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Welcome to #ThrowbackThursday! Every Thursday we’ll be celebrating the wisdom of our foremothers with some themed tips from the Great Depression era. Feel free to get in on the fun! Write your own Throwback Thursday tips on our Facebook wall, or tweet @CatchyFreebies with the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday. If we choose your tip for a feature, we’ll send you a sample from our stash! 

This #ThrowbackThursday, it’s also Use Less Stuff Day! Using less (aka reducing your use of various items) is definitely a major rule of Great Depression frugalistas. So we want to share our favorite ways to save money and use less stuff during the upcoming holidays!

• Inviting lots of friends and family over? Turn your thermostat down a few degrees to use less energy – all your guests will provide natural heat!
• Better yet, keep your thermostat a little lower throughout the winter and dress a little more warmly indoors to keep costs down. Chances are you already have blankets and cozy sweaters around, so use ‘em well!
• Going to a party in the neighborhood? Walk there or arrange a carpool! This goes for all events throughout the winter as well, of course!
• Don’t buy disposable dishes and cups for your party – if you’re worried about glass or china breaking, use a plastic set! If you don’t have reusable plastic dishes at home, they’re pretty inexpensive at the dollar store, and you can reuse them for future parties (or just for daily eating).
• Regift or donate unwanted presents.
• Choose rechargeable batteries instead of disposable – you could even gift an inexpensive battery charger and a set of rechargeable batteries if you’re stumped on a gift!
• Forgo gift wrapping paper for a gift bag that can be reused! Which leads us to…
• Always save wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, and gift bags in good condition and carefully fold them for reuse!
• While we’re at it, skip the paper holiday cards and send a friendly e-card instead (just think of how many more family pics and anecdotes you can fit in that e-card!).
• While out shopping for presents, always remember to bring your own reusable bag, and opt to stick everything in the same bag instead of getting separate bags.
• Instead of buying new items for gifting to family and friends, organize a gift swap where everyone brings an item they don’t use (that’s still in good condition) to trade.
• Save those leftovers – pack them up and stick ‘em in your fridge or send them home with family or friends. (No clue about what to do with ‘em? Read our #ThrowbackThursday post on leftovers!)
• Unplug and turn off devices when you aren’t using them. Better yet, use a surge protector for all your chargers and devices that you can turn off when you aren’t using it (even when nothing’s plugged into them, chargers will waste energy if they’re plugged in!).

For more tips on how to use and spend less during the holidays, visit the Use Less Stuff site here!

What’s the best way you know to use less stuff during the holidays? Leave us a comment on Facebook or send us your thoughts on Twitter @CatchyFreebies using the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday!

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