I don't see the point of this, this person must be frugal-obsessed. There is a difference between being frugal or thrifty and just plain CHEAP! There is nothing wrong with keeping the packets in the fridge for later use but this is just insane because as others have mentioned you can buy a huge bottle of ketchup for about a dollar at most any store around here. If you are so concerned about ketchup use why not just teach your kids to only take what they will eat and to not waste it by not leaving any leftover on the plate?

@HungryGrrl:
The *one time* I don't click over. ;) Lesson learned.

Um...you want to save money? Buy less of what you don't need and work harder at making money.

Any other advice is probably crap.

The same people who think they are saving money by hoarding ketchup packets are the same people who think they are going to permanently lose weight by going on a fad diet.

@Troy F.: Hoarding is pretty much obsessive/compulsive behavior, regardless of whether you keep all the newspapers you get because you'll "get to them later" or when keep all the fast food condiments you receive because "you'll never know when you need them".

This could also be an indication of a mental health problem.

On the other hand, if you're stopping at a drive-thru anyway and you keep any leftover sauce packets in the fridge instead of tossing them, that's ok as long as you don't squeeze them all into a ketchup bottle... how strange.

This woman has way too much time on her hands!

As for the frugality of going to fastfood, if you have kids, taking them to McD's for a $1 double cheeseburger and $1 box of chicken nuggets is a lot better bargain than the cost of the years of psychotherapy you will both need to go through from arguing with them over whether or not you should go.

WTF would someone do that with a funnel and empty bottle for, to save like 50 cents. Because you know shes not emptying 48 oz of ketchup.

GOOD LORD, just shoot people like this.

I usually grab a handful of packets too, but not ketchup. Arby's secret sauce, soy sauce, McD's buffalo, McD's honey mustard, TocoBell hot sauce, things like that.

But to open each packet, to funnel them into an empty bottle, that's just sad… Reminds me of the worlds cheapest man, from Ripley's Believe It or Not, who would buy two-ply and re-roll his tp into two rolls. What a waste of time and effort.

@miborovsky: It's made worse when you misread it as "went for".

Um, I think the original article was meant to sort of poke fun at the idea? It seems like more of a meditation exercise than an actual attempt at frugality.

I've been unemployed for a year, and I've gotten a lot done that I wouldn't have if my time was worth anything.

Yeah, why not give the kids the packets?

Or she could have spent that hour working and made 5 or 6 times what that ketchup was worth.

Way to prioritize.

Erm, labor-intensiveness of this procedure aside, I read somewhere that ketchup and other sauce packets (salsa?) aren't designed to keep for very long unrefrigerated. You might be taking a risk eating packets of stuff that have been in a drawer for a long period of time...even if they are preservative-laden.