Cutting up newspaper sleeves from recycling bins sounds like a solid way to save cash, just hope he's not storing anything that needs to stay pristine because cloudy plastic and beef jerky silica packets scream "budget preservation." Next he'll be using old pizza boxes for backing boards and calling it vintage storage.

Did you check the date code before you bought it? I read somewhere that big box stores in Denver specifically have issues with their mud sitting too long on the pallets because of the dry climate here. The moisture just evaporates out faster and you end up with that lumpy mess. I've had the same thing happen with joint compound from Lowe's a few months back, and it's incredibly frustrating when you're already on the clock. So now I always give the bucket a good shake before I even take it to checkout, and I look for the newest batch numbers in the back of the stack.