February is 'use up' month

bawbeebaby

Chickadee, I am so glad you posted this because I too used to have bottles of shampoo with small amounts left in them lining up on the bathroom shelf - now I will not allow myself to buy anything new until I have used up absolutely all of my current supply, whatever it is, and I always feel great when I have managed to use every last drop. I don't know why it should be, but it does give me a real glow! As you see, you are by no means alone.

Stephen_Leak

Oh yes. At the time of writing, there is 200g of chopped tomatoes in the freezer, left over from a previous medium beef curry (a portion of which is also in the freezer), but earmarked for a mild chicken curry (a portion of which will also end up in the freezer).

My view on wasting food is well known on here: I refuse to waste any food, as long as there is one other person in the world dying for the lack of it.

PS. Does anyone else suck water up into the "empty" washing-up liquid bottle to wash the last molecule out?

lyndseyann

fantastic thread!!it is good to use things up weather it be food,or toiletries.after all its using everything to its full use and does save you money!!!!keep it up!

purpleivy

I too love using things up, whether it's a few spoons of rice, or the last of the shampoo etc. It feels so... tidy somehow! I'm resisting the allure of cleaning products, but I need help because as soon as the lavender polish goes I know I'll want another. Managing fine on stardrops, vinegar etc for everything else.

vixtress

chickadee wrote: »

Does anyone else get such a kick out of money-saving habits or am I the only sad person around?

well if youre sad that makes me just as much a saddo!! youre post could have been written by me!!

suek_2

I am the same with leftover meals and shampoo etc , i just wish my 2 teenagers were the same as me... well i hope they will learn to be like that as they get older.

minimacka

StressedSteph wrote: »

yes I feel the same, after making a lasagne or cottage pie etc we always seem to have 1 portion left. The old me would have just scraped that into the bin, but now I freeze all these individual leftovers and once every couple of weeks we have a leftovers night.

That is just like me, the old me would of thrown away a portion of the most lovely beef stew that we had last night, the new me gets my oh to put it in a container and call it a martin :rotfl: . We do this with everthing including nice gravey so when we have a meal that doesnt have any stock and we need gravey to go with it i usually have some frozen.

My o/h had a really good martin day last sunday, we had chicken dinner, he then boiled up the carcus but then he made soup with it and the kids had it for tea, they couldnt get enough of it. Now the old (us) would of chucked the rest of the chicken away as well as not boiling up the carcus to make stock.

Idiophreak

I'm not being mean or anything, but I've honestly never thought about it that way.

I buy something, use it, when it runs out, I replace it...and it all starts again.

The idea of using another one before the one I was on ran out honestly wouldn't have dawned on me...

I guess you do get a sense of achievement though, I can relate to that...like when I have a funky looking toothbrush sat in the cupboard waiting to be used and I'm stuck with some crap cheap thing...when it finally dies it's like "yay! now I get to play with the new one".

chickadee

purpleivy wrote: »

I too love using things up, whether it's a few spoons of rice, or the last of the shampoo etc. It feels so... tidy somehow!

I couldn't agree more, I think that sums up the feeling. TIDY. And without wanting to sound like a control freak, it makes me feel organised and, yes, in control.

I'm glad I'm not alone.

skintscotslass

chickadee wrote: »

Now it is a weakness of mine that I will buy a new product before the old one is used up but start using it before the old one is completely finished. Of course, my bathroom looked like a shampoo factory! Slowly but surely I have been using things up. I have used up several part-bottles of shower gel, a bottle of conditioner and a few bottles of shampoo. I have now moved on to the part bottles of blow-dry spray . The thing I have noticed is the feeling of satisfaction that I get when another bottle is used up. It is like a cleansing experience (other than in the obvious way of course ) when the next bottle is used, rinsed out and recycled.

Couldnt agree more chickadee. This used to be a weakness of mine too. I'll have to get rid of my undersink unit, no more 15 bottles of shampoo :A