One of the lessons my frugal mother taught me was never to throw anything away or put a dish in the dishwasher until you were sure that a container was absolutely, positively empty. That meant scraping bowls with rubber spatulas to make sure I’d gotten every last drop of something I’d cooked–and was now serving–or adding a little bit of water to a soap dispenser so I could go just a few more days without having to buy a replacement.

Turns out I’m not the only frugal person who uses creative tricks to make sure everything I own is good to the last drop. That said, here is a collection of 7 ideas about how other folks make stuff last longer–and you can, too.

1. “A tube of moisturizer will stop dispensing (for lack of a better word) even though there is still some product left in the tube. Today I cut the tube in half…there is enough cream left in there for two or even three more applications. Not a lot of money saved, but a few pennies that will eventually add up. You can do the same thing with tooth paste.” (Dee Dee Bowman, author of  The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening)
2. “Currently, I have a bottle of foundation on its side on my vanity with a Q-tip nearby to get the last bits of makeup off the side of the glass.” (Linda Carlson, Parenting Press)
3. “I throw a dash of red wine (or white) into pasta sauce bottles to get the last bits out, plus it deepens the flavor.” (Krista Fabregas, SmartLiving Companies)
4. “I turn the liquid laundry detergent bottles on their top for a few minutes when they’re almost empty. Everything drains into the cap. Screw it off carefully and usually there’s enough for one more load.  Say you have a big family and use about a bottle a month – that’s an extra 12 loads a year you get.” (David Wayne, Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio)
5. “I put my dry clean items in the dryer on a light cycle after spraying the underarms with Febreze and some perfume to get them to last longer between cleanings.” (Beth Dunn, Social Climbers)
6. “One thing my mom taught me to do was after I wash clothes, just fluff them in the dryer and then hang them to dry. I didn’t think it made a big difference, but the facts don’t lie: a friend and I bought the same jeans on sale one weekend, and within 8 months his were faded. Mine went strong for years. Fluffing and hanging has given me clothes that last much longer than they used to.” (Sid Savara)
7. “Instead of expensive non-stick cooking sprays, I use butter wrappers to grease baking pans. Also, I save onion skins, potato peelings and other kitchen ‘trash’ in a freezer bag. When the bag is full, simmer the stuff in salted water for about an hour to make a veggie broth.” (Lara Starr, co-author of The Frugal Foodie Cookbook)

Thanks to these great tips, I’ll never look at a (seemingly) empty tube of toothpaste the same way again.