One Frugal Tool — Get Over Your “Eww, Gross!” Reflex
by Katy on May 18, 2025 · 15 comments
I made a decision in 2006 to stop buy buying anything new and for the most part I’ve kept to it. Sure there have been a few new things that snuck in, but they’ve been the exception, not the rule. It’s saved us countless thousands of dollars, but it’s also been an environmental win as my “purchases” aren’t made from virgin materials, are packaging free and utilize an object that would otherwise hit the landfill. Unfortunately, some of those things have been initially disgusting.
Take the above free plastic bin as an example. I brought it home yesterday from our neighbor association cleanup event, even though it was filthy and contained four pennies, a bobby pin, hair and general detritus. However, it was completely intact and there are very few things in this world that can’t be cleaned, repaired or otherwise brought back into circulation.
I’m not exaggerating:
So what did I do? I wiped out the bin and ran it through the dishwasher, along with the pennies. (What am I, a Rockefeller to turn down 4¢?) I even located this exact bin on the Target website, priced at $8.
I wasn’t sure how I’d utilize the bin, but it turned out to be actually exactly the right size to hold the our ping pong supplies and a random video game cord. These things had previously been loose on this closet bookshelf, which is now a bit more organized.
I highly doubt that anyone else was going to claim this filthy bin, as evidenced by it being still available at the very end of the cleanup event. (Even though it came with free money!) The ability to move past my initial “Eww, gross!” reflex allowed me to bring a useful object in my home, diverted it from the landfill and even saved me a schweet eight dollars!
I challenge you to rise above your understandable “Used stuff is too gross for me” reflex and see what happens. You’ll definitely save money and even save a thing or two from the landfill!
Win-win, baby!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I think most of us that have children are well exposed to “gross” items. Good for you for seeing the potential.
I am notorious for running anything and and everything thru the dishwasher
Oh yes, the dishwasher is like a home autoclave!
https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/you-can-wash-that-in-the-dishwasher/
I have met people who would not pick up dropped change from a sidewalk because it was perceived as dirty. Which made me wonder if they think the bank sanitizes money before dispensing it.
Ruby-
OMG… cracking up! Reminded me of a distant boyfriend who would get so mad at me for picking change up off the street and refuse to hold my hand after… What an idiot he was (in so many other ways)! I remember walking once and came upon over $.40, all in pennies all over the street. Luckily, it was a residential street and I scooped them up and filled my pockets and shoes- It’s was like hitting a jackpot!
When I lived at an apartment complex, someone (probably a college student) threw a great big Corning Ware casserole dish and matching lid on top of the trash in the garbage dumpster. The dish had moldy macaroni and cheese in it, which had hardened with time. But I retrieved it from the garbage and took it over to the car wash area (they had a hose and a water sprayer for us to use for said purpose). I blasted the dead pasta out of there, then took the casserole set inside and washed and sterilized it. (Boiling water, Lysol, the whole bit and then put it in the dishwasher.) I’ve eaten food out of it many times and haven’t gotten sick yet. The lid alone would cost upwards of 15 bucks if bought new, and the bottom dish was a vintage pattern and very large — I’ve seen those suckers go for $75 or more. I was really happy to get it free! Admittedly, it’s much too big for one single person, and the pattern does not match anything else I have. But there’s been many a potluck dinner where my food was brought in that salvaged Corning Ware set. Just don’t tell the potluck attendees where it came from!
Fru-gal Lisa, I too have found Corning Ware in the trash–or, to be more precise, in a recycling bin. It’s a 1.5-liter container (with intact lid) from after Corning Ware went metric, and I’m using it to this day. I also have a 4.5-quart Revere Ware pot that I trashpicked at the end of the local party-school university’s “academic” year (I use that term loosely!), plus a couple of other Revere Ware pieces that one of DH’s student tenants left behind.
One thing I will not take for free is home canned foods other than jams, unless I know the canner and have confidence they follow guidelines for safe canning. Too many people are calling themselves “rebel canners” and doing things like preserving meat and fish using water canning methods. I used to say I would not take home underwear but I salvaged a sports bra once and another time I found a hysterical Christmas patterned pair of men’s underpants for the husband at Good Will. They didn’t look like they had ever been worn, so first I left them outside at 35 below zero to kill off lurking critters and then I washed them twice and figured all killer microbes were dead. When we had miniature sheep I had an outbreak of maggots on a newborn and every day I had to pick them out of the lamb’s butt with tweezers and then apply a dark purple killing agent. After that, it is hard to think of anything that is too skeezy for me to consider, at least momentarily. A friend offered me all of her recently deceased mother’s dresses. Hell, yes! She had great taste and I am still wearing some of them.
This! ^^ Just because you put something in a jar and the jar seals does not mean it is properly canned.
Rebel canning: aka hellloooooo botulism. Sheesh.
Re animals, I have mostly beagles which are anal gland factories. Ugh. But it bugs me less than gross photos.
I followed your lead and started picking up soggy and abandoned clothing from parking lots and the road. The very first thing I picked up, revealed itself to be a double thickness, merino, hat. A huge transformation from the brown, soggy lump in the parking lot!
Today I went to a seed rummage, seeds free, with a donation to a sanctuary encouraged. They are two years old, but I am sure most will still germinate. Some people wouldn’t want to risk it, but I am fine with lower rates if I know that’s possible. So happy to restock with seeds, after having to give mine to the gardening club when we moved countries. Made a reasonable donation to the animals.
Our new village doesn’t seem to be too engaged with an exchange economy, but did respond enthusiastically to our first “free pile” at the end of the drive! Am hopeful people will copy our lead. I have another pile ready to go out, the previous owners left a lot of stuff we just wont use.
An “eww, gross” reflex? What’s that? To the extent that I ever had one (I was right out there with the boys turning over rocks and finding worms and pillbugs as a kid), I’ve certainly gotten rid of it over the last several decades of trashpicking, bottlepicking, and frugal living in general. And good score on the storage bin and pennies, Katy.
Yay!! Another thing saved from the landfill. A good trash/free pile is one of my favorite things.
Oh boy, our “squeamish bone” was removed years ago. Very few things phase DH and I. We love picking through trash piles.
Some wins:
6 really good beach towels
T shirts galore
2 gorgeous blue glass cereal bowls
Half used cleaning supplies
Our favorite trash pic, which was not gross but was just so amazing. Were two beach chairs that retailed for over $100 apiece sitting outside of a dumpster.
We use them for three years
I don’t think used is gross, but i think THAT used is too gross for me. My gorge rose just at the pictures. I got issues, I know that.
1. I had one of THOSE weeks. By the time Friday came around, I was D.O.N.E. DONE! I was NOT about to cook supper. Said to they hubby, “Let’s go out.” Went to Applebee’s and used my Visa Debit card that’s linked to my Upside App. Saved $10 (which was the amount I tipped the waitress, but still a $10 save IMHO).
2. Tree Pruner – Hubby bought 12′ tree pruner last summer to trim some high in the tree stuff that was dead. Landlord now doesn’t want anything else pruned (he asked hubby to prune it in the first place – DUH?!). Anyway, Hubby sold it today for $40. Paid $60 for it last year. Decent recovery price. (Landlord is “book smart, common sense dumb.” He cut down a dead tree with what I call his “little toy chainsaw” which was about as big as our electric carving knife.
3. Tomorrow’s agenda (after work) is baking 2 batches of oatmeal cookies – one with butterscotch chips for me (butterscotch is a migraine trigger and hubby can’t eat it as a result) and one with craisins for him. Also, a loaf of homemade bread. I’ve been baking my own rather than buying bread. Trying to bake more goodies rather than grab commercially processed goodies – you can control what’s in it; and ultimately, it’s cheaper. $5 for a package of Oreo’s?! NO THANKS.
4. Took my sister for her errands, groceries, etc. yesterday. Found 2 dented cans (14.5 oz?) of red beets marked down on the clearance shelf at Wal-Mart. Scooped them up for the hubby. He likes beets, I don’t. Savings of $.19 per can. Not a lot, but that’s $.38 cents more in my pocket. In Pennsylvania, we don’t have sales tax on clothing, shoes, and MOST groceries. Soda (pop, soft drink, whatever you want to call it) is taxable; a bottle of water is not. When I worked for a local grocery store, I was told that the GENERAL rule of thumb for beverages is that no bubbles – no tax; bubbles – tax. Prepared foods are taxed (like you get from a deli or a salad bar); box of cereal – nope. Sister is widowed and doesn’t drive. I have the information for her grocery store loyalty card which I can use to get $.10 off a gallon of gas (up to 20 gallons) for every $100 she spends. Got $.30/gallon off today + another $.03/gallon with my Upside app. Hubby used our $.10/gallon off the other day + the Upside app.
5. Don’t have a $14.5 million parade scheduled for my birthday! (I’d have to live in the Southern Hemisphere to even HAVE a birthday parade for me as my birthday is in December. Brrrr….)
3.