Challenge #39: Use It Up

Looking around this week, and trying to conglomerate ever more stuff (DS1 & family still unpacking boxes that have been in my garage for going on six weeks now) into the closets, cupboards, and pantry, I am finding tons of things stashed here and there that really should be used, not stored.

Some of it is obvious:  the food stuffs and other consumables from DS1's house in South Carolina obviously need to be eaten, laundry washed with, behinds wiped with, etc rather than just being kept in a box or closet for months (or years).  Some of it is less obvious, like the miniature bottles of shampoo and conditioner that now take up an entire plastic basket under the bathroom sink.

You know, the sorts of little bottles that you find in hotel rooms when you arrive for a stay.  How many of you travel for work, stay in hotels, and bring home those little bottles of hotel shampoo, conditioner, and lotion?  If you are not the traveling one, how about your spouse or significant other?

My hubby has been bringing those home at least a few times a year, for almost twenty years now.  And, since the majority of his trips are corporate travel, he's usually staying in decent hotels, sometimes even really posh ones (in other words, salon-type products!).  Early on, he got into the habit of bringing home the shampoo, conditioner, and lotion bottles with him. Honestly, he started it because he wanted to bring the kids a 'treat' from his trips as sort of a consolation for him being gone from home so long, and we never had much money to spend on treats (or salon-type products!).  So, he'd bring them the unopened soap, shampoo, lotion, notepad with hotel name, etc.  They thought it was the coolest thing!

Even when the kids outgrew the novelty of the little bottles, DH kept bringing that stuff home because it was awful useful for tossing into an overnight bag when they would spend the night with a friend, or go to camp, or whatever.  Why lug an entire bottle of shampoo with you when you only needed two or three head-washings worth?  Little bottle it is.

But then, we started reducing head count (and shampoo use) at home as the kids grew up and left, yet at the same time, DH's corporate travels ramped up.  Now I find myself with dozens of the little bottles, all stashed in an overflowing basket under my bathroom sink.

At the same time, I find myself with normal size bottles of shampoo and conditioner in my shower that are nearly empty.  As in, time to add shampoo and conditioner to the shopping list.

Cue the light bulb above my head.  Inspiration!  I pledge not to buy any more shampoo or conditioner until I have used up every one of those little bottles in the basket.  By my rudimentary calculations, that should be sometime next spring, if not summer.


How about you?  What can you find stashed in the dark recesses of your home that you could use up rather than continue to store for 'someday'?