I don’t consider myself to be a frugal guru, but over the years I have found myself looking for ways to re-use items. It seems as though so many items can have more than one use, and I enjoy trying different things to challenge my creative abilities. Here are a few frugal ideas for items we re-use here in the Not Made Of Money household:

1. Freezer bags. We have made it a habit to re-use our freezer bags if they have only held bread or another non-meat item. This works great for cupcakes, cookies and muffins that I will bake in large batches and freeze for use at a later time.

2. Old clothing. We cut up old clothing to be used for craft projects. I am talking about really worn clothing, like jeans that have faded, zipper broken, holes in the knees, etc. We cut up the material into squares that the kids use for craft projects. We’ve made doll purses and teddy bear sleeping bags! You could also make up a quilt kit from fabric scraps to give as a gift or make patches for appliques.

3. Junk mail. We use junk mail for scrap paper. We let the kids draw on these papers, use them for origami, or cut them up for collages. You could also run junk mail paper through your shredder to be used as packing material or for placing in the bottom of a gift basket or bag.

4. Emtpy 2 liter soda or juice bottles. These can be used in a variety of ways including to collect coins or for container gardening. My kids have also used them as ant farms!

5. Gift bags we’ve received. We save all gift bags that are given to us so that we can use them again later. Gift bags are also good storage containers. I store sewing notions and bead making supplies in them.

6. Old baby clothes. We re-use old baby clothing for doll clothes. My daughter has not had to buy any clothes for her doll. She just uses the baby clothes she wore!

7. Birthday and holiday cards. We make our own birthday and holiday cards by cutting out the pretty pictures from cards that were sent to us. We take the pictures and glue them onto cardstock, writing our own poem and verse.

8. Shoe boxes. With the cost of storage bins and organizational boxes, we save money by turning our shoe boxes into decorative storage containers. Use contact paper or any decorative adhesive paper to cover the shoe box. These can also be used for shipping items.

9. Plastic grocery bags. We use these to line the wastebaskets in bathrooms. When full, the wastebasket is dumped into the larger garbage bag in the trash can and the liner stays in the wastebasket. Other re-uses for plastic grocery bags include using as packing material when mailing an item or for storing wet clothes when going to the beach or pool.

10. Plastic deli lunch meat tub. After the lunch meat is gone, we wash these out and keep the lids. These are great for storing a single serve salad that you can take to work with you. We also use these for storing crayons or markers.

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