Oh, BFS aka Budgeting in the Fun Stuff threw down the gauntlet. She listed plasma donation for pay as one of the EWWWWWW YUK things that were too too frugal. Or, as she put it, "going too far to save money."
Actually, her post came in response to an article from Yahoo Finance. Reading BFS and looking at the original article showed me--yet once more--how value-laden many decisions are.
For instance, I have no opinion one way or the other about dumpster-diving at cemeteries to get flowers. I wouldn't do it, but I don't mind that someone does. I DO think it's awful to refill your condiment jars with the contents of the tiny packets that can be stolen from any fast-food place. Strangely, I'm not upset that the packets are stolen (or are they? how many packets per customer are OK?); I'm upset that the packaging is environmentally wasteful. In my value system, one should use as little of items in wasteful packaging as possible. Besides, I can get a container of ketchup for under $1.00. It would probably take hundreds of tiny packets to fill it up--a lot of wasted energy on the part of the environment and me.
Back to plasma. I must admit that Mr. FS donated plasma several times in grad school. Following the family tradition, Frugal Son found a donation place when he went to college. Two donations a week give him $70. That more than covers his need for spending money. The donations have become annoyingly slow this year, he says. Even so, he is being paid a decent hourly wage. The real EWWWW comes when you learn that the centers sell the plasma for many, many times what they give to the students and "real" poor folks who donate.
SO: BFS vs FS? What's your value system?
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