When you see a great deal on something that your family uses, then by all means, buy as much as your family will use. It's the pennypincher way!

But if you see a great deal…

and you kind of lose your head…

and buy more than your family can use before it goes bad…

then at least be creative about making it last.

Because throwing it away surely negates your savings!

I spent some time at the fruit stands a couple of weeks ago. And then again a week later. I have a thing for fresh produce. What can I say?

They had limes 10/$1. Amazing deal! And we do use limes pretty regularly in our home.

So I went a little crazy and bought 10 one week.

And 10 more the next.

And we got some limes in our co-op offering one week too.

Yesterday I realized my mistake. The limes were getting past their prime.

So I asked my friend, Google, how best to save them.

Google said I should squeeze and freeze the juice. Brilliant! Now I can have my super cheap lime juice in the dead of winter when a sinlge lime costs a dollar!

I squeezed them all and then measured out 1 Tablespoon of juice into each little plastic cup. You could use an ice cube tray. I don't have any so I used these cups I already had on hand.

After they were frozen, I popped the lime juice disks out of their cups and put them in a freezer container.

I saved that $2 I originally spent, by not throwing it away.

We also make soups for my husband's lunches out of leftovers. None of us really like to eat the leftovers as is. And my hubby says my homemade soups are better than the canned ones we sometimes use. win/win!

Do you take special care to preserve the good deals you get? Tell us about it!