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Tag Archives: Thrifty Tips

Thrifty Tip Thursday – Re-used Plastic-ware

I’m sure a lot of you use today’s thrifty tip, but just in case . . .

The market is flooded with plastic-ware for storing left-overs like this:

The advantages are that they are transparent so you can see what is inside, and that if you like things uniform, you can stack them nicely (as long as you buy all one brand).  The disadvantage is that they do cost money.  The above was part of a box of “Snapware” I purchased at Costco some time ago for about $18.00.  It has been nice, but, like everything else, eventually they break.  My thrifty alternative is to re-use what I have in my refrigerator.  I wash and re-use containers that once held Cool Whip, sour cream, margarine or butter, and yogurt. This morning the kids and I finished off this container of yogurt.

I find you can wash these in the top rack of the dishwasher (I don’t wash anything by hand unless I absolutely have to).  We then use and re-use for left-overs and even freezer jams until broken, then recycle.  They also work very well for bringing meals to people. I like to place food in containers that the recipient of my meal will not have to wash and return.  I know some hyper-organized types may not like the lack of uniformity, but I’m “easy-going”, so as long as my plastic-ware is in one place and stacks neatly, I’m good. And it’s free (sort-of). :-)

On another note, happy anniversary to my honey-man (if he’s reading). Today we celebrate fourteen years of Paul making me laugh!

Thrifty Tip Thursday – A Borrowed Pantry Tip

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Burlap and Denim re-used Costco popcorn containers to store grains and snacks. The result is a very organized pantry without the extra expense of containers.  I’m collecting my large plastic containers to use similarly. Click the link to view the rest of a very organized pantry.

Thrifty Tip Thursday – Failure!

No name baking soda

No name baking soda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I run, I sweat. When I sweat, I stink. . . there’s no way around it.  Unfortunately, even though I wash my clothes after each run, some have a lingering odor that is just not pleasant. For my thrifty tip, I had intended to find a way to take care of that odor without buying expensive, specialty laundry detergent. After scouring the web, I decided to try a baking soda method. According to one source, soaking your running clothes in a mixture of 1 cup baking soda and water, then washing as usual would amend the problem. Maybe I am sweatier than the average girl, but said method failed. The odor still lingers. I am not giving up yet . . . I will find a thrifty way to take care of this! I currently have my running clothes soaking in a mixture of 1 cup white vinegar and water.  I’ll let you know tomorrow how that turns out. Any other ideas?

Thrifty-tip Thursday – Easy Drawer Freshener

There was a time when people would place herb and flower-scented satchels in their drawers to keep it fresh and smelling nice.  I don’t know if people still do it or not, but I’m bringing it back. I like a nice-smelling drawer when I go to find my favorite t-shirt or a pair of socks. You can buy satchels at specialty stores or dry your own flowers and herbs to make at home. . . or you can do it the super thrifty (and possibly even lazy) way.

You know all those pull-out perfume samples sent to your door via advertisements, magazines, and newspapers?

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Thanks to my mom’s creative genius (she’s the true thrifty one in the family), I pull out the ones I like and use them to scent my drawers . . . easy and FREE!

Thrifty-tip Thursday – Left-over Oatmeal Muffins

I hate wasting food. I usually save food and we eat left-overs, as most people do. But the other morning when I made too much oatmeal for breakfast, I wasn’t sure what to do. I just couldn’t get myself to throw that much food in the garbage, but who is going to eat left-over oatmeal? Maybe we are food-snobs, but left-over oatmeal is just gross. I decided to see if there was anything appetizing to do with left-over oatmeal, and “Google-d” it. There are a lot of recipes out there using left-over oatmeal!  I modified a muffin recipe from Food.com and it was a hit.

Left-over Oatmeal Muffins

Directions:

1 cup flour (I used wheat)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup melted butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup leftover cooked oatmeal

1 cup raisins (optional – I left these out because the kids aren’t big fans)

1 tsp. vanilla

(I added 1 tsp. ground cinnamon)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and baking soda.

2. In another bowl, mix together melted butter, eggs, oatmeal, raisins and vanilla.

3. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened – the batter will seem thick.

4. Spoon batter into 12 greased muffin cups (I used un-greased re-usable muffin cups — they worked wonderfully!)

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes, or until the muffin centers are slightly firm.

They didn’t look pretty, but they were tasty! And part of being thrifty is not wasting.  This was a great way to get a second breakfast out of our oatmeal.

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Thrifty-tip Thursday

A lot of people in the  blogging world use those catchy, alliterated titles; so I thought I’d try one of my own. :-) “Up-cycling” and “Re-purposing” seem to be the latest craze. Everyone is finding creative uses for items we already have, in the name of being “green”. I have to admit, I love looking at all the “re-purposed” items on Pinterest, but it got me thinking. This really isn’t anything new. My generation has simply given this practice a fancy new name. My mom had said to me once, “I was ‘green’ before I even knew we needed to be.” She was always “re-purposing”, “re-using”, “up-cycling”. She would re-use (still does actually) a piece of aluminum foil until it could no longer be smoothed. She re-purposed my Dad’s old shirts into clothes-pin holders and dust clothes. She up-cycled our outgrown clothing into quilts or pillow-cases or patches. She cut buttons off of everything and re-used them on other items of clothing or re-purposed them for crafty projects. I could go on and on. She and her generation simply called it living wisely and stretching their budgets.

So, in the spirit of my very clever and thrifty mother, here’s my little “re-purposing” project.

An empty tissue box “re-purposed” to hold and easily distribute all those plastic grocery bags we bring home (I “re-use” mine for trash can liners because that’s what my mom always did). Have a great upcoming weekend!

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