Back when I was growing up in the ‘60s there were times when things were tough and money was short and we had to be frugal, not through any sense of environmental awareness or desire to be more sustainable but through sheer need. My father and brother were both skilled technical men and I picked up habits from both and one which developed out of our need to be frugal I still carry on to this day – the box ’o bits!
Inevitably stuff breaks and can’t be fixed so it has to go out, but before it goes out it was our custom to pull whatever it was apart and remove any nuts, bolts, split pins, brackets, screws or what have you and then the carcase thrown in the bin once all useable parts had been removed. These parts were then added to the box ‘o bits which then acted as a store of consumable when we were repairing other stuff or working on projects. Surprisingly enough, I almost always seemed to be able to find what i needed in the box ‘o bits, and even if I couldn’t I could usually find something I could bodgey up to do the job. 
In those days also there was very little in the way of shops open on the weekend after midday on Saturday so if you were working on a project or repair on a Saturday afternoon, as we often seemed to be, the box ‘o bits became out spare part supermarket. Today, the shops do open for longer hours so supplies are not so time critical but the good old box ‘o bits can still save time, petrol and money by removing the need to rush out and get those pesky missing bits.
Almost any box will do to start, but a lid is handy to keep rubbish and insects out, ideally an old toolbox you don’t need any more can be repurposed to be your box ‘o bits. If you use your box diligently, it is highly likely that you will need to get a bigger (or second) box as the years go by so keep that in mind before you throw any other good strong boxes out.
If you are really, seriously organised you can also get one or two of those boxes of drawers to sort out any of the bits where you have lots of the same thing. It does make things easier to find, but somewhat diminishes the thrill of the hunt!
That’s all there is to it, so why not start your own box ‘o bits today?
