Mum divides opinion after admitting her family shares bath water

A woman has divided the internet after revealing she shares bath water with her family. See for yourself in the video below:

Despite the mixed reactions, Melody Rose Gravitt isn’t ashamed about her hack for saving money.

The mum, who calls herself a ‘hillbilly cheapskate’ and her family of four took part in the TLC series Extreme Cheapskates, which always manages to raise eyebrows, in 2013.

In one scene from the episode, Melody’s son can be seen taking a bath. Once he is finished, her husband Ron jumps straight in and pours handfuls of water over his head and face.

She then delves into more detail about how the entire family bathe in the same tub of cold water each day.

"My family and I are so cheap that we share one tub of water a day. We don't have cooties, we're never that dirty, so it just makes sense to share water." she said.

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“My wife is always working at trying to save money and shrink our budget,” Ron explains.

Usually Ron will go first, followed by Melody and then their two sons.

"It saves us a lot of money," Melody says, before explaining that she believes the family of four would use a hundred gallons of water each day if they didn’t recycle their bath water.

Brandon, however, admits that he sometimes wishes he could take his ‘own shower here and there’.

“Can’t really do much because my parents like to save water.”

Melody’s money-saving hacks don’t end with reusing bath water, however, as she also rations the family’s shampoo and body wash, pouring a tiny amount in a cup for the family to use for that month.

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“If we run out, everybody’s out of luck so everybody’s really good about rationing.”

She manages to keep bottles of shampoo for over six months thanks to her rationing.

And instead of buying toilet paper, the family use free newspapers.

“I’ve had people say ‘here let me buy you a roll of toilet paper’." Melody Rose said. "It’s not that I can’t buy a roll of toilet paper, I don’t need to, we don’t need it.”

The family get by spending only $1,000 (£823.35) each month.

And people were left divided in the comments, with one person writing: “Sharing a bed is one thing but the bath water WTF!! Absolutely disgusting. I feel she rules the roost and the husband just goes along with it.”

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While another commenter joked: “I wonder how quickly the bath water rules would change if her and her husband were to move to the end of the bath line.”

Someone else wrote: “Here's a healthy medium between extreme cheap and extreme wasteful.”

However, one viewer shared: “In Japan the family shares the same water in the tub but they shower before soaking."

A second person wrote: "Back on the farm, my mother's family actually did this, they didn't have indoor plumbing, they had to haul water in from the well, heat it on the stove, and fill the metal wash tub. Mother told me about that."

And another person called Melody’s money-saving methods 'resourceful'.

“I might not have the same lifestyle as them but I think the mom is so resourceful and overall a kind person,” they said. “I literally love her.”