10 Free Everyday Things that Save Us Money

Years of paying down debt has shown us that, while bringing in more money is a wonderful way to accelerate debt reduction, it is not always possible. Living with multiple chronic illnesses, there have been many many years that I have not been able to work outside the home, so it has been my focus to search for ways that allow us to stretch our dollars further.

Although we use more than 10 free things in our lives we wanted to share our most used free items…

Plastic Grocery Bags

We realize that plastic is a huge issue for our planet and we are working to reduce our use of it, but not all stores are welcoming to reusable bags these days. While we avoid them when we can, we make sure to put every single plastic bag we do receive to good use. We use grocery bags to line our small trash cans and pick up dog waste. I have also used bread bags to put over my kiddos shoes when it was extremely wet outside and they wanted to go outside and play. Plastic grocery bags also make great shower caps.

Plastic Food Grade Buckets

We try to purchase many of our staple items in bulk, such as popcorn, oatmeal, rice, and beans. To extend their shelf life, we store them in food grade buckets with oxygen absorbers. You can obtain buckets from the deli departments in big box stores as they just throw them out when empty. You may have to check back a few times before you get any, but we have never had to pay for them.

Rags

Every single piece of material that is in too poor of condition to be donated, such as clothing, sheets, or bedding, is cut up into rags. I make sure to put them in a central location so everyone knows where they are and they are easily accessible. This saves us a lot of money on paper towels. If the mess is too disgusting, the rags are just thrown away. Otherwise, they are bleached with the kitchen towels on wash day.

Fallen Limbs

One of the free activities that we enjoy year around is either a fire in our fireplace or a bonfire outside when the weather is more favorable. We pick up fallen branches from not only our own property but also others. Most people would be thrilled to have fallen limbs carried off so they don’t have to deal with it themselves; just make sure to ask permission first.

Glass Food Jars

OK, this is one of my favorite ways to save money! There are so many reasons why I love them but my main reason is because I can store food in them and see exactly what is in each of the containers, which helps us reduce food waste. I use some of them as drinking glasses, and have also found them useful to store small office or sewing supplies, and even candies.

Newspapers

We do not subscribe to our local newspaper, but we still receive a free weekly paper that contains mostly ads. I save these and we use them to start fires, as padding when shipping packages, and even as wrapping paper. I have also used newspaper to wash windows in a pinch.

Visits to the Library

I know I talk about the library a lot, but I can not overstate the vast amount of resources available to you at your local library. Your local library offers so much more than books. Just this week I was there sending a fax (free at the library) for my employer. While I was waiting for confirmation, I wandered into the teen room since it was empty and they had ready-to-go activities in bags with video instructions on Instagram. I was able to pick up several different ones for each of my younger daughters. Every time I visit, I am surprised by something new they have to offer. During this time when most of us are not getting out as much, having a stack of books or movies is always a blessing. Our local library also has board games and cooking items available for check-out.

Boxes

We have found saving cardboard boxes to be extremely helpful. We have used smaller boxes as hideaways for our guinea pigs, large boxes to line our chicken coop, and to put under our cat’s litter boxes making cleanup much easier. We also use them to ship packages and have even used cereal boxes to create magazine holders. Cardboard can be burned in a pinch, composted and, of course, if you can’t find a use for it in or around your home, almost all types of cardboard can be recycled.

Compost

Mr. SF built a very simple and inexpensive large container to place our yard waste, food scraps, and even shredded paper and torn cardboard to create new soil. It was amazing the first time we were able to use our composted soil for our garden and it was completely free.

Scrap Paper

Nearly everyone is overwhelmed by paper these days; it seems to appear out of thin air and clutter our homes. To avoid waste, we use our excess paper in several ways. As we mentioned above, shredded paper can be composted into future soil, and it can also be helpful for starting fires. Our printing mistakes are used as scrap paper for taking notes; I’ve found the scrap useful to write letters on the clean side to the point that I’m saving money by no longer buying stationery. If you have children, you can leave a stack of repurposed paper out in easy reach for your children’s many artistic endeavors.

To be clear, I am not an advocate for filling your home with stuff that you may be able to use, “sometime”. Instead, I want to encourage you to think about things you use every day and figure out a way to find it for free or how some of them can be repurposed.

Are there items in your life that you get for free and you find very useful? Do you have additional uses in your life for some of the items we mentioned above? Please take a moment to share your knowledge and ingenuity with the rest of us by leaving a comment.

As always, thank you for stopping by, and stay frugal!