Well, well, well, the recent series about the top ten things collected by Great Depression era moms and ten more things they collected certainly struck a chord with readers. Thanks to all who left comments on FB about what your moms saved. My favorite was this classic: Mom would hang paper towels up to dry if she only used them to wash her hands.
In those posts, I promised to air my own dirty paper towel laundry about the silly things I collect…habits drilled into me by my frugal Great Depression era mother. Here goes, and feel free to step in any time to air your silly saving habits, too!
10. Pens. Every conference I attend, I resolve not to pick up any free pens. But the vendors are so persistent, and the pens are so cute. Pretty soon, I’ll need to start collecting cups for storing pens on the top of my desk.
9. Geranium stems that break off the plants I winter over. I would save African violet leaves and stems, too, but I am death to African violets. But my cousin Karen saves them. Since we were childhood best friends, I save then vicariously through her.
8. Rain water for watering houseplants and the geraniums I winter over. The water is saved in the gallon plastic milk jugs I also collect.
7. Shoe boxes. They’re very handy for packing and mailing biscotti to publishers when a new book launches.
6. Rubber bands and twisty ties.Throwing them away just isn’t right.
5. Vegan butter spread tubs. The hip, new gen version of margarine tubs.
4. Plastic grocery bags. And the occasional tissue box, which make excellent plastic grocery bag dispensers.
3. Wrapping paper, foil, and waxed paper inner rolls. My daughter-in-law makes the coolest stuff for her kids out of them.
2. Toilet paper rolls. Because walking through the door and handing them to your 2-year-old grandson immediately makes you a rock star in his eyes.
1. Memories. The more I gather, the dearer the people in them become and my life grows richer with each one.
Okay, confession time…what do you collect? Leave a comment!
