Frugal Friday: Using up the Bits

I haven't done a Frugal Friday post in a long time so thought with the holidays coming up it would be a good time to do one since there are always extra expenses this time of the year. I love trying to make our dollars stretch and one way I do that is by using up the bits.

I've been making hot and cold therapy bags recently. I started out having the outside covering close with Velcro but as I thought about it and fiddled with the material, I decided to get rid of the Velcro closing. Some of it is that Velcro is expensive and also messes with my machine. So I was able to change how I made it so that the outside cover encases the inner bag with a pocket. These are easy to make and use up some of my bits of fabric.

I've been making cookies for different events for a while now and whenever I have something leftover such as cinnamon and suger to roll the cookies in, I save it in a separate container so I can use it again the next time. I was able to pull cinnamon and sugar out that I had used the last time when I made snickerdoodles yesterday. Years ago I would have just tossed it.

We had French style beef stew a few days ago and there was some left over with just a bit of beef left. I also had about a cup of marinara sauce in the fridge. Last night, I browned some stew beef I had in the freezer, added it to the beef stew with the marinara sauce and then added some different spices as well as okra and turned the whole thing into gumbo. Because there were similar flavors and ingredients in the leftovers it all worked and was delicious.

When I have ends of a loaf of bread I will put them in a freezer bag and put it in the freezer so I can make bread crumbs with it.

I mentioned yesterday that Nathan was able to get a turkey for $.37 per lb. and when seasonal things are on sale I'll often stock up on them. I still have about 5 bags of cranberries in my freezer from a few years ago when I got them on sale. 

Someone gave me a Christmas tea towel last year that I'll never use as a towel but as I was looking at it the other day, I realized it if I trimmed the snowman that is decorated on the front of it that it would make a really cute pocket for an apron.

Generally if someone offers to give me fabric and trimmings I will accept it because I repurpose those in many ways. Our church participated in a craft fair last weekend and one of our vendors was selling 3 pint jars full of buttons for $6. I bought them because buttons are expensive and I will defintiely be using these.

So that's my frugal offerings this week. What are some ways you use up the bits?

One of the better ways to simplify our lives is to follow the counsel we have so often received to live within our income, stay out of debt, and save for a rainy day. We should practice and increase our habits of thrift, industry, economy, and frugality. Members of a well-managed family do not pay interest; they earn it.

~ L. Tom Perry