Limited budgets... what do you do to be green and frugal?

[Thystle]

Limited budgets by choice and by circumstances.

Most on here want to be "greener" and/or frugal, so if your budget or bucks are low.... what do you do to save the earth and your purse?

[Purple*Lotus]

DH and I are getting in to the whole, frugal on a budget idea.

For one thing, although we may have had to put out a little money initially, a lot of our frugal living will end up saving us money. Like mamma cloth and family cloth. Good for the environment and it means money saved.

I also bought some cloth grocery bags. They were only $50 for 10 of them. I made sure to bargain shop before I picked a set

[BetsyS]

I think some things are naturally frugal and green. Some easy choices we have made include:

cloth diapers
cloth napkins
cloth kitchen towels and rags (to replace paper towels)
real plates and silverware and dishes 99% of the time (except for some picnics)
planting drought tolerant plants in our beds (we live in a drought prone area)
putting down mulch and using a soaker hose in our garden
using a mulching mower instead of bagging the clippings
compost
reduce, reuse, and recycle
buying used from thrift or craigs' list or yard sales
cleaning a good bit with vinegar and baking soda
low flow shower heads
turning down our thermostat by using flannel sheets and blankets (and frankly, just getting used to it--it's set at 60, and that's where we like it)
turning up the AC (this one is much, much harder for us)
never running a dishwasher or washing machine without a full load
we bought our freezer new (despite buying over 50% of our stuff used), cause of the energy rating
simple stuff--turning off lights, turning off the computer, just thinking

And, that's all pretty easy stuff that has both saved us money and is green. There are a ton more things where we haven't made the leap yet.

[quelindo]

I'm in the middle of a series of blog entries about that very topic:

http://newmamamusings.blogspot.com/2...iving-and.html

http://newmamamusings.blogspot.com/2007/10/laundry.html

[rsummer]

Along with a lot of pp's habits, I think about quality when making most purchases, sometimes initial outlay is higher, but reliability and less frequent product turnover, not to mention supporting people/corps creating quality goods is worth it.

[SneakyPie]

I think for us, a lot of being green+frugal is simply not allowing ourselves to be tricked by advertising. "Green" is a saleable commodity right now, and most of the time it is sold at a MUCH higher price than goods or services not sold as "green." So we just keep a close eye on our purchasing. For instance, brand-new organically-produced towels: SUPER expensive. Thrifted towels that will give us several years of service - much cheaper, and nothing new has entered the consumer stream. Organic frozen pizza: SUPER expensive. Making our own at home - better choice financially and nutritionally. Hiring an all-green lawn or housecleaning service vs. doing both ourselves - same thing.

This is not to knock the above "green" products or services. It's just to point out that there is usually a frugal alternative that can meet the same needs. Depends on what you're willing/able to do, though - I don't own a lawnmower so I do hire a kid (with an efficient mower!) to cut ours, I'm not good at making all my own lotions for my massage therapy practice so I buy from an organic producer, etc.

[EmsMom]

I would say that many, many things we can all do that are green will also save us money. For example: walking rather than driving when possible, hanging clothes, cloth diapering, making our own non-toxic cleaners, buying used clothing and household articles, using things until they are actually worn out instead of until we are sick of them. I made a decision about 4 years ago to "invest" in stainless steel water bottles for the whole family. We weren't buying a whole lot of bottled water, but still I have managed to completely eliminate that expense. Using rags in the kitchen instead of paper towels, cloth napkins instead of paper, keeping the therostat set low. With the exception of buying organic food, I would think that most green stuff will also save $ in the long run. And, truthfully, I think of organic food as an investment in my family's health -- the pay-off may take a while to show up but it is still possible that it will save money in the long run.

[Leta]

DIY whenever you can. (We brew our own beer, paint, sew, do our own home repairs, etc.)

Cloth everything.

Gardening, then canning, freezing, and drying all the food.

Buying in bulk. (This creates a reduced need to go to the store, which saves gas.)

Cooking from scratch.

Making your own cleaning and laundry products.

Always trying to buy the used version first- get a list going of thrift stores. (Mine include 2 St. Vinnie's, 2 Salvation Armies, 1 Goodwill, 2 Habitat ReStores, and eBay.)

Going to all CFLs and hanging laundry. (The higher investment version of this is buying energy efficient appliances.)

Avoid making heat with electricity whenever possible. (Gas dryer, no space heater, etc.)

Cancel all magazine and newspaper subscriptions. (Don't buy them off the newsstand, either.) This is what the library and the internet are for.

Drive an old, cheap car. I cannot stress this enough. You can buy a 10-15 year old Geo Metro or Toyota Corrola for well under $1000. They get 30+ miles to the gallon, are stingy with oil, cost very little to insure, parts are cheap, and when it's hauled off to the glue factory, you will not ponder filing for bankruptcy.

Do everything you can on the computer. My two favorite ideas in this regard are online bill pay (No paper! No fossil fuels burnt up delivering the paper!) and shopping list software. (Mine is Shopping List from Home Plan Software, a free download.) The shopping list is cool for several reasons: you can glean prices from your receipts, you can enter in different stores so it functions as a price book, it makes it so much easier to do inventory and create a shopping list, and it really illuminates why and how staples are better. Staples- the ingredients you need to cook from scratch, as opposed to convience foods and mixes- are much easier to track, price wise; use far fewer coupons; much, much, much faster to shop for, and take up far less space in your pantry because of their versatility. (My goal is to have 100 items or less on my master shopping list.)

[SugarAndSun]

Cloth in the kitchen. This saves a ton of paper towels!

Also, I think generally changing my thinking form disposable to keep forever. I always traded things out. New furniture, new toys, new clothes, etc. I am now thinking... what do I love and want to keep forever.

[Leta]

Oh, and another thing: if you compost and recycle, you should be able to have all small trash cans in your house. The small trash cans can be lined with with plastic grocery bags, negating the need to buy trash bags. But, you say, use cloth bags! Yes, I do use cloth, but about once every six months I go to Wal Mart and fish around in their plastic bag recycling bin in the lobby, and pull out a nest of bags to use as trash bags. I figure they've already been used once.

[velochic]

I am very much enjoying reading a two-book set that are remembrances of the Great Depression. It is so inspiring and teaches much about frugality and conservation. They had no choice but to be green back then. Here are some of my favorite tidbits from the book:

* Paper sacks were always saved for Halloween bags and masks.
* Wood scraps were never burned - they had too may other uses including toys, lamp bases, ladles, spoons, and rug hooks.
* A strip of inner tube made the best jar opener.
* We attached rubber inner tubes under rugs to keep them from slipping.
* When our hand-me-downs wore thin, Mama cut the best material into squares for quilt tops. Buttons were cut off and stored in the button box.
* Hickory and Oak ashes were used to make soap.

These go on and on. The books are both very nicely put-together stories of how life was in the 30's in the US. Much knowledge to be gleaned. The one I'm reading now is "When the Banks Closed, We Opened Our Hearts". The other is "We Had Everything but Money".

I like the saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" I might even put that in my siggy since I'm still trying to decide what to put there.

[Thystle]

I think the big thing is moving away from a "disposable" mindset to a "reusable" mindset.

[Ruthiegirl]

For me, being green is being frugal and vice versa. I reuse everything till it is worn out.

And I try to keep away from the 'green' buying habits. Sure, I can buy a beautiful cloth diaper cover, but I can also unravel an old sweater and make one myself. I can buy mama cloth or I can make them myself from .50 Goodwill towels. I can buy dish towels or I can make them from another cut up towel. Making things from what I have on hand has been my best money saver and improves the 'green' factor in my life.