Frugal Living    Thrift     Saving Money     Penny Pinching       Home

Frugal Living Tips and Frugal Living Articles for
Frugal Happy Families

The Frugal Library

Search Frugal and Simple Living Sites by Keyword Below

 

 

Welcome to one of the thousands of pages on Frugal Happy Families.

Recycling vs. Clutter by Nikki Willhite Do you ever feel that Nikki Willhite is sending you mixed messages about clutter? In one article she is telling you to get rid of clutter to make your lives easier. Then you read her telling you to save all the "stuff" that comes into your homes and recycle it if possible. Sounds like she is talking out of both sides of her mouth to me! As the sometimes sane mind of Nikki, let me explain. You have to decide how much "stuff" to keep and recycle, repurpose or reuse. Your decision should be based on the size of the items, how often they are used, and their potential value to you. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF CLUTTER vs RECYCLING Small Items If you purchase soft pics to clean your teeth, you know that they come with a very small hard plastic storage case. These can be reused for many things. I use them to dispose of old sewing machine needles. It is difficult to dispose of needles. You can't just throw them in the trash. They are sharp and pointed, and you don't want anyone to be hurt handling the trash. I put them in a soft pic container, snap it shut, and throw it in the trash without worry. Perfect! These little cases are also good for aspirin and other medicine. However, you do have to be mindful about pills that are out of their original containers, and it is a good idea to write on the case. Small pic cases can also be used to hold money. Basically, small pic containers can hold anything small that you want to keep protected, want to put in your pocket or throw in your purse (with the expectation of being able to find it again). These small cases do not take up much room. Since I use them for a lot of purposes, I usually keep all of them. -------------------- Medium Items An example of a medium sized item is an empty peanut can. There are several ways to use these cans. I've never found anything as convenient as empty peanut cans to hold small amounts of paints for touching up walls or painting moldings. Many people use them to organize screws and nails in the garage. How many of these cans you keep on hand would depend on how often you paint, your storage needs, and how often you go through a can of peanuts. Also, if you buy foods like peanuts in bulk, you may want to keep the larger amount in storage, and just a few in the pantry. If you store food, remember to change the cans periodically. Another well-used item is a shoe box. Shoe boxes stack nicely, and I couldn't begin to list all the items people keep in them. I've even been to service projects where shoe boxes were painted and decorated and given to hospitals.  The hospitals presented these boxes to  mothers to store memories from the heartbreaking loss of losing a baby at birth. -------------------- Medium-Large Items An example of a medium-large item would be a cereal box. Cereal boxes can be decorated with contact paper and used to store magazines. They can also be used to give structure to gifts. Most people go through more cereal boxes than they could possibly reuse. The nice things about cereal boxes is that they do fold up. Large plastic ice cream containers stack well, and can store a variety of items, like toys and food.  How many of each of these items you keep would depend on your needs. -------------------- Large and Odd-Sized Items An example of a large item is big box. Boxes can be broken down and folded up. If you've ever been caught without a necessary box and had to buy one, you realize that boxes are valuable.   I keep almost every box that comes into my home for mailing purposes. Unless you have large plastic containers, you are probably storing Christmas items in large boxes.  Boxes give structure and organization to storage, but keep in mind that clutter is still clutter, no matter how well it is organized.  If you are not using something, you should get rid of it. Boxes from retail purchases are more tricky. Some of them are flimsy, but when you purchase items like electronics, you need the box and packaging to return the item if it is defective. We have a 2 month rule. After that, we figure the odds of the items working are in our favor, and we discard the boxes and packaging. Another favorite storage container for most people is a large, plastic bucket. We accumulate them from buying soap at Costco. Again, many uses for these containers. They are good to store food that you have purchased in bulk. When you buy a 25 pound bag of rice, It is usually wrapped in paper. You do not want to store it that way in case a rodent enters your home.  Your food is secure in a strong, plastic bucket. We also use these plastic buckets to store charcoal, which can store almost indefinitely, and we store a few buckets of water for emergency use.  Again, these buckets can be stacked, which saves room. One final word of caution: If something comes into your possession that you think you might be able to use, give yourself a time limit of one week to think about it. Otherwise, you may end up with a bunch of "storage wannabes." That is what junk yards are- places where items are stored that someone may (or may never) want someday. Storage and clutter is a balancing act- like most things in life. Keep that which serves you, and toss the rest. - without guilt! About the Author: Nikki Willhite, mother of 3 and an interior design graduate, has been writing and publishing articles on the topic of frugal living for over a decade. Visit her at www.frugalhappyfamilies.com - where you will find hundreds of frugal living tips and articles. Frugal Happy Families- more than just money!

 

 

 

The Frugal Network
Free Clipart	Frugal Happy Families	Mini Preppers	Scrappy Quilting	Simple Living Toolbox
Be warm, be safe;   save time and money.    Be frugal and be happy.

Home