Buy Once, Use Twice

The following Everyday Savings Tip comes from, Pat:

I bring home used paper from work. Because it is only printed on one side I can use it to print out coupons, driving directions, or coloring pages for my granddaughter. She also cuts them up and makes little books with them. I guess it would save you about $2 a ream. I have never bought any so not sure how much they cost.

I cut my brillo pads and those green/brown scrubbing pads in half so they can be used twice. Costs per savings, 99 cents a box.

We keep egg shells and coffee grounds to fertilize plants with saving money on fertilizing. Not sure how much fertilizer costs but I would imagine it would save you about $2 a bottle.

We freecycle a lot of our cast offs. Empty egg cartons go to a person that has chickens. Shredded paper from work (we use some for packages) go to a person that has pets. My brother is going to use the thick plastic from mattresses to build a green house later this year with some old pallets that we picked up on a trash heap on the side of the road along with some other wood we have in the barn.

We have a rule, before tossing something in the trash we have to think about if it can be repurposed. My granddaughter keeps small toy sets in tissue boxes (she loves decorating them) and sometime uses them as doll furniture. Just use your imagination. No cost to save what you throw away.

These are FABULOUS tips to find other ways to use what we have! If you want to reuse a few things around the house, check out these posts:

• Tissue Box Bag Holder (pictured above – super easy!)
• Reusable Grocery Bag
• Vegetable Planter Eggshells
• Yarn Bottle Decoration
• Other Uses for Junk Paper

What other everyday items do you reuse?
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