at night to watch something funny or brainless before going to sleep.

When I moved to the house, the bunny ears for the TV set do not work. There are too many hills and this is a rural area. We cannot pick up any television signals here. Even the radio signals are limited to just two stations. 

The past few years in the house has left me with using my DVD player with the TV set since I cannot get any channels by antenna. I still do not feel like subscribing to any TV or movie streaming services. I would not use it enough to justify the cost. There are too many things going on in my life as a homeowner with a disability. I don’t have hours a day to watch a streaming service.

However, I do still listen to a lot of music. I can listen to music as I go about the house doing my chores and what needs to be done. Only being able to reception for two radio stations is quite frustrating. I like both of them, but sometimes I just want to change the dial. I do enjoy my CDs.

Last fall, I needed to do something to break up the monotony in my life and wanted to treat myself. I decided to totally splurge and get a subscription service – to radio. I downloaded and subscribed to Sirius XM on my phone.

Sirius is the only subscription service I have. It was one of the best treats I have ever decided to splurge on. I use it every day and it is a constant source of entertainment while still allowing me to do what I need to do in my daily life. 

At first, I subscribed because I wanted to listen to radio without being subjected to all the fake news about COVID I was hearing. By subscribing to satellite radio, I can listen to music with no commercials and no fake news. There are no news breaks. I do not have to hear about how COVID is “over” when I am mourning yet another fully vaccinated friend with no pre-existing condition who just died of COVID.

If I do want to hear news, there are news stations I can listen to so I can hear what Is going on in the world. When I have had enough of the news, I can change the channel back to one that plays music only with no news. Satellite radio allows me more variety and more control over what I hear. When I have had enough of the gloom and doom news, I can choose to just hear music.

Satellite radio is also amazing because I can use it to hear sports. I hear baseball, hockey, and soccer/football games on the radio. I can hear all of the games without the market or blackout restrictions they put on TV sports. Even streaming TV sports has restrictions and the packages are very expensive. By listening to games on the radio, it saves me money. I also have access to international games that are not available with TV packages.

While the news tells of people tightening their budgets and cutting back on streaming services, my life is simple. I have one subscription service. For my lifestyle, subscription radio gives me more enjoyment and more bang for my buck than a subscription movie or TV service would. 

If it happens that I need to decrease my expenses drastically, I would only have one subscription service to cancel. I could go back to the two radio stations that are available here and my CDs. However, I get so much enjoyment from satellite radio that I think the $12 per month cost is worth the service. It is my only subscription and is the biggest splurge in my everyday life.

If you could only have one subscription service in your life, which one would it be? I hear of households that have 4-5 subscription services that are now trying to cut down to save on money each month. Would you be able to cut down to just one? Would you be able to live with no subscription services?

For me, my one subscription service is a luxury. I have never had a cable bill in my name. I’m pretty sure this is the first time in my life I have a monthly bill that is purely for pleasure and not a necessity like the mortgage, electric, phone, etc. For me to cut back my expenses due to the cost of living increase, I would cut my subscription service. Beyond that, I would be cutting necessities like food or utilities. 

As many of us are looking to reduce expenses right now, what can you decrease or cut? What one subscription service would you keep if you cancel the rest? Find your one.