When the kids were still home, yes I did. They were handy to have around. Now, no, i dont keep them.

I used to save them when I packed lunches for DH and kids. I no longer need to do that so I have none now. The same goes for straws and individually wrapped plastic forks and spoons. It's nice to be rid of that clutter.

I keep them at work but not at home. At work, I have quite the variety!

No, no, and no! It just adds to clutter. The only exception is if I have a leftover and they offer a sauce packet that accompanies the food, I will bring it home to use later. I have enough at home to use.

The sweet and sour sauce packets from boxes of frozen egg rolls. They keep adding up, just hate to toss them.

LOL!!!

I have a few packets of hot sauce and Chinese mustard in the butter compartment of the fridge. DH uses them on occasion. They probably only came here with takeout, not intentionally.

Only from Chinese. We don't get any other take out fast food. I like the soy sauce, duck sauce, and hot mustard.

ETA Adella, I have never seen little packets of hot pepper and parm.

These days, no I don't save any kind of packets. But I do remember a time when one of those packets became very, very important to my young diabetic daughter's well being. In the early 1970's Dairy Queen began selling some kind of chicken which came with packets of honey. This was a time before all the handy products came about for treating low blood sugar. I went to the manager of our local Dairy Queen and begged for him to sell me a few dozen of those honey packets. He gave me a box of a out 500 of them. These were always on hand for daughters lows for several years.

I'm with Janie I used to save all packets, even sugar, salt and pepper. And I had probably 50 packets of taco sauce frpm the 'bell' place. i've been de-cluttering my house a lot the last few years, and i find it easier to buy a bottle of ketchup, a bottle of soy sauce, a box of salt, etc. That way i always have fresh condiments on hand, not a nasty old pscket of ketchup that was in my car for a week before i brought it inside to the fridge. There was a movie starring Sally Field a few years ago, "Hello, My Name Is Doris", She played an older woman living alone in a very cluttered house. Her best friend came to visit, saw a very old packet of mustard which she brought to Sally's character's attention. Sally (Doris) yelled back at her "It keeps". That was me until recently.

No, because I never eat takeout

My husband does. Then I throw them out.

Yes to the salt packets. I keep them in a small container in my purse and we use them all the time usually while traveling. In Asia, soy sauce or fish sauce is used instead of salt to season food at the table; it's rare to see salt and pepper in restaurants, especially the small family owned places. Not a big fan of soy sauce, so the salt packets came in really handy when we were there last winter.

The exception is places that cater to Western tourists by serving Western style food - they always have salt and pepper, but we weren't interested in eating Western style when in Asia.

I also keep Taco Bell sauce packets. I really like their sauce and the bottled stuff sold in the stores does not taste the same.

My husband justifies the $5 cup of coffee from Starbucks by bringing home a months supply of Sweet and Low . At least he makes a purchase lol

Nope, its extremely rare for us to eat out least of all fast food. We try to get to a small Italian place a couple times a year. The boys bring home strip coupons for McDonalds home from school with tons of free stuff. (Hamburger, fries, apple juice, milk, cone) one coupon per item, no experation date, and can use as many coupons at one time as you want. None of us like McDonalds but we do sometimes go thru the drive thru for the free cones. So we never get the condiment packets. I wouldn't save them if I did. We ate somewhere while in Florida many moons ago that gave ketchup in tiny little bottles not packets...so cute.

At Chick-Fil-A I do, because the sauces are so good! I also keep the mild sauce from Del Taco. But I don’t typically save ketchup and mustard packets.

I keep Wendy's chili hot sauce, because I like my chili spicy, but my husband can't handle anything too spicy.

It's rare for us to eat fast food, so no condiment packets hanging around here.

I don't but my DH does and he brings home a gazillion napkins as well. I wind up throwing out the condiment packs but try to use the napkins. We seldom eat fast food anymore so it's less of a problem now. I've tried to explain to him that bringing home all that extra stuff drives up the price of the food but he doesn't care.

I might keep a say if planning to enjoy leftovers, then toss.

Yes. Once in a while we get KFC and it comes with butter, honey, and jelly packets for their biscuits. I toss them in a square Tupperware type container that exactly fits on the shelf inside the refrigerator door.

No. Here is some info ;) (but agree with bossyvossy).

-- the soy dau e used in packs is very low quality.

-- you can easily make mustard sauce -- mustard powder and a bit of water. Mix.

-- the salt is just groc store iodine es table salt. Also, salt isn't so great for people.

-- that Chinese restaurant sweet sauce is horrible. You can do much better. Example - apricot preserves, bit of white wine or water, some rice vinegar.

I once heard this news item of an unkempt sort of guy whose car went off the road and tumbled into a ravine. He was trapped for days. Fortunately for him, he had a few fast food ketchup packets in his glove compartment and was able to teach them. It helped him stay alive until he was discovered and rescued. Remember, ketchup is a 'vegetable' for school lunch budget considerations (Ronald Reagan). Actually, for the clutterbug motorist, it was the sugar in the ketchup that likely kept him alive. Better to travel with a theos of water and a down sleeping bag, peanut buttr and air horn or charged cell phone.

I rarely eat fast food - really only if traveling by car and a DGS wants to stop. But I do keep a few of their condiment pkgs in a ziplock bag in the glove compartment of the car. I can't tell you how many times my late husband and I would go through the drive-through window, ask for a particular condiment or extra of one, and then after we'd driven away to a place where we could pull over and eat, we'd discover they had not included salt or ketchup or some such thing. They have come in handy on occasion. Most of the time, I take a cooler and pack my lunch/breakfast/snacks - it's a 3 day drive and I just add ice to the cooler each night.

I never save them at home, but do save those small jars/bottles that one sometimes gets with room service in a luxury hotel - very useful from time to time or on a picnic!

Nope. We don’t eat out but even if we did the answer would still be nope. :c)

No. On the infrequent occasion, we don't take them and don't save them.

We rarely have fast food and when so, it's usually when on the road and it'll be burgers like In N Out. We never do fast food drive through or to go but as with the discussion not long ago about items in hotel rooms, I don't think buying food entitles a customer to stuff their pockets with stuff beyond what's needed to eat what they purchased. Same in a restaurant, the non-sugar sweeteners are to use, not to supply your home drawer.

For To Go, like Chinese, I usually go through the package and leave on the counter what we don't need - Yes, thanks for the disposable chopsticks but no, we don't need soy sauce (have it already at home) and don't want the cookies. Some places ask first. If something unneeded slips into the bag or package, I toss it.

I keep a few ketchup, honey mustard and BBQ packets in the glove compartment for when the clerk forgets to include my requests for them. Happens enough to justify the stash.

Rarely get take out, but I do save ketchup packets if I get them. I don't eat enough ketchup to buy a whole bottle--it would sit in the fridge for years and then get tossed. So packets come in handy for that "once in a blue moon" use.

No. Rarely have fast food or take-out. I do have a few sets of the bagged cutlery/napkin/S&P packets, though. Came in handy for lunch box when I was working.

No, we don't eat take-out often. DH really isn't interested in fast food, never has been. The few times I've had and kept condiment packets I find I don't use them and end up throwing them away, may as well do that to begin with and not keep them at all.

My brothers wife. Ay, yi yi. I can take an armload out of her refrigerator. But I never know if they've been in a hot car, in the fridge for a year, who knows where ;0) I don't understand, clutter in the form of edibles.

I'll save the soy sauce packets, but that's about it. I do eventually use them, though I prefer low sodium and gluten free. Im really not often in fast food establishments.

I also take a couple of packets of fake sugar ever so often when i stop for coffee or iced tea, but I reserve them for the one or two friends who want this for their coffee when they visit. I store them with the coffee.

No

Oh, no.

Only the Taco Bell Fire sauce and the Wendy's hot oil for Chili because you can't buy either in the store. I would love to know what that hot oil is from Wendy's. I've tried to buy some hot oils at the store but it wasn't anything like it. We haven't eaten at either Wendy's or Taco Bell in so long that we don't have any of those packets. So right now, we have no packets. I used to have a dish that had various fast food packets but they were never used so I threw them away after they were too old to eat.

We ask for extra hot sauce when we get take-out Chinese food. We love the flavour of the Wing's hot sauce. It's not the regular sriracha. That's the only packets we save.

My sister keeps a few of the soy sauce packets from the Asian place because the packets are gluten-free while the sauce they use in the kitchen is not.

I keep a few packets of taco sauce and BBQ sauce in the vehicle for the times I want a sauce on a taco or burger and they don't give any. I don't bother with salt & pepper anymore since I started carrying a mini Tic-Tac container of seasoning with me to use in restaurants. It's way better than the aged ground pepper and plain salt they use and few places have a seasoning salt that's worthwhile.

If you don't want the add-ins they put in the bag, you should tell them before they do it. Many places have codes that once it's in the bag or on the counter it cannot be put back in stock for re-use so it'd just get thrown away. You could just as well toss it at home or in the basket on your way out unless you just want to do it to make they do a bit more work of cleaning the counter. I think it's a waste when I ask for water at a restaurant and they throw down a straw with it. I'm a big boy, I don't need a straw for my water. But once on the table, it's garbage. Why don't they just ask if you want one? I know the cost isn't much but it's just a big waste to me.

Taco Bell routinely throws 8 - 10 hot sauce packets in with my order. I only need one per taco and I never order more than two tacos. But, when in the drive-thru lane with cars backing up behind me, I'm not going to hold up the line to go through the bag, pick out the packets I don't need and try to give them back. Better to take them home where they will get used than to toss/waste them.

Soy sauce is generally not gluten free unless the label says so.

It's cousin tamari is. We have tamari in the house for the use of a periodic visitor who avoids eating gluten. To me, the taste is somewhat similar but it's not as tasty as soy sauce. Is it better than nothing? Maybe not.

Dawn, when in the Drive through, don't they ask if you want hot sauce? If so, you could say "yes, just two please".

No, they hardly ever ask. I have to ask and before I get a chance to specify how many, they toss a handful in the bag, thrust the bag at me, close the window and they are on to the next order. Plus, the employees are usually talking to each other coordinating orders and are distracted. Once the bag of food is handed to the customer at the drive thru window, the people in line behind start getting impatient if one doesn't move on so they can pick up their orders. To me, it's just not something that's worth the hassle of trying to correct

But, I only go about twice a year, so it's not like we're talking 100's of packets of taco sauce in the overall big picture. Since I like their sauce, I don't mind those extra packets because I use them at home when we make tacos. Slightly off topic, but if anyone has ever tried to find a taco sauce in the grocery store that is similar to Taco Bell sauce, Pico Pico is very close. We usually have several bottles on hand.

Not at home. If we eat out,it's not ever fast food. It's from a regular restaraunt, and we always get it to go. We never eat in the restaraunt. We have bottles and jars of every condiment we would need at home. I used to keep a full salt shaker in the console of my car. If we go on a longer car trip that I know we will be stopping to get something to eat,I'll put a salt shaker in my purse for me,and a pepper shaker for SO.

I'm more likely to bring condiment packets to work, and there is a big box full of everyones community condiment collection. Jelly,ketchup, mustard,relish,honey,hot sauce,soy sauce,chili sauce,duck sauce,mayo,olive oil, red wine vinegar,malt vinegar, tartar sauce, garlic butter,pizza sauce,cheese sauce,parmesan cheese,red pepper flakes, oregano, and it goes on and on and on. I think that everyone contributes to the collection,but no one partakes of it.

Amy, why do you never eat in a restaurant? Just interested is all.

I want to reduce the number of plastic straws and eating utensils I am given at fast food restaurants, but it sure is hard to get the attention of the employees.

amylou, your comment about the community condiment collection reminded me of something I saw happen in a restaurant last year.

This particular place is one where we stop anytime we have the opportunity, which for us is 2 -3 times a year. They have the most amazing breakfasts and are always packed. The wait is often 30 minutes but no one minds.

They keep covered serving bowls (with a serving spoon) of jam/jelly on the tables. I never it gave it much thought in all the years we've been going there until I saw this incident. There was a large party at the table next to us and one of the women ordered a sandwich with potato salad and a side order of toast. While eating her meal, she proceeded to take a bite of potato salad with her fork and then dip her fork in the jam bowl which she then spread on her toast. She repeated this move several times. I was so grossed out!

After they left and one of the servers was clearing the table, I went over and told her what I had seen. Her response was one of shock and dismay and she replaced the jam/jelly bowl. While I don't see many restaurants use this method of providing jam, we certainly do see it with ketchup/mustard squeeze bottles. hot sauce, Tobasco, etc., on the tables and I have seen people use their fingers to wipe off excess ketchup/mustard from the bottles sometimes licking the excess off of their fingers.

Seeing these things has given me a whole new appreciation of condiment packages even though they can end up being wasteful.

Moral of the story - Beware of the communal condiments!

graywings, me too. The only time I use a straw is in the car, so I really don't need one any other time. I like it when wrapped straws are made available in a dispenser or container and the customer can take one if they want it or not.

There's a move afoot to ban plastic straws and eating utensils and I wholeheartedly support that. When I was a kid, all the restaurants used paper straws and they worked just fine. The eating utensils are more problematic as they are often needed for to go meals, but I'm sure some sort of solution could be found. Maybe wooden skewers/spoons or something similar.

We don't save them, and most of the time we don't take them, either.

Rhizo, SO doesn't like it, and I could care less, so its just easier to get takeout. I will eat out with family,just not with him. He doesn't like it because we sometimes get "looks", for what reason is still up for debate, and that ticks him off. I always thought it was because he was so tall, he's 6'5. But there is an age difference(17 1/2 years) and a race difference and the "dirtier" looks might be attributed to those factors unfortunatly. Who knows? I dont care but it aggravates him. He also is grossed out by fountain drinks, and I think he is uncomfortable being waited on (by someone other than me anyway-THAT he has no problem with :op) All in all, he prefers the comfort and privacy of home, so that is what we do.

If they want to do something about landfill or whatever the goal is in banning straws and eating utensils, why not ban disposable diapers? That would take a lot more out of the trash than a few straws and no, paper straws are far from a substitute for a plastic one. I remember using paper straws. They were nearly worthless. Especially with kids.

And i remember in grade school they put bowls of ketchup on the tables with a spoon in it. How many times I'd see kids grab it, put some ketchup on their plate, hotdog or whatever and then lick the spoon before putting it back. (gag)

Dawn,I wish my coworkers would USE the packs of condiments in the collection. They seem to prefer to use the bottles of condiments that I buy and keep in the fridge. Also,all my plastic cutlery,paper plates and bowls, and my spices keep disappearing too. No one else buys them,and while I try to be a good sport about it,it is QUITE irritating to reach into an empty spoon box after I've opened my yogurt. All my forks were gone too,so I had to eat It with a knife. It reached a breaking point one night when I was making a BLT, and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of mayo that I had JUST BOUGHT,only to find it empty. Who puts an empty jar back into the fridge????? Ill tell you who : condiment weasels.....

I keep some,yes and in a medium sized coffee jar in the fridge...S&P is kept in a pill bottle in my purse in the event I feel the need