There is a GW Money Saving Tips forum that is terrific!

Lots of ways to stretch the $s or recycle what you have.

By the way, I get all my buckets FREE from drywallers and restaurants. There is also FREECYCLE.

Let folks know you are a recycler...amazing the calls you might get. Of course, a thank you pan of brownies, or some garden fresh produce, sweetens the memory.

In a previous neighborhood, I provided the leaf bags for a friend with a forest of shedding trees. This friend put the leaves thru a leaf shredder for me and called when he had 4-6 bags ready for hauling!

Just curious, what kind of buckets do you get in the bakery section?

My DH works in construction, so we have no shortage of 5-gal buckets with lids around here! You might ask similarly employed friends & neighbors to collect them for you. In fact, all kinds of "trash" from construction sites finds new life around our place.

I find dozens of uses for gallon milk jugs. I cut them up to create scoops and handy berry-picking buckets, among other things.

Hi, I'll be sure to check out the money saving forum.
The buckets from Giant Eagle or Wall Mart bakeries had frosting, pie fillings, things like that in them. They are a hard white bucket with a lid and handle. They are washed before put out for sale. They have different sizes. 2-5 gallons.
A friends husband is a plumber and is always bringing home cast offs from construction and demolition sites. Your right! Lots of good recycling there!
I reuse milk jugs too. In the summer I keep several water filled ones in the freezer to help keep the rabbits cool.

Those wonderful plastic containers with handholds that you buy ground coffee in (specifically, Folgers). They fit under the kitchen sink and hold the day's scraps for the compost pile. Another one holds scraps for the chickens. They can be rinsed out (I wash the chicken one after use) and reused for quite some time. I actually saw a "compost bucket" about the same size for sale for $12!