​MONEY SAVING TIP 2

keeping scraps,
​ also known as Upcycling

      What kind of scraps, you might ask? Well, any. I’ll break it down into three parts: food scraps, cloth or clothing scraps, and other. 

​                     FOOD SCRAPS
     With food scraps, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, you need to have a plan for those scraps. It’s unrealistic to save every little bit of food, unless you have pigs. If you’re like us and still daydreaming of animals, you need to be kind of selective with your scraps. For you avid gardeners, most scraps make GREAT compost.  Check out Composting for more information.

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     ​Carrot, mushroom, onion, celery, pepper, and potato scraps can be saved to make stocks with.  I keep any scraps I collect in the freezer. Sometimes I separate them by type, sometimes I just throw in what I have.   Check out my April Preservation post to get the step by step. 

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     Probably the most obvious “scraps” you can save are leftovers. That casserole you made tonight will make an excellent lunch tomorrow. Or, that chicken carcass can make an amazing stew. Or, all those odds and ends can be made into a lovely breakfast the next day. Check out the second half of this podcast from Donna Miller on how to do just that.  Honestly, I haven’t made any muffins like this yet, but it’s on the to-do list.  

         ​CLOTH OR CLOTHING SCRAPS

​          What cloth items you can stash? Old towels for cleaning rags, old socks for heating pads, t-shirts and sweaters for bags, rugs, boot warmers and more.  Pretty much any cloth item can be re-purposed, really. Depending on the space you have, and how crafty you can get, reusing all those odds and ends of cloth or clothing can add up to big savings.

​      One of my favorite things to save are jeans. I have a running project in my head of making a skirt from jeans scraps. It’s ambitious, I know, and I’m not certain if I’ll ever get to that, but it’s there. On a more realistic note, I like to use them to patch the pants we still use. I’m a bigger girl, and I have a serious case of chub rub. They just don’t make women’s jeans to last, either, so I wear through the inner thighs of my pants more quickly than anywhere else. In previous years it’s been extremely frustrating having to either: deal with it, which can become embarrassing, or get rid of them. I found, if I caught it just after rubbing through, I could patch it, from the inside, with scrap jeans. That has saved me at least 3 pairs in the last year or so.  Eventually the patch does wear out, but adding another 6-12 months to a pair of jeans headed for the trash is certainly worth it. 

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​     Don’t forget to donate any old clothes you may not have plans for. You can find drop bins all over, or call local churches, homeless shelters or community outreach centers. Other places to donate you used clothing: Salvation Army, Savers, Planet Aid or Big Brother/Big Sister. Some of those places even offer tax deductible donation receipts, if you so choose. 

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                     OTHER
     This category covers pretty much anything else you can think of; cans, jars, buckets, plastic bags, twist ties, anything really. Here's the key; don’t save things you wouldn’t use. Personally, I store all sorts of odds and ends, to the point where Caveman thinks I’m nuts. But it really does cut down on the items we have to purchase. 

     To keep things organized, I would suggest a notebook, or your own Pinterest board with your ideas. Then, try to complete one or two each month. Check out our Pinterest board “Upcycle Crafts” for some great ideas.