I am a compusive re-user. I've been doing it for so long, I don't remember how I got started, and the behavior is so automatic that I rarely think about it. I just do it.

When my husband is about to throw away something - like a broken kite or some dryer lint - I feel a knot in my stomach, tell him to "wait," and he gives me that look... the one that says, "I can't believe you're going to save this crap. Are you insane?"

I could say that I'm trying to help the environment, but I'm not. Well, it's a nice side-effect, but I'm basically just cheap. And I think that Americans are wasteful pigs. Even if the environment could absorb the effects of 2000 more years of our current consumerist culture, it's still just stupid how much crap we buy and how much crap we throw away. Yes, I do feel bad tossing ketchup packets into the garbage when there are starving children dying all over the world. Yes, I do think it's insane to spend $40 on a shirt, when I can get something to cover me up for $5 at a thrift store and put the other $35 in savings. Or help out a friend or family member. Or send it to charity.

No, I'm not Mother Teresa - if I was, I wouldn't spend the money to have this website, would I? Well, technically, I guess I don't spend money on this site. I piggy-back on my husband's professional website. Anyway...

The ideas

* Yard sales, second-hand stores and thrift shops. This is an obvious way to save money and re-use things other people have tossed out. Sure, there's a lot of junk, but there are good finds, too. I bought almost everything for my first baby this way, and it's a great way to get play clothes for toddlers and older children. And sometimes you find really nice stuff, too. The clothes I get complimented on always come from thrift shops. People say, "Oh, I love that shirt, where'd you get it?"

I also buy up really cheap clothing (items $.25-$1 each) with cool fabric or buttons, or old bed sheets, and make handsewn dolls, pillows, play clothes for my daughter, purses and tote bags, small blankets, pillow cases, etc. Believe me, I'm no whiz with the sewing machine, but I can thread it and make straight stitches - which is all you need for these items.

Tips:

- Check all seams and buttons carefully. Look for holes in the fabric - small tears, cigarette burns, etc.
- Don't assume it's the size on the tag. Many people get rid of nice clothes because they shrunk in the dryer, so an "M" on the tag could really mean "S."
- Wash things at least once before wearing or using. Wash with bleach, if possible, or white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. Hang out in the sun to dry (the ultraviolet light will kill cooties, too).
- Toothpaste and an old soft bristle toothbrush will remove dark tarnish from sterling silver. Jewelry experts might frown on this, but I've never had a problem with it and I've been doing it for years.

* Halloween costumes. Have you seen the price on Halloween costumes lately? I went to buy one for my 3-year-old because I was pregnant and simply didn't have the energy to make anything. My husband said, "Just get one of those plastic ones in a box." Well, sorry, honey, they don't make those anymore. Everything was $15 or more! I even saw a fairy costume for an adult that was $65! The thing wasn't much more than a few scarves sewn to a cheap skirt, and a head wreath of fake flowers. This is where thrift stores and such (as above) come in very handy. The trick is, you've got to use a little imagination and ingenuity, and you can't wait until the last minute. Though, I did once put together a great pirate outfit for a friend, in just 3 hours and visits to 3 different thrift stores.

* Used book and music stores. These can be actual storefronts, or you can try the virtual versions at amazon, eBay and other sites on the internet. Why pay full price?

* Candles. I save the stubs and left-over wax from my candles to make into new candles or to use in other projects (see below). To melt chunks, put wax inside a clean steel can (large size), put can in a saucepan of water on the stove, set on lowest setting. Bits of wax left over inside clear glass candle holders (such as jars or various types of votive holders) can be melted by putting the candle holder directly in the saucepan of water. Make sure the water level isn't so high that the can or candle holder floats or tips over. You really don't need much water - or much heat - to get them to a liquid state.

I did purchase one candle mold and a few wicks at a craft store, but most of the time I just re-use the tins or glass jars from previously burned candles, or cleaned canned food cans, to make more candles. Old tapers make good wicks for the center of a large can or jar. Just pour the melted wax around it. You can burn a candle inside a food can - wrap the outside with cutouts from magazines or old wrapping paper to make it pretty.

I also pick up old candles at yard sales. I scored a huge box of "ugly candles" - broken tapers (wicks still intact), dusty or unevenly burned pillar candles, etc. - at a yard sale for only $1. It's kept me in candle wax & wicks for about 2 years.

You can also dip candles with your old melted wax. Just take a wick or old taper, and dip it several times (waiting for it to cool between each dip) to make a larger candle.

* More old wax tricks. You can pick up fallen pine cones or sticks around your house and dip them in wax to make colorful firestarters for the fire place. Target sells baskets of these things for $15 - you can make them for virtually nothing, and they work great.

* Dryer lint. Cardboard egg cartons (I always buy free-range, organic and/or brown eggs - they all come in cardboard egg cartons). Put dryer lint in each segment of the egg carton (I keep an egg carton on top of my dryer). When full, melt old candle stubs and pour wax into each segment. Makes more great fire starters for the fire place.

* Save all of the napkins you get from fast food restaurants. I don't eat out that often, but they always give me about 5 napkins for every one I actually need. I take them out of the bag and keep them at home. I've never bought paper napkins in my life. This also goes for plastic tableware, which comes from places like Steak Out or KFC. Or straws. I save them to use later when really needed (picnics, bag lunches, one or more family members are sick and no one feels like doing dishes, etc.). Yes, I save condiments, too, though not very often because most restaurants won't give you any unless you ask, and I'm not going to take it just because it's free - I just don't want to throw it out once it gets into my hands.

* Gift tags, ornaments, book markers, greeting cards. I re-use old greeting cards - if I'm not saving them for sentimental reasons - to make new gifty items. When I used to work in an office, I would ask to have the office's cards (there were usually about 20-30) each year - they were just going to throw them away, anyway.

* Kids' imagination station. I have a place where I keep washed cottage cheese-type containers & lids, empty food boxes, envelopes from old bills or letters, old greeting cards (if I haven't used them as above), scraps of fabric, washed trays from microwave foods, mail-order catalogs, old magazines, etc. My daughter likes to play kitchen, post office, etc., make puppets, or just cut things into pieces and glue things together. The only things I paid for were the scissors and glue.

* Paper towel and toilet paper tubes. Of course they are great as pretend binoculars, telescopes or a pirate's spyglass. Or...

...Toy bracelets. Use scissors to make a straight cut from end to end. Then cut into rings about 1 to 1-1/2 inches wide. Let toddlers and pre-schoolers decorate with crayons, glue on jewels or paper cutouts, etc.

...Stuff with dryer lint (mentioned above) and dip in wax to make firestarters.

...Holiday cracker. Cut toilet paper tubes in half so you have two short tubes. Hold tubes together, as if they were one again, and glue a piece of tissue paper around the outside. Twist one end of the tissue paper, fill the tube with prizes, and twist other end (so it looks like a piece of wrapped taffy). Hold one end, and have someone pull the other end to break open and get prizes like a traditional Christmas cracker.

...Pretend candles. Take the tubes and glue bits of yellow, orange and red paper in one end. Decorate the tube. This is a good craft for Hanukkah, Kwanza, birthday (as in candles on a cake).

...Rain sticks. I learned this one from a Save the Rainforest event at a local mall. You will need to help younger children. Poke small holes all over the paper towel tube. Push toothpicks through the holes, breaking off any ends that stick out around the outside of the tube. Seal one end of the tube with construction paper (or magazine cutouts of animals), then pour in some dried beans or rice (or beads, or whatever will rattle through the stick). Seal other end of tube and cover tube with paper. Decorate. When you turn it over and over, it will make that "falling rain" sound like a traditional rain stick. You may need to experiement with the number of toothpicks and the amount of beans that provide you with a good sound.

* Paper paper paper. I got this idea from an artsy-crafty friend - she would always write her letters to me on the backs of other pieces of paper. Odds and ends, memos from her work, fliers, menus, calendar pages, whatever had a clear surface area for writing. Why not? Like we should be cutting down more trees. She even made her own paper. Something to do with a blender, paper scraps, water and a screen... I haven't tried that, myself, but I do save and re-use all scraps of paper. Of course, now I have a family, I also filter them into the imagination station (above). But I don't buy pads of paper, post-its or the like. No reason.

I once read a letter in an advice column where an older woman complained that her friend always wrote to her on previously used paper, and the old woman thought it was rude and bought her friend "proper" stationery. Nasty bitch. She should be glad someone's writing to her at all. There's an awful lot of lonely people in the world who'd be happy to have a good friend, regardless of what type of paper the friend wrote on.

* Jewelry. I am a professional jewelry designer. But I got started years and years ago just by tinkering with old and broken jewelry. Repairing broken rosaries, making bracelets out of broken necklaces, turning old beads into something new. You can find a lot of bits and pieces at yard sales and thrift stores, or your own jewelry box. I still try as often as possible to use found objects in my jewelry designs.

* Cheap alternative to chocolate chip cookies. No kidding, these cookies are awesome. RECIPE

More to come ...