Making things last for as long as possible around my home is of top priority to me. Yes, I can get a bit extreme at times. But I am calling this year my frugal year. So that gives me the perfect excuse to look all crazy when I am going the extra frugal mile to make my household products serve for decades!

Well… I might be exaggerating. But I mean as long as they possibly can.

Being frugal can be fun though. And when you realize that you are saving money by getting more usage out of things around your home, you will be motivated to keep seeing how much more you can be frugal. Here are 10 easy ways to make everyday items around your house serve for maximum time.

1. Store Tomatoes Face- Down

Who doesn’t want to keep their tomatoes fresh for even a little longer? An effective way to do this is by storing your tomatoes face down. This will prevent air from penetrating the stem area of your tomatoes. When that area is exposed to air, your ripe tomatoes will go bad quickly. So be sure to keep them face-down.

2. Keep Bar Soap On Sponge

You can get more use out of a bar of soap by keeping it on a piece of sponge. You won’t actually have to rub it every time you need to use it, as the sponge it is being kept on will be soapy and you can just use the soapy sponge instead.

This will reduce the amount of time you will have to rub the bar of soap, making it last way longer.

3. Wrap Banana Stem With Foil Wrap

If the stem area of your ripe bananas are exposed to air, this will cause your bananas to go bananas very quickly! So wrap that area with foil wrap to prevent air from reaching that area.

This will make your bananas last longer.

4. Store Pens & Markers Face-Down

Pens and markers can seem to get dried up really quickly if you don’t make sure to store them face-down. Or in this case, point-down.

Storing them point-down will allow the ink to keep flowing downward and keep saturating the tip, so you won’t have to worry about them drying out quickly.

5. Separate The Scouring Pad Combo

Do you always need the services of all parts of a scouring pad every time you need to wash something? It makes no sense to be using the entire scouring pad combo when you only need one part.

For those scouring combination pads, go right ahead and separate them. You can use a razor or a sharp knife to cut them apart. Then use each part when required, instead waring out both when you only need one.

6. Wash Clothes With Salt

If you want to keep your favorite pieces of clothing bright and not looking paled out, add some salt to your wash water.

This will prevent the fabrics from paling out, and can be a solution for running clothes as well.

7. Cut Sponges

Let’s be honest here. You just do not always need an entire sponge for every chore or task you need a sponge for.

Why not cut it then? Cutting your sponges when possible, and using smaller pieces will help you to get more usage out of them.

8. Put Candles In The Freezer

You can make your candles last longer by putting them in the freezer. For about fifteen minutes before you are ready to light your candle, put it in the freezer.

This will make your candle a bit frozen, and take much longer to burn out as it will have to thaw first after you light out.

9. The Salad & Napkin Tip

Having guest over, but don’t want your bowl of salad to start getting brown?

Add a piece of napkin on top of the salad in the bowl. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. The napkin will absorb moisture and keep your salad dry and fresh.

 

How To Make Things Last Longer

9 Frugal Household Tips To Make Things Last Longer

Print

Instructions

1. Store ripe tomatoes face-down to prevent air from entering through the stem area and making them go bad quickly.
2. Keep your bar of soap on a sponge. When the soap is wet and resting on the sponge, it will cause the sponge to get soapy and you can use that sponge for doing some cleaning.
3. Wrap the stem of your ripe bananas with foil wrap to prevent air from entering and making them go bad.
4. Store pens and markers with the tip down to keep the ink flowing and lubricating the tip. This will prevent your pens and markers from getting dried up before the ink is actually finished.
5. Separate the sponge from the rough scouring section on your scour pad. Both sides won't get used up at the same time when it's not necessary.
6. Wash colored clothes with salt to prevent them from running and stop the colors from fading out.
7. Cut a full size cleaning sponge in smaller sections to make it last longer.
8. Put your candles in the freezer for 15 minutes before you light them. This will make them thaw before starting to melt and burn out when you light them.
9. Store salad vegetables in a bowl with a piece of paper towel or napkin, and covered with plastic wrap. The napkin will help the vegetables to stay fresh by absorbing moisture.

Happy Frugal Adventures!