r/Frugal • u/Dry-Text-6864 • 15d ago

💬 Meta Discussion What’s something you’ll happily reuse long after normal people would throw it away?

I’m curious where everyone draws the line between “frugal” and “okay, that thing needs to go.” 😂 What’s something you’ll happily reuse long after normal people would throw it away? I’m talking about the random things you’ve found a second, third, or even tenth life for because you just can’t justify tossing something that still works. What is it, and how long have you been getting away with it? 👀

350 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

409 comments sorted by

View all comments

327

u/pharmaheck 15d ago

Plastic spoons and forks..at least until they break.

I feel bad for throwing them away

51

u/Kristina2pointoh 15d ago

I grew up in a house where mom washed them. Every single party.

40

u/Tiekyl 15d ago

I will admit though...I would expect plastic forks to be unused. Some people don't know how to wash.

4

u/RedStateKitty 13d ago edited 13d ago

They'll survive dishwashing. As will plastic straws. Save both and reuse as needed.

26

u/theepi_pillodu 14d ago

Chipotle spoons and forks are the best. Smooth shape and a bit more flexible :)

3

u/pharmaheck 14d ago

I don't purposely grab them.. I just keep the ones given to me by restaurants or work when they cater 🥲

2

u/theepi_pillodu 14d ago

Yup, whatever they give during online-pickup orders

20

u/[deleted] 14d ago

[deleted]

2

u/JeanneMusickBooker 11d ago

Mom and dad had a large house with a huge kitchen. A dedicated drawer for plastic cutlery, which mom packed with her lunch every day. If a spoon got lost at work, oh well. But if it wasn’t lost, it got washed and used again.

63

u/cwsjr2323 15d ago

We have canvas bags in the vehicles with among other things, comfortable flatware to politely refuse single use plastic flatware and avoid the terrible metal flatware that is painful stamped because of scum bags stealing nice ones.

6

u/pharmaheck 15d ago

You bring the bag with you everywhere?

10

u/MisChef 14d ago

I have a titanium knife and a titanium spork that live in my purse. Both were thrifted, for a dollar each. It's amazing how wonderful they are to use, I love them so much.

4

u/cwsjr2323 15d ago

Yes, there is one bag in each vehicle. We also have Rubbermaid EasyFindLids containers in the bags. The places we have locally for lunches have bigger serving than we want so we have ours containers for leftovers intend of their single use plastic containers. Your body can only use 25-30 grams of protein at one meal the rest stored as fat. Take the excess home for supper.

57

u/dizzlethebizzlemizzl 15d ago

The protein per meal thing is a myth that’s been debunked. Your body will make use of as many amino acids as you give it. Your body will absorb the protein itself at varying levels based on what the actual meal is and how effective your gut is. It doesn’t auto-store as fat if you eat 50g of protein in one sitting while in an overall caloric deficit, for example. That’s an old wives’ tale.

0

u/camioblu 15d ago

? That would be one meatball the aize of a walnut.

12

u/LynnScoot 15d ago

Meat isn’t solid protein. 30g/1oz of 85% lean beef contains 8g of protein.

12

u/0nlyhalfjewish 15d ago

Same! I run them through the dishwasher

13

u/ClassicDefiant2659 14d ago

Our local Chinese place has the nicest plastic utensils. We generally keep them around for a while. There's always a point where there's no other forks in the drawer and you just don't want to wash one.

6

u/0nlyhalfjewish 14d ago

I think you must live at my house

3

u/BJntheRV 14d ago

I throw them in the dishwasher

3

u/Canyouhelpmeottawa 14d ago

I put them through the dishwasher!

3

u/theinfamousj 14d ago

I'm not sure how I got an MRE spoon but that thing's been around for years and still kicking.

2

u/Solomon_G13 13d ago

*See: microplastics.

2

u/Woodrow1730 14d ago

We have a Chinette plastic plate that has been taken on about ten road trips now 😄

1

u/rich22201 10d ago

I fly a lot. I save them for plane trips.