Finding the Pennies: Use Jars to Help Save Money

I love to use jars to organise every day items such as coffee, marshmallows, rice, seeds, pens, markers, cotton buds. Simple products simply look prettier and more organised in a jar. Of course we're more attracted to products in pretty packaging than less expensive products in plainer packaging and marketers know this! They whack up the price of products just because it's in more attractive packaging, not necessarily because the product the package contains is worth the extra amount. Did you know that a huge part (perhaps around a third) of the price of an item we pay for is simply for the packaging?

Watch the Vlog about this here:

As a part of my money-saving mindset, rather than keeping products in their original packaging, I purchase and empty less expensive items into jars to make them appear more appealing. For instance, I save about 80p by buying Sainsbury's Basics raisins/sultanas compared to the normal store brand raisins. When we have hot chocolate at home, my kids love to put the mini marshmallows on by themselves; it's nicer to have a jar of marshmallows on the table, than a crumpled, hard-to-stick-your-hands-into package of marshmallows.

I don't pay directly for any of my jars, rather I clean out jars from pasta sauces and condiments by putting them in the dishwasher and letting them dry completely. If the label or all of the glue from the label doesn't come off in the dishwasher, peel off the label and rub vegetable oil over the glue. With a little elbow grease, washing up liquid (dish soap) and an old tooth brush, the residue should come off.

When I fill a jar with an item that has cooking instructions, I simply cut out the cooking instructions from the package and stick it inside with the item, such as the red lentils.

Another benefit of having items put in jars is that it's simply easier to find in the cupboards hopefully resulting in being able to find items when you need them rather than having to re-purchase them when you do your shop.

Items that can be stored or organised in jars aren't limited to food stuffs nor do they even have to be put in the cupboard or pantry. Since they look pretty, if you're limited on drawer space, like me, then using jars can be an attractive way to display other items, like I do my pens, markers and scissors. Of course, they need to be kept out of the reach of children just in case.