Are you saving money by reusing "disposable" items?

[Retired To Win]

I just noticed that one of our kitchen cabinets is full of plastic containers that we have repurposed from having been deli containers to now doing great duty as storage for food leftovers.  I looked around some more and found loads of other stuff like that: plastic grocery bags we repurpose as garbage bags... big chicken feed bags now used as recycling bags... sliced cheese reclosable bags now storing cut veggies... plastic kitty litter tubs with handles now used as water buckets and cleaning pails... and on and on.

I've never thought about it much, but we must be saving some bucks here and there not having to buy quite a few household items thanks to this repurposing.

How about you?

[RelaxedGal]

Doesn't save me money, but makes me feel better: I take my disposable spoons/forks/knives home from the office, run them through the dishwasher, and keep them at my desk for re-use.  I could bring in metal cutlery but I like that I can just throw one away if it's too cheesy/oily/whatnot to take home to wash.  This way I feel less guilty about using disposables.

[iknowiyam]

I repurpose all plastic cups or tubs (yogurt, sour cream, etc.) and some egg cartons to start seedlings indoors in the Spring.

[prudence]

I re-purpose as much as possible, so my cabinets are full of plastic containers and jars from grocery store and the occasional take out container.

[weseh]

I try not to buy much stuff in containers, but, when I do, I keep the containers. They are great for organizing kids' toys or office stuff.

I have been using the same few containers of "disposable" Gladware for the past 4 years though!

As for reducing trash, we don't throw out much food. We take all veg and meat scraps and make stock.

Plastic bags, of course, are used for trash or to hold the kids' wet clothes.

[GuitarStv]

Yeah, I always try to find a use for junk that we produce or that I find.




Weight bench:
 - Top is a piece of an old slab door that was damaged and someone was throwing out
- Most of the supports were built out of leftover lumber scraps from finishing my basement

Squat stands:
- Disposable buckets that I found while walking the dog on trash day morning



May not be purty, but they work very well.

[CheapskateWife]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

[2ndTimer]

Yup.  The Hub takes his lunch to work in a washed plastic vegetable bag.  I own no official "freezer" boxes.  It's all yogurt containers and peanut butter jars.  My dish clothe used to be a polo shirt.  My hankies are made out of an old flannel pillow case.

[The Pigeon]

I haven't purchased garbage bags in two decades.  Like Retired To Win, I use them as garbage bags. However, California passed a law that bans plastic shopping bags,  and that's making my "garbage bags" harder to find. Now I have to raid the grocery store's bag recycle collection box to score my garbage bags.  And eventually that source will run dry as well, and I guess I'll be forced to actually *purchase* garbage bags. :-/

[forummm]

I reuse stuff a lot. I don't go as far as washing ziploc bags. But I do reuse them until they get to be a health hazard. But I also almost never use one of them.

I have socks from maybe 20 years ago that don't have any elastic left in them, but they stay on my feet while hanging around the house so I still wear them. They fall off if I try to walk with shoes on though.

I reuse all old water bottles. Just refill them. I take empty water bottles in my backpack whenever going to an airport--just fill them from the fountain after going through security.

I don't really buy much of anything except energy and food. And I don't waste almost anything from there.

[ShaneD]

Yep, both a small money savings and a desire to reduce and reuse.

I also re-use zip-top bags (including commercial product bags with a zip-top), use grocery bags for garbage, re-use water bottles. (I keep a few extras in the cabinet. Cheaper than replacing expensive ones when they get lost, and helpful when we have guests and go on outtings.) I don't use a lot of pre-used plastic containers (we have a ton of bought ones already), but do re-use glass jars. (Love the Classico mason jars.). We've got a couple of old pickle tubs that hold cleaning supplies. (No idea where they came from.) Cardboard beer boxes on closet shelves. Egg cartons for soundproofing (husband does some voice work).

[mm1970]

I suck at google, but I saw a funny meme on facebook about someone who couldn't find the butter (margarine) in their parents' fridge because they were using the containers for leftovers.

[Arktinkerer]

To me the ultimate reuse of disposable items is the garden!  Cut ends of celery, carrots, cabbage, etc are stuck in the ground and watered.  Most of them sprout and eventually restock our supplies.  If they fail, no big deal--they were destined for the compost bin anyway!

[crazycatlady]

I am definitely a minimalist and try to avoid disposable items as much as possible.  That said, I will reuse any bag I can get my hands on - bread bags, cereal liner bags, etc. for scooping cat boxes.  At least it will have one more use before it ends up in the landfill.  I like to reuse glass jars for storing spices and grains that I buy in bulk.  I will cut up worn out clothes to use for polishing shoes.

[EllieStan]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

+1.

I try to reuse whenever I can, but according to my current needs. I like my home (and cabinets) to be uncluttered.I mostly keep big yogurt containers to freeze batches of soup, spaghetti sauce and stew.

[justajane]

I suck at google, but I saw a funny meme on facebook about someone who couldn't find the butter (margarine) in their parents' fridge because they were using the containers for leftovers.

[Potterquilter]

I save any sewing supplies like empty spools of thread, buttons from when I repurpose clothes, shoelaces etc.  I have them all in an old cookie tin someone gave us for Christmas one year. The grandkids love to string them together and generally play with them.  Other people save their spools and buttons as well now so it is fun to see the stash grow.

We do not buy paper towels or cleaning rags. DH had to wear white cotton shirts when he worked. They actually gave him six a year. On retirement day we had a rag making ceremony tearing up his work shirts. The half dozen last ones he never wore so he is stocked for white shirts forever.

I have a quilting friend who takes all of our scraps of fabric and batting that would otherwise go in the trash. and makes dog beds for the local shelters. We all also save towels for them.

[Dicey]

Yup, I wash those zip bags and hang them to dry on garage-saled baby bottle drying racks. It's as good for the environment as it is for my wallet. It doesn't save that much, but it's part of a chain. I use them for my husband's lunch, which is cheaper and healthier than eating fast food and so on. Washing the bags is also steady reminder that the little things matter and that frugality is what allows me to be (and remain) FIRE.

[GodlessCommie]

The only disposable item we don't reuse is toilet paper.

[Shinplaster]

2 liter ice cream containers (sorry, Canadian) are great for cookies in the freezer.   They're getting harder and harder to find though.  Chapman's is the only one that still has them I think.   I tell all our family and friends to buy Chapman's ice cream, and then give me the containers.  At Christmas time, everyone gets a tub of cookies for their freezers.

We get flyers in narrow plastic bags.   Those are great for putting shoes in when we're travelling.   I must have a couple of hundred of those stashed in our travel bin.   Which is an old Slow K (potassium supplement) bin.   Hubby used to bring those home every couple of months from work, and we used them for lego, action figures, workshop stuff, etc.

My son thinks I'm nuts, but I have a drawer in the kitchen that is full of washed bread bags and ziploc bags.

[Retired To Win]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

I'll only wash and reuse the non-greasy ones.  If the bag has held chicken or meat, I rinse it and trash it.

[ShaneD]

A couple more items I noticed this morning in my kitchen (so used to it that it doesn't quickly occur):

* DVD/CD cake box lids (i.e., the clear lids from these things): perfect size for storing round plastic container lids and coffee can lids.

* Coffee can lids: multipurpose, but most often used as spoon rests and mini-chopping boards/plates while prepping vegetables that are so small or few that it's annoying to dirty a whole cutting board or plate for it (e.g., half a pepper, a clove of garlic). Easy to fit in unused spaces in the dishwasher racks, too.

[forummm]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

I'll only wash and reuse the non-greasy ones.  If the bag has held chicken or meat, I rinse it and trash it.

Why rinse it before trashing?

[starbuck]

I save any sewing supplies like empty spools of thread, buttons from when I repurpose clothes, shoelaces etc.  I have them all in an old cookie tin someone gave us for Christmas one year. The grandkids love to string them together and generally play with them.  Other people save their spools and buttons as well now so it is fun to see the stash grow.

You just gave me a great idea for a new Christmas tree garland! I inherited a great vintage thread collection, and as I've been using up the thread, I've been left with these great wooden spools that seemed silly to just toss. The wooden spools plus some wooden beads I've got hanging around will make a great garland to add to the tree this year. (Or just decorate my sewing room in the interim!)

[vern]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

I'll only wash and reuse the non-greasy ones.  If the bag has held chicken or meat, I rinse it and trash it.

Why rinse it before trashing?

So it doesn't smell. 

We have a compost heap and recycle too.  But we always wash anything going into the trash to remove any odor.  We store the garbage bags in the shed and only go to the dump two or three times a year.

Our annual garbage bill $24 dollars at most.

[okits]

Yes to reusing plastic bags and containers. I do worry about the plastic breaking down eventually (yogurt tubs, take-out containers, etc. are pretty flimsy so I'm willing to believe they're not intended to stand up to repeated washings or freezing), so I try not to let them get used too many times before recycling them. 

Hubby saves and reuses glass jars.

I buy the thicker paper towels and get 2-6 uses out of each one (if I'm just washing my hands I'll hang to dry and use it again later.)

[Elderwood17]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

Ha!  I thought we were the only ones! 

[okits]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

Ha!  I thought we were the only ones!

I used to do it with milk bags.  Gave it up when BF (now DH) kind of frowned in it, but now that we are chasing ER maybe I should start back up!

[Retired To Win]

A couple more items I noticed this morning in my kitchen (so used to it that it doesn't quickly occur):

* DVD/CD cake box lids (i.e., the clear lids from these things): perfect size for storing round plastic container lids and coffee can lids.

* Coffee can lids: multipurpose, but most often used as spoon rests and mini-chopping boards/plates while prepping vegetables that are so small or few that it's annoying to dirty a whole cutting board or plate for it (e.g., half a pepper, a clove of garlic). Easy to fit in unused spaces in the dishwasher racks, too.

Me too on lids, particularly the smaller ones.  I use them as coffee, soda and beer cup or glass covers (to keep any pesky bugs out).  Also as adhoc mini plates for nuts, etc.

[Carolina on My Mind]

We regularly wash and reuse ziploc style bags...yes I am that big a Cheapskate :)

Ha!  I thought we were the only ones!

Nope, we wash ziploc bags too!

[Mrs.LC]

We reuse as much as we can in our house and try our best to stay organized so we can find it.  Sour cream type containers are used for painting and seed starting, quart size yogurt containers are refilled with homemade yogurt, peanut butter jars go out in the shop for holding small parts, peanut jars hold homemade laundry detergent (paint the lids to match the laundry room decor), and on and on.  Mr. LC used to bring home plastic Folger's coffee cans with lids from work.  His office would go through a couple cans a week so we have a large collection of them.  They are food grade so work great in the pantry as well around the house, garden, and shop.  They take spray paint well so also work for decorating or crafts.  Wish we had more!

[TheFrugalFox]

2 liter ice cream containers (sorry, Canadian) are great for cookies in the freezer.   They're getting harder and harder to find though.  Chapman's is the only one that still has them I think.   I tell all our family and friends to buy Chapman's ice cream, and then give me the containers.  At Christmas time, everyone gets a tub of cookies for their freezers.

I use these a lot as well, In fact just this week made a shelf unit to hold them in my workshop - 7 in a row, 7 rows - so 49 all up. Sticking labels on with hot glue seems to work. But they also a good size to  use everywhere.

[Sailor Sam]

I recently moved to Seattle, and learned that plastic shopping bags are verboten. Now that I no longer have access, I realized how many things I used those suckers for. Garbage bag, lunch bag, dog duty bag, paint tray liners, general storage.

I send you a heartfelt plea, Seattle. Can't I be trusted to recycle responsibly?

[Miss Prim]

Besides washing and reusing ziplock bags, I also reuse my Food saver bags that I use to freeze vegetables from my garden.  I cut them open just below the seal and then wash and reuse them for smaller items that I want to freeze.  I can get two uses out of one bag.  I think the bags are kind of expensive, so I like the fact that I can use them twice.  My vegetable garden supplies us with a lot of our veggies for the year and what I don't freeze, I can.  Saves a lot of money and tastes so much better!

                                                                                                           Miss Prim

PS.  My daughter loves to tease me and will threaten to throw my ziplock bags away after one use!  She won't reuse them, but I hate waste of any kind!

[JohnnyDollar]

Plastic cafeteria utensils.  Dishwash just like metal ones. 

[ShaneD]

A couple more items I noticed this morning in my kitchen (so used to it that it doesn't quickly occur):

* DVD/CD cake box lids (i.e., the clear lids from these things): perfect size for storing round plastic container lids and coffee can lids.

* Coffee can lids: multipurpose, but most often used as spoon rests and mini-chopping boards/plates while prepping vegetables that are so small or few that it's annoying to dirty a whole cutting board or plate for it (e.g., half a pepper, a clove of garlic). Easy to fit in unused spaces in the dishwasher racks, too.

Me too on lids, particularly the smaller ones.  I use them as coffee, soda and beer cup or glass covers (to keep any pesky bugs out).  Also as adhoc mini plates for nuts, etc.

Yes, exactly. The smaller lids also fortuitously fit on some old glass ramekins we have. Great together for storing tiny stuff in fridge or cabinets.

[ruthiegirl]

I reuse my vacuum bags.  I use tongs and pull out the big stuff and then shake out the dirt.  I can get 3-4 uses out of each bag.  Bags are about a dollar, so this isn't much savings in the long term, but it is one less thing I have to buy. 

I have been known to reuse aluminum foil several times and I wash my bags, but I don't buy Ziplocs.  We like a type of tortilla that comes in a sealable bag and we refuse these many times.  Just when I think the bags are getting gross, a new one comes into the house full of tortillas. 

We eat a lot of homemade popsicles and while the kids tease me, I reuse the popsicle sticks every time.  I wash out straws, too. 

None of this is raking in big $$$, but it puts me in the mood to be vigilant about small budget leaks.  And it shows my children that it is normal to be mindful of what we put in the trash. 

[ruthiegirl]

And this thread makes me think of a Thanksgiving with my Grandmother.   We were cleaning up after dinner and putting away all the leftovers.  While my aunt was putting away food, she wondered what people did before Ziplocs. 

My grandma exploded, "We didn't have leftovers!  We ate everything!  There wasn't enough food!"

Ahhh right, perspective.  I think about that every time I have extra food and need to sort out something to put it in. 

[Dicey]

And this thread makes me think of a Thanksgiving with my Grandmother.   We were cleaning up after dinner and putting away all the leftovers.  While my aunt was putting away food, she wondered what people did before Ziplocs. 

My grandma exploded, "We didn't have leftovers!  We ate everything!  There wasn't enough food!"

Ahhh right, perspective.  I think about that every time I have extra food and need to sort out something to put it in.

Here's a perspective on that perspective: the food shortages she experienced were probably acute for a relatively short portion of her life, even if they seemed endless at the time. Food came in larger quantities before supermarkets became ubiquitous, so safe storage of food has always been an issue. Cloth flour sacks and pickle barrels were two pre-ziploc options that have gone the way of the dodo bird.

[Rural]

And this thread makes me think of a Thanksgiving with my Grandmother.   We were cleaning up after dinner and putting away all the leftovers.  While my aunt was putting away food, she wondered what people did before Ziplocs. 

My grandma exploded, "We didn't have leftovers!  We ate everything!  There wasn't enough food!"

Ahhh right, perspective.  I think about that every time I have extra food and need to sort out something to put it in.

Here's a perspective on that perspective: the food shortages she experienced were probably acute for a relatively short portion of her life, even if they seemed endless at the time. Food came in larger quantities before supermarkets became ubiquitous, so safe storage of food has always been an issue. Cloth flour sacks and pickle barrels were two pre-ziploc options that have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Crocks and brine. Barrels with pork packed in rendered fat (if you've ever wondered what "scraping the bottom of the barrel" means, well, it wasn't pleasant). Root cellars. Boxes of sand. Water glass. Springhouses.

And, yes, hunger, too, sometimes.

[Boganvillia]

I found a sweet little birds' nest on my driveway the other day, and took it into the kids' daycare so the staff could talk about it with the daycare children.

My son wants me to stick the nest back into a tree.

As for recycling consumer items: we launder Chux, and reuse disposable shavers. There was a time when I emptied out vacuum cleaner bags for reuse with chopsticks.

[sneeds]

We wash and reuse Ziploc bags. Not so much because I'm looking to save money but more because I hate the idea of adding more plastic to the landfills.

[Bardo]

I strop disposable razors to extend their life.  One blade is easily good for a month.

[Jeddy]

Yeah, I always try to find a use for junk that we produce or that I find.




Weight bench:
 - Top is a piece of an old slab door that was damaged and someone was throwing out
- Most of the supports were built out of leftover lumber scraps from finishing my basement

Squat stands:
- Disposable buckets that I found while walking the dog on trash day morning



May not be purty, but they work very well.

Incredible!

We stretch out plastic sandwich bags - taking things like crackers, almonds or fruit for lunch, one bag will last us two to three weeks with reuse. Back when I shaved, I'd get 2+ years out of a Gilette Mach 3 disposable razor blade (3x per week use) simply by pushing it down a towel a few times to clean it up/sharpen the blades. I extended that out indefinitely by giving up shaving :D

[Chranstronaut]

My parents have a very hairy dog and use one of these sweepers to get the hair off the furniture:



Now there are online tutorials on how to pull them apart or add access holes, but my mom has always used a mini-crevice tool on her vacuum to get the hair between the rollers.  They work awesome!  It essentially a very small carpet sweeper.

I try to reuse ziplocs for dry snacks and have many "disposable" plastic tupperware containers (love the tiny round ones from KFC, but I never eat there. They're even dishwasher safe!)

I also loved saving plastic yogurt tubs, but SO put the kibosh on that due to a similar incident as Grandma's Butter.  We go through one a week, so I'm plotting a compromise...

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I wash and dry Ziploc bags.

I have a friend who actually washes fold-top sandwich bags. Now THAT'S hardcare.

And I looove me some recycled glass jars. Especially the big Costco jam ones. Mr. FP was teasing me, asking if there would ever be a time when I admitted that I owned enough glass jars.

[horsepoor]

I suck at google, but I saw a funny meme on facebook about someone who couldn't find the butter (margarine) in their parents' fridge because they were using the containers for leftovers.

The cupboard next to our stove is like this, but with Sriracha bottles.  They are brilliant squeeze bottles for vinegar, oil and hot sauce, but woe to the person who tries to cook in my kitchen and figure out the contents of each bottle.  I use them out at the stable for various horse potions, too.  They are better for precise application of medicated oil in a hoof crevice or cut than anything the commercial potions are sold in.

I'm kicking the Yankee Candle habit (at least I always bought them on clearance or at TJMaxx??), but when the jar candles are finished, I melt out the rest of the wax, remove the stickers and use them for storage canisters.  The straight glass ones are perfect for holding spools of ribbon and other bits of craft supplies, and other ones are good for stuff like cotton balls and q-tips in the bathroom.

[piccione88]

Yeah, I always try to find a use for junk that we produce or that I find.




Weight bench:
 - Top is a piece of an old slab door that was damaged and someone was throwing out
- Most of the supports were built out of leftover lumber scraps from finishing my basement

Squat stands:
- Disposable buckets that I found while walking the dog on trash day morning



May not be purty, but they work very well.

 That is really one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And boy do I feel like a jerk for my expensive welder weight set. What kind of wood is the squat rack made of? Has to be pretty sturdy not to splinter. Also how long have you had it, and how much weight have you had on the rack?

[AZDude]

I haven't purchased garbage bags in two decades.  Like Retired To Win, I use them as garbage bags. However, California passed a law that bans plastic shopping bags,  and that's making my "garbage bags" harder to find. Now I have to raid the grocery store's bag recycle collection box to score my garbage bags.  And eventually that source will run dry as well, and I guess I'll be forced to actually *purchase* garbage bags. :-/

Just rinse out the garbage tub once a week, you should be fine. Maybe you use a bag once in a while, but rare.

[GuitarStv]

Yeah, I always try to find a use for junk that we produce or that I find.




Weight bench:
 - Top is a piece of an old slab door that was damaged and someone was throwing out
- Most of the supports were built out of leftover lumber scraps from finishing my basement

Squat stands:
- Disposable buckets that I found while walking the dog on trash day morning



May not be purty, but they work very well.

 That is really one of the coolest things I've ever seen. And boy do I feel like a jerk for my expensive welder weight set. What kind of wood is the squat rack made of? Has to be pretty sturdy not to splinter. Also how long have you had it, and how much weight have you had on the rack?

They're just standard construction 2x4s, so I guess they're spruce?  Dunno if you can see in the pic, but I got a few 2$ galvanized steel fence brackets and screwed them into place as caps over the areas that the bar touches the wood . . . which completely prevents any kind of splintering from the bar.

I built the rack and bench two and a half years back and have been using them 3 or 4 times a week since.  I've loaded the squat rack with a little over 400 lbs just to see how it would behave, and there's no problem at all.  Actually squatting 300 lbs it's pretty steady as long as you're careful not to push the uprights too far forwards when stepping back in.  (The concrete filled base is about 60 lbs each, and the weight of the wood probably adds another 20-30 lbs, so they're not exactly easy to push over.)  The bench is rock solid with a 200 lb guy and 250 on the bar.

I sold my weight bench and uprights on Craigslist after building this one.  The wood bench wobbles less, and the uprights feel more stable.  :P