In my husband’s never ending quest to know everything, he found an interesting link that got me thinking about the things I have “reused” to make more from less, thus saving a few bucks. Reusing items is definitely a great way to save money. Why spend money on something new when you already have it lying around? Before listing some of my own reuse items, lets give credit where it’s due.
In TipNut.com’s list of 20 Things You Can Use Twice Before Tossing you will find some common age old goodies such as:
- Butter wrappers – Use it to grease baking pans.
- Dry cleaning bags – Use to pack suits, dresses and fine clothing
There were a few new ideas that I hadn’t thought of:
- Cereal liner bags: use for stacking meat patties before freezing, store bread crusts, cover food in the microwave.
Not everything in this list seems feasible for one reason or another. For example:
- Plastic Bread Clips: They come in handy to remove labels, price tags, and even do a good job scratching lottery tickets.
I don’t know about this last one. I mean have you ever seen how well glued on some of those labels and price tags are? You would have thought those things were “molecularly bonded in a vacuum chamber” [husband's quote]. There are other things around the house that would be more effective. Not to mention that it isn’t like they are made of of any really substantial material. My children have broken them putting them on or taking them off of a loaf of bread. Can you think of any other use for these things?
Food
After being inspired by this link, I started to think about what I reuse and realized that some things I reuse instinctively. Then it dawned on me. There is the whole thrifty factor when reusing things in cooking as well. But to quote Alton Brown, “That’s another show”. There are so many shortcuts in cooking and so many ways to reuse things, that there is a large potential to save and be thrifty in your own refrigerator. Some of these I have learned from my husband’s grandmother as she grew up in the coal mine regions during the great depression and believe me, they learned how to stretch a dollar.
Stay tuned!
I am going to ask my family what they reuse as well and then follow up with a post on what my family reuses and how. In the meantime, tell me what you reuse or some neat crafty alternative use for a common item that you have come up with. If I get enough of them, I will throw up a dedicated post listing what the community has shared.
I’m from Singapore, and I’m afraid that you are wrong on your judgement of the plastic bread clips. And to prove that, read this.
10 Amazing Uses For Plastic Bread Bag Clips:
1. These make excellent guitar picks. They are easier to hold than store bought ones and stronger.
2. Use as a scraper on non stick pans. They won’t scratch the finish.
3. A bread clip will hold a pair of socks together in the wash.
4. These make excellent bookmarks. Just clip a few pages together.
5. Students, or young girls can paint these and use them as funky earrings
6. Keep rubber bands inside the clip bit of the tags. It stops them getting all over the drawer.
7. Spray paint these silver, gold, or green and use to hang Christmas tree lights
8. If you get paint onto the glass when painting windows, these will scrape it off without scratching
9. Small children like to use these for counting and sorting. (Be careful of choking hazard with very young children. Recommended age: 4 & above).
10. Dry pantyhose, stockings, hose, etc on a thin wire coat hanger. Simply attach them to the hanger with old bread bag clips.
Thanks so much for the ideas! You’re right, these are great re-use ideas for the bread clips. Thanks a lot for stopping by the blog, hope to hear more from you!