Am I extreme enough for Extreme Cheapskates?

Thursday night was a normal night for us until I checked my email.  Tom was giving Robert a bath and I was enjoying a little bit of down time checking email on my phone.  I get a lot of junk mail and I almost deleted one with the subject line:  TLC CASTING CALL

I was in shock as a read an invitation from the casting director of TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates to contact her about being on the show.

I couldn’t figure out if I was excited or offended.  If you’ve ever seen the show you know that most of the people on there are bat shit crazy, or at least they are portrayed that way.  Who knows how much of it is real and how much of it is reality TV show stunts for ratings.

Anyway, it really got me thinking- am I extreme enough for Extreme Cheapskates?

Do people think I’m bat shit crazy?

I had to fill out a questionnaire and send it back to the casting director.  One of the questions was about how my friends and family react to my being a cheapskate.  Ummmm…. I think most everyone reacts pretty well.  No one has ever told me I’m crazy for doing the things I do.  But then I got to thinking some more.  Maybe I’m so crazy that people think I know I’m crazy and they don’t think they need to tell me.  Am I having A Beautiful Mind moment?  Remember that movie where Russell Crowe was crazy and didn’t know it?  Am I like Russell Crowe in this situation?  Please tell me someone would let me know if I was indeed crazy.

The questionnaire asked me to list how I “stay cheap in my everyday life”.  Here is what I put:

1. Most of our food products are fruits and veggies instead of pre-packaged snacks.  I’ve found that it is cheaper for us to make things from scratch instead of buying pre-made items such as hummus and other snacks.
2. We only eat meat 1-2 times a week because veggies, tofu, beans and mushrooms are much cheaper.
3. I make all of my son’s baby and toddler meals instead of buying prepackaged ones.
4. We rarely use paper towels for clean up.  Most messes are picked up with cloth and we use cloth napkins for meals.  I use a washcloth for makeup removal and toner application instead of using cotton balls.
5. My son is cloth diapered and we use cloth wipes as well.
6. The majority of our clothes come from consignment and thrift stores.
7. I make most of our baby and beauty products such as diaper rash cream, baby oil, hair spray, body oil, body scrub, face masks, and face scrubs.
8. I give used gifts for birthdays such as books in good condition that I pick up at thrift stores.
9. We don’t use many plastic baggies or wrap for leftovers, instead we use reusable plastic or glass containers.  We use reusable bags for sandwiches and snacks out of the house.
10. We downsized from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom condo in order to save money on everything from our mortgage to our utilities.

What do you think?  Do these things make me crazy?  Can you think of other “crazy” things I do that I forgot? 

And please, please, please someone let me know if I’m having a Russell Crowe moment.