Screw the shade ring back on, securing the shade to the socket. Electronics Bacon grease goes in these, as does other grease I may not want to save like hamburger grease. Electronic Waste Best Buy Things You Can Make Out Of Wooden Pallets Name and other retailers yok trade-in options, where you can get rid of your old equipment in exchange for gift cards. Carefully slide the other half onto the cord prong end first. The Starfish Project collects certain unused medications and pays for FedEx shipping.

Just the right price! I know in my head how much something is worth for me. Even though my husband makes 6 figures now, I still live frugally. I found this article very interesting. My grandparents lived during the depression and many of their ways of doing things have passed down to me. If you have girls who like to read, I highly recommend the American Girl Kit series.

I was an Army wife to a career soldier of 24 years. The fastest thing I learned was, when our husbands were deployed or away at training, our separate rations pay was taken out of his pay to feed him during his time away. I also bought a Learn to knit book, and taught myself to make baby blankets, kids hats, slippers, etc. I was so fortune to have those precious people in my life, and we all learned how to live through so difficult times; but those are some of my fondest, most cherished memories!!

I truly continue to use all these skills today! We Old Time spouses, just shook our heads, and reministiced about the Enlisted Wives Meetings we use to have when we were very young, the great people we met and learned from. And cut my kids hair until they went to college.

My dad grew up on a dry land farm. He was 16 years old before he ever owned a new pair of shoes. They used draft animals to do the plowing. I suppose that was one of the few times they had any spending cash. It used to drive my mom nuts. Now I wish I had all those jars that he had stashed away. Most products are now packaged in plastic. The farmers always paid the money to the parents, not the kids. So you were pulling plants with both hands while slowly walking down between rows.

He said it was backbreaking labor in the hot sun. That was how many families survived during the Great Depression. You and your family may be far better suited to survive than most.

I was raised on a ranch where I had to rise early and start the fires in the kitchen my Grams cooked on a huge wood-burning monster stove , the bathroom and the living room fireplace.

I had to milk 2 cows every morning and evening and tend to the chickens and livestock rough in the winter Your article reminded me of those days. Great article, and the comments are even more interesting and informative! My grandparents were raised during the Depression, and many lessons learned from them have helped me through some rough patches.

Having a well stocked pantry has been the biggest. Neither of my grandmothers canned, but their pantries were always full. So even in lean times, we had something to eat. When times were tough, rather than ask my parents for money, I would ask them to grocery shop for us. Gardening was another gift I learned from my grandparents and parents.

I could probably go on. Suffice it to say, I am grateful that my grandparents gifted me with some of their knowledge and habits. In the early 70s, my grandmother had an outhouse and yes, we used magazines and newspapers for toilet paper.

My other grandmother would take junk mail and repurpose it. Envelopes would be cut open and she would use the inside of the envelopes as scrap paper for making grocery lists or to-do lists.

If there was any unprinted places in the junk mail letters, she would also cut these into scraps for notes. I save buttons, used zippers, rubber bands, bottles and jars, packaging from mail, reuse blank backs of ad letters for messages, fabric scraps, old clothes for rags and mending, string, large plastic containers and self sealing plastic bags, plastic grocery bags for the library, egg cartons for the fresh egg people, cat and dog food bags to fill as we clean the cat box, card board boxes, I am saving shredded paper to make bricks to burn in our wood stove, bacon fat, all kinds of screws, nails and other hardware.

I I was fortunate enough to learn Depression era lessons from my mother and grandmother. My grandmother and mother made all of my school clothes until I was in junior high school, when I learned to sew myself in Home Ec class.

I keep, and reuse mason jars and jam jars to keep my office supplies tidy. I generally shop at thrift stores…let someone else pay full price! When clothes become threadbare, I tear them into strips and make braided twine, which I then use to make rag rugs and decorative baskets.

I also mend old quilts with fabric scraps, and still darn socks which I knit myself. I can patch jeans with the best of them and still save bacon grease in a coffee can for reuse.

I will always be grateful to my grandmother for teaching me so many valuable lessons which continue to help me to live frugally. My parents lived during the great depression.

When we cleaned out the house that they had lived in as did my Grandparents and Greatgrandmother I know that they saved everything that could be possibly used again!

They attics were stuffed. I remember as a girl seeing the flour and sugar bags laid out on the grass so the sun would bleach the writing,so they could be used for aprons, dresser scarves and pillow cases.

I had a wonderful childhood but I am glad for Thrift stores so I can donate things I no longer need. I reuse paper that is written on one side. I write on it or use it to photocopy. I always save the buttons from garments I no longer use.

I save twist ties to reuse. I wash plastic zip bags. I reuse some cardboard to make templates. When I have toast I rinse off my plate so I can use it again. Eggshells, peelings, etc. I make tote bags with web handles from feed and seed bags. I have cloth napkins we use multiple times until they need washing. I save small boxes to use as gift boxes. I make homemade bread, desserts, soups, etc.

There are not many things that go to waste in our home especially in the kitchen. Food scraps are saved in freezer for soup stock, then composted. Some are fed to chickens or directly composted. Plastic bags, tin foil and parchment are reused until no longer reusable then recycled. Rubber bands, bread ties and clips, jars of all kinds and sizes have many uses as storage throughout the home and workshop. Old clothes can be refashioned, but a better use may be to a local homeless shelter or donate to Goodwill, St Vincent de Paul, etc both have donation programs for the homeless.

Finally, there are things that must go to the garbage but that can be limited if they are not brought into the home in the first place. The most difficult thing about reusing in our household is that we have to draw a line on how much do we hold onto for that someday we can use this for something.

I my parents and grandparents went through the Depression and it not only stayed with them, but passed on to us. My grandfather used to use all our cast offs. Grammy and PaPa would cut them in strips, Grammy would sew together like colors, wind them into balls and PaPa would select the colors to make into beautiful and useful rugs.

They made soap together, they did wash together, cleaned up and washed dishes together, they canned together, he gardened and she cooked and baked. And both worked full time. Needless to say, they were my ideal of what marriage should be. I can do one better than 40 years: My parents met when they were around They married when they were about 20, and dad just passed away a couple of years ago at age 84, so 74 years together and they were still in love.

Hi, One of the frugal things I do is make my own dog food. I save veggie scraps, use it in a crock pot with a whole chicken. I then debone the chicken, and cook the bones in the broth until the bones are soft enough to mash.

I add the marrow in with the meat. Then I use the broth to make oatmeal. I add the meat, marrow ,oatmeal in with green beans, carrots and maybe some sweet potatoes or pumpkin. Meat, grains and vegetables. I usually yield about 20 pounds, which I freeze in small containers. My dogs love their food and they are super healthy. We use rags instead of paper towel, I save all my bacon grease for cooking, wash out ziploc bags and reuse till they are broken, I save the inside of cereal boxes and put my homemade bread in them instead of buying new bags.

We still live by the motto of use what you have or go without. What a nice article! This brought back a lot of wonderful memories! We used to pluck chickens for supper, Gramps fished 3 days a week and that put a lot of food on the table, that and his lovely veggie garden! Gramma made bread once a week as 2 of my uncles were still at home. Homemade everything, pies, breads, potato chips, chicken mash, liniments, dressings for cuts, candy, butter, syrup, buttermilk.

She cooked with lard and bacon grease and they lived to be in their 90s. Gramps even rolled his own smokes. Nice read, keep em coming! I am living the dream of homesteading in the big city of Toronto, Ontario Canada. It is amazing how much I do as reuse, reduce recycle from the ways they had to live in the Depression era. I try and help my friends to have a well stocked pantry, I show them how to reduce, reuse, recycle.

I learned from my Mother and Father. We were very poor and my Dad was the one who worked. My Mom stayed home with me. In the city where everyone had modern things, we had a woos stove to cook from and to heat our home.

I am not complaining at all for the way in which we had to survive. This is where and how I learned to survive and it has helped me greatly in life. And still does to this day. So I try and share the things I do.

I collect twist ties which I use for keeping all wires off the floor. Jars and containers I also save them. They do come in handy. I just bought the book by Melissa Norris Hand Made. I cannot put it down. Keep up the good work.

God Bless Debbie. In the city where everyone had modern things, we had a wood stove to cook from and to heat our home. I do nearly all these things. Part of it is our belief not to waste, and part of it necessity as our money is very tight.

We reuse nearly every plastic bag that comes into our home, including bread bags and ziplocks. I never wanted to reuse to save money when I was younger. I thought of it all as clutter, and I was working and could just rebuy. It really is a better way, both for the environment and our pockets! I try to reuse items as much as possible, but I know I have some room for improvement, but this has inspired me to do better.

I try to do most of the things mentioned here as well as a few others. When my boys were growing up and my husband was home every night he drives a truck now we had very few leftovers. I had a large covered bowl that I kept them ALL in. It was never the same but it was always good. I got an icing bucket from my local grocery store, put hooks on the sides facing down, and save my plastic grocery bags for trash bags. I have one of these small trash cans in each room including the kitchen. If it leaks i just carry can and all to the outside can then rinse out the little one.

Easy peasy. We had way to many t-shirts! I took all of our old not-so-nice ones and made bags out of them. I cut out the collar and sleeves, sewed the bottom together and hemmed the cut parts.

Instant grocery bags. I do still use the plastic ones for meats and when I need more trash bags. I then cut the sleeves open and use them as rags. I also use feed bags for trash bags. And they are free. I spent the weekend decluttering my bedroom where I had a stack of old sheets, blankets, towels and rugs. Instead of throwing them away, I am using them for pet bedding. I have barn kitties and I use old towels and blankets for them in the winter.

I downsized from a square foot house to square feet and I just have to go box by box and decide what I love. I have oodles of old vintage linens that have been passed down. I love changing them out season to season. My dad grew up in the great depression era. He has often said they were lucky to have the clothes that were covering their body because there were no others at all. There was no food and he even drank sour milk.

At 97yo, he is in his last days as I type. While going through his possessions and household stuff I have found everything he has ever owned. Every sock with plenty holes doubled with another holey sock. Every shoe with soles broken cracked or missing. Elastic pulled off waistbands to reuse. Every pair of old underwear. He never threw away anything like old lawn mowers. I was absolutely shocked and stunned at the shoes and work boots.

The used and worn appearance left me speechless. I look at these and think they need to be in a museum or someplace to show the impact of the Great Depression on people like my dad.

Or should they just be trashed? KC, Maybe you could contact the local historical society? Also, or instead, stage some photographs or find a pro to fo it and create a visual record. My grandparents lived through the Depression and my parents were children during that time. My grandma talked about those times and was someone who saved every little thing. I save jars, string although not as much as my Grandma did! I have a huge collection of old blue jeans, which I use for many things.

Every piece of clothing that is too far gone to wear or donate gets cut into rags or fabric scraps and all buttons and some zippers are saved. We repurpose scrap metal my husband makes yard art! We use the ashes from our wood fires that burn down to a fine powder and mix them with compost or soil to add nutrients back into our vegetable and flower gardens.

My mother learned to sew repurposing clothes left by boarders. Her mother was a widow with 2 children under 5 when her husband died. I save mail envelopes for list paper. Tear fabric to make ties for my veggies.

Pantyhose make stretchy soft ties foR tomatoes. I remember flat sheets ripped down the centre and sides sewn to extend the life of the fabric. There they did everything needed to survive until my Grandma finally got the job as Postmaster and that saved them financially.

He finally got a job at the foundry in Denver and their lives stabilized. Both sets of grandparents came from hardscrabble families. And yes, they saved everything. It always got a second or third or fourth use. This was strong in my parents and now in me. I have my own collection of buttons, sour cream containers, and lots of various jars!

As with everything, this has the bright side of learning to live within your means, being frugal with what you have. The dark side is that it can develop a poverty mindset.

That there is never going to be enough. And I have seen this, especially in my Dad. He saves everything and will spend an hour looking for a 59 cent part. I am working on this anxiety and fear in myself. Learning frugality is easiest, I suppose, when it is a choice as opposed to a necessity. Get good at it when the stakes are not so high! Great article, Melissa. That being said, my parents were born in and , not making the move to the States until Back then when they were growing up on Island, most of the niceitys were imported from England and you know how long that took my Grandmother made soap with wood ash and of course washed clothes for her 11 children on a washboard.

So you know I have been blessed with survivial skills beyond measure. I was taught, waste not want not. And am so grateful to have been given those lessons. I rarely use paper products in the kitchen.

To this day I like being prepared for the unexpected and even meet with a prepper group to learn skills, information and share sources for supplies that are good to have on hand. Growing up on a farm, we saved our used extra water to water houseplants or fruit trees out in the yard.

We would catch rainwater from the roof to use for watering plants and sometimes watering animals if they ran short. Even today, I save certain juice and milk bottles that would make good containers for carrying water while hiking. I save plastic and paper grocery bags for re-use and cardboard boxes for shipping and packing.

I remember when I was a little girl, my Father would bring big cardboard boxes home so we could cut windows and doors to make playhouses or schools so we could play teacher…. I always loved doing that. I also collect a wide variety of books because when people do not have TV, cell phones, computers, and other technology available to fill their time, folks are going to be going stark raving mad…and I will be able to hand out books for people to read or educate themselves on topics of interest and possible service.

I think it is very wise to recycle, repurpose, and plan ahead to deal with any unexpected event, whether a natural catastrophe or human-caused. My parents lived through the depression. My grandmother sewed dresses from flour bags with prints on them and would give them to my mother and aunts. I still remember her wearing them. They also lasted a long time. This article reminded me of a few things I experienced as a child.

My grandparents went through the depression, as did my parents as very young children. My paternal grandmother gave me an apron she made from a flour sack when I was about 6 years old. I still cherish it. She also had a saying about buttons. Buttons were fun for me as a child. I made zizzers from the large ones and sewed smaller ones onto my doll clothes. But, we did not waste anything nor throw anything away that could be repurposed.

I follow that to a degree still. Containers are my favorite reusables. Glass and plastic are my choice. I also grow and can my vegetables and keep a small flock of chickens. How much better off people would be if they returned to a simpler lifestyle and were thankful for what they have rather than constantly wanting more. When I plan our meals for the week, I make sure that ingredients I need to purchase will be used up later in the week in other meals.

For example, I purchased a bag of spinach to top our homemade pizza, and I am using the rest in a chicken cauliflower rice soup, and veggie curry. The pork tenderloin leftovers will be used in slow cooker pork ramen. Yum, it is also a way to try new recipies.?? When I use public restrooms or anywhere paper towels are used for drying hands, I save mine. I keep them in a bag in the kitchen and some in the BR to use for dirty cleaning such as spills, grease,wiping a skillet before washing, any place you would use a paper towel to clean.

Some can be rinsed and used again then when spent they go into the compost. I do the same with napkins plus a take unused napkins from dinners, banquets, restaurants if they are left on the table they get thrown I never buy paper towels or napkins. All our meals are from scratch.

I have been under the weather for a year but getting back in the swing of things and taking over the cooking. I used to can when I lived in CT but now live in Fla and the veg here are terrible!! Any ideas?

I am guilty of all of the above, LOL! My grandmother saved all the Christmas and birthday wrapping paper and ribbons. And that is so personal. One in, one out. Just wish I could get DH in the same mindset…. I have reused household items my whole life. They lived in south Louisiana, my grandfather was a trapper and my grandmother picked crabs at a factory for 3 cents a pound. That was just a way of life for them, never having anything and she reused everything until she died in One of my favorite things to reuse is newspaper, it has so many uses but the one I swear by is to clean glass and mirrors.

Vinegar and water sprayed on and just clean with newspaper, amazing! My mom got married during the Depression. She said there were times they only had oatmeal to eat and they were happy to get that. Relatives said I was spoiled, and by their standards I might have been, but I learned a lot from my Things You Can Make Out Of Wooden Pallets Australia parents on how to be frugal and yet to be giving.

As a child, when playing with paper dolls did anyone use an ordering Things You Can Make Out Of Wood Easy Journal catalog to cut out clothes for their paper dolls? I used to do that because it made play different.

It was like shopping for clothes. Comic books were cheap, but I could only buy one once in a great while. However, I would go to Rexall and very carefully read some of the comic books.

After graduating from the University of…. Jannese Torres-Rodriguez is a first-generation Puerto Rican engineer, blogger, and…. Her education and coaching…. Jill Schlesinger is a certified financial planner and Emmy-nominated business analyst….

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