Thrifty Thursday: Fixing and Repuposing What You Already Have

Can you make do with what you have or do you need to get something new?

We have a toilet paper stand that for some reason the bottom came out and cracked.  I was a little confused on what happened but I assumed that with people moving it and the water and heat in the bathroom, it just gave up.  I started looking on Amazon and different websites on where I could replace it.  We found this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond for the replacement:

It wasn't exactly what we wanted and it was $25.  We lived with a broken stand for at least a week and then I was going out to get another one before it tipped over and cracked a tile in our newly remodeled bathroom.  After a few days of me not having enough time to make it to the store, my husband asked me an important question...  "Do you want me to glue it?"  Sure, if we were planning on a new on one any way and it doesn't work, we haven't lost anything but a little glue.

It worked great and we had the same stand back and no money out of pocket (assuming that you also have the glue sitting in your basement).  Check out the finished project!!  It is back to exactly the same as it was before it was broken.

It isn't new but it is just as good as it was before.  We weren't talking about replacing it before it was broken so I am not looking to replace it now.  If it lasts a little longer, we saved money in our pocket for a little longer.

It is also important to look for new uses for things you already have when you are in need of things.  Think outside the box because there is no reason that you can't use a dresser under your television, especially these huge flat screens.  It provides a nice storage solution for all those DVDs, manuals, and wires while giving you more options for your furniture choices.  We had end tables that we no longer used in the family room so we moved them to the bedroom to use on the side of the bed.  I took an old scratched bookcase and painted it a lighter color then the room and it made a nice bookshelf for my son's collection of books. Old dinning room chairs were moved to the living room to make more seating and one of them went into the spare bedroom.  Whatever stuff is determined to be extra can always be sold through Craigslist or a garage sale to make a money back and pass it on to someone who will use it!!

Have you ever gone out and gotten a replacement for something that could have gotten fixed?  Do you have anything in your house that you can move to another room to get more use out of it?  Take a second and think about it before replacing something to make sure there is no way to fix it.  It is frugal and green!  We save money and the planet by taking a little bit longer to be creative.