We're certainly not Scroogey when it comes to splurging on fabulous finds for family and friends, but we can get a little Ebenezeresque with the seemingly mandatory $5-10 that gets piled on top of every gift for wrap, bows, tags, ornaments, cards and whatever else catches our eye near the checkout counter.  Before splurging on store bought bangles and baubles, take a good look at surprising supplies you may already have on hand, and/or can pick up from your neighbor's recycling bin.  You'll save yourself some money and do a good deed for the environment while you're at it.  We call that a double Scrooge-free swoon.

Mr. Savvy likes to joke that I have an inexplicable Depression-era mentality. Which, for unknown reasons, I suppose I do and it acts like an angel/devil scenario every time I go to toss something out.

Angel: You're not going to throw that away, are you? I'm sure you can find another use for it.
Devil: Toss it! No one's looking!
Angel: Don't listen to him, it'll go in a landfill.
Devil: Who cares? Everyone else does it!

And so on, and so forth. In any event, the angel usually wins and our utility drawers are often overflowing with whoozies and whatsits, but all for a good cause and all of which find a purposeful second life in our home. I'm not suggesting you hang on to pure trash, but many freebies have surprisingly worthwhile re-uses. Here are some of our favorites:

Every home gets a little stink-o every once in awhile no? Could be a closet with your favorite gym shoes, could be a quilt that doesn't get dry-cleaned as often as it should, could be Fluffy's favorite party corner. It happens to every Savvy Girl and much as we love the purdy, gentle scent of Febreze, we had a little palpitation the last time we forked over more than $5 for a bottle. Plus, we found that spritzing the stuff around the house a few times a week caused it to disappear faster than our budget could keep up.

We have, for a long time, employed fake flowers here and there in our home.  I know, I know, it might seem a little cheesy to some, but they add the perfect amount of "natural" lightness in some of the more sun-deprived areas of our rooms.  Even Larry Abel, event designer and CEO of ASI (Art. Style. Innovation) promoted his use of fake grass in Episode 405 of Savvy TV and being validated by a celebrity event designer like Larry warmed our savvy little hearts to no end.  After all, silk flowers look so real, no one has to know.