Posted on 01/22/2013 6:54:53 PM PST by Kartographer
Everything has a purpose—sometimes two or three of them! For most seasoned Survival Moms, some of these “reuse” ideas are already habit. But for those of us fairly new to frugal motherhood or the Survival Mom lifestyle, here are 20 things I never throw away:
(Excerpt) Read more at thesurvivalmom.com ...
She saves her bacon grease in a jar. I freeze it in ice cube trays and then put them in a ziploc and keep in the freezer. Then I can take a cube and drop it in a skillet. When cooking for 2 it doesn’t take much and adds nice flavor, especially to those freeze dried hashbrowns from Costco. I also save all my plastic grocery bags. They come in handy for so many things.
>> Dryer lint is great stuff. @etc
That is an interesting tip. Thx
How do you “blend” it with the paraffin?
Get the hair of dogs from a pet groming shop and put it in mesh bags around a garden to keep deer out. My wife’s sister had her garden eaten out by urban deer every year until she did this trick. No deer from then on.
I haven't grown celery by planting the bottom of the stalk, but I have grown green onions by cutting of the bottom inch or inch and a half and planting them. The deer don't stay away from my family's hair clippings. And, regarding corks, I just read that if you soak corks in rubbing alcohol for two or more weeks, and then put 2 of them in some crumpled-up newspaper, they make good fire starters. I haven't tried it yet.
Once it's all liquid just mix the lint in and it will soak it up. Let it cool and cut it into little cubes. A utility knife (boxcutter) works best.
I tried the celery thing. It grew a few thin green stalks over several weeks and then it all rotted and died.
Not fair. You are so wrong. She is a respected member of FReeRepublic.
Some peanut butter jars have lids with rubber gaskets. Those and the plastic jars that Dole fruit comes in are great for storing that last little bit of paint out of a gallon can for touch ups later.
Just be sure to label the brand, color, and what room it was for.
I save the blank, tear off portions of some bills like credit card bills, for scrap paper and shopping lists. Just make sure they don’t contain any sensitive information.
I also use reject printouts from the computer printer and if I want to test how the printer is going to print something out, I put it in blank side up and run it through instead of wasting a whole new sheet.
HA....our dog will NEVER go in OUR yard....only on empty lots, or in medians....that’s how she was trained. You don’t potty where you play! And, she’s never had an accident in the house (except one time when she was sick and then she went on an old blanket I’d put out for her).
girl friend who is also a hairdresser has farmers requesting her to save hair, they claim the human scent on the hair, keeps deer away......she has done it for years...more years than either one of us admit too....
I never ever throw a wine cork away, especially the real corks. The have so many uses.
My wife is amazed and confused about my collection of old worn blue jeans. I don’t know why I have saved them. I told her that one day China would pay big bucks for them and then sell them back to us.
You can use old socks for beer coolers. If you have an obnoxious guest use an old smelly one.
I keep all kinds of kitchen gadgets that never worked or were only used once in a drawer - heck you just never know!
Short pieces of rope with knots so tight you can’t ever expect to untie them - again you never know.
Chargers for electronics you no longer have. Boxes could be filled with them. This is my wife’s fetish and matches my jean collection! Another China connection?
Another of my wife’s collections is those pesky storage containers that have no tops!
Volumes and volumes of books that instruct you how to use computer applications for computer programs you no longer have and have not used in years, why do we keep them? Toilet paper? Hmmmm not friendly at all! My wife keeps trying to sell them in yard sales. Even at $0.25 they never sell. So we pack them up for the next yard sale. - Crazy!
I haven’t grown celery, but it works pretty easily with garlic. Pretty much anything with a bulb at the bottom can be replanted as long as there are a few of the root-looking feelers still attached to the bottom.
save the paper egg cartons. stuff with lint, drizzle wax over lint, and break off cubes as needed. (Did you just say that??) Throw a couple into any fire-starting pile.
“I keep wine corks - the real cork ones.”
Oh, so you’re one of those uppity FReepers I keep hearing about, huh?
If wine doesn’t have a screw-off cap then I won’t drink it! :-)
The best comment on the site! lol I concur, I don't have room for all that crap although I do save SOME containers.
If I need something that I have thrown away, I just walk downstairs to where the pews used to be, and root through the garbage.
thanks!
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