A Belated Earth Day Bargain

The large closet just outside the hall bathroom is filled with a collection of linens, extra toiletries, bathroom supplies, first aid items, and medicines. When we moved in I quickly tried to arrange things in a logical order, then moved on to the next project. The arrangement wasn't that great to start with, and after more than a year things were a mess.

I decided to tackle organizing the two shelves that held the non-linen items, thinking that shoebox-sized plastic containers would be good for holding different categories of items. I looked in the storage unit for something the correct size and came up empty handed. I'm trying to limit the amount of plastic I bring into the house, so I started looking for containers at thrift stores. That way I would be recycling instead of buying new.

For a couple of weeks I popped into stores when I had time, but always walked out empty handed. Yesterday I drove by a place that's going out of business. There was a sign by the door that indicated they were only going to be open one more week and everything was 75% off. I figured there wouldn't be much left.

The clothing racks were pretty empty, but in the back of the store I struck pay dirt. There was an entire shelf of plastic storage containers, and four of them were the size and shape I was looking for. None matched exactly, but that was alright by me. The cashier rang up my purchases, then applied the discount code. My total was a whopping 55 cents...a win for both the environment and my budget.

 Five years ago today: Undoing