thrifty moneysaving .. reuse packaging do you save money

COOLTRIKERCHICK

had a well man goodie bag from tescos... last week..... and there was a lovely purple rope handle type strap... on there.... which was a pitty to throw out... i used the plastic bag for a rubish bin in the bathroom.... and the
rope....i am going to keep to wrap around... a pressie.....

i was also thinking that if i doubled it up... it could make a tie back for the small room in the house....

but it could also be used for the kids... christmas.... nativity play.... especially if one of your kids are one of the three wise men...

to tie the t. towel... round the head.... i think you know where i am going..

so i feel this has saved me some pennies....

is there any type of packaging that you re-use and save money ...

as i feel these little "pennies " saving ideas...... realy do add up....and you can notice... the savings after a while....

ivyleaf

I re-use jiffy bags (padded envelopes) by sticking a piece of paper over the original label - I suspect this is something a lot of us do! (I do put new stamps on it, I hasten to add!)

Lillibet_2

I re use jiffy bags & also brown paper by turing it over & using the other side, also any bubble wrap gets re-used. Gift bags get re-used, just take the tag off if it has been written on, wrapping paper (obviously!), carrier bags, junk mail envelopes get used as envelopes with a lable/peice of paper stuck over the address.

Mesh bags which fruit comes in get saved up & when there is enough eleastic band together for a disposable scrubbie.

apple_mint

I re-use glass jars (and not just jam jars) for my jam / chutney making. I get my daughter to save them. I fill them, we use some and she gets some of my jams too. We both win

sophiesmum_2

I reuse jiffy bags ,brown paper and bubble wrap etc, save jars for jam making,use ice cream,take away boxes for tubs for freezing, recycle gift bags.and use polystyrene packing in bottom of plant pots for drainage.i am currently saving egg trays and mushroom boxes for growing seedlings next year. I have also used the wax paper from cereal boxes to wrap food in. DD reuses wrapping paper to back her schoolbooks too.
At xmas and birthday times i am always on the lookout for useful bits and pieces from packaging from gift sets etc, odd bits of ribbon and even foil confetti is given to a friend who makes cards, so not much is wasted. It must add in moneysaving terms but it is also keeping tons of stuff out of the landfills and thats not a bad thing.
One of the most useful bits of packaging I have come across lately is those plastic jars of fruit you can now buy for the fridge, asda had 1kg of pears on offer last week for £1 and the plastic jars they are in are really useful afterwards to store stews/soup etc in the fridge or for lunches out. They have a widemouth ,screw plastic lid,are very durable and don't leal in OH's rucksack.
sophiesmum

dolly_day_dream

As my aim is to put as little as little out for the landfil I try to re-use as much as possible. All plastic containers with lids are saved to use for food containers either for the freezer or for putting pre-pared veg into the fridge ready to cook for the next meal. I can't believe I used to pay out for plastic bags before for this:o I have just sorted my larder and am still using empty ice cream cartons from many many years ago to organise my cake decorating items; my medicine boxes and my packets of sachets.

During my clear out I found several :eek: jars of mouldy shop bought jam - don't ask. Needless to say these were put to one side to wash out to re-use. My daughters bf started to put them in the bin and was quickly corrected. I save most of the glass jars that come into the house either for jams/chutneys pickles or if they are small then they get painted and are used for tea light holders, or one of the many gifts in a jar recipes that appear at http://organizedchristmas.com/index.html

Carrier bags get used as bin liners but how many bin liners do you need? I try to refuse as many carrier bags as I can. The many shoe boxes my daughter has just acquired will be transformed into treasure boxes for my class - with 'secret treasures' inside them. All of my yoghurt pots are saved for glue pots for class. Empty plastic containers will be used (I hope):rolleyes: for seeds next year. I used to start seeds off in carboard egg boxes and probably will again. Empty plastic bottles are used as mini cloches. Plastic water bottles are re-used and are also frozen to use as icepacks in lunchboxes. The paper bags - good old market stall - are used to dry flowers and herbs in. I really try to avoid as much packaging as possible and find that if you generally buy ingredients instead of pre-made food you do avoid a fair amount. Buying fruit and veg loose also helps. However I am saving the nets that my garlic comes in to make scourers for the bath or I might use them to hold some handmade soap in for xmas presents - Have to wait and see exactly what they smell like :rotfl:

But really I guess we just aren't impoverished enough to recycle as much as we could. If you look at the poorer areas of the world so much more is recycled not to save the planet but because it is the only means some poor people have of earning a living. My mum and her brothers and sisters used to scavenge for old jam jars because if they took enough of them back to the rag and bone man he would supply a new crystal (I think) for their radio so that they could continue to listen. As there were 13 children there was no money at all for extras like that.

Sorry to go on so much but it really annoys me that there is so much uncessary packaging that has to be dealt with and so little of it is recycled.

comping_cat

I re use those bags you put your loose fruit and veg in as freezer or sandwich bags.

Dustykitten

I use the plastic bags that newspaper supplements and magazines come in as bin liners in the bathroom

COOLTRIKERCHICK

so all these things that you re-use... how much do you think its saves you in a year

like using bags for bin liners..... ice cream and marg tubes for freezing.. and storing.... plus the glass jars etc.... it would be ice to find out....

if anyone has worked out anything on these lines.... it would be nice to know......

Aril

I've found that the blue plastic boxes that the value mushrooms come in are the perfect width for storing my CDS
Aril

dolly_day_dream

I forgot to mention my two latest ones one really wierd and one more usual.:o
I am using all those plastic containers that I have been buying the bicarbonate of soda in (not managed to get any in bulk yet!) to make gel air freshners.
The other one only really applies if you are a year 3 teacher like me cos all summer I have been cutting open the tetra packs of orange juice and soya milk, washing them and I am now in the process of trying to construct Roman Soldier armour out of them! :rolleyes: It's not so much that this is money saving just that I needed some flexible, metalic material that could withstand the mock battles that we have between the Romans and the Celts and when I make them out of cardboard I seem to spend the whole of the 'battle' stapling them back together again.:rotfl: BTW in case you hadn't looked the insides of the tetrapacks are coated in a lovely plasticised silver.