Don't Meet Frugality With Hostility

And now for the winning penny pinchers of the year:

· Honorable mention, Ed LaClare of South Riding, Va. LaClare won for surviving his penny pincher endeavor. He nearly choked trying to suck out the last drop of toothpaste. No amount of water would dislodge the glob of paste. "I went to bed with toothpaste still in the back of my throat," he said. "It was not until midway through the next day that my throat felt free of toothpaste." LaClare wins $25, which I hope he'll use to buy a big supply of toothpaste.

· Third place, Phyllis Robbins of Framingham, Mass. She redefines "wash and wear." "I wash my underwear and jeans by throwing them into the shower. This is a real money-saver and time saver." Robbins wins $50.

· Second place, Gayle Tweeton Parsons of Springfield, Va., who nominated her former manager at the Internal Revenue Service, now retired. "My manager had a reputation for being frugal, which I admired, being frugal myself. But this time, he outdid himself," said Parsons, who is also retired. "His daughter had helped decorate a school homecoming float, inserting thousands of paper towels in the wire to create a beautiful float. After the parade, my manager had the kids park the float in his driveway, where he meticulously removed all the paper towels from the float, folded them neatly and stacked them in his basement to serve as his lifetime supply of paper towels. Clever, cheap, environmentally friendly, all rolled into one." Parsons and her former manager each win $75.

· Finally, first place goes to Dale Stewart of Kihei, Hawaii. Stewart traveled a great distance to save money. During a visit to Washington, D.C., one of her sons had a drink in a container that had "HI 5" printed on it, the five-cent redemption stamp for cans and bottles in Hawaii.

"There we were in D.C. with a bottle worth 5 cents in Hawaii, but zero in Washington," she wrote.

Stewart did what any penny pincher would do. "I washed it out and packed it in our suitcase," she said.

Since January, when the bottle recycling law went into effect in Hawaii, Stewart has redeemed about $70 worth of cans and bottles. And all the money has been donated to charity.

Stewart wins $100 for her frugal efforts to save money and to share her wealth with others.

Thanks to all who entered this year's contest. There were so many stories worth mentioning. So many and so good, in fact, that I'll be occasionally posting penny-pinching entries in my weekly online newsletter, which can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ .

· On the air: Michelle Singletary will discuss personal finance at 6:40 p.m. tomorrow on "Insight" with Yakenda McGahee on WHUR, 96.3 FM.

· By mail: Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

· By e-mail:singletarym@washpost.com.

Please note that comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.