When many of us make the decision to start saving money, we often focus is often on the amount of money we can spend every month. It’s good to remember that you can also save money by Repurposing and Reusing items that you would normally throw away. It’s also good for the environment.
If you are trying to both teach your kids to save money and be an environmentalist you could have a fun family activity of coming up with the most ways to reuse a product.. then put those ideas into action!
Here are some ideas to start you out Repurposing old items.
1) Leftover cookies (lol.. if there are any!) make great pie crusts. When you have a few cookies leftover or just the crumbs, put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin, then freeze them in an air tight bag. Who cares if they are different types of cookies, this can make for an interesting pie crust, that is unique each time!. You can replace the graham crackers with cookies in homemade pie crust or bar recipes.
2) Soap chips. One clever way to reuse these small left over pieces is to take a loofah glove and load it with a piece. This you use it all up and don’t have to worry about it breaking up in your hand. To be honest.. I just stick it to the top of my next bar and keep that cycle going.
Also See: Regrowing Celery
3) Plastic mesh bags. You know the ones that come from oranges, onions and potatoes? Store other fruits and vegetables that you buy in bulk ( you may even bring to the store with you other reusable bags so you don’t come home with more plastic ones) or wad up and use as a dish scrubber.
4.) Pickle juice. Don’t throw it away! Just add new slices of cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers and onions to the juice and let it sit for a few days in the fridge before eating. You can use the same jar the pickles came in. But I would probably only do this one time and make sure you only make enough to eat in a couple days. Or you can marinate meat with it or make salad dressing.
5.) Stale Bread. Just cube or grind in your food processor. Store them in air tight plastic bags and freeze. Then you can use the cubes for homemade stuffing, croutons or in meatloaf and meatballs (cornbread is one of our favs in meatloaf).
I love this tip because our family is gluten free and so I have A LOT of gluten free bread recipe flops. But since gluten free ingredients are SO expensive I can’t throw them away. So in the freezer then go for another use..
These are just a few few ideas but finding new uses for old items can save you money over time and a little bit goes a long way!
I would LOVE to hear your new Repurposing uses for old items.. leave them in the comments.
Repurposing
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