Here's a good motive to be creative: stretching out your resources to make them last longer.  I recently came across instructions on the web to modify a soap dispenser pump so that it regulates the liquid soap that comes out of it.  I've always been conservative at the sink, but my kids are notorious for pushing the thing as far as it will go.  The amount of soap that emerges completely covers their palm.  Most of that goes down the drain, while my face turns red.

The solution is simple: prevent the pump from going all the way down with some kind of stopper.   This won't prevent multiple pumps, but it's far easier to train a kid "one pump only" rather than "only pump halfway". 

This ideology as been around as long as conservation has.  I remember living in California during a drought and it was mandatory for all shower heads to have an external valve that allowed stopping the flow of water.  You'd get wet, flip the valve, soap up, then flip the valve again to rinse off.  I don't know how much water I saved, but I did save.

In the cash-strapped environment we currently live in, coming up with ideas to elongate our dollar is more important than ever.  What can you make to start your stretching routine?