Talk to Me

I'm not sure if this is a frugal tip or not.  But I'm posting it anyway (my blog, my rules).

Today's tip is to talk to your grandparents.  Or your parents.  Or grandparent like people. Or parent like people if you don't have your grandparents and parents around anymore.  There is so much hidden knowledge locked up in these folks.  All it needs it a little prompting to get it started.  Think of all the great things they can tell you!  How they met (do you know how your grandparent met?), what their life was like, how they made ends meet, favorite outings, etc.  Vast stores of knowledge and memories are waiting for you.  People that won't be around forever or even if they are may not be able to tell you things as they get older due to illness, stroke, etc.  There are things I wished I had talked about with my grandpa before he had his stroke but as I was young at the time I didn't think of it then.  There are recipes I wish I had gotten from my grandma and great-grandma but now that opportunity is past.  So I urge you to tap these wondrous resources available to you!  You'll be surprised by what you didn't know!

Proper Disposal

This isn't so much a "frugalite" tip as it is a "natural" tip.

Check your local municipality's water management website, chances are they have a calendar with dates you can drop off you extra/expired medications, paints, household cleaning items, and other hazardous materials.  They can properly dispose of these items for you.  Please don't just dump of flush these items.  They get into the sewer systems and may not get completely filtered out for your (and mine) drinking water.

Places like the "Lions Club" also have drop boxes for old glasses, hearing aids, and will retire your American flag properly.  They send the glasses and hearing aids to people in needs and countries like Africa.

Check your local hospital too because they will sometimes accept unopened boxes/packages of medication to send to Africa too.

Date Your Cans

This is a little trick my grandparents use on their canned goods.  As you're unpacking them from the car into your pantry, date them.  Now you can choose either to put the date you bought the can on the top or put the expiration date on the top so it's easy to find (because they aren't always easy to find).  Whichever way you choose to do this be consistent or you'll get very confused.  Then make sure you put them in order and use the can that's closest to expiring first.