Photo: Etsy |
Monday, July 14, 2025
5 Homemade Bug Killers That Work
Monday, March 10, 2025
Dry Food Storage Containers & Cookie Jars
THE SAVVY SHOPPER loves to write about jewelry, luxury bags and the occasional fad, but it's the less costly, less sexy (to borrow a financial writer's term) things we buy every day that can raze through our paychecks!
If you need dry food containers or cookie jars, you don't always have to buy them. You can easily repurpose the containers from some of the food items you buy. Occasionally I buy tomato sauce that is sold in a Mason jar. Repurposing it is one less Mason jar, I have to buy. As it turns out, I already use Mason jars to store my rice, dried pasta, cornmeal, oatmeal, and ground flax seeds. They work very well to keep bugs out and the grains and ground seeds fresh! I also like the transparency of seeing the contents to know what to grab.
Glass jars with screw-on lids are my preferred dry food storage containers, but lately I repurpose Premier Protein Powder plastic cylinders to hold 4 pounds of white sugar, 2 pounds of dark brown sugar, bags of chocolate chips, bars of baking chocolate, and 64 ounces of dried powdered milk. I'm a buy-in-large-sizes to forget about it for a while type of gal! Like Mason jars, these much bigger plastic cylinders with screw-on lids keep my food items fresh and free of pests that crawl into dry food boxes. I like the ease of unscrewing the tops and scooping out the dried food when cooking or baking. Larger with a bigger opening and lighter than glass, the plastic containers are easy to lift from my cupboard.
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Makeup Organizers
Since I don't have counters in my Manhattan bathroom I have to keep my makeup and skincare products inside my medicine cabinet so I bought smaller organizers to fit inside it. They are clear with divided compartments, and a step-level style. I can't spin them around, but can still see and reach for everything without moving anything.
Organizers are relatively inexpensive and over the years save you a ton of time! I also think I buy less since I can see the makeup I already have and nothing gets forgotten or lost! I'm also trying to use up what I have and eventually shrink or consolidate what I purchase. My long-term goal is to be an even more mindful shopper. One step at a time!
Start decluttering and putting things in place today. You'll wonder why it took you so long to get organized!
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Plastic Food Containers To Repurpose
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
3 Low-Tech Cookers Worth The Money
1) An Egg Cooker - When I first saw egg cookers on the market I thought how ridiculous to buy a special gadget to boil eggs, but I've changed my mind! The reason is you can cook either hard, medium, or soft boiled eggs perfectly every time. Not so in a pan of boiling water on a stovetop, where the results of getting the eggs cooked just right can be mixed. Cooking time is less using the egg cooker also because you use far less water. You pour a small amount of water into the egg cooker which quickly brings the water to a boil. A see-through cover lets the eggs steam until the water disappears which activates an alarm telling you the eggs are done. To clean, just raise the parts with tap water as they get steamed, not dirty.
Egg cookers come in mini, small, medium, and double-decker sizes corresponding to how many eggs you need to cook at once. They'll also make a custard, though I don't plan to utilize this function.
Wow, 3 economical simple cookers to make home-cooked meals better and more convenient. From cooking to serving dish to dishwasher!
πΊJust for fun, here are 4 gadgets that tend to be a complete waste of money: 1) a George Foreman grill, 2) a sandwich maker, and 3) a breadmaker as you'll rarely reach for them. Tasty hamburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and a loaf of bread can be made as easily or consistently on a stovetop or inside an oven without special gadgets -- the reason you'll stop using them. I had a small George Forman grill. It grilled burgers no better than a frying pan on a stovetop, but I had to wash a special catch-the-meat-juices tray that is placed under, in front of it, so I gave it away. I never bought a breadmaker as I knew from experience you don't need one, and the devices seem to produce small loaves. When I bake bread I like sandwich-sized slices. 4) I also recommend passing on buying an ice cream maker. Ice cream is easily purchased from either an ice cream parlor or a supermarket. Homemade isn't better tasting than readymade and you'd have to eat plenty for homemade to be more cost effective. Ask would you really want to step on a scale after reaching your break-even point? Hell no.π³π±
Bon Appetite at home!π·
Monday, May 23, 2022
Best Dollar Store Investment Buys
Sometimes you need to buy top-of-the-line household items and sometimes you can settle for good enough for its intended purpose. That's where dollar stores come in!
1) Microwave anti-splatter cover - There's no need to shop elsewhere where microwave food covers cost more money. The dollar store offers the same quality and it's as durable as any I've encountered. I only need one cover and don't know why more than one is needed, but hey for $1, who can quibble about the expense?
2) Shower comb with huge teeth - I bought a total of 3 combs for 2 teenagers and one for me to hang in my shower. I use it every day to untangle my freshly shampooed and conditioned hair. Also, I like taking it on overnight trips so I can style my hair by combing it through as I blowdryer it -- leaving my hairbrush and straightener at home. It works beautifully!3) I found these flat stainless steel measuring spoons at an Odd Lot Trading store. 99 cents stores and Walmart also sell them. They are thin and compact, taking up little space in a kitchen drawer. They'll easily bend if abused but will last forever to measure spices, vanilla, and baking powder. They are cheap, but get the job done, so why replace them with a bulky expensive set? Heavier metal doesn't measure more accurately.
Monday, August 23, 2021
Plastic Spray Bottles, Yeah!
Sometimes the most basic home accessories make life sweeter. Extra power circuit breaker strips strategically placed throughout your home are an example. Plastic spray bottles are another.
I fill my 4 spray bottles with (1) white vinegar and water (keeping bottles in both my kitchen and bathroom; (2) ammonia and water (kept in the kitchen to remove sink and countertop stains like coffee); and since the pandemic began, (3) bleach and water (stashed near the front door and bathroom).
Before the pandemic, I cleaned my kitchen; bathroom; and apartment floors with white vinegar and water only; and my glass and mirrors with ammonia and water (homemade Windex) ... but the pandemic has given me a newfound respect for bleach -- adding 4 tablespoons to 32-ounces of water is an inexpensive Center For Disease Control (CDC) approved disinfectant of the coronavirus. At the beginning of Covid when we were less sure of how the virus spread, I used the breach and water to spray the soles of my shoes and entryway of my apartment. (If you recall, we couldn't buy alcohol or hydrogen peroxide until the supply chain caught up with demand.)
Spray bottles are the perfect tool to disinfect and clean surfaces, big or small, with a powerful fine mist of household cleaners. You get the surface very wet with a cleanser while using less product. There's no waste of the liquid going everywhere else, nor of leaving spots of surface dry. Instead, it's an even saturation of cleaner/disinfectant ... bullseye, right where you need it!
And during COVID, these spray bottles make disinfecting like crazy easy. Who knew when I bought them they'd get such a workout?!
I'm also a fan of putting spray triggers on the tops of alcohol and hydrogen peroxide bottles in my home. I liked the practice so much when cleaning, I transferred the idea over to wound sanitizing. For an even application of disinfectant on boo-boos without waste, I'll point the trigger: Pscht ... bullseye!π―π
Now, let's discuss when to splurge and save on buying plastic spray bottles:
For home cleaning mixtures, I went to Home Depot to select professional plastic bottles with sturdy spray triggers, but for the smaller job of disinfecting abrasions with alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, I simply repurpose the spray triggers from personal care items (like hair heat tamers, etc,) for free - screwing them directly onto their new products! (That way you also keep the original alcohol and hydrogen peroxide bottles with warning labels.) Wash and rinse the spray triggers well before repurposing them. Save a few bucks if they fit and do the job.
However, the plastic spray bottles for your household cleaners need to be bigger and better as they get used on bigger surfaces frequently, so invest in professional durable bottles and triggers for these tasks. Simplify your life further by buying bottles for all the areas of the home where you'll use them. At about $2 each, they're cheap; and convenience is worth every penny.
Truly, you'll wonder why you didn't buy plastic spray bottles to do your chores sooner!
Thursday, April 22, 2021
You Could Win This MZ Wallace Tote
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Repurpose Food Containers, Jars and Mugs


Furthermore, I use an old glass candle holder for my collection of lip balm. Place on a workspace, or somewhere within reach.
Can you get better organized by grabbling a rarely used dish, tank, carrier meant for one thing to repurpose for something else needing a home?
You may also enjoy:
Buy Used Books
An Orgainzed Purse
Shelf Helpers To Organize
Do You Repurpose Your Things?
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Buy Used Books

Buying 2nd hand books saves trees! And, the books I received are in very good condition, often in like-new condition, costing only a few bucks compared to the $25 - $30 for new books.

The money raised by Discoverybooks and Thriftybooks goes to support good causes. Another advantage is you can often find hard-to-get out-of-print books on both websites. Moreover, when you must declutter your home, you've only spent a few dollars on the books you are ready to donate to other readers.

Buying used books is a win, win and THE SAVVY SHOPPER thing to do! Please add any other substainable ways to read books under comments.π
You may also enjoy:
Happy Earth Day: Think Green
Do You Repurpose Your Things?
What Can You Do For Earth Day?
It Pays To Give Old Things A New Life
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
An Organized Purse
I got the 2 bags on sale, which is the reason I bought 2. Plus the crossovers are the exact size I need, with the same interiors, including the pockets. I plan to use one and save one for later. Occasionally, I do the same when finding a fabulous pair of walking shoes at a sale price.
If you own beautiful bags and desire to keep your contents organized, you can buy purse orgainizers to fit inside of your purses or totes. They cost between $19 - $30 depending on size, but are well worth the price to keep life orderly.
You may also enjoy
Shelf Helpers To Organize
Do You Repurpose Your Things?
A Four-Cube Organizer With Storage Bins
Sunday, April 22, 2018
What Can You Do For Earth Day?
![]() |
Photo: Playbuzz |

It turns out that "environmental plastic is a growing disaster." Most plastics are made from "non-renewable resources" of petroleum or natural gas, "extracted and processed by destroying fragile ecosystems." Think about it the next time you buy bottled water! And getting rid of plastic causes other problems. It isn't biodegradable, so plastic bags and bottles pervade landfills and our oceans. Producing and burning plastic pollutes everything on earth: air, land and water.
The concern is so great that New York City plans to ditch plastic grocery bags, bottles (sold in parks), drinking straws and plastic utensils. I use my plastic grocery bags as garbage bags and drinking straws to save my teeth from acids and stains, so the ban will be inconvenient, but a necessary one I'm willing to accept. "Every year 28-billion pounds of plastic ends up in our ocean," and it kills marine life. We can do better!

2) It is time to grab those reusable bags and bottles. Buy one of each today if you don't own them.
Mother Earth is so worth it. What other changes can we make?
3) Recycle electronics and batteries - BestBuy stores have drop off bins for each; Bed, Bath &Beyond accepts old batteries also.
4) Get creative and repurpose things you already own. YouTube tutorials can teach you how. You feel very clever doing so!
5) Enlighten yourself - Learn the ingredients, life cycles and eco-costs of everything you buy.
Be a Savvy Shopper ... make a change today with Mother Earth in mind!
You may also enjoy:
Watches, Tales And Sprouts
The Story Of Stuff: A Review
Happy Earth Day: Think Green
It Pays To Give Old Things A New Life