DIY Repurposed Coupons & Extra Care Bucks Notepads

I'm sure many of you have expired coupons that you printed out online or got from the magic red box at CVS.  I used to recycle them but then I realized that the paper was still good for writing on the back, so this is what I did.

First I ran my pen over the barcode of the internet printable coupons (IPs).  You don't have to do this, but I do it as a security measure because you never know who may want to copy and counterfeit them after you toss them out.  Then I just flipped them over and stapled the corner.  Now I have plenty of notepads to jot down all of my shopping trips, leave by the phone for messages, or even let the kids doodle on them during church. 

By no means am I the first person to make notepads.  This is just my personal experience or repurposing my own coupons.

Frugal Friday DIY Bleach and Milk Jug Containers

On my quest to be financially responsible and frugal as can be, I find that repurposing items that I already have around the house is my number one money saver.  I must admit that I used to be tempted to spend as I walked by Crate & Barrel or the Pottery Barn, but now I just use them for inspiration and make my own!

 I have a TON of milk jugs and bleach containers laying around since we use both of these products on a daily basis.  My daughter is doing a class gardening project and needed somewhere to store her tools so I got a bleach container and cut out a whole, and there you have it!  I decided to turn the milk jug into a container for my clothes pins. It's just the right size and I LOVE the carrying handle.

I encourage you to look around and see what you can do with that old pickle jar or shoe box.

**DISCLAIMER**  I by no means invented this concept, and I'm sure it's been done millions of time over. This is my own personal experience.

Frugal Friday DIY Cold Pack

With 6 kids in the house and a few athletes in the bunch, we are always using various household staples such as frozen peas and frozen fruit as home made ice packs to sooth those boo boos or ice sore muscles after football practice.  So when Maggie over at Family Frugal Fun posted a DIY cold pack recipe, I knew right away that I had to try it out for myself. Since I already had lots of Hefty bags and rubbing alcohol on hand from my Dollar Tree escapades, this wasn't going to cost me a cent!  So here's the recipe:

1 part alcohol

2 parts water

freeze, then use

 The final product is a very cold, almost slushy type of cold pack that isn't frozen solid. I have it on my wrist above and it wrapped itself around it very nicely. PLEASE mark the cold pack accordingly so nobody will accidently use it as a block of ice in the party punch!