As I was compiling a list of 15 things I do to save money I was amazed how many of these things I do to further my causes as a natural and green mother.
1. I cook from scratch.
2. I buy foods and home products in bulk.
3. I make my son’s school lunches.
4. I use cloth diapers and usually sewed them myself.
5. We do crafty things and DIY projects at home. For instance, we make our own play dough.
6. I shop at garage sales.
7. I make my own household products or beauty items.
8. I buy greeting cards in bulk and get them for pennies a piece.
9. We go to the library often…to get books and to attend free seminars and kids classes.
10. I garden and I make my own compost.
11. I am very good at saying no when my kids ask for toys at the store. But before you think I am an ogre…trust me they have plenty of toys at home. ;)
12. My husband and I share minutes on our cell phones.
13. I repurpose or reuse things if I can.
14. My kids get alot of their “entertainment” outside…at home. If we do go out someplace it is with my husband who is only home every other weekend.
15. We don’t eat fast food. This saves our health and our money because that stuff is expensive!
So how about you?
How about if we all hung our clothes on the line when possible. Do you know how much energy that saves!
I have been hanging out my laundry, and they smell so good!
I know some housing developments do not want you to hang out laundry, but they need to change their policies!
Mom and Grandmom of 6!
Thanks
Great suggestion Rita! I do this too and I live on a private road with no home owner’s association thank goodness! I would be very unhappy if someone told me I couldn’t line dry my clothes.
I am so Jealous! We live in a Home Owners Association with a no clothes line law. I soooooo miss the smell of fresh- line dried clothes! drying them on a line in the basement just isn’t the same.
What GREAT work! Good for you – wish I could say I am as disciplined as you are!
I do all the things you do and I have grown up thinking these were the norm. At least they were in the country environment I grew up in. I honestly don’t know how people can do otherwise! In these days of big mortgages, increasing interest rates etc etc, if I want to give my kids the things I consider important from my childhood ie the music lessons, the sports, the books etc, then I have to watch the pennies somewhere. I honestly don’t know how families do it that smoke and drink and buy big plasma TVs and pander to their kids requests for crap food and crappier toys. How do they afford it?!
Great list. I do many of the same things you’ve listed. :) I love how often saving money can be eco-friendly. Thanks for the tag!
Those are great tips Tiffanty. Here’s another one that works for me, since I was raised in a pretty modest environment by a single mom of two. I reuse my store bought bottles and jars to store my spices and homemade pickles. That way I don’t end up spending tons at the Container Store.
I also buy second hand books twice a year at the public library. That way I’m building my kiddo’s library without spending a ton.
oh no. lol this will be a tough one for me. i dont see myself as frugel at all. good thought provocing blog game…i’ll think on this and post soon.
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Interesting that you said fast food was expensive? I was under the impression that fast food in the States was cheaper than everything else : and that was why it was so popular. Clearly I must be wrong. Personally, in my country fast food is very expensive. I’ve never really seen the benefits of fast food at all, only that if I cannot cook there’s nowhere else to go. Usually because the restaurants may be similarly priced, but you’ve got to pay for tips and everything. So, that’s where they usually get me.
Here are some tips that I learned from my mother:
1. In our place veggies are less expensive than meat products. So from Mondays through Fridays mom is cooking veggies and seafood. Meat products are reserved only for weekends.
2. We seldom buy soda rather we just drink from filtered water. Juices are made from real juice extracts as they are less expensive than processed powdered juice drinks.
3. Our refrigerator has a water dispenser outside its door so we don’t have to close and open the refrigerator every time we want to drink water.
Thanks for the play dough recipe! I will definately be trying that out. I came upon your site while I was looking for ways to save money AND be environmentally friendly. I found other great ideas at http://www.destroydebt.com/articles/76-ways-to-save-money-while-saving-the-environment.html that others might find useful.