I occasionally purchase the Hefty EZFoil pans for different reasons. Since the pans usually come in 2 packs, they’re great for making double recipes of your favorite casseroles and freezing half. They’re made to be disposable, but why toss them? They’re not ruined after just one use. They can be washed and reused! Even when you use them to bake casseroles in, you can get 3 or 4 uses out of one. Plus, you can usually find some on clearance after the holidays with special holiday designs on them!
I also discovered the Gerber Take ‘n Toss sippy cups when the kids were little. They’re inexpensive and made to be disposable. But are also washable and reusable. I made two packs last for years!
So next time you’re about to toss something out, think twice. You could be throwing money away if it’s something that could be reused!
Be sure to catch up on all the previous Let’s Save Some Money posts.
I used to teach 1st grade science at a homeschool academy; now teach 2 y.o. preschool and my husband knows not to throw any kind of container out without checking with me! Everything can be transformed into some kind of craft or school supply! He used to complain about all the containers I had around until he started being a den leader for our son’s boy scout troop….
I bought a nice 25 piece Ziploc set at Sam’s club. It’s all toddler stuff. Cups with straws, sippy cups, small and large snack bowls. All with twist on lids. Love them so far. Hope they last a while like my Take and Toss cups did.
And gardening! Save cans w/ cool looking labels and start spices in them in your kitchen window. Also milk cartons work really great for seeds because you can transplant them straight into the ground when it’s warm enough.
I have more Take n Toss cups and bowls than I know what to do with! They are great and a lot more durable than one might think. I’ve been reusing the same batch for years. Plus they are supposed to be BPA free.
I organize all of my receipts in empty baby wipe containers. They are the perfect size and you can make little dividers to separate stores or like me I have one for each kind of store labels on the outside (grocery, drug store, other) for the year. Plus they stack easily!
i like the idea of saving glass peanut butter jars for food items. Then you don’t have to worry about the “plastic leaching into food” problem. The big glass pickle jars are also great for things like oatmeal.
Looking in my cupboard, I found another idea. I use old pill bottles to store bulk spices. I guess I reuse containers more than I thought!
That’s a good idea!
I use empty jars (salsa, pickle, spagetti, ect) as grease containers for hamburger grease when cooking spagetti or emptying the grease trap on my indoor grill.
We also use baby wipe containers to use as portable toy boxes to keep in a car. Fill them with cars or legos and they are good to go. Also saw on TV where someone used an empty tissue box (the square klnd) and use it to store thier plastic (walmart type) bags in. Though that was a great Idea!! Also saw someone use a clorox wipe container for the same reason.
I agree with the others above that formula containers are very versatile. I use ours for storing change, crayons, and other small odds and ends.
I also have a big collection of peanut butter jars that I’ve saved. I like them for storing homemade marinades and other liquids that would leak out of a tupperware container.
My grandpa made an awesome storage system in his workshop. He glued (or screwed, I can’t remember!) the lids to glass baby food containers to the underside of a shelf. He filled the containers with nails, screws, etc. and just screwed them back onto the lids. It was a convenient system that maximized the space in his tiny workshop!
A few tips we do at our house,…reuse plastic shopping sacks from the grocery store to for “trash bags” in small trash cans around our house, also wrap a few around a breakable item when packing…keep a few in diaper bag for messed up clothes, or dirty diapers. Take them out when you walk your dog to clean up any messes they might make…
I use Starbucks Frappaccino glass bottles to hold things like buttons, embroidery thread, and other craft supplies.
Hilshire Farm lunch meat is sold in a Gladware type container. I save those to use. They are exactly the same as the brand name containers you’d buy at the store.
Similac containers are great for painting, easy to hold and if you don’t use all of the paint you can put the lid on and use it later. We use wipe containers or takeout containers to organize small items in the pantry like packets of ketchup or soy sauce and taco seasoning etc. I also let my daughter play with smaller containers like spices, sour cream etc in her play kitchen. Instead of buying play food for her kitchen she uses the real thing. (Cleaned out of course!)
The paint idea is awesome!
We also use coffee containers for paint, they are great to hold onto and resealable as well! Just a tip for those who do not purchase similac but drink coffee!
That’s a great idea, too!
Plastic Pampers Baby wipes containers – we use them to store plastic fashion playsets. One has disney princesses, one has fairies, one has game tokens, and so on and so on. :)
I make bento style lunches for my kids and we use the plastic containers that come in the Pilssbury sweet rolls as compartments in lunch boxes for fruit, nuts and dips. I also use yogurt containers for the kids to take snacks outside…we don;t buy single serving packets. Similac containers make great craft and small toy storage (still have mine from two years ago)
My country crock containers hold crayons, hold dishwasher packs, kitchen counter garbage as I am cooking, oh yeah and butter too! lol
Just an fyi, look at the recycling code on the plastics. Many of the take out containers are coded with a one, and not meant to be reused for consumption purposes as it leaches more estrogen chemicals, etc. You can find this info easily on the web. Here is just a simple one to read…..
http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/plastic.jsp
Been reading how to reuse everyday items for learning projects. Plastic easter eggs was mentioned on a blog for teaching basic reading. Write in permanent marker on the left half near the seam something like “m”, then turn the half a little each time you write another letter “b, j, l, d, h, r, t” etc. On the right half write “ug” so it lines up with a letter on the . The halves can be twisted to read the next word.
I reuse plastic milk jugs as buckets for crafts items like the kid brushes and pants. Cut off the top with the spout but leave the handle. Make the opening big enough to place items inside. Have also used the buckets for berry picking.
Whoops. Meant jugs for brushes and paints. It stores easy on a shelf and if the items. I write the contents on each jug where the label was.
Please excuse the errors. Sick kids and I’ve had a couple of hours of sleep. :(
Hope they feel better! :( All good idea. :)