When money is very tight, sometimes even the simplest things are hard to come by — and then what do you do? Creative repurposing of household items is a great way to extend the life of the things you own, keep the materials from filling up your landfills, and best of all, you save money by not buying something new.
With a little creative thinking, just about anything in the home can be repurposed. Here are a few things that have worked for me — see if they might work for you, too.
- Hang on to those bread bags! The bags are well-sealed to protect the bread, and once you remove the bread, why throw away a good bag? Use it for small, soft items, just as you would use a ziploc sandwich bag. When I make a loaf of bread and have some left over, I cut it into slices and store them in the bread bag. Why not? That’s what it was for in the first place!
- Don’t throw away any containers. When you use up that cottage cheese, sour cream, or something else that comes in a container with a tight-sealing lid, wash it well and save it. The same goes for glass jars with screw-on lids. You can use them for storing leftovers or to hold the odds-and-ends of crafting. If you have some old labels lying around, you can use them to denote the new use, or you can simply write on most containers with a black marker.
- Do you have socks that have permanently lost their mates? Don’t throw them out! Use them as dust rags — just slip one over your hand, spray it lightly with water, and go to town on those dusty surfaces! You can also use them as bathtub soakers — fill them with oatmeal and a variety of spices or herbs that are good for your skin, tie them at the top, and drop them into the bathwater for a fragrant treat.
- Use the plastic cases from new bedding, sheets, pillowcases, and the like to use as clothing storage. My daughter received a large comforter for her birthday, and it came in a huge plastic zippered bag. The bag now holds her summer clothes, and slides neatly underneath her bed. When warm weather hits, her storage is right there at her fingertips.
- Save your old laundry containers and fill them with homemade laundry soap. You could also use the pails that kitty litter comes in to hold other household items. I took one of those pails, painted over it with a few coats of deep blue exterior paint, and now it serves nicely as an attractive mop bucket.
What can you repurpose around the home? Get creative with things you might not have considered as reusable, like those toilet paper rolls that can double as seedling starters, or the old t-shirt that would make a great cleaning rag. The options will save money in the long run!
