Do You Save Condiment Packets?
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Frugalites get hassled a lot. Those of us who want to be good stewards of our resources might be mocked for some of our frugal ways. Ah, such is life, when you go against the stream.
That’s not to say that some people go to pretty far extremes when it comes to saving a dime. And there are some frugal practices that might be considered dangerous to one’s health or even illegal. Each of us needs to find our comfort and health level when it comes to frugality and be wise.
One benign and often mocked frugal practice is to save condiment packages.
I’m not talking about “going shopping” at McDonalds when you run out of ketchup. That is unethical at best, illegal at worst.
But, do you save the condiments that you receive at a restaurant or do you toss the unused packets?
We have a small box in our pantry that holds the extras that we receive from takeout restaurants. Those in the know can tell that our eating out is almost exclusively from Costco’s food court, Panda Express and DelTaco.
To me, it seems wasteful to throw away perfectly good condiments just because I’m “above” saving them. When I know that we have a supply at home, I decline more when we’re at the restaurant. And we use them up. Occasionally, I bag up what we have and donate them.
Miserliness or good stewardship?
This isn’t necessarily a way that I “save money,” but rather a way I save resources and avoid waste. Somewhere along the line, that saves somebody money, even if it’s not me. And I think that’s a good thing.
What do YOU do to save money?
Share your favorite money-saving ideas today. Leave a link to a post that shares some frugal wisdom. (Please no giveaways or deals posts. Teach us how to fish!)
My post today is about how to save time and money by organizing your pantry! Part of Tidy-Up Thursday and Frugal Friday @ WhoIsLaura.com
To your success,
Dr. Laura
I am totally with you on this one! We don’t go out a lot but I figure I’ve already paid for the 3 servings of ketchup that are left over so I better use them. Sometimes I even go ahead and open up the individual packages and put them in my big ketchup bottle. That way it will get used for sure. I had never thought of donating the extras though. That’s a really good tip!
I used to! Then I realized that I ended up throwing them away at some point anyway because I never used them. I figured if I was going to “waste” them anyway I might as well waste them immediately before I started cluttering up my kitchen. Like others said, I don’t get too many anyway b/c we don’t eat out much and don’t get many of those packets anymore. My MIL is like you, though, she can’t bear to throw any of those away, esp the bbq sauce packets from Famous Dave’s. She loves those!
I save them, first and foremost because I would hate to throw away something edible…if I didn’t use them, I would request we not get any to begin with. But I have found that they are absolutely unbeatable for packing in lunchboxes for hubby! That way his bread isn’t soggy from mayo of ketchup before hand!!
@Amanda Y., I never thought of saving them for lunchboxes. What a great idea! Thanks!
My mom is a complusive hoarder (like the ones on that show) and she had literally 1000s of those things!! So no, I don’t keep those packets.
We especially save the ranch, seems like we always are running out of ranch dressing. The boys don’t use any sauce on their nuggets, so I always ask for some anyway, then save it. We also keep the other packets in a ziploc in the fridge.
Thanks for hosting another great FF!
~Liz
yup sometime I do. I have a zip lock bag in my draw in the fridge!
I used to save condiment packages, but, I admit, I have become too much of a food snob to do so now. The way I see it, many of the ingredients in condiment packages are not ones I want going into the bodies of me and my family members. Why save money now only to spend it later on health and diet-related issues? So, I read packaging carefully, and, if things contain dyes, HFCS, certain additives, etc., I stay away from them./ In the rare case condiment packages do not contain these things, or if we are having company due that I know enjoys such things anyway, we do though. 🙂
I don’t know if my link is a frugal tip, but it’s currently saving me money. I find that when I take time to go through the house and/or my life and count up all the things (and people) that God has blessed me with, I no longer “need” anything. I’m no longer shopping to buy stuff because I realize I’m loaded with stuff already (some that I don’t even use or needs to go out in the next yard sale!). It was a good lesson to learn.
We don’t save them, because we don’t get them. 🙂 Partially because of frugality, but also because all restaurants with those packages serve mostly meals with gluten.
Just a different take on things.
Annie Kate