Uses for Plastic Gallon Jugs

If you have milk or water jugs stashed (or know someone who does), use them! Here are a few ways, but you can probably think of more. If you do, let us know.

1. Cut off the top an inch or two below the handle, turn it upside down and use it as a funnel. 
2. Cut the bottom off and use it to hold nasty water when you're doing some deep cleaning. If it gets too dirty, throw it out. 
3. Cut the bottom off, poke holes in the bottom for drainage and use it to start seeds. 
4. Cut the bottom off, paint the outside or decorate it with Contact paper. Poke holes for drainage and use it for a plant pot. 
5. Heat an ice pick or nail firmly held with pliers by passing it through a candle flame. Use it to melt more or less uniform holes around the top front of the jug on the side opposite the handle. Fill it with water up to the holes, put on the lid and you have a one gallon watering can. 
6. Fill the jug to within about three inches of the top and freeze then put it in your cooler to keep foods cold without the mess of loose or plastic bagged ice. 
7. Use a funnel to fill one with rice, popcorn or other grains for storage. It will keep them dry and safe from pests.  

Now it's your turn. How can we save money by using gallon plastic jugs?

9 Ways to Use Cardboard Tubes

Image courtesy Morguefile.com

One of the best parts of being frugal (and the part that sometimes will get you the strangest looks) is finding uncommon uses for common or throwaway things.

So did you save the tubes from the wrapping paper at Christmas? Neither did I. Thinking about it today, though, I wish I would have!

There are so many things one could do with them. They're part of the "raw material" of consumerism and as such, they can be ultimately useful and just plain fun.

Tubes from toilet paper (yes, those...) aluminum foil, plastic wrap or wax paper tubes, and miscellaneous other sources, such as rolls of plastic gloves, are all fair game for these uses. Since you use many of those things anyway, you might as well get some frugal use from them!

7 Uses for Extra Tote Bags

Have you managed to gather more tote bags than you think you need? They can carry a lot more than just groceries from the store. If you have more than a few of them, don't just put them in the closet and forget about them. Bring them out and make use of them! How? Try these ideas.

1. Carry knitting, crochet or other needlework projects in one. Most of them are big enough to carry several skeins of yarn along with needles, pattern, scissors and any small tools you may need. If you use a box or small plastic bag for your tools, you won't lose them in the bottom of the tote bag.

2. The kids always want to take toys along with them no matter where you go, right? Just grab a tote bag let them put their toys in it and away you go. They can put the toys in the bag when they're through playing with them and everyone is happy. If you go to the pool or beach, a tote bag can hold wet swimsuits as well as toys.

3. When you're traveling, tuck a tote bag in your suitcase to hold dirty clothes as you change. An extra bag is great for holding extra shoes so the rest of your clothes stay clean.

4. Washable tote bags are great for bringing in garden produce. Put the dirtiest root crops in the bottom and fill the top with lettuce, beans or other clean crops.

5. Take one to the farmer's market, of course, but don't stop there. Keep an extra one in the car for those unexpectedly found roadside stands.

6. You can store any number of things in them if you put the handles around the neck of a hanger and hang them in your closet. Use one for scarves, gloves and hats or even socks and underwear!

7. If you don't need them for clothing items in your closet, put one in the hall or guest room closet and use it to store such various things as extra soap, electric cords, Christmas decorations or whatever else you need to store.

Creative With Cardboard

Still got cardboard boxes hanging around after the holidays? Put them to good use! Cardboard is a surprisingly sturdy material that's also easy to cut, fold and otherwise manipulate. The only downsides are that water will destroy it and it burns quickly.

You can cut it with sturdy scissors or a sharp knife, paint it, decorate it with contact paper or colored tape or decoupage it. As a matter of fact, it will do a lot of things that wood will, and it's a lot cheaper (free!).

I just came across a really cool shoe rack you can make of cardboard here, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. You can make anything from emergency tables for kids to "paper" chains that will last holiday after holiday.

One of the easiest things to make from small cardboard boxes is storage boxes and bins. Sure, you can use them just like they are, but what's the fun in that? Go dig up some leftover paint and/or a leftover strip of contact paper, or yesterday's newspaper and decoupage glue. Have fun decorating a few boxes that you can leave out in plain sight instead of shoving them to the back corner of the closet. You can make them a lot prettier than any storage box you can buy and you can customize them to exactly suit your room!

Never get rid of a cardboard box without asking yourself if it will fill a need in your home. There are lots and lots of pages on the internet with so many projects made from cardboard that I couldn't even list them here.

Let us know what you find and what you decide to make! 

Leftover Christmas Candy

If you have Christmas candy left over, save it for the next holiday! There are a lot of things you can do with candy canes, for instance. Face them toward each other, tie a pretty ribbon around the hooks and make a heart from them. Give them to your valentine.Or crush them and serve them over ice cream any time.

Chocolate candy can be melted down and reformed to suit the occasion. Got chocolate Santas? Make chocolate something else with it. Melt it down, add some peanuts and let it harden again. Or use candy molds or anything to shape it into something else.

Hard candy will keep indefinitely if kept in a more or less cool place that's dry. Just save it until next Christmas and you will save yourself some money.

Last Year's Christmas Cards

Did you save them? Do you have a use for them?

How about using them for frugal but creative postcard greetings this year by cutting off the front and sizing it properly?
Or cut appropriate pieces from the fronts (and insides!) to use for gift tags.
Cut pictures from them to decorate your Christmas tree.
Or glue small cut outs from them around the bottom of a pillar candle.
Or make a frugal holiday collage from them.
Or glue them onto paper and cover with white glue mixed with water (half and half), and use them for throwaway Christmas table mats.
Or...

Old Tshirts

Besides using old tshirt and tshirt material for "yarn" to make rugs, bags and the like, the material can be used in a lot of different ways!

• Cut the front and back out, then fold them in fourths and sew them together at the edges. Sew an "X" or other design all the way across it to hold the layers together: Hot pad made!
• Cut two or three inch squares and use them for disposable makeup or nail polish removal.
• Use them for padding in potholders.
• Snip them in small pieces and use as stuffing in toys, throw pillows or door draft stoppers.
• Cut the neckline bigger (no need to hem as it will curl), sew the bottom together and put it on a hanger on the wall to hold rags, plastic bags, sewing projects, etc.
• The sleeves and any leftover pieces make great dust cloths.                                                                                      
• Of course, they make good rags for almost any use. They're absorbent, lint free for the most part and need no hemming!

Other ideas? I'm sure we all have a few old tshirts around!

Five More Things You Never Need to Buy

Quart sized freezer bags. You probably throw them away every week if you buy frozen vegetables. Those bags are freezer bags. They wouldn't sell them in those bags if they weren't capable of keeping the vegetables fresh and frost free. Cut them carefully across the top when you open them and use a twist'em tie or rubber band to close them securely when you fill them.

Refrigerator containers. Cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt and more come in resealable plastic containers that can be used over and over again. Get some cheap masking tape to label the contents. A bonus is that they're ultimately stackable and hold more than they look.

Canisters. Storage jars are free. Really. Check your local restaurants to see if they will save you a few gallon jars. They buy them with everthing from pickles to boiled eggs in them. Most come with sealing lids so your flour and sugar will be safe. You can also use them for beans, pasta and other food products.

Compost. Make your own, of course. That's a no-brainer, but sometimes it's hard to accomplish, especially if you have limited space or it isn't conveniently located. Invest in a bowl with a lid to hold your compostable kitchen scraps and simply dig a hole in an out of the way place in your yard and dump the goods in there. Cover them with dirt and that's it. It will take longer to make if you don't turn it now and then and if it's dry, but it will eventually make good compost. Hurry it by turning and keeping it moist.

House slippers. If you have a warm sweater or one that is felted accidentally or otherwise, simply make a pattern by standing on a newspaper and drawing around your foot. Cut two pieces to match this pattern, then measure along the side from toe all the way around and back to the toe and cut a strip about two to three inches wide this long. Sew the strip. starting at the toe, to the sole so it's the side, then gather the edges of this strip with a piece of sturdy yarn in a needle, weaving back and forth. Draw the yarn up so that the shoe fits your foot and tie a knot, then a bow. Done.

Five Things You Never Need to Buy

Paper towels. Use rags cut from old clothing, linens or towels. Cut and hem them and they will last a very long time, wash after wash. You will no doubt wind up with clothing or other material that isn't absorbent or won't wash well. Cut those up and save them for nasty jobs so you can throw them away like you would paper towels.

Paper napkins. A very simple solution is to cut some squares of cotton or other absorbent material and hem it. Voila! Instant cloth napkins. Some people buy washcloths in special colors to use as napkins, but making your own is cheaper; your choice. Wash them with the other kitchen items like dishcloths and teatowels. Also, it doesn't hurt to use the same one a couple or three times if everyone has their own color or design (unless it's a messy meal!)

Trash bags. For the smaller trash cans, use plastic grocery bags. They're a sturdy or sturdier than bags you buy and you have them already! They even have handles. For larger trash cans, save bags that dog food, bird seed, mulch, compost or other garden amendments come in. Anything that comes in a large enough bag works. I have used the large plastic bags from Goodwill or other thrift stores (or even retail stores!).

Pots for starting seeds. Use any small container that you can poke a hole in for drainage. Some people use egg cartons, putting soil and a seed into each egg compartments. This is enough to get started, but plants will need to be transplanted soon because there is little room for roots to grow. Think: Soft drink bottles, cut down, yogurt containers, cottage cheese and sour cream containers or any plastic container that you can cut down to size.

Bulletin boards. Need a place to pin up pictures, notes or lists? Get a piece of cardboard from a cardboard box that is the right size for your space and cover it with piece of solid color cloth. Better if the cloth comes from an old sheet or tablecloth that you were going to use for rags! Wrap the cloth around the cardboard and tape it down with duct tape. You can either poke holes in it to hang from or attach a string from each corner to hang it. A few pins or thumbtacks and you're in business.

Send Me Your Plastic Bags!

I'm kidding. I have plenty of my own. Well, at least I had plenty.  That was before I got on this kick of using plarn. In case you hadn't heard, plarn is "plastic yarn," more specifically, yarn made from plain old plastic grocery bag type of bags.


I tried the plarn ideas around the internet, but they all turn out a fine plarn that's more suitable for table cloths or baby bibs, maybe. I tried knitting with it, but it's not very yielding and my old hands began to hurt after a little while.

It took awhile, but I figured out what to do. If you make the plastic bag strips much wider - about four to five inches instead of one - the plarn will be fatter. Okay, so that didn't take a lot of brains to figure out, but if you've tried using the one or two inch strips like the youtube videos show and found them hard to work with, try again with much wider strips.


It will take more bags, but isn't that the idea, anyway?

Don't stop with plastic grocery bags, though. Plastic bread bags, produce bags and any other clean plastic bag will do. Thinner plastic just needs wider strips.

Why not use plarn to knit or crochet? It's free. 

Natural resource: cardboard boxes

One of those "natural resources" of  modern living is cardboard. Cardboard boxes are so common that we often don't even notice them. Almost every product we buy - even some groceries - come in cardboard boxes.

What do we do with them? Many of them are thrown away with no other use at all. What CAN we do with them? A lot. Here are a few ideas:

As a receptacle for branches, grass, weeds and other spring clean up trash. Cardboard boxes don't develop holes or stretch too far like plastic bags do and they're biodegradable and they're free if you save them from other things.

Use cardboard boxes as containers, of course, because that's what they are. Store things in them for the garage or closet, but if you need a container that needs to look good, too, a cardboard box can be painted or covered with cloth or paper (check your Christmas paper stash). From Christmas ornaments to yarn storage, cardboard boxes are perfect.

Table, anyone? If you need a side table, find a cardboard box the right size, turn it up and put a cloth over it to cover. Or paint it and put a scarf or other cloth over the top to camouflage it. Or make a play table or dining table for tots by turning a large cardboard box upside down and cutting the sides out about half way up. (Great for those family get togethers!)

You probably already use at least some of these:

• Shoe boxes to hold tax receipts or other papers
• Odd shaped boxes to hold gifts
• Small boxes as drawer organizers
• Small to medium boxes as desk top organizers
• Toy boxes for small pieces or collections
• Clothes basket (line with plastic bag)

There you go. You knew there was some reason you were saving those cardboard boxes, didn't you?

Water Savings

With the drought continuing in many places, using fresh, treated water from the tap for everything is beginning to seem very wasteful. If you want to save water and save money, too, there are a lot of ways to do it.

For instance, at any given time you walk into my kitchen, there will be a glass or glasses set back on the counter with varying levels of water in them. I fill each one as water becomes available from leftover drinking water and melted ice from drinks. It's then used to water the house plants or to dump on the floor for a quick mop up.

There is at times a bucket just outside the back door that holds rinse water from doing dishes or water that's run to heat up or cool down, or water that I've rinsed my hands in. I use it to water outside plants or sometimes to mop the floor.  I've washed the car with it and even washed windows with it. It's plenty clean enough for things like that.

Water that has been used to rinse dishes with is sometimes recycled in the bathroom to wash the sink or toilet - and again, the floor.

There's always the shower water which can be used to flush the toilet, pour out on plants or lawn, scrub the floor or wash the car.

When I'm cooking, I leave a pan of water in the kitchen sink to rinse my hands between tasks. When I stopped to pay attention, I was amazed at how many times I turned on the water for that.

Leftover tea or coffee waters plants, too. Put the sugared drinks on outdoors plants to avoid attracting insects into the house.

Go to Extremely Frugal and search for water. There are many, many ways to reduce the amount of water we use.

Uses for 2 Liter Soda Bottles

Even if you don't drink soda from 2 liter bottles, you probably know someone who does. Don't let all those containers go to the landfill! There are so many uses for them that you may never throw one out again.

Food storage. They're food safe, airtight and easily stored. Use them for dry foods like grains (barley, rice, etc.) or for flour and cornmeal. Small pastas or beans and peas store easily in them, too. An oxygen absorber packet will help keep grains fresh for longer term storage. A funnel will help fill them.

Plant waterer. You can buy those spikes to screw on to the top of them, but why not just poke a three or four small holes in the bottom of a bottle, bury it beside your plant and fill it from the top? Leave a couple of inches sticking up and put the lid back on loosely to allow for air to replace the dripped water but keep insects and dirt out of it.

The tops make excellent funnels for shop and garage uses and can be tossed after using, or saved for reuse. They also fit perfectly into the top of gallon milk or water jugs.

Bottoms can be used to grow plants on a windowsill or to start plants for the garden.

Cut the bottom off in the correct shape and use it as a scoop for pet food, outdoor bird seed and so on.

Cut a bottle in two in the center, fill the bottom with soil and add plants. Take the top and make four short cuts at even intervals, then water the soil and place the top on, squeezing gently to get it to fit down into the bottom part. This is a perfect little greenhouse that almost eliminates the need for water. Be careful about putting it in the sun, though, because the temperature will soar.

I even came across an ambitious project involving building a full size greenhouse from plastic soda bottles.

And then there's this bright idea: How to light a home with a plastic soda bottle and bleach

Makes me wish I'd saved more of those from former days!

Gardening with "Waste" Water

With the drought still gripping a huge portion of the United States, we'd be wise to look to our home gardens. If you've put one in and are now looking at some sky high water bills, start thinking about ways to use water that otherwise would go to waste. Here are a few ideas I've come up with, but if you have more, I'd love to hear about them.

You'll need a watering can and at least one bucket. Set the bucket in a handy place and use it to gather water from the household. When it's full, pour it into the watering can and go water the garden!

To tell if a certain area needs water, poke your finger in the soil. If you can see dry dirt for more than an inch, it needs water. If you see damp soil, leave that area alone and concentrate on an area where it needs it more. Make a route that you follow so that you don't forget a part of the garden.

• Put a bowl or bucket under the kitchen faucet to catch those little drips you don't even think about. You'll also catch the water you run while it's cooling down or heating up.
• Save water from cooked vegetables. Don't salt them until they're on the plate and the water will be good for watering plants.
• Save leftover tea and coffee to water with.
• If or when you hand wash dishes, save the rinse water to use on the garden.
• Put a bucket or two in the shower to catch water. One set farthest away from you will catch only clean water and you can use that for food. Put one between you and the drain and that water can be used for flowers or lawns (because it will have soap, etc. in it).
• Add leftover or spoiled milk to the water you've saved and pour it on the garden. It adds calcium to the soil.
• Grab glasses with a bit of ice in them and put that in your garden water.
• Rinse dishes over a pan and pour that water out on the garden. Think about it each time you use water for anything. Don't waste it.

Save every drop of water in any form. You might be surprised at how much of your garden you can keep watered that way.

Changing gears and plastic lids

I've handed the forums at Dollar Stretcher over to Brandy, who has been with us since the beginning so she understands how things work and what is required. I have faith that she will keep things rolling, but you can slip over there and let me know how she's doing now and then!

Me? I'm slowing down. Ha! How many times have I said that? Anyway, I'll still be kicking around in the background of Dollar Stretcher for awhile and I might have some news later on. Don't bank on it, it's a "might"!

Anyway, because I had a little extra time today, I rummaged around the kitchen drawers with a vague notion of cleaning them out. One thing I discovered is that there are more plastic lids than there are plastic containers to put them on.

If you know me, you know I don't like to just toss things in the trash, so I had to think about it for awhile, so... here's what I came up with:

• Use them to form patties from bulk ground meat or mixtures like fish patties. They'll be uniform and will cook more evenly.
• If you have a lot of lids, form ground beef patties and leave them in the lid. Put another lid on top of this and form another patty and so on, then put into the freezer. They'll stay separated and will pop right out while they're still frozen.
• Use a plastic container lid as a spoon rest on your stove.
• Not so classy, but they do make handy holders for wet teabags.
• On the same note, they will hold fish bones or other discards as you eat.
• They're easy to cut with a pair of craft scissors so you can make templates or patterns from them.
• Cut holiday decorations from them. Use a small cookie cutter to trace hearts, Christmas trees and so on, cut out and decorate. You can make nice Christmas tree decorations this way.

Got any more ideas? There are quite a few orphan lids in that drawer.

Two Liter Soft Drink Bottles

And what to do with them? I don't drink much of that stuff any more, but like all good hoarders, I stuck a few back... just in case.

I have used them over time. One way was to cut the top off and use it for a funnel. It fits perfectly into the tops of gallon milk jugs.

I used the bottom half to hold silverware. I wash dishes by hand so I use it to drain them. You could cut it a little shorter and use it to hold silverware or plastic ware for picnics or other informal gatherings. Be sure to trim the top evenly or you'll get scratched.

Using the bottom half again, rim the edge with colored tape and/or paint it and store knitting needles in it. Cut it a little shorter for short needles or crochet hooks, longer for long needles and long afghan hooks.

Cut one in two, then cut three or four two inch slits in the top half. Put yarn you're working with in the bottom half and put the top half on, overlapping the two edges that you slit and pushing the top half down firmly. Thread the end of the yarn you're working with through the top. Your yarn won't get tangled or dusty and the cat can't play with it. (Maybe.)

Using the same method, create a terrarium. Keep the lid on the top to keep moisture from escaping.

Make an ant farm with one. Ants can't climb up the slippery sides, especially upside down like the curving top will have them doing. Remove all labels so you can see the ants easily.

Fill one with sand or dirt for a door stop.

The bottom line is that they're containers that you can cut easily to suit your needs. When you cover the cut edge they can be used for anything that doesn't require heat. Serve salads in them, use them for planters, keep odds and ends stored in them, carry water in them, let the kids play with them without cutting them. They make grand water "guns" (more on the order of canons!).

Oh, yes... in the winter, fill one with hot water and use it to keep your feet warm. The lids close tightly so you don't have to worry about a leak and the water will stay warm an amazingly long time.

So what did I miss?

Creative thrift store shopping

Ready to go to the thrift store or a garage sale? Put on your creative thinking cap first.

Sometimes second hand shopping is a lost cause when you can't find what you want or think you want. Those times, just a change of viewpoint can make things look altogether different.

Cast in point: Some time back I went looking for a new vase. I needed one for the table. Nothing fancy but nothing ugly, either. I looked and looked and didn't find a thing, so I gave up. (When I say I gave up, it doesn't mean I went to a retail store and paid full price for it; it means that I quit looking and did without for awhile.)

A few weeks later I was browsing a garage sale table with nothing in particular on my mind when a copper teakettle caught my eye. I suddenly envisioned it filled with fresh daisies - and voila! my new vase was in front of my eyes for a mere twenty five cents.

Looking at things creatively sometimes means seeing them for what they are and not for what they seem to be. The teakettle seemed to be a container to heat water on the stove. It really was just a container, period. A container that could be used for anything that would fit.

On the same wavelength: Sheets are big pieces of material. What do you need? A tablecloth? Curtains? Material for a new dress or shirt? There it is.

A coffee cup can hold celery or carrot sticks at dinner, or it can hold flowers or a small houseplant. It can hold pens and pencils, short knitting needles and crochet hooks or any number of things.

A pretty book that you don't even want to read becomes a door stop or a booster seat for a child.

It doesn't have to be what it looks like it is. It can be just what it really is... a container, a solid rectangle, a sheet of material.

Creatively... do you shop like that?

What do do with leftover Easter candy

Still got a few chocolate Easter eggs around, or a fluffy marshmallow chick? Don't toss them or give them away, use them for other things.

Those cute little peeps are sugar covered marshmallows, so you can use them wherever you'd use marshmallows. Hot chocolate comes to mind! Use them in any recipe that calls for marshmallows.

Chocolate is chocolate, no matter how it's formed. Chop up a chocolate bunny and make chocolate chip cookies, or use a peeler and cut curls from it to top a cake or other dessert. Melt and dip strawberries or other fruit in it. Whatever comes to mind... just don't buy chocolate for awhile.

Malted eggs? Stick them in the blender and use as malt for... what else? Malted milk. Or any recipe that calls for malt.

We got some peanut butter filled eggs this year, so I sliced them with a hot knife and "iced" some plain cookies with them.

Get creative and use up the Easter candy... or not. It will keep for a long time. You don't have to refrigerate or freeze it - not even the chocolate, as long as you can keep the temperature below around 75 degrees. Above that, it will melt and make a mess, but it still won't spoil, so put it in a bowl or other container if your kitchen gets hotter than that.

Speaking of tea bags...

Whatever you do, don't throw them away once they're used. If they're the kind with strings, pull the strings off and use them to tie things together, hang decorations in a window (with a thumbtack) or put a couple dozen together, tie in the middle, trim and you have a cotton pompom. Tea bag strings can be dyed easily with generic kool aide, tea or coffee. Don't make up a packet of kool aide for that purpose, but when you're making it anyway, take out a tablespoon or two before you add sugar and dye the cotton string with that.

Oh, and if you soak the tea bag strings in borax and salt dissolved in water then let them dry for a few days, they make good candle wicks for short candles.

I'm not through yet. Use the tea and the bags themselves to compost, or dry them completely and throw them in the fireplace or wood stove. Put them on your houseplants before you water them.

Just because tea bags are used, doesn't mean they're not still useful. Now, go apply that to everything you can think of.

Facial tissue boxes

Warning: extremely frugal tip ahead.

When you buy facial tissue, look for a pretty box that matches your office or kitchen colors. When the box is empty, cut off the top and use the bottom to store things. I have a facial tissue box with red apples and roses on a green background which holds my stash of pens, pencils and markers on the back of the office desk.

Use the cut off top and cut bookmarks from it. Bookmarks are usually 5 to 6 inches long so you can get two from one box top.