What items do you reuse to save money?
By wiccania
@wiccania (3360)
United States
July 31, 2007 1:57pm CST
Is there something that you reuse at home or "recycle" in a unique way to save money? What is it?
I reuse newspaper. I get the Sunday paper delivered (which could be called free since the coupons I get from it basically pay for the paper and then some). When I'm done with it, I shred it into long strips and use it in the litter box instead of cat litter. The cats don't seem to mind and it saves me about $10 a month. 1 Sunday paper lasts a week (and I have 2 cats using that box).
4 people like this
21 responses
@ifinallyfoundmybaby (1742)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
in our family we also hand down clothes the luckiest person would be the biggest :P and thats me some of my clothes are then shared by my sister too bad for my brother but anyways he still has new clothes
1 person likes this
@proudofmykids (73)
• United States
27 Dec 07
I am all about using reusing any type of paper I get no matter what is.
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
31 Jul 07
We recycle our pop cans and take them in for money to use to buy more with. I reuse all sorts of paper as I can always find a use for it.
That is a good idea for the cats. I don't have cats but I like the idea.
3 people like this
@ifinallyfoundmybaby (1742)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
we also do that too recycling the pop cans and take them in for money :) here my brother mashes them up before mashing them up he puts in nails and rocks to add to the wait of the can to try and cheat the buyer on thinking its really2x heavy
2 people like this
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
1 Aug 07
i recycle few things to save money such as plastic bags, glass bottles from jam/spread and food container... i use plastic bags as a garbage bag so that i don't have to buy... i use glass bottles as jars to put many things that i need to keep so i don't need to buy jars... i use the food containers from restaurant to keep my meat and frost them in the freezer...
1 person likes this
@megs85 (3142)
• Australia
1 Aug 07
I don't know how unique my ideas are ;) but there are a few things that I reuse to cut costs. A few examples are:
~ newspapers: use them to clean windows and mirrors, I also keep a stack of them for use as packing material and for art projects.
~ plastic grocery bags: when I don't use a cloth bag for my shopping I use plastic bags for a number of things. A bin for the kitchen (hang it on the pantry door), nappy bags (so much cheaper than buying those little scented ones and a few drops of essential oil mean I can hang it on his changetable and change it and the end of the day- would recommend taking dirt nappies straight out to the bin though =D )
~ soft drink bottles: I make shakers out of them with some coloured rice, which my son loves. Or put some coloured water in there (glitter is optional). I also use them in the garden- cut the top off and take the lid off, so it's like a funnel, put the narrow end into a pot plant and fill with water and the water goes in slower. The bottom bit can be used for raising seedlings.
~ formula cans: ashtrays, pencil tins, storage for nails/ and other odds and ends, storage for flour/etc, also use them as change tins/money boxes.
Okay I'm going to stop there, thats just a handful of the things I reuse.
@megs85 (3142)
• Australia
1 Aug 07
Thought of a couple more lol...
Empty baby food jars are great to use at christmas time with lollies or jam, and a bit of material and ribbon around the top. I also personally use them as paint storage jars when I mix up my own colours. Also good for storing small items like safety pins, pins, bobby pins, etc.
Ice cream containers when empty I use to store baby food that I make up in ice block trays. I then empty put the trays into the ice cream container and label it with what it is and a date. These also make great pet water bowls... and a zillion n 1 other things lol.
Ummm, what else do I do? LOL... I sound so cheapskate, but it gives me money to use on other things...
Plastic bags that fresh fruit and vegies come in are great nappy bags.
Bread bags make great nappy bags.
There's just so many...
1 person likes this
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
31 Jul 07
I love figuring out new ways to use things that would otherwise go in the garbage. My big ones are primarily reusing the backs of blank sheets of paper and envelopes, both of which make great scrap paper.
I also reuse paper towel or toilet paper tubes (the cardboard center part), by rolling up my knee high or thigh high tights and putting one pair in each tube. I can mark on the outside which one is in there, and it always keeps the pair together.
Finally, I reuse old pill bottles (rinsed out, and with the label removed) to hold things like Q-tips or pens. If I keep the lid, too, I can use them to store smaller things like paper clips or thumbtacks.
@MelodyRhapsodical (1248)
• United States
31 Jul 07
I reuse envelopes. I open them with a letter opener so it stays intact, then I place white labels over the written parts and the stamp parts, and use them again. I rarely buy envelopes. I also use the brown paper bags I get from the supermarket as book covers, it's sooo durable! And it's fun if you have kids, to have them decorate it. The plastic bags I use for trash bins. The empty containers from things like cream cheese or mayo I use for anything I might need - a sauce I made or for candy or paperclips/pencils if you have an office, or beads and pins and such if you're into crafts. I reuse everything! Does that scream cheapo or what? LOL.
1 person likes this
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
31 Jul 07
Not cheap, frugal.
I have a dozen candles that I made out of empty pickle and olive jars. I plan on making more to give as holiday gifts this year. Since I'm using what was in the jars, and the wax and supplies don't cost much. It's definitely cheaper than buying them.
I like the idea of using the empty containers from cream cheese and such for craft supplies. Right now I've got half a dozen of my tupperware containers full of that stuff. I'm gonna switch them as soon as I have some empty containers.
1 person likes this
@adidas7878 (1891)
• United States
9 Sep 07
well you can use the news paper to clean window too, works great, ever see the movie big daddy, you can use the paper for anything lol.
@eden32 (3973)
• United States
31 Jul 07
I reuse our newspapers to line my parrots' cages. I reuse the grocery store bags both at the grocery store (some places take a few cents off your order for using your own bags) and for the trash baskets in the house.All plastic containers and glass jars with covers get reused to hold leftovers or whatever. And I've made my own cloth diapers & covers out of recycled clothing.
1 person likes this
@smartmom (826)
• United States
6 Aug 07
I can tell that a lot of mylotters are just as thrifty as I am, and I do a lot of the stuff that has already been mentioned. In our house we also reuse plastic bags for nappy bags, garbage bags in the bathroom, and for lots of other stuff.
I also use the envelopes, and any other white surface paper to write my grocery lists on, and then I put the coupons I will use in a particular store inside the envelope. I do have two filled coupon sorters, but I usually go to three different stores (Winn Dixie, Publix, and CVS or Walgreens) on my weekly shopping trip, as they are located very close by. Having the coupons inside the envelope for each store, makes my system much better.
We also reuse or 1 gallon water bottles, as we refill them at the convenience store. We figure it is all "tap water" that they are selling anyway, it taste the same as the expensive water in the store, and one thing is for sure it is a lot better than the tap water we have at home.
@jolenegreen (1209)
• United States
1 Aug 07
Hmmmmm.....
Plastic milk jugs I cut the tops off and use for funnels. I also use them to empty my grease from my deep fryer into. Actually I use theese for alot of things. LOL. Watering my plants, I mix up miricle grow and store this in them. We use them for alot of things.
Jelly Jars(small ones) I cleaned them and ripped the label off and use them in my betheroom for cotton balls, qtips ect. It looks really nice believe it or not.
Oranges- I use the peels to freshen my garbage disposal
Mesh onion bags- Add leftover pieces of soap and make a scrubber
Coffee cans-My grandfather uses theese to put his needles in after doin his insulin and I also use theese to hold leftover flour, suger ect at xmas time
This is all I could think of. ope it helps
1 person likes this
@prehistoricyall (112)
• United States
12 Aug 07
i reuse everythign I can from plastic bags, fabrics, containers, boxes, whatever you can think of. I use fabrics to make cloth pads and use containers until they literally fall apart. Its something I've been doing for awhile before the 'craze'.
@ckw622 (57)
• Malaysia
6 Sep 07
I reuse plastic bags as a gabbage bags because in my country you will get a lot of plastic bags when you purchase something. So at the end i don't need to buy any black gabbage bags and a bit of money. Old newspapers usually we sell them to some collector who will then sell them to paper recycler manufacturer.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
2 Aug 07
We reuse as much stuff as can be. We use the plastic grocery bags as garbage bags, and we wash out and reuse plastic sandwich bags too. Although now we have those plastic sandwich boxes, which are a bit sturdier and easier to reuse, too.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
4 Aug 07
I wash out my zip lock bags and reuse them. I use the plastic garbage bags as trash can bags, that is those I do not return to the store. We don't get the paper anymore. I use the glass jars we get our spaghetti sauce in as well as the large and small peanut butter jars to store dried pasta, rice, specialty flours, and sugar. We refill the large wide bottom ketchup containers as well.
@senthil2k (1500)
• India
1 Aug 07
Water bottles, Cans and bottles that comes with the other food stuffs , are some of the things we reuse in our home to save money.
Also we use the things more carefully, so that they last longer, which again save the money too.!
@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
1 Aug 07
I am lucky that here most everything is recyclable. Plastic, paper, cans etc and composting so very little gets in the actual trash.
But I reuse shopping bags for liners in trash or to carry things in. Ice cream containers to hold small toys, makeup, berries I pick and freeze, and lots of other uses. I don't buy the newspaper but once a we we get flyers and use them for wrapping paper and the kids decorate it up. Parcel boxes get reused for sending out stuff, playhouse for toys, crafts, projects etc.
One thing I do is that I make my own cakes and baked goods to bring to the school for birthdays and stuff and I don't want to bring anything back home so I make a carrying tray out of cereal boxes and foil them up and put some stickers on them. Looks fancy like a store but it is homemade. HEHE