Living Green =Saving Money?

Thinking green and trying to live green is on everyone's mind these days. It really makes sense not only for our environment but for our pocket books as well. Every where you look stores are selling the latest, newest, good for the environment goodie. Do we really need to buy more? Wouldn't it be smarter to use what we already have?

My grandparents were some of the most frugal people I have ever known. They were green when green wasn't cool. They recycled everything that could be recycled. They did it not with the idea of saving the environment but with the goal of not being wasteful. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Nothing was too small.

My grandfather took the time to straighten bent nails from projects and reused them. My grandmother saved scraps for quilts and string from feed bags. She even taught me the fine art of dumpster diving when I helped her and her sister in law collect fabric from the place the local shirt factory dumped their scraps. I still have quilts made from those scraps. When I wanted drawing paper it was most often the blank insides of a junk mail envelope. I wasn't going to be allowed to draw on school paper that they had paid good money for!

Even with all the saving their home was never cluttered because they used the things they saved. I grew up watching that and they set a great example to follow.

Today living green is what is fashionable. I wonder how Grannie and Pa Pa would feel about being so cool? That makes me chuckle! I think my grandparents would think it funny too.

While surfing I found a great little project for using those mesh vegetable bags, and this one which is another use for those junk mail envelopes. Both are by Girl on the Rocks and they are frugal and green. Are you going to save the world or save a bazillion dollars? Nope. But it might get you to thinking about other things you can do and if we all make a few changes...who knows.

Sticking To My Budget

I've made it a goal to stick to my $14 or less decorating budget again this year. I'll admit it would be easier if it were $20! But it is fun though to try and do it for as little as possible. My ornaments from my previous post came to less than a dollar or free depending on how you look at it because I didn't buy anything. I had everything in my stash of craft items.

My hubby brought home a Poinsettia as a present. The only thing I have bought were a couple of red checked tablecloths for $3 and a green cross stitch pillow from the thrift store for .50. I'm using these items to decorate my porch. The arrangement on the table I already had. (I found that table on the curb btw. Gotta love it!) I made a wreath for the door from a couple of garlands and ornaments I had and added a velvet bow I bought for .20 on clearance last year. I think the results are festive and I have only spent $8.70. I still have $5 left for supplies for our traditional "Gingerbread" houses. I have spent so much money in the past for Holiday decorations. Most of them bit the dust years ago after 4 kids. It is such a good feeling to be able to make things look nice for pennies. If and when I do decide to spend money on decorations I won't feel like I've been wasteful.

Want To Live In A Hobbit Hole?

If you do then check out this home .

Built in Wales, this home is a low impact structure built out of many recycled and natural materials. I think it is adorable and super cool. With all the talk about how to lower our personal imprint on our environment it is easy to overlook the obvious benefits for frugal souls.

In ignoring the multitude of businesses for profit that offer expensive alternatives to our toxic cleaning products or items such as the ridiculously overpriced canvas shopping bags and getting down to the real green life, the business of recycling and reusing items and finding ways to lessen what we use in our everyday lives, one comes to realize living a greener life also means a frugal, simpler life.

Replacing all those incandescent bulbs with compact florescent saves in more ways than one. Turning up the thermostat puts $$ in your pocket and helps lessen the pull on our power grids, taking an ink cartridge to W*algreens to get it refilled makes perfect sense budget and environment wise. Every time you find a way to reuse, recycle or remake and item, you aren't only saving dollars, you are making an impact on our environment. So, every time you make a gallon of laundry detergent or other homemade cleaner, use vinegar and baking soda to clean, or repair that old pair of pants one more time, remember to smile and feel good about your lack of environmental impact all the way to the piggy bank.

As always check out Crystal's site for more Frugal Friday tips.

Use it Up Poster

Meredith had a link to Frugal For Life where there are some great WWII posters. I'm posting my favorite, which happens to bear my personal motto. I love it. Do you think we could all pull together and sacrifice today the way they did back then?

What In The World Is This Thing ?

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without is our family financial motto. Creativity is a key element to living that motto.

Now to answer the question in my post title. What is this thing? It is a "make do" dehydrator. I have wanted a dehydrator for years but I have never been lucky enough to find one secondhand. I realize that I don't do enough drying to justify buying one full price, so I had to come up with a "make it do" solution to fill the gap.

What I did here was use a frame to a TV tray, a pizza pan (the kind with holes), a clamp on shop light with a 100 watt blub, and a cardboard box. It won't win any design awards but it works like a charm to dry the small amounts of food I've tried in it.

So even though I am repeating myself my frugal tip is: Be Creative. This seems to be a theme this week on Frugal Friday tips. There is almost always some way to get what you need without spending the big bucks.

Frugal Fridays

I picked up this great little soap saver at Big Lots for only 50 cents. It is made to hold a full bar of soap, but I just use all my soap slivers. I have done this before with a piece of old stocking and with a mesh veggie bag but I like this better because as you can see in the picture it gives a really good lather and it comes with a drawstring so you can hang it to dry. I think this would be good to use at an outside water spigot for clean up after gardening.

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it do, or Do Without.

When my children were small we were on a very tight budget. Yard sales were not as popular in our area as they are now. I taught myself to sew just well enough to make basic play clothes and dresses for my daughters. Sewing can be expensive. Early in our marriage even buying the cheapest fabrics and supplies was out of our budget. I discovered that I could take old dresses of mine, or those that had been given to me, take them apart at the seams and use the fabric to make dresses for my daughter. I would reuse the zippers, especially the short ones from skirts, buttons and any salvageable trim as well. I used old dress pants of my husbands and made pants for my son. I also made all of their play clothes from old clothes. Any clothes made from suitable fabric were utilized. There was one particularly bleak financial year that I spent a total of only $15 on clothes for my children for the entire year and that was on shoes. With yard sales being as popular now days it is much easier to clothe children on a small budget so this tip is more about being creative with our finances instead of sewing. When faced with a need use creativity first before you go out and spend money. It is much more satisfying. Picture: Dress made from an old dress. The collar was from an man's dress shirt. Ribbon and thread left over from other projects. Check out Biblical Womanhood for more tips.