What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[gtaus]

I like using skinny tubes like that for Tupperware for the fridge when I make things like dressings. They fit in the fridge door well. They have to be labeled but that’s ok for me. At least a bit of life left in them before the trash that is our recycling system is nice.

Thanks. Are you talking about homemade liquid salad dressings?

I have a nice label maker which I use to label my garage parts bins, etc... And these plastic rectangular containers are a nice size and fit together tight with little wasted space (as compared to round containers). So, I could label the front, sides, or tops very easily.

Talking about labeling... I use a piece of brown masking tape and write on it with a black sharpie marker to put dates on our leftovers in the fridge. No more guessing how long that leftover has been in the fridge, which means less waste of food. The masking tape comes off easily if you want to reuse the container. If we have leftovers coming to the end of their expected life, we decide if we want to eat it or give it to the chickens. Either way, we have less spoiled food by using dates on our leftovers.

Being frugal is not just saving a lot of money on a single purchase, but rather saving money in small ways in life that add up to bigger savings over time. Food is expensive. Putting a date on our leftovers helps us reduce our wasted or spoiled food. There is value to that for us.

 

[gtaus]

Saving a little money here and there adds up to real money over time and an eventual purchase of something on my "wish list" without having to feel as guilty. I think it's important to reward yourself every once in a while, Frugal does not mean that you have to sacrifice everything fun in life. In fact, I think it can enrich your life if you have the right approach and attitude.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Thanks. Are you talking about homemade liquid salad dressings?

I have a nice label maker which I use to label my garage parts bins, etc... And these plastic rectangular containers are a nice size and fit together tight with little wasted space (as compared to round containers). So, I could label the front, sides, or tops very easily.

Talking about labeling... I use a piece of brown masking tape and write on it with a black sharpie marker to put dates on our leftovers in the fridge. No more guessing how long that leftover has been in the fridge, which means less waste of food. The masking tape comes off easily if you want to reuse the container. If we have leftovers coming to the end of their expected life, we decide if we want to eat it or give it to the chickens. Either way, we have less spoiled food by using dates on our leftovers.

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Being frugal is not just saving a lot of money on a single purchase, but rather saving money in small ways in life that add up to bigger savings over time. Food is expensive. Putting a date on our leftovers helps us reduce our wasted or spoiled food. There is value to that for us.

Yes, liquid dressings and marinades I make. I don’t use the containers for very long because chemicals leach from them after washes, etc. and they get roughed up from use. I just try to give them a bit more life than they would’ve had.

 

[gtaus]

Yes, liquid dressings and marinades I make. I don’t use the containers for very long because chemicals leach from them after washes, etc. and they get roughed up from use. I just try to give them a bit more life than they would’ve had.

Hmm, I will have to think about what I could put in those containers for the fridge. They don't hold much in terms of leftovers, but maybe something like a single serving of soup. I just filled one of those containers full of water and dumped the water it into a bowl. Might be good to put leftover soup in a container and put it in the freezer. Good for one serving.

Speaking of kitchen items that are no longer usable, I often use those old kitchen items for stuff out in the garage. Old kitchen wash rags are useful in the garage for lots of things, and I always tell Dear Wife that I am more than happy to take her old green scrub sponges for cleaning parts out in the garage. Sometimes, if something is terribly oily, I only use them once and have to throw them out. But sometimes those sponges get a long second life cleaning up stuff in the garage. Dear Wife has the unfortunate attitude that if she deems something not good enough for her, that it has no value anywhere else, either. Well, it still has value to me out in the garage.

I have also reused stained leftover containers to hold bits and pieces in my tool cabinet drawers as organizers. I don't mind if the plastic has been stained.

Bottom line, I often go "dumpster diving" in our recycle bins at home and find treasure in there that I can use out in the garage. For some reason, Dear Wife will not save those things for me that I ask her to save. If it's no good for her, then she cannot see that it has value for anything else. I'm just the opposite. I see value in just about everything and know that if I throw something away, next week I will find a use for it!

 

[saysfaa]

...So, I'm reaching out to the forum to see if anyone has ideas how these containers could be used. Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. Thanks.

Since this picture is what some of our batteries look like just now, I would try batteries in them.

If the kids were still home, I would see if board game pieces would fit - I don't like how board games come in so many sizes, waste so much space, and fall apart. Dh doesn't like it though. He doesn't like all the boards in one stack and all the pieces in one book storage box. He feels like he can't find things. Even when they are well labled.

Wood carving knives might fit. Ours are rolling around on the shelf.

Dehydrated hot peppers - especially if you have several varieties. Ours are in quart jars but that takes up a lot of kitchen cupboard space for how little we use at a time. Or other such spices or almost spices - parsley, dried onions, l ...

If you want to write directly on the container, Marks-A-Lot brand is much better than all other brands.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Hmm, I will have to think about what I could put in those containers for the fridge. They don't hold much in terms of leftovers, but maybe something like a single serving of soup. I just filled one of those containers full of water and dumped the water it into a bowl. Might be good to put leftover soup in a container and put it in the freezer. Good for one serving.

Speaking of kitchen items that are no longer usable, I often use those old kitchen items for stuff out in the garage. Old kitchen wash rags are useful in the garage for lots of things, and I always tell Dear Wife that I am more than happy to take her old green scrub sponges for cleaning parts out in the garage. Sometimes, if something is terribly oily, I only use them once and have to throw them out. But sometimes those sponges get a long second life cleaning up stuff in the garage. Dear Wife has the unfortunate attitude that if she deems something not good enough for her, that it has no value anywhere else, either. Well, it still has value to me out in the garage.

I have also reused stained leftover containers to hold bits and pieces in my tool cabinet drawers as organizers. I don't mind if the plastic has been stained.

Bottom line, I often go "dumpster diving" in our recycle bins at home and find treasure in there that I can use out in the garage. For some reason, Dear Wife will not save those things for me that I ask her to save. If it's no good for her, then she cannot see that it has value for anything else. I'm just the opposite. I see value in just about everything and know that if I throw something away, next week I will find a use for it!

They have compostable kitchen scrub sponges that I highly recommend. They’re made from vegetable fibers and luffa sponge. They work really well and begin to break down after about a month. Then you cut them up and throw in the compost.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Since this picture is what some of our batteries look like just now, I would try batteries in them.

If the kids were still home, I would see if board game pieces would fit - I don't like how board games come in so many sizes, waste so much space, and fall apart. Dh doesn't like it though. He doesn't like all the boards in one stack and all the pieces in one book storage box. He feels like he can't find things. Even when they are well labled.

Wood carving knives might fit. Ours are rolling around on the shelf.

Dehydrated hot peppers - especially if you have several varieties. Ours are in quart jars but that takes up a lot of kitchen cupboard space for how little we use at a time. Or other such spices or almost spices - parsley, dried onions, l ...

If you want to write directly on the container, Marks-A-Lot brand is much better than all other brands.

This is a toughy - damn I hate plastic so much. Our lives require batteries and they don’t make them accessible without single use plastic. Makes me rip my hair out! That pacific garbage patch is just growing and growing.

 

[gtaus]

Since this picture is what some of our batteries look like just now, I would try batteries in them.

Lots of good ideas. I like the battery idea because if you have a leaking battery, the battery acid would be confined to the plastic container and you can just toss it out if it is damaged.

Dehydrated hot peppers - especially if you have several varieties.

I don't have peppers, but I was thinking these containers might be good for holding seeds for next year. I saved a couple of zip lock bags full of bean seeds from last year. They would store great in these containers.

Thinking about food, maybe I could cut a container in half, drill drain holes in the bottom and the lid, and essentially have 2 seed potting planters for use! Would work for starting seeds for a short while before transplanting into the garden or into a larger pot.

Bonus thought: I have seen some new potting trays where the individual pots have slits cut in the corner edges. Supposedly, this prevents the roots from spiraling around in the pot because they air prune themselves when they reach the slit in the corners. The theory is that the air pruned roots are will result in a better plant compared to a pot where the roots have become root bound by spiraling around back unto itself.

Root bound plant...

Air pruned plant...

I'll have to do some more research on making a pot into an air pruning pot. But I think using some of these containers for that, even as an experiment, might be well worth my time.

 

[gtaus]

I live in northern Minnesota. I don't have a heated garage. I do have a little torpedo heater that runs off a propane tank.

So, I was looking into the best way to determine how much propane was left in any of my tanks. I mean, you don't want to exchange a half full tank, or even a quarter full tank, of propane for a new tank. That would be wasting money. I want to squeeze every bit out of my tanks before I exchange, or refill, them.

I checked into those propane tank gauges....

But I see on YouTube that these type of propane gauges are not very accurate and that they can vary in the readings depending on the ambient temperature outside. They only cost about $15.00, but if they don't work very well, that would just be wasted money.

One of the best ways to determine how much propane left in the tank is to weigh the tank. An empty 20 lb Propane BBQ grill tank weighs 17 pounds on average. You could use a bathroom scale, but I have a luggage scale which I think is more accurate for small weights.

I tested my luggage scale by lifting up a tank I just got refilled at our gas station. It read 37 pounds. That means there is 20 lbs of propane + 17 lbs for the tank. So, it appears that weighing the propane tank is maybe the best way to see the fill status of a tank. The weight of the tank is not affected by the temperature.

BTW, I bought my luggage scale at our local church thrift shop for only 50 cents. That's being frugal.

Bonus frugal tip: Did you know you only get 15 lbs of propane tank in the exchange refills at the big box stores? If you refill the tank at a gas station, you can get the full 20 lbs in the tank. Not only will that be cheaper for you, but that extra 25% of propane in the tank means you don't have to refill/exchange the tanks as often.

 

[saysfaa]

The last time I filled our propane tank, the man who filled it said he was a firefighter. He said to open it just a quarter turn instead of all the way. This lets you turn it off much easier if there happens to be a fire. He said it will work just as well until, maybe, the very end of the tank. A bit of a bonus is if you get to the end, you can open it all the way then and maybe get enough to finish your meal.

We have a gauge on ours. It works well enough for our purposes - we know when to have a back up plan since it might run out in the middle of grilling something. Or, if there is company coming, we can tell if it is low enough to grill a few things in the days ahead of time to finish out the tank and refill it.

The people refilling the tank sometimes comment on how nice it is to have one.