Yes, I’m one of THOSE frugal types. The ones who wash and reuse their zippered baggies!
For the longest time I used to throw the washed and dried baggies into a big bag and put them in a drawer. But that was unwieldy. I would have trouble opening and closing the drawer, I had to dig through the bag to find the size I wanted, and sometimes baggies would fall down behind the drawer itself. . . It was just a mess.
Then I had a brainstorm! I realized that if I kept the cardboard boxes that the baggies originally came in, I could refold the clean baggies, one by one.
Then I could place them back in the box.
And there you go. Organized and easy to use rewashed baggies.
This is a great idea ! Just when I think I have read all the possible frugal ideas I am inspired by something else!
Thankyou, I will be visiting your blog more often.
Busy Woman-I’m glad you found it useful. It was sort of a lightbulb moment for me when I figured it out!
I’ve been thinking about doing this lately… not sure if I”m ready for this step. Because I hate washing dishes, washing baggies seems like CREATING an extra chore, though a money-saving one.
What I try to do is this. Because I buy bulk-packages of meat, I wrap the individual meal-sized portions of meats in wax paper, then put several meals in one plastic freezer baggie. Then it’s not really getting ‘dirty,’ just frozen. Then I can re-use them by refilling.
I like to keep opened bags/paks of cheese in a large zipper bag, but again, they can be reused because the food never really touches the inside of the bag, as I keep them wrapped in their original containers, perhaps with a small piece of plastic wrap over an exposed side of hunk cheese.
Can baggies be washed in the dishwasher? I wouldn’t mind purchasing slightly more expensive ones that could be washed and re-used easily.
I also saw a comment on your previous post on this that someone said they wash baggies with their whites. Does that mean in the laundry? On hot? I’d like to know more about that one… anything to save me from washing things in the sink!
Good work!!Annette
i live overseas and brought a boatload of freezer bags with me, but no box (to save space). i’ve had to find an alternative way of keeping them tidy, and have a suggestion for any reader who doesn’t have enough of the original boxes: pringles containers (inherited from spendy friends, of course!). they work best for sandwich sized bags, or the smaller freezer bags, but they’re not long enough for the regular large freezer bags. just a tought…
I feel like I have just found a bunch of siblings with whom I was separated from at birth. I love this posting and your blog!
I have been looking for a nifty drying tool without buying this:
http://www.gaiam.com/product/countertop+bag+dryer.do?SID=WG102SPRTAPEMACS&extcmp=ps_g_nb
I actually did purchase this item as a gift for another bag friend. It IS VERY useful and I recommend it if you are not feeling very frugal and want to splurge.
However I am more inclined to try my own variation of this:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2192879_plastic-bag-dryer.html
Bethany-so glad you have found us! Yes, we understand. . . and NO! You are not weird 🙂
I’ve seen that beautiful bag dryer before. . . but yeah, as pretty as it is, it doesn’t exactly seem frugal! The E-How article is interesting, but wouldn’t water drip down on the beans and make icky? I remember reading somewhere (was it the Tightwad Gazette) about making a bag drying rack out of tinker toys-which would be frugal if you found them at yard sales.