Use it up!

[TinyFish]

Hi all,

I have a fun idea for a 'challenge' of sorts. It is related to frugality and not wasting.

Do you maybe have a stash of something somewhere that you have half forgotten about?

To give you an example: I was sorting through my undies drawer and found 7, yes 7, bars of soap. Think that's enough for two people?!! We'd buy a pack of soap, or someone would give us some as a present and we'd stash the extra there to make our clothes smell nice. Half the time I'd forget it was there and I KNOW hubby never remembers it is there when he's hollering for fresh soap. So I grabbed up those bad boys and put them in the bathroom and made sure hubby knew where they were too. We are going to use them up! I joked we have a lifetime suppy!

Another example is some fertilizers I have for my aquarium. I don't seem to remember to put them in regularly. Well, now they are parked right next to the water changing stuff so the tanks get a dose at least once a week, which is better than nothing and means I'm using it up! We also never need to buy dog treats ever again. How did we end up with so many?

The other day I cleaned out the freezer and found half a bag of frozen croissants from Christmas. Seems we buy them for the holidays and special occations, bake half of them and then the other half languishes in the freezer until the next Christmas, when they are usually too old to eat. I defrosted those yummy treats and we had Christmas morning in July, yum!

Maybe you have a little pile of sample-sized toiletries that need using up? Or makeup that you always forget? Or a shirt you bought and always forget to take the tags off of and wear? Or a box of brownie mix you keep meaning to bake? Or something you keep saving for a special occation?Let's all find something to use up! Enjoying and using what we have is almost the same as saving money!

Of course, if you have something that is serious clutter you should just declutter it, but some things you can use (like soap) if you just know it is there and maybe make it more convenient. Anyone with me on this?

-TinyFish

[poundwise]

We 'use it up' when we get near the end of a month and have run out of grocery money. Rather than exceed the budget, we turn to our cabinets and use anything and everything we have to finish out the month. Fortunately, we have become quite good at utilizing the grocery money, still, its nice to know we have 'back-up supplies' in the kitchen.

As for tolietries -- trial sizes, samples, etc. -- we keep those in a bin under the bathroom sink and use them when traveling. We can also use them in pinch if the need for some shampoo or whatever arises.

[med12]

Funny, we're doing this now with our freezer to save some money on groceries. But, we will eventually need to re-stock obviously.

One thing that I found the other day and plan on using tomorrow is a jar of artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. I'm going to make a crab dip with them. Not sure how long they've been in the pantry but they will be gone tomorrow!

This makes me want to clean out my cupboard and see what I can use up!

[LuxLiving]

Great Challenge -- I already posted about this in another thread -- It appears from my cupboards that at some point in the past -- ???when??? I was planning to do a Great Deal of baking and have a BIG BUNCH of brown sugar in my cabinet. Right now it is WAY TOO HOT for me to even consider baking AND although I'm out of white sugar and I'm determined not to make another grocery run til next week -- THEREFORE, I'm using my brown sugar in my coffee and making 'Toffee Coffee' each day!

How to meet your challenge -- I've put on next week's menu a Squash Soup -- It's not a recipe I make often but all the ingredients have been hanging around (it's from canned stuff) in the pantry for some time now. It'll be Soup & Supper night soon!

Thanks for the boot to the bum to get me to actually plan on it. I've been spotting that stuff each time I enter the pantry area and saying -- "I really need to use that up!" Now it's written on THE MENU PLAN!

Gotta go search the house for other items!!

-LuxLivingFrugalis

[PrincessPerky]

Paper! I seem to have an endless supply of paper (one sided) I keep finding new ways for the kids to use it up..coloring, paper airplanes..cutting..I actually managed to make a 'chain' of hearts, I was soo proud of myself

[cashqueen]

Hmmm, I have a pork tenderloin in the freezer that's been there a while. Maybe I will figure out something for our Sunday dinner and there will definately be plenty of leftovers. I also know I have a few cans of soup in the pantry that have been sitting around for a while. I don't know if I can get myself to eat hot soup when it's 100 degrees outside but I will try. Hmm, the tenderloin - what to do with it? I don't cook (at all) so this will be the real challenge for me.

[LuxLiving]

Cashqueen - Love your handle!! This may sound weird but I do it all the time w/pork chops, might work w/pork tenderloin. Pour about 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of pickle juice on it in the crockpot - in effect it's a very cheap marinade - especially frugal if you were just going to toss the pickle juice.

[pearlieq]

I'm desperately trying to use up all of my surplus lotion, but there's only so much moisturizing one needs!

[greedy4chips]

Every 3 months we move all of our stock up items from our freezer in the basement up into our kitchen freezer and use them up. That way nothing gets wasted to freezer burn or just plain too old to eat.

[TinyFish]

BTW, here is an idea for using things up during the holidays:

Every year my mother has a little party either a little after Christmas or on New Years day (adjust accordingly to your own holidays, of course). In her circle, whenever there is a party, it is pretty much always potluck and everyone brings something.

For the after holidays party, everyone brings the TONS of extra fancy food they accumulated with the holiday. Empty nesters who get gifts of meat from their companies bring that ham or turkey. People who get big baskets of fruit or other goodies from business contacts bring those. People bring food gifts they don't like or can't eat, such as a diabetic who was given candy, or someone who doesn't drink brings a bottle of wine. People who baked a few thousand too many cookies in a fit of enthusiasm are glad to get rid of some before they go stale. And of course, just about everyone has half a pie or something that needs finishing. My mom rounds everything out by providing soda, beer, etc.

It seemed a strange idea at first, but everyone loved it!

BTW, does anyone but me have trouble stopping guests from 'bringing something'? Sometimes I just want to do the whole meal myself and treat everyone, but they still show up with tons of stuff. And I'm not talking about the token bottle of wine or flowers. Sometimes they bring more volume of food than I prepared! It is very generous of them, but with only two folks in the house to eat it up it feels very wasteful sometimes.

-TinyFish

[DivaJen]

There was someone doing a pantry challenge - Dido? - in her blog. That is something I could stand to do.

Another area? Yarn, and fabric. I haven't been doing a lot of sewing or knitting/crocheting lately, but those are areas where I have things to use up before buying more.

[rob62521]

Every so often I check the pantry to see what's been in there awhile and try to plan a stew, soup, or casserole. I like greedyforchip's idea on rotating meat from the basement freezer to the upstairs one. Sounds like you are organized!

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by pearlieq

I'm desperately trying to use up all of my surplus lotion, but there's only so much moisturizing one needs!

I bet there is a playdough type recipie out ther for hand lotion somewhere...

[boefixepa]

Nice thread...this is half the reason behind my No Grocery Shopping challenge. I need to make myself use up what I have so that I can rotate it all. Really sometimes I just go to the grocery store for the sake of going, not because I need anything!!!

Ask me in a month or two and I am sure I will have some interesting stories.

[creditcardfree]

It's like shopping in your own home!! It's not just about food and toiletries, maybe there's an unfinished craft project that could be worked on.

[funnyvalentine]

oh, i have beads everywhere, and whenever i get the jones for something new, i make something,,,,,

[Cheetahwoman7]

I use up most of the shampoo and body wash samples I get by putting them in my "permanent" bottles. For me, most shampoo is the same, so it doesn't matter if it gets mixed up. I take the small sample bottles and dump them into my giant pump bottle, add a bit of water, and shake it all up. Works fine for those shampoo samples and body wash samples that seem to multiply so quickly. I don't have a permanent bottle for conditioner...yet.

For the little flat plastic/paper/foil packages of shampoo and conditioner, I use them when I travel. If I leave one behind, no worries.

[jodi]

Great thread! I too am guilty of having things stashed and forgotten...just found a biscuit mix that expired in 2003 when I was cleaning out the cupboards today for our camping trip. Oops!
We definitely are coming up with some creative ways to use the produce from our garden. We usually have 2-3 veggies at every meal. I don't like to see anything go to waste. But I am very guilty of letting things linger in the pantry and freezer for FAR too long.
Hmmm...maybe I will try to join in this challenge when I get back from camping next week. I can certainly think of some scrapbooking supplies that would give me great pleasure to use up. And now that I think of it, there is just too much ice cream taking up space in the freezer too

[TinyFish]

Pearl,

Don't feel like you have to use up all the lotion this week! I meant it as more a general challenge to get things out and start using them up. I'm sure not going to use up 7 bars of soap any time soon. I'd wash away my enthusiasm.

-TinyFish

[PRICEPLUS]

Use it up. Wear it out. Make due. Do without. Being organized really helps when you are trying to use what you have first.