What are you top Tips/Recommendations on Living Naturally, yet being Frugal?

[mama2ashlynn]

Hello MDC Mamas!

I am posting this thread as I am looking to live more conciously and frugally so I can remain a sahm and begin the journey of homeschooling my 2 wonderful daughters. I am new this forum and want to get some advice from those veterans here with great ideas...

Currently, I use coupons, partake in monthly local Azure Standard and Frontier buyers Co-ops, almost always make all our family meals, we reuse items (ie, mayo jars for storage containers, etc), shop at resale stores, and try to find the best deals whenever I can...

I would love other advice on what else I can do to live a natural organic lifestyle and still live frugally?

Your top tips and/or recommendations for what has really helped you the most? (Ideas/tips, Stores, websites, books,etc, etc...)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

~HAPPY EARTH DAY!~

Laura

[Aubergine68]

Sounds like you know a lot of this stuff already!

Here are the rules I try to live by.

1) Ask yourself before you spend money on anything "What do I already have that will do the job?" I have been lusting after an outside umbrella clothes drying rack (couple hundred bucks) because I could insert the base in the ground and remove the rack when I don't want it in the yard. Instead, I found a length of lightweight cord in the shed, moved the kids' playhouse to block the view from our patio, and hung the cord as a clothesline between a tree and the fence at the back. Works fine. Is green. Was free

2) Shop second hand first. Thrift, garage sales, Craigslist, etc.

3) Don't shop for processed consumable products; shop for ingredients instead.

ie, Buy baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils (if you wish) to mix your own cleaning products rather than buy $$$ "green" cleaning products in disposable containers.

Buy flour, (or ideally whole grains that you can grind)and yeast, (or ideally use sourdough starter) and bake your own rather than buy breads and baked goods.

4) Shop local. Grow or make your own, if you can.

5) Focus on learning green/frugal living skills as a hobby. Take lessons or teach yourself how to make fermented foods, if your family eats them, to sew so you can remake clothes, etc.

[caiesmommy]

I have mostly the same tips:

-Hang your clothes to dry
-Eat vegetarian a couple of times a week
-Have your own garden..at least a herb garden(fresh herbs make EVERYTHING taste great)
-Cheap snacks like air popped popcorn(on the stove and you dont even have to buy a popper)
-Find out if there is a freecycle in your area
-Turn the heat down even a few degrees/don't crank the air conditioner
-Forget paper towels. A waste of money. Either buy extra dish towels ect or make your own
-Check local thrift stores for clothes ect
-Shop at farmers markets
-Can, dehydrate, freeze, whatever local food you can get. A great way to preserve local foods-great for gifts too
-Bake muffins/pancakes/bread ect from scratch
-Shower every second day or cut the shower short by 5 min
-Learn to knit/sew ect then you can make gifts/mend your own clothes
-Save gifts that you get that you don't want and regift
-Ask for PRACTICAL gifts..nothing worse then getting a gift that you hate...ask for something you WANT. g/cs or memberships to food co-ops ect

[swd12422]

Eat a (mostly) vegetarian diet (I'm trying to instill this in my family now... DH is resistant, but articles in Sierra Club mag about the environmental impact of farming and watching Food, Inc. may be working....)

Use the reusable versions of everything disposable that you can: cloth pads, cloth diapers, cloth TP and hankies instead of tissues, cloth napkins, stainless or wood flatware instead of plastic, grocery bags...

And reuse everything you can that comes into the house as presumably single-use: jars, bags, envelopes from the mail can be used for shopping lists or to-do lists or scratch paper for kids' homework

Make your own <everything you can>: deodorant (coconut oil, baking soda, corn starch), shampoo (or go water-only for hair care), soap (I don't make my own, but I use Sappo Hill which is natural, inexpensive and comes in zero packaging), yogurt (costs a quarter of the price of buying it...), bread, ice cream (again, MUCH cheaper to MYO), clothes (if you sew, I don't). Also, I do know that people make their own butter -- I'm not that good, but you can save a lot of money and plastic if you use stick butter and a butter keeper instead of buying whipped butter. It's a small thing, but all these small things are really adding up for my family.

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any right now. I know a lot of these thing seem minor in terms of budget or environmental impact, but they add up quickly. We are a family of 3 with a toddler and a dog, and our weekly trash barely fills up one kitchen trash bag. Our recycling bin gets pretty full, but the curbside can (small trash can size) takes 3-4 weeks to fill completely. I think that's pretty good, considering we see how full our neighbors' bins are each week and they have smaller families or comparable situations.

[caiesmommy]

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of any right now. I know a lot of these thing seem minor in terms of budget or environmental impact, but they add up quickly. We are a family of 3 with a toddler and a dog, and our weekly trash barely fills up one kitchen trash bag. Our recycling bin gets pretty full, but the curbside can (small trash can size) takes 3-4 weeks to fill completely. I think that's pretty good, considering we see how full our neighbors' bins are each week and they have smaller families or comparable situations.[/QUOTE]

I totally know this feeling! There's me, dh, ds(3) and dd(16m) and we have less trash then my inlaws who live nextdoor and its the TWO of them! Not to mention they eat out prob half their meals! Insane!

[mattemma04]

So many of the things I do were already listed.

I added rain barrels(aka garbage cans) to all the gutters where the rain was going into underground pipes...what a waste!

I go through expensive areas to garbage pick.Amazing what others throw away.

I got some chickens last year.I am sure eating them would be better than just collecting the eggs,but we just can't kill them.Well I can't.

I plant swap to try and save on that expense. I buy plants/seeds that produce something I can eat...leaves,berries,or nuts. I dig up more of my lawn each year and replace it with edibles.


I try to do most of the health care for family/animals on my own now to save on the expense of a doctor/vet.


I set up the yard so we like to be home more than going out for activites.We have a pool,trampoline,fire pit,and in the summer a tent.I even created walking trails through the flowering areas.One year I mowed a maze. That was fun.

[Amys1st]

Rain barrels. Our town has a rebate system, $80 twice a year for rain barrels. They need a picture of it installed, reciept, and filled out application.

We are buying another and attached a hose to it.

Compost all food scraps not meat related outside. We do it most of the year right in the veggie garden and then move it May15th to another location in the yard.

Where you would use paper, such as paper towels, napkins use cloth.
You can expand that to cloth for pads you use, family cloth etc.


Learn how to use leftovers, try to see how much food waste you have from not eating it and try to cut that out. You will be amazed how much uneaten food you throw away. Consider your portion sizes when dishing out and how to save that for later instead of throwing out.


Have "no car" days. Plan errands on other days.

[marimara]

My absolute best tip for living more naturally yet being frugal is to shop around. I never pay full price for something. I sign up for email alerts from my favorite websites so I can hear of the sales first. (for ex. I scored Organic sheets sets for $20 a set last year). I'm a bargain/comparison shopper like crazy. I keep a note of things I need in my purse and when I'm out I look for them.

I find organic food/products at discount stores like Big Lots/TJ Maxx/Ross for a fraction of the cost.

When something I like or want is on sale or for a great price, I stock up so that I don't have to pay full price later. This is a challenge since I live in an apartment now but I still do it. I just get creative.

Next biggest tip is Meal Planning. I find that if I plan ahead and shop accordingly the food goes farther. When I'm paying big bucks (sometimes) for organic food I reallllly want to make it stretch. I calculate prices based per lb/unit/whatever to get the best deal. I look for coupons too but I'm not huge into it like some others are.

Next biggest tip is to really weigh the decision whether something is worth the $$. I don't buy the best top of the line, organic everything, I just get what I can get for a good price and keep an eye out for others. I want an all organic bed for example, but I'm slowly doing it on sale, of course ;wink

[happysmileylady]

My biggest tip was already mentioned, but it deserves repeating. Garden. Grow as much of your own food as you can. You can control what is used for pest control, you can can/freeze your own stuff for over the winter and the best part...there is NOTHING like walking out side, picking a green pepper, zucchini, green beans and so on and then just tossing them in your dinner.

[Om Girl]

For homeschooling...getting involved in your local homeschool community and finding out what steps you need to make to get your "homeschooling discounts".

Around here: Joann's Crafts, Barnes and Noble, all the local museums, etc have homeschooling rates or discounts.

Also: finding out the free days at the local attractions: museums, etc.

[ewp11100]

Some have said skip the shower, I'll add skip washing the clothes! LOL sounds grungy I know but it works better in the winter. My kids do not where jammie, just something else to wash. They where comforable clothing all the time and sleep in anything. Before bed I survey their clothes... ok ds you need a new shrit but your pants are clean, dd you need a new set of clothes your cover in paint. I wear the same pair of jeans 2 days in a row but can't get away with the same shirt. I don't change the sheets unless they stink or someone messes then (ie puke, pee, poo or blood). Towels get changed once a week, hey if your not showering every day they only get used 1/2 as much
Lights off, things unplugged, I'm sure you know. But passive heatting and cooling is also essentail! Blinds open in the winter clothed in the summer. Cooling since it's fast approaching summer... Open all the windows on the none sunny side of the house in the morning/over night. Close them as soon as it starts to heat up 11am in spring 9/10 in the summer. Keep blinds down and fans on high. We keep a fan blowing from the basement that cools the floor we are on all day. When the inside temp is the same as the outside temp open windows on the none sunny, oposite side of the house. WHen sun goes down opne all windows. WHen you get up clothes the windows and blings on the sunny side.
I know we have all said line dry but some of us give it up in the winter or on wet days. try stringing a line in the rafters of your basement. the clothes take lon ger to dry but I can do a load a day like that, I take the dry ones down right before I put the next load of wet on the next morning.
like everyone said I'm sure there is more, lol!

[sugarlumpkin]

Another one for not washing clothes/towels after only one use. I wear pants multiple days (shirts only once usually though). This saves in several ways: less water/electric/detergent to wash the things AND less wear on the clothes, making them last longer.

Honestly, the library is probably my biggest money saver. We get to watch videos and read new books all the time, plus there is no way I could afford my son's book habit if I had to buy new ones all the time!