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Throwing Money Away
By Daphne | March 19, 2008
What you throw away may be costing you money.
Look at what you are throwing away before you toss it. You could save yourself some money.
Some plastic sprayer bottles are recyclable and are refillable. Liquid hand soaps, dishwashing detergents do not pose the same type of health hazard if plastic leeches into the product. Why buy a new bottle of a cleaner with a sprayer when you could just buy a larger bottle for just a little more which will often last twice as long since you aren’t buying the spray bottle.
Liquid hand soaps and detergents may be purchased in larger containers and you can just refill a smaller bottle as needed.
What else do you throw away that could cost you money? Do you get rid of magazines and other subscriber publications with labels? Let’s say you have finished reading your magazine and want to give it to a nursing home or pass it on to someone. No problem. Remove the label and shed it before passing it on. There is a lot of information on a label that could be used to redirect a magazine subscription and lead to identity fraud.
Make sure that you flip through magazines if you don’t plan to read them right away to see if there are any important bills or notices inside. I had a bill that I thought I never received for a credit card. I knew when it was due, so I just paid it. Then a few weeks later when I went to read the magazine, the mailman had stuck the bill inside of the pages of the magazine and I hadn’t found it. If I hadn’t known when my the bill’s due date was I would have been stuck with paying additional fees and interest.
Do you ever have a need to send a package and often purchase things online? Save the boxes. Reuse the boxes so you will not have to buy one and also save the packing material as well.
Sometimes the expiration date on food items isn’t an expiration date but a sell by date. If you have something that is still edible and no traces of spoilage then eat it. Sometimes if food is not stored properly the expiration date may be moot.
Before you throw away a pen, see if it is refillable. If it is then you can save money by buying refills rather than buying a new pen. Plus, this will take less space in a landfill or garbage dump.
Use things up completely before you throw them away and you will save money. Sort through you trash. If you do a little everyday or have a special receptacle for recyclables then you will also save because the environment will be cleaner.
Don’t throw paper away. When you print something from your computer and won’t use it because it has a mistake on it, unless the page has sensitive information on it. Reuse the back side for scratch paper or children’s drawings.
Think before you toss, your wallet will thank you.
Topics: March 2008 |