Does anyone else hoard reusable shopping bags like I do? I have at least 40 of them that I have gotten for really cheap or free over the past couple of years. I love my reusable bags. I just wish they weren’t so bulky to carry around.
My obsession with reusable bags
I have lots too but never counted them. I love the variety and love the free ones even better.
I LOVE MY BAGS!!!! I’m obsessed with them!! I have about 11 or 12 all of which were free (except one!). I love them!! I’ve saved about $25 since I started using them. Love love love them!!! I want more!!!
I got a clear plastic drawstring bag with an order once from Hyena Cart. Probably a baby sling, diaper bag (big enough to hold cloth diapers!) or cart cover. I shove all my bags in there. That way I can kinda see which ones are where to dig around when I need them.
To discourage the baggers from messing things up, I either bag myself, or I will often put a bag on the counter and then the items on top of it that I want to go in there. That way, the cashier can just pull the bag out and fill it up as she scans the items. They also don’t overfill the flimsier ones that way.
As for forgetting them, I got several Chico Bags (i think chicobag dot com) through a co-op for $2.50 each plus shipping. They’re wonderful, and like the pricier wal-mart ones, fold up into their own little drawstring carry bag and have a carabiner clip. Easy to keep a few in my purse, or if I think of it ahead of time, I’ll clip a couple to a loop on my purse. They’re also good for cold/wet items, as they’re nylon, I think.
I was about to order the canvas bag you showed the other night from Vista Print for trick-or-treating, but we have 2 kids, so I’d have to buy one or get creative, and even so, 2x$4.41 is a little more than we can afford at the moment. So today while in Publix, I picked up two of the cute Halloween ones. They’re adoralble, the kids will love them, and they’re reflective or something too, which is a bonus.
I also have a few of the cooler-type ones, as I live about halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville, and none of the really good groceries are truly local. I have to travel about an hour to shop the good stores, so I have to have cooler bags for the ride home.
My dad used to call me the bag lady for my tote bags, then later for my purses. Now it’s for my reusable shopping bags. I even use the heavy walmart cloth ones to hold my newspapers waiting to go to the recycle station!
I got most of mine from a huge Oil and Gas conference that I have to attend every year for work. Most all of the companies use them for their giveaways. Some companies also use beach bag sized ones. The only ones I have paid for are two super cute ones from Toys R Us. T=One carries my coupon binder, they are sturdier than most. I have also used the Toys R Us ones for gift bags for Wedding and baby showers. I just fill them with goodies from my stockpile and I am all set.
I got a bunch from Kohl’s – they’re really nice, huge, strong handles, reinforced stiff flat bottoms, really fantastic for not only groceries but packing to go on trips, on planes (they still fit under the seat on a plane), moving from one house to another, etc. The price was $1.99 each but I used a couple $5 coupons and got 6 for $1.94 plus tax. They live in the car and go to every store (esp the ones that give bonuses for using them like Target and CVS).
I love my reusable bags. My favorite are the ones with the plastic insert in the bottom. Those can hold a ton of stuff. Where we lived before, I bought a bunch that were submarine specific and embroidered my name on them. Because they are so sturdy and personalized, I don’t think I can get anything better. It has saved me from buying more of them. Sometimes I forget to take them into a store, but then I have them put all my stuff back into my cart and I bag when I get to the car.
All of mine are kept in our truck at all times so I cant forget them!!
Wow…I thought I was the only one who “collected” resuable bags! Anytime I see a cute one….I reach for it, then remember that I have about 25 at home!
Oh yes, I’ve got dozens as well. All free, too! I’ve never paid for any of them! I’ve got the same monster-face publix bag that you have! We got it free last autumn, along with another Halloween one, and my kids used them for trick-or-treating. My son loves to help me pack the bags when we go to Target – he uses as many as he can so we get lots of nickels back. ;-)
Can I just ask those of you who use them to do one thing? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep them clean!!! Once when I was about to put my groceries on the conveyer thing the cashier said “Wait! Don’t put those up here until I clean the counter! The last customer had reusable bags and they were full of pet hair!” EWWWWWWWWW!!! It just grosses me out to think about what people may be tracking INTO the store from their home!!!
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
omg i just gave a bunch away when we moved … i had a regular size moving box full of them, but kept the really big and pretty ones…..
I probably have 50 or 60 of these!! I have some for every season (I love the toys r us ones…so cute) I actually just got 4 this weekend from some company at the fair…picked on up everyday to carry around my stuff in…they are huge..and free!! I also put all of mine folded up in a big one to carry in to the store. I do miss the target bags for trash bags..but don’t want to pay .05 each.
I don’t think I have 40 but maybe 25-30!
I LOVE the Ikea ones. I use them to carry laundry because they are so huge. When I have to pick up in a hurry because someone is coming over, I just put one in the middle of the room and quickly throw everything in it. I love them and they are only fifty cents!
I have quite a few and didn’t pay for any of them! One of the Walmarts that is local to me only uses reusable bags. So if you don’t bring your own, you gotta buy. I would rather bring my own…
reuseit.com has resuable bags that fold up to go in your purse or bag. Check out the workhorse type.
I have at least 30 of them. All from the stores I love to shop but the funny thing is I will end up using a Walgreens bag at Rite-Aid or a Walmart bag at Kroger’s. I need to really focus more on putting them in the car I after I empty them out in the house.
Great post because we can all relate and laugh about how many we “hoard”. LoL
I like them too but like everyone else I forget to take them with me. I even have them in the car.
I like the idea one lady had aobut doing the free window decal from Vistaprint to remind her to take them in.
YEP…I am having a difficult time not buying all the cute ones at Publix right now! We have cute soft sided cooler totes as well…and a ton of cute freezer packs to go with those…NEVER enough!
Oh, I am so with ya!! I have a ton. I have a weakness for the TJ Maxx ones, there is always a new design when I go and they are just so cute! Oh, and good thing I don’t have an Ikea around, I wanted all of them. They were awesome though, they zipped!
o yea i suffer from it too…wonder if there is a TV show for this addiction!!!!!!
I LOVE reusable bags! I haven’t bought a gift bag or wrapping paper in two years, everyone gets gifts from me in reusable bags, its become a running joke in my world, lol.
I keep all of mine too! Though I generally end up tossing any that aren’t canvas, since they don’t hold up adequately, but I love keeping them and finding new uses for them or toting them back and forth to/from stores instead of bringing home plastic bags all the time! (though I sort of have a love thing for paper bags, too! LOL)
I fold all mine up and store them in one bag. So instead of 17 loose bags, I have one bag with 16 folded up bags in it. My older DD loves to carry them into the store so she has a job while mommy carries her little sister. The girls get them as gift bags from their Nana, so she is fueling my addiction lol.
Funny, I do the same thing!!!! I have had a few people (baggers – usually the…um ‘challenged’ ones ?!?) who decide to dump the entire bag of bags out to use the ONE that is holding everything. It took me a while to be assertive and gentle enough to tell them not to use that bag. They don’t understand I want them to just pull out the ones that they need. They usually don’t understand why, so I just help them until they catch on. Then they do it to me the next time I come :) Does that happen to you? (I don’t mind, just find it funny :)
Kristin,
you are not the only one! I have so many of them, at least 30….I have never paid for one, they are all giveaways or freebies or given to me. Good thing too cause our grocery stores are starting to charge .05 a bag or even do away with plastic bags. See if you lived in Oregon you would be all set!
I have found my people.
Disney.
bags.
coupons.
If you tell me that you won’t let your daughter leave the house without a BIG hair bow, we’ll need a blood test.
Emily- a little girls outfit is not complete with a HUGE hairbow!! Check out http://www.sosweetsewing.blogspot.com for some very cute hairbows!!
You should look at this for bows http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Martinez-GA/Sweet-Bellas-Beautique/139534682749349
I just can’t get into using them!!! I have a few but always forget to bring them with me when I go to the store. Plus I really don’t want to HAVE to carry one more thing INTO the store…..aren’t 2 kids, a purse and a diaper bag enough!?!?!??!
I make my 4 year old responsible for carrying them in…and remembering! He gets so bummed when ‘he’ forgets. lol
wait where do you get those cute bags? mine are all blah!
I am not even “green” and I love those stupid bags!!! LOL
Hey CTD!! Um, I am pretty sure I have the same obsession. I already had about 30, and just bought 10-12 more on my last trip because I got them all for less than a dollar. My sister and her husband also brought me back 4 bags from Disney last week. I would say I have about the same amount as you, if not more. Yes, I need intervention LOL :)