One Frugal Thing -- A Never-Ending Diaper Pail!
I recently wrote about how I don't have an aesthetic laundry room and I perhaps I undersold how truly scrappy it is. First off it's in our unfinished and untidy basement, complete with a concrete floor and surrounded by random items such as the rug shampooer, painting supplies, ski gear and such. There's a single unreachable filthy window, yet it functions exactly as it should.
The washer and dryer don't match, but they do their jobs. Directly to the left of the washing machine is a large plastic waste basket that initially served as my daughter's diaper pail. My thirty-year-old daughter's diaper pail from the Tidee Didee Diaper Service!
To say that it's seen a thing or two would be an understatement. However, it really doesn't matter as it serves its purpose and is big enough that we only need to empty it every six months or so.
Today was a day to dump it out as our next door neighbors are out out town, which means extra room in our shared wheelie bin. It had a number of cracks along the top, so I decided to take the ten minutes to "repair" it with duct tape.
Is it perfect? No. Is it functional enough to last another thirty years? Probably. Plastic isn't really recyclable, so continuing to use as long as possible is best. It's good enough.
To replace the bin would cost maybe ten dollars, so this isn't really a financial issue. So I guess I'll just file this under:
Behold the never ending diaper pail, may she live forevermore!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I worked the closing shift tonight and one of my regular customers came in. It was super slow and he loves to talk. I told him about the moving company ruining my tree, refusing to make it right, and refusing to give me their contact info. Guess what? This guy is a postal employee. Turns out that letter carriers have access to post office data bases via their cell phones. I now have both the jerk's home and biz addresses, and it appears he might not pay taxes bc he wasn't on the first data base my pal looked at. He is also listed on Yelp and I think I will ask all my neighbors and friends to leave 1* reviews. To quote a long ago patriot, "I have just begun to fight." LOL.
Meanwhile I got free kolaches from the coworker who brought them so free lunch tomorrow.
I'd caution you to not post your source story lest it get your source in hot water job wise. Your friends giving 1* reviews may end up being removed.
I am glad you got your info however. I know you're frustrated, I would be too. But caution is the better part of valor.
It may not have been completely ethical for him to look up this guys information and share it with you if it only for his job, so you may not want to share that he did. (I’m just naturally cautious by nature.)
Lisa, I understand your frustration with this whole situation and am sorry it happened to you. The postal carrier clearly violated rules by giving you info and opened a can of worms. It's also unethical for one to leave reviews for a business that they did not do business with.
Further proving it’s not what you know but who you know!!! Hope you get resolution.
Good for you for not throwing a big piece of plastic in the landfill! Looks good for being over thirty years old.
1. I cleaned my trash cans today, we have one for cans and one for waste (and a separate bin for recycling that wasn't due for a cleaning yet). We've been doing a lot of meal prep and the splatters on the lid were getting pretty stinky. Gotta keep our investment in good working order.
2. It's been a busy week for our family! We took the kids up to Wildlife Safari, cashing in our discounted Groupon tickets, and brought snacks and food from home for a picnic. We also have some family who came from out of state for an event so we've spent some time getting together. The first day we were treated to lunch at home and the next we packed snacks and visited them about an hour and a half away from home.
3. We finally had our big grocery trip for the month as well. I took advantage of Fred Meyer (Kroger) sales and got nearly $80 off my order and over 200 fuel points. I submitted receipts to Ibotta from WinCo, didn't have anything eligible from Fred Meyer, and matched a few bonuses! $16 of rebates whoo!
4. We cashed in our fuel points on our trip to see family and got gas for $0.30 off, bringing our price per gallon down to $3.79. Not a great price, but we filled the tank for $15.33 so I won't grumble too hard.
5. My husband found a promotion for Hulu for $4.99 per month for three months and then regular $12.99 after that for the lower tier, which we already have. He cancelled our plan and renewed with a new email to take advantage of the deal. It's the little things that add up!
I still have my kids’ diaper pail. I keep scrap pieces of wood in it, in the garage. Somehow, it is in better shape than yours. It’s a mystery!
I see that, like me, you didn’t buy a “diaper genie” which has a limited useful life and requires special bags. There are so many weird specialized items that we are told we need, but that we don’t actually need. A diaper genie would have gone straight to the landfill, but my diaper/wood pail is still going strong!
My Municipal garbage bin (super big) got a crack that led to a rip that led to a hole. We drilled holes in the piece and zip tied the hole closed. When that kept failing (6 years ago) we just used it with a hole. I haven’t had any critters wandering in and out of the garbage - maybe our old kitty litter smells keep them away - and I’m keeping a huge plastic garbage can out of a landfill. Ugly? Yup. Usable? Yup.
Hey! It still works!
1. Started seeds in lots of various containers.
2. Made pudding to use milk
3. Made beans and noodles and homemade bread as a meatless meal.
4. Scored a free chair and found a dime on a run
Pictures and more details here: https://practicalwalk.com/2026/03/16/frugal-five-a-bluebonnet/
That's a big chunk of plastic and it's living where it doesn't have to be pretty. So I say well done!
I had plans today to walk, but the weather turned ugly -- so much so, that I didn't even want to drive to the community center. So it was an indoor day for me.
A couple of library snafu 's: I failed to realize that I have a book that cannot be renewed, as it's on a wait list. I hadn't started reading it yet, but I have three days before it's due (counting today, which is almost over). So I'm reading like crazy. I should get it done in time. The other thing -- I have a book that's not checked out to me. Or rather I did. I called and let them know and now it's properly checked out. I have no idea how I got out without checking it out. I guess the branch library doesn't have the electronic equipment that the main library does. I'm sure I tried to check it out -- probably didn't scan it correctly and didn't notice. Anyway, I wasn't arrested, no bail to pay.
I made a salad for lunch, but I had no croutons. Usually I make my own, but today I thought I would make use of a stuffing mix I got for free. I followed the directions on the box, but didn't add liquid. The cornbread cubes, with the seasoning and added butter, made fine croutons. There is so much left, though! I will probably add broth later and make stuffing, maybe next time I buy a rotisserie chicken.
I scanned a receipt I found at Aldi yesterday, in addition to my own receipt. I am patiently working my way up to a $25 gift card from Fetch.
I watched the Oscars tonight, which gave me some ideas about what to watch for on streaming.
I never understood why people want a fancy laundry room. Doing laundry is not an aesthetic task. I would like to have a larger laundry room w/ a folding table but that's it. Maybe my husband can install a dropdown (like a Murphy bed) so I can have a table to fold clothes on. My sister's washer & dryer are in her garage like it was when we were kids. Actually we had a clothes line at first. My young mother, a widow, had to save up for a dryer. IMHO the fancy laundry rooms are a product of the many TV shows that feature a reno for every room in the house. Enough already!
I never understood why people want a fancy laundry room. Doing laundry is not an aesthetic task. I would like to have a larger laundry room w/ a folding table but that's it. Maybe my husband can install a dropdown (like a Murphy bed) so I can have a table to fold clothes on. My sister's washer & dryer are in her garage like it was when we were kids. Actually we had a clothes line at first. My young mother, a widow, had to save up for a dryer. IMHO the fancy laundry rooms are a product of the many TV shows that feature a reno for every room in the house. Enough already!
Trash can comment. I trash picked a nice bathroom wastebasket. The label on the bottom from Bed Bath & Beyond was a price of 39.99. Would I pay that much for a waste basket? Absolutely not. I washed it up & it is a nice upgrade from the one I bought at Dollar Tree.
I hear you -- but couldn't get rid of my diaper pail soon enough. When Daughter #2 finally toilet-trained, I was celebrating as I watched that stinky, disgusting thing disappear into the maw of the garbage truck. Wheeeeeee!
I was also so happy to see mine go! I had a diaper genie and I was able to pass it along to someone else in my local parents club.
I have a hamper that I inherited with my husband that looks about the same. It's in my closet where I'm the only person who sees it. It does the job it was intended for. It has a broken handle but it is plastic as well and the thought of replacing it because it's ugly and putting one more huge plastic item in the garbage is not my thing.
I feel the same way about laundry baskets. My husband was complaining that a handle on one of ours was missing, and I told him we don’t replace them unless they are no longer functional! Moving forward I just might ever get plastic ones again. I don’t the big, blue bags from IKEA work really well, and it’s easier to carry stuff up the stairs in those
I use the blue IKEA bags. I like it that I can carry two at a time. I use a shared laundry room with three washers and dryers, so I almost always do two loads at a time.
Love that you are keeping plastic out of the landfill. Well done.
1) Squirrels made a huge mess in one of our pots, and even though they don't eat green onions, they unburied them. So, I pulled those & cut the ends off. We will eat the tops & replant the ends, which are currently soaking in water.
2) Went through my freezer and found some old popsicles (courtesy of DS18, I'm guessing) that were leaking. No one wanted them, so I first drained them in the sink to avoid a garbage can mess, and then tossed everything else. Not ideal, but better than making a huge mess & wasting food in the freezer that we will eat.
3) DS18 asked for steak & crostini for his birthday dinner. I have tons of baguette in the freezer, so pulled that out & a package of goat cheese (also frozen, leftover from Christmas). The recipe I used calls for mixing goat cheese, lemon, garlic & thyme. I had both lemon & thyme in the garden/on our tree, so it was a very easy & inexpensive appetizer to go with our steak.
4) Used my REI rewards to offset the cost of part of DS18's birthday gift - he asked for Birkenstocks.
5) Went to a yoga class that's included with my Y membership. I joined the Y to take advantage of Pilates & yoga classes (much cheaper than a specialized studio for each, and fine for the level I'm at) & really want to make the most out of the membership.
I had a very productive and frugal morning:
1. I strained my milk-kefir and made smoothies for the children for breakfast with it (using a mix of berries and figs from last summer's harvest and some bananas. I bag up about 5 days' worth in individual bags and put them in the freezer, then all we have to do is dump them into the smoothie maker and add a banana and the kefir because rummaging in the freezer after berries feels a bit much before school. We wash and reuse the bags, of course.
2. I started another jar of sprouting broccoli seeds (I use a jam jar and a piece of muslin, no fancy equipment)
3. I started some cress on kitchen roll - my favourite herb on hard-boiled eggs
4. I made a mug of 'under the weather' tea from fresh sage and honey
5. I baked another loaf of sourdough bread. As I said previously, I seem to have found a recipe that doesn't require too much work and that my family loves. The loaf still stuck to the bottom of the cast-iron pot, but I think I know why and will continue to experiment until I get it right.
I do all these activities regularly, but rarely all in one day, so it was a very productive start to the week.
It's nice to read everyone's comments regarding plastic. I like knowing that so many of us try to give plastic its longest life possible before recycling it. As we know, it doesn't always find its way to the recycling center.
Here's a few ways I hang onto plastic for as long as possible or avoid using it altogether.
1. Before leaving home in my car, I make a cup of tea in my to-go mug to take with me. In the summer I take homemade iced tea.
2. And speaking of iced tea, I never buy those plastic jugs of it. I make my own at home.
3. I wash and rewash my plastic storage bags until they leak or the zipper breaks. Then they get recycled at the grocery store along with any plastic bags we've accumulated. Mostly, I try to avoid using them and store leftovers in glass.
4. I bring my own cloth bags to the grocery store.
5. I reuse plastic bins, buckets, containers as much as I can. If I can't find a use for them, they get donated to my church's thrift shop. I know these acts are only making a tiny dent in the plastics problem but I'm happy to keep doing them.
I have several laundry baskets that have followed me all over Oregon!! They are coming in very handy right now as I have to dry laundry in the park (manufactured home park) right now as my stupid dryer is on the fritz. I used to have a lot of garbage cans as well but donated a lot of them to the manufactured home park (they pick up garbage from the entire-rather large--park two days a week plus we can always take garbage over to the designated area.
I have two of those exact diaper pails from my two kids who are now 25 and 22 from Tidee Didee as well. They make great recycling bins!
Team Tidee Didee!