Save Money By Reusing Newspaper At Home

If you are still reading the newspaper, my hat is off to you. Newspapers are really taking a beating in sales thanks to the Internet news agencies and those pesky bloggers :-) out there.

Of course reading the newspaper creates a lot of waste. Reading the paper everyday creates piles of newspapers in the trash can or recycle bin. Before recycling, there are a lot of things you can do to get the most mileage out of your newspaper purchase and save some money too.

Lets look at a few things you can do with newspaper before you discard it.

1. Use it as a drop cloth for minor home projects. Have some light painting or a messy project that creates a little splatter? Try laying some newspaper down and save money by keeping paint off the valuables in your home. You'll save on buying additional drop cloths and you'll also make the clean up easier.

2. Reduce odor considerably. Putting newspaper in the bottom of a trash bag will 'soak' up odor. This will give you a chance to fill up the bag before it stinks. You'll be less likely to throw out a half-full odorless bag, than a half-full bag that smells. The more bags you fill all the way up before you throw away, the more money you'll save.

3. Keep crisp foods crisp. Put some sheets in your crisper drawer in your refrigerator to reduce moisture and keep foods crisp longer. The longer your food tastes good, the longer you'll keep it, the more likely you'll eat it and the more money you'll save

4. Insulate your shoes. I'm still a little skeptical about this one as my mom would do this to me when I was young.... and my toes still got cold! That said, line newspaper into your shoes or boots. This insulates your shoes, keeps your feet warm, hopefully helps you to avoid frostbite and the eventual amputation of your feet which costs a lot of money :-)

OK... I can't promise that newspaper can insulate well enough to avoid frostbite, but it will keep you warmer.

5. Wash your windows. Now here's one my father would have me do as a kid and this really, really works. Wash your windows (car, home, etc) using newspaper instead of paper towels. There's no black streak or anything like that. This, to me, only seems to work on windows though. I've tried using it on my counter and besides the fact I wasn't sure how sanitary it was, my counters did get black streaks. Windows though, turn out great. You'll save money on paper towels

As with anything you buy, if you can use it more often than the next guy, you are saving more money. Newspaper is no different. The printed news costs money, get all the life you can from those piles of newspaper laying around. Be creative.

As always, thanks for reading!