The bag lady, part 2

Make fun of me if you want, but I reuse my plastic bags.

By Donna_Freedman Nov 2, 2009 1:38AM

I have a long history of saving plastic bags for reuse. Lately I've even been saving the bags from those 16-ounce frozen vegetables. I wasn't sure how I'd use them, but figured something would suggest itself.

It did.

Last week I found ground beef for 99 cents a pound. After making a meatloaf with half the package, I turned the rest into hamburger patties for the freezer. As it turns out, half a plastic vegetable bag is the perfect size to wrap a hamburger.

Bing: What to do with your shopping bags

First I cut the ends off the vegetable bags and then cut each bag in half lengthwise. Each wrap was secured with two rubber bands; I have a ton of them because I still subscribe to a newspaper. Then I stored the wrapped patties in a Sara Lee bagels bag that I had also saved.

You can paint this one as extremely green/frugal, or you can use it as an easy opportunity to make fun of extremely green/frugal types. Personally, I prefer to look at it as giving existing plastic one more use -- and yes, I'm saving money because I didn't have to pull six lengths of Saran Wrap off the roll.

Besides, these bags are designed to protect frozen food.

Originally I'd tried to give the vegetable bags to my sister, who owns a dog. She turned me down because (a) she prefers a bag she can tie shut and (b) big dog equals big poop.

Bigger than 16 ounces? Yikes. Another reason I don't own a dog.

Published April 6, 2009

Tags:

cheapDonna Freedmanfoodfood pricesfree

< Back to Smart Spending

0Comments

DATA PROVIDERS

Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Morningstar Inc. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Morningstar Inc. Quotes delayed by up to 15 minutes, except where indicated otherwise. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by Morningstar Inc.

Feedback

ABOUT SMART SPENDING

Smart Spending brings you the best money-saving tips from MSN Money and the rest of the Web. Join the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Editor Bev O'Shea lives and works in the foothills of the Appalachians. A former copy editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Orlando Sentinel, she joined MSN Money in 2007. She's a fan of sunsets, college football and free shipping, among other things.

Having worked as a writer, reporter and editor for more than 25 years, Editor Julie Tilsner is the sort of person who can't help but correct grammar in Facebook postings and on billboards. She's written for BusinessWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Parenting, Redbook, AOL and others. She lives in Los Angeles County with her family and loves to drink wine and practice yoga, although not generally at the same time.

A writer for MSN Money since January 2007, Donna Freedman won regional and national prizes during an 18-year newspaper career and earned a college degree in midlife without taking out student loans. She also writes about smart money tactics for magazines and on her own site, Surviving and Thriving.

Mitch Lipka has been warning people about scams and shining light on questionable business practices for more than 20 years. Mitch, the consumer columnist for The Boston Globe, has also been a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Consumer Reports, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and AOL. He won the 2010 New York Press Club award for best consumer reporting online and was honored in 2011 for his reporting on child product safety.

Marilyn Lewis is an award-winning writer with a passion for getting readers clear, straight information that helps them stay out of financial trouble. A former reporter for The San Jose Mercury News, she works from her home in Port Townsend, Wash. Contact her at MarilynLewis@Outlook.com.