Frugal Moms

I want to talk about giving a second life to old things.  Everyone has thought about how to spruce up old things to look like new, but what about a whole new thing from something completely different.  Let me explain.  If you have a 5 gallon bucket, what do you have?  Something to store stuff in, right?  Did you know a bucket can be made into drums?  (Ask any toddler or street performer)  What about a planter?  Could it be a used to make sand castles?  Could it be a way to keep your head dry, provided it isn’t dirty?

The idea here is to think of as many uses as you can for each and every item.  Why?  Well, as you can see it means that one item has an infinite amount of things it can be.  For example a bath tub.  Everyone loves a big bath tub to soak in.  But what do you do when it’s cracked?  Could it not be the tallest planter ever?  Or could it be a new sand pit for the kids?  May be a kiddie pool?  A place to raise ducks or chickens while still small for food?

What about a cabinet?  A cabinet can be a tool chest, a planter, torn apart and rebuilt into numerous things, etc…  But even further think about what the PARTS of an item can do.  Th nails in a cabinet can fix a shingled roof.  The wood can stabilize a chair.  The shelves can be saved for other cabinets that are the same.  You get the point.  The most frugal practice is to give something a second, or third life.  That way you don’t have to buy what you turned that thing into, plus it’s kinda fun if you think about all the things you can make yourself.

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