Frugal Living Tip of the Day

I recently moved into an established household in which recycling isn’t part of the vocabulary. Twice a week the trash bin was packed so full that there were additional bags sitting on the curb next to the already large container. I saw another, smaller container in a corner of the garage and when I asked, my partner and my roommate both thought it was just another trash bin. It wasn’t.

It was a recycling bin that had never been used. On the top of the bin was listed the items that can be recycled (currently only #1 and #2 plastics, newspaper, cardboard and office paper). Needless to say I jumped on the opportunity to cut down on the trash and though met with a bit of skepticism, the amount of garbage has been cut in half and the recycling bin sits on the curb once a week.

Michael,

I know this may not be your area of expertise but I was wondering if you knew anything about recycling. My neighborhood offers curbside recycling but that little blue bin just stares at me and I am always paranoid that I am going to put the wrong stuff in it and get the garbage collectors mad at me.

Help!
Charles in Houston

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Charles,Don’t be ashamed, a lot of people are confounded about recycling and most just get so frustrated that they don’t do it at all.

The first thing you should do is to check with your local municipality to find out exactly what can and can not be recycled. The most common mistake among recyclers is that they just toss everything in the bin and in some cases those items (most commonly plastics) cannot be recycled at all and must be tossed later at the recycling center.

There are numbers imprinted on the bottom of most plastics that can give you the information you need to go from there. There are seven numbers on plastics and most localities recycle number 1 (PET) and number 2 (HDPE) plastics. Some examples of each include:

1. PET - plastic soda bottles, boil-in-bags from rice, mouthwash bottles

2. HDPE - detergent bottles, milk jugs

Unfortunately, the next number in the list is the least recyclable form of plastic, PVC.

3. PVC - cooking oil containers, office plastics (like binders), meat containers

If you are lucky enough, your area may allow you to recycle other plastics as well:

4. LDPE - plastic grocery bags (if you’re still using them, shame on you!) and plastic wrap. If your area doesn’t recycle the bags, check with your local supermarket. Some of them have bins for recycling your grocery bags.

5. PP - disposable diapers (how appropriate is the PP?), straws

6. PS - CD jewel cases, egg cartons, styrofoam

Then there’s the infamous number 7, which can be divided into one of two groups:

Biodegradable Plastics - while these plastics may be biodegradable you can’t let the name fool you. They must be disposed of properly at special facilities.

Compostable Plastics - non-toxic, breaks down rather quickly

I hope this information has been useful for you, Charles. Thanks for reading Frugal Living and keep recycling!

So you have found the perfect new pair of jeans, but there is only one problem. You’ve washed them a couple of times and still they are as stiff as they were on the store shelf.

What can you do?

There’s actually a very simple and frugal solution to the scratchy jeans problem and it is right there in your pantry. Next time you wash your scratchy, stiff jeans, toss in half a cup of rock salt or coarse table salt if that’s all you have on hand.

Try it, it really works!  No more itchy jeans!

There’s a new frugal site in town, and it is part of the Today.com family of blogs to boot! Frugal Moms is a new kid on the block, but it earned a bookmark from me the first time I visited. I’ve always been concerned - though I have been writing about frugal living for a long time - that I could not adequately cover some aspects of frugal living, especially those that relate to people with families since as of yet I don’t have any children of my own.

At Frugal Moms, there is a fantastic post entitled “Easily Feeding a Family of 7 on 300 a month” that has a short shopping list (all in bulk, by the way) and even a few of her favorite recipes. It is definitely worth checking out!

Look for another frugal site of the week next week!

You clip every coupon in the Sunday paper and you shop all the clearance aisles.

You buy most of your regular use products at a warehouse store (Sam’s Club, Costco, etc.).

You are the epitome of frugal, right?  Maybe… Continue Reading »

If you are anything like I am, you are surrounded by books everywhere you look. I stash them in every corner of my house and even though I have already read most of them I can’t bear to part with them.

I recently started searching in earnest for frugal uses for old books, and came up with a few ideas that are excellent:

1. By simply stacking a few hardback books and carefully using a drill, you can create a one of a kind lamp. The same principle can be applied to creating attractive book ends. Just drill a hole through the books, insert a bolt and add a decorative ornament on the top.

2. Make a clock. This is a great idea for use in a child’s room. Take a favorite children’s book (thinner is best), drill a small hole and insert a clock that is easily purchased from any local craft store. You can adhere the numbers to the face of the book if you like, or leave them off for a more artistic look.

3. Set them free. Sign on to Book Crossing and give your books the chance to find a new home.

After a short hiatus while I attended to some personal business (okay, so I was living the life of luxury and relaxing by the pool), I felt that it was high time I got back to frugal living!

I’m hopelessly obsessed with pillows.  I sleep on two (though not always the same two), I have a body pillow and always have an extra for the periodic time when the two under my head just don’t fit right in the middle of the night.  Yeah I know, I’m high maintenance.

I’m also decidedly un-frugal when it comes to bed pillows, because I have some rather serious back and neck problems and cheap pillows are literally a pain.  I have however discovered a way to increase the overall lifespan of my non frugal pillow investments, and I want to share that with you today.

Every time I change the sheets on my bed - which incidentally is not as often as I change my underwear, in case you wondered - I take my pillows outdoors (if weather permits, of course) for a few hours of fun in the sun.

The fresh air gives the pillows a chance to air out and believe it or not that helps to keep them fresher, cleaner and keeps the fibers from going flat on me quite as quickly.

Air your pillows, not your dirty laundry!