Recycle used industrial buckets and use them to store dry goods: sugar, flour, salt, rice, wheat, long-term food storage, pet food or whatever else is hanging around the house that needs protection from moisture and pests. One caveat: do not use a bucket that has formerly contained any kind of detergent, paint or other chemical; stick to food-grade buckets.
Food-grade buckets are available at most supermarkets, especially those with in-store bakeries. Just go up to the bakery counter and ask if they have any empty frosting buckets or other industrial buckets they no longer need. (The two buckets pictured above actually held eggs. Go figure.) Be sure to get the lids, too, if they will be used to store food. Lidless buckets are also useful; they make great wastebaskets or containers for gardening.
Take the buckets home and give them a thorough scrubbing with hot water and a bleach-based product. They stack nicely and are easy to label and relabel (I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to put contents and date on each bucket).
This may very well be my favorite tightwad tip ever because I love getting things free, especially things that I use all the time. Free. It feels good just to say it.
Food-grade buckets are available at most supermarkets, especially those with in-store bakeries. Just go up to the bakery counter and ask if they have any empty frosting buckets or other industrial buckets they no longer need. (The two buckets pictured above actually held eggs. Go figure.) Be sure to get the lids, too, if they will be used to store food. Lidless buckets are also useful; they make great wastebaskets or containers for gardening.
Take the buckets home and give them a thorough scrubbing with hot water and a bleach-based product. They stack nicely and are easy to label and relabel (I like to use masking tape and a Sharpie to put contents and date on each bucket).
This may very well be my favorite tightwad tip ever because I love getting things free, especially things that I use all the time. Free. It feels good just to say it.
1 comment:
This is completely absurd, but the only and immediate thing I think of, seeing those buckets, is Lincoln Logs! Because my dad had just such a tub, full of them--his from the 40s mixed with ours from the 70s. Upending that thing made the most satisfying crash, let me tell ya. Probably it is still in his garage, right this minute. I should go get that. :)
Hilariously, my verification word is an actual word, and it is "messes."
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