Saving Money While Reducing Clutter

So much stuff winds up in the landfills these days, I feel guilty every time I take the trash to the curb. We all do live lives of excess. Everything is readily available to us, all those little things that make life easier. Fortunately for the planet there are lots of ways to reuse things. You just have to pay attention. This will be the first in what I hope is a series of how to use things we normally throw away.

Every time I clean I come across something that has outlived it’s usefulness, the challenge is coming up with a new use for it. Start thinking outside the box and you will find yourself spending less money.

Take odd socks for instance. I know in my house every time I do laundry there is a sock that has lost it’s mate. I have a bag full of them. What to do? Here are some ideas.

Put socks over the legs of furniture when you move it to protect the floor.

Use a sock to give a baby a bath. It’s soft, fits over your hand and you won’t drop it while trying to wrestle a slippery baby.

Do the car seat straps dig into your little ones neck? Take the straps off, cut the toes off thick socks and slip them over the straps. The do double duty as they soak up the inevitable baby spit up as well and can be thrown in the washer.

Use the ribbing from a sock as a can cozy to absorb condensation.

Everyone knows that socks are great for dusting. Put one on each hand and the job is done in half the time.

Tie knots in an old tube sock and it makes a perfect dog toy.

Ice or heat pack. Fill the sock with ice and tie it off. Or, fill it with rice, tie it and heat in the microwave.

Store taper candles in old socks. It will keep the dust off them and keep them from getting scratched up in the drawer.

Soap on a rope, kind of, save your soap scraps, put them in the toe of a sock, tie it off and you have a soapy scrubber in the shower, or for the kids to use in the bath.

It’s amazing how you can re purpose things instead of throwing them away and buying something with a fancy name. What other uses can you come up with for odd socks?