Living Cheap and Green

Temporary Retirement

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Well, it's been quite some time since I've updated this blog! Between working full time, keeping my household going and spending time with my family, I haven't had much time to blog. So I'm prioritizing and right now family and job are coming before the blog.

(Now I have to be a little mean here. I've been getting A LOT of comments that aren't really comments...people have been using the comments as a way to advertise their products, their business websites and other money making schemes. I purposely NEVER put any ads and have never been compensated to promote something because I wanted to maintain the honesty of my opinions of products. I made this blog to help people, NOT to make money. So if you are one of the people leaving these kinds of comments, STOP IT.)

(Back to being nice.) But never fear, that doesn't mean I'm going away forever. I'll be back sporadically. And when I'm not here, know I am spending my time well by cheering my son on at a soccer game, planning lessons for my wonderful students or out there being cheap and green with my family. Thanks for reading!
Christine

Free groceries!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:50:00 +0000

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been mystery shopping since December as a way to earn a little extra money. When I started, I tried a lot of different types of shops, from paint stores to fast food to banks and lots of other things.

Lately, I have become more picky about my shops. Now, I pretty much choose the shops that my family can benefit from and we can spend time together (restaurants mainly) and ones that are places I'd go to anyway, like the grocery store.

And the grocery stores have become my favorite shops to do. The ones I like best give a reimbursement of $10-12 for groceries. I don't mind looking around and evaluating the store for $10-12 in free groceries. I probably do about 3-4 grocery shops a month (sometimes more) and that means about $40 free groceries a month. Plus...you don't pay taxes on the reimbursements (only the "fees" mystery shop companies pay).

So out of curiosity, I added up how much I've been reimbursed for JUST groceries since January. Guess what? I've been reimbursed $356 so far this year!!! I love the fact that I get paid for doing something I'd have to do anyway...and because I'd be doing it anyway, it's not an extra trip, so I am not using any extra gas either. Yay!

Living Cheap and Green at the Beach

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Well it's summertime and that means a visit to the beach! Here's how we stay cheap and green when going on vacation.

1) Take the car that gets the best gas mileage. We have always taken the minivan because of all the stuff...and my son's stuff has always taken a lot of room. Since he's been getting older, the things he wants to take are different. A few years ago it was Thomas trains and track, now it's a Nintendo DS. Much easier to pack! So this year, we're taking our small car.

2) Find out your recycling options. If you're like my family, you use more individually packaged drinks (cans, bottles, etc) on vacation. The house we rent does not have recycling pick up. In previous years (with the minivan) we just bagged the cans and bottles and recycled them at home. This year, no minivan means to transporting the cans. I looked online and found a recycling drop off 2.4 miles from where we are staying.

3) Find another family to vacation with. It's considerably cheaper to share the cost of renting a vacation house when the cost is split. We've been doing this with my cousin and his family for a few years now. Not only can we get a nicer and bigger house since we share the cost, but we have a great time with them and their kids.

4) Eat in. It's very tempting to eat out every day when you're on vacation. And very expensive. The house we rent has a kitchen, so we've always planned meals out ahead of time. We usually eat out once for dinner and maybe once for lunch, but the rest of the meals for the week are made at the house. Some of the dinners we pre-make and freeze and bring down.

5) Keep the kids on a budget. My son has his own money that he takes to the beach. If he wants to buy some little trinket, it's his money. When he has to buy souvenirs himself, it makes him think twice about it.

6) Keep the packing as light as you can. If you are lucky enough to stay somewhere that you are able to wash your clothes, you can probably pack half the amount and just wash mid-week. The lighter you pack, the better mileage you will get.

Do you have any other tips for cheap and green vacations?

Revisiting the topic of Reusing

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:13:00 +0000

I read a book recently called "Going Green" that has me really thinking about reusing. I checked the book out from the library, not really reading the description and just figuring it was a new "green" book I hadn't seen before.

When I got home, I realized this wasn't really a "how-to" sort of book. It was a book of essays. I was a little put off...sometimes environmental essays get preachy, and I can't stand that. But I was pleasantly surprised. The essays were about how different people reused things (or "gleaned" as they say in the book). The writers of the essays intertwine their own philosophy of recycling, reusing and life in general in the essays. I found myself really enjoying the book.

Many of the essays discuss "dumpster diving", and while I can't say I've ever gone through an actual dumpster, I do have a couple of pieces of furniture that had once been sitting out with someone else's trash. I figure I'm cutting the middle step out of Freecycling.

Now I will say there were one or two essays that I didn't relate to. Call me squeamish, but I draw my reusing habits when it comes to roadkill. Yes, one essay discusses a man out west who cooks roadkill. No thanks. But overall the book focuses on how much Americans buy and throw out...things that are perfectly usable. I think the popularity of Freecycle has really helped eliminate a lot of this waste.

So, after reading this book, I was really motivated. I was excited when my mother suggested going to the Goodwill store with her. I've always loved the Goodwill Store. While you're not getting used items for free, they're cheap, and you're helping a charity. So what did I get there?

I found some great things. A pair of boys' Old Navy Jeans for $2, an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt for $1.25, a pair of Doc Marten boots for $10, and my son got numerous VHS movies and books. Besides feeling good about reusing something, I love the feeling of hunting for and finding treasure.

Summer fun

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:27:00 +0000

This is officially the first day of summer for my son. We try to find fun (and inexpensive) things to do during the summer. On the agenda for this week:

Signing up for the summer reading program at our local library and Barnes and Noble. Both of these programs reward kids with a free book at the end of the summer.

Our local library has a lot of events over the summer for kids that are also free, from animal and environmental programs, to magic shows and Harry Potter "parties". Today we're registering for "Wild Tales" which is a program that uses live animals to teach children about wildlife and the environment.
Tomorrow we're off to see a free movie. Regal Theatres does this every summer. On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10am they show a G and a PG movie for free! But get there EARLY! They fill up fast. Although we aren't close to AMC Theatres, they run a similar summer program that charges $1 for charity.

Local parks also have many free or inexpensive programs, like Otter Creek Park, which is near us. Lots of fun, outdoor activities where kids can also learn about wildlife and the environment.

And later this summer we're headed to the Walters Art Museum (my personal favorite) which is ALWAYS free! Plus, they have Drop-in Art Activities for kids, which are also free. Museums are great summer day trips, especially when it's hot outside, and many are free, so you may want to check out museums in your area.

We're off to the library!

Yard Sale Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:21:00 +0000

We are done with the annual yard sale and it was a success! We actually didn't have as much stuff as we had in previous years...but that's a good thing! We had minimal knick-knacks and more of old toys and clothes my son had outgrown, along with some old furniture pieces and small kitchen appliances. Most of it sold and the rest went to Goodwill (we opted to bypass a freecycle free-for-all this year since we wanted to get the driveway cleared off!)

We made $109...a nice little chunk of change that can be spending money for our vacation in a few weeks.

Sometimes I wonder how well we'd do if we were closer to the main road (we're at the end of a court), but it seems like the two signs we put up got enough people to us. It was a nice, not too hot, day and we had fun!

Thoughts of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:17:00 +0000

In preparation for the yard sale on Saturday:

"Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify."
Henry David Thoreau

"That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest."
Henry David Thoreau
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Annual Yard Sale Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Look at all that junk! It's almost time for our community's annual yard sale. Next Saturday is the big day. I love yard sales- both going to them and having yard sales. It's a great time to go through the house and declutter, get rid of thing I no longer need or use, weed out kid toys that my son has outgrown and make some extra money. Every year, I am always surprised how much money we make. I have a few tips that have worked for us:

-We use little labels and price everything. You'd be surprised how many people pass over items because they don't want to ask the price or assume it's too much.

-We make sure everything is CLEAN. The things you don't want anymore have probably collected dust while they were in the back of the closet. It may not matter to you but you'll have a much better shot at selling things if they aren't dirty. Sounds obvious, but we've all seen some scary looking things at yard sales.

-Set things out organized nicely. Again, sounds like a no-brainer, but when you have things displayed neatly and with similar items, they sell.

-Make sure you have plenty of change. That way you won't have to turn anyone away if they only have a ten dollar bill.

-If you have plastic grocery bags, a good way to re-use is to give them to your "customers" for their purchases. People in the past have really liked that we've done this since our whole neighborhood participates in the yard sale and it makes it convenient for people to walk from yard sale to yard sale with their things in a bag.

We also only have the yard sale from 8am to noon. I know most yard sales around here run longer, but in my experience, most people come early. Once noon hits, we post on Freecycle that we're having a "free for all" for the next hour. (I posted earlier about Freecycle here.) Anything that's left at the end of that hour gets packed up and taken to the Goodwill a few miles away.

I like yard sales because everyone benefits. People get your old stuff at cheap prices (or free), you make a little extra money, and old things don't end up in a landfill. It's also fun to spend the day outside with your family and visiting with neighbors. So I'll let you all know how we do next Saturday afternoon!

Here comes summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:38:00 +0000

Summer is almost here and hopefully with that will be more time to blog. So this is just a little "I'm still here" note so you'll check back soon.

Also, I'm looking for a recipe for an all purpose cleaner that does NOT use vinegar (can't stand the smell of it!)...any suggestions?

I'll be back soon!

Green Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:10:00 +0000

My house needs a THOROUGH cleaning. Things have been very busy with my jobs and all the regular things we do from day to day (notice my lack of blogging) that I've fallen behind on the housecleaning.

I know I'm bit behind the March Spring Cleaners, but I have a late Spring Break this year. So after Easter, I'm going to start deep cleaning, room by room. Real Simple magazine had a nice article on homemade cleaners that got me thinking, and I found the Hip Organic Mama's blog, which has tons of recipes for cleaners and great information about cleaning products that are healthy for you and the environment.

So early next week, I'll give you an update on my cleaning and the recipes I tried.

I Went To Aldi's!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:47:00 +0000

So I finally made it to Aldi's. It's taken me awhile because it's almost a half an hour away in a direction we don't usually travel.

So, imagine my excitement when I got a mystery shopping job to do at Aldi's! So now I had a little more incentive to get there. The mystery shop pay was not as good as the other grocery stores, but at least it was a chance for me to check out Aldi's at last.

I thought it was a really nice, clean store and the people who worked there were friendly. And those of you who recommended Aldi's to me were right, the prices are good.

The downside was that they didn't have a wide selection of foods my family eats. We don't buy everything organic, but we do always use organic milk, which they did not have. In fact, I didn't see any organic products (I could have missed them). They did have a line of foods called "light and fit" and I bought some of that kind of yogurt and rice cakes. A lot of their foods were processed and had lots of sodium (which we need to avoid for my husband's high blood pressure).

So in a nutshell, here are the pro's and con's
PRO:
-inexpensive prices

CON:
-25 minutes away
-can't use coupons
-not a large variety of healthy/organic food

I think if I lived closer to Aldi's I might stop in for some basics, because I DID actually like the store, it just didn't meet my needs. I have to say though, many of the prices were comparable to Target's, which is 5 minutes away instead of 25- and I CAN use coupons at Target, which also has a larger selection of healthier foods. As far as veggies go, our local farmer's market starts soon, so I can get fresh organic local vegetables there.

So What's New with the Grocery Dilemma?

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:41:00 +0000

If you read in an earlier post, my grocery store (which doubled 99c coupons to 1.98) closed. I am a die-hard couponer, so this hurt. Other stores around here double 50c coupons, but that's it. I've been looking for a new grocery store.

While I haven't found one single store to shop at, I have found a way to help lessen the grocery bill. I've been mystery shopping! (If you are interested in mystery shopping, check out Volition's website.)

For those of you who haven't heard about mystery shopping, it's basically evaluating a store without revealing that you're doing so. When I've done mystery grocery shops, I've had to go to a number of departments in the grocery store and ask questions, evaluate service, etc. etc.

Mystery shopping does not rake in the big bucks. Far from it...but it does help a little with my groceries. You see, the company I shop for pays around $10 reimbursement for the groceries I buy when performing the shop. This is great for me because:

1) I'm already out there grocery shopping. No extra driving (good for the environment and $$).

2) I am looking around for a new grocery store anyway and get to see some I may not have known about (I have an Aldi's shop soon, so I am eager to check it out!)

3) I get $10-12 free groceries for my evaluations

4) The "reimbursement" payment for the groceries is not taxable. If they paid me a fee for the evaluations, it would be taxed.

So this has been one way I've been putting a dent in the grocery bill. Pretty soon our local farmer's market will be up and running, so that will help too!

Long time, no blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Wow, I just realized it's been way over a month since I've blogged!

I'll spare you the details, but I've been way busy with my teaching jobs and haven't had a lot of time for blogging, but our Spring Break is coming up soon so I should be catching up with a few of the things I've been thinking about, so check back soon :)

Cheap and Green Dilemma!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:29:00 +0000

One way I save money is by shopping at a grocery store that is very close (saves gas/less pollution) that doubles coupons that are 99c up to 1.98. Occassionally they'll even have triple coupons. And best of all...they take my expired coupons. Now, they've never said they take expired coupons, but I've never had one rejected so I have continued to use them until someone tells me they don't accept them!

The closeness of the store and their coupon policy has helped me save A LOT of money. Mind you, they are not the cheapest grocery store, but when you combine a sale item with a doubled (or tripled) coupon, you can get stuff very cheap and sometimes free.

So, you ask, what's the dilemma? Well, I have heard they are closing that location! The next closest location is 20 miles away. Yes, there are other grocery stores in the area, but none as close and with the same coupon policies. What to do?

One idea I have is to stop by a branch close to my work maybe once a month and stock up, but with sales changing each week, it may be hard to match up the coupons with the deals.

I can, of course, go to one of the other big grocery stores that offer 50c coupons doubled, I just won't be able to get quite as good savings.

My last idea is to visit the Aldi's store...it's not very close, but it's not too far, either, and I've heard they have some good prices there (although no coupons, I think).

Any suggestions for me?

Teaching Green

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Workbook pages, dittos, xerox copies...paper, paper, paper!

Anyone who has a child in school knows about the deluge of paper sent home EVERY DAY. Honestly, much of it is needless. I'm not just saying that as the parent recipient of all this stuff, but as a teacher myself.

From the teacher's standpoint, we have all this great information to share. We don't want our students to miss a bit of it! I could honestly make a textbook sized handout of all the good info I find for my students. No one wants to shortchange education for green, so what do we do?

I teach at a high school and I try to reduce all the paper by emailing my students their homework as attachments. They type their answers on the homework and send it back to me- no paper! I also have a website with all the documents they can download and save. Added bonus for the teacher: your bag previously full of papers to grade is remarkably lighter and easier to carry (those of you who teach know about those heavy end-of-quarter bags full of papers!)

I would love it if my son's school would send the PTA letter by email, and post other information on their website. Hopefully, with continued nudging, this will be the case eventually. But in the meantime, we empty our backpacks right over the recycling bin.

Biodegradable trash bags

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:07:00 +0000

In the past year, we've really reduced our waste by composting, recycling, and making purchases that don't have excessive or non-recyclable packaging. I'd like to say we were like the writer for BBC News that tried her best not to buy ANYTHING plastic or packaged in plastic for a month...it's much harder to do than you think! But, in reality, we do still have some trash that can't be recycled. We've always used the generic white kitchen trash bags, so I thought I'd look into biodegradable trash bags.

First, I found biobag dog waste bags. They're around $5-6 for a box of 50. Kind of expensive, but I didn't want to put something biodegradable like dog poop in a plastic bag that wouldn't biodegrade. So I lucked out and bought some from drugstore.com when they had a sale. I'm pretty happy with them. I thought about the biobag trash bags, but it seemed pointless when the stuff in the kitchen trash is stuff that won't biodegrade anyway...so I bagged the idea (ha ha).

And then, when I was cleaning out the litter box (into a white trash bag), it occurred to me that I could use the biobags for this job. We use feline pine litter (love it!) and we have a fair amount of used litter each week, so I bought some kitchen sized biobags for the job. It makes sense since the pine litter will biodegrade. Overall, I am pretty happy with them, with the exception of their expense (again, wait for the sales) and they can puncture more easily than regular bags.

Hopefully these kinds of trash bags will catch on and eventually cost less, but in the meantime we'll continue to use them for our pet clean-ups. Do any of you have tips when it comes to biodegradable bags, or know of any other good brands?

Jumping on the bandwagon!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:36:00 +0000

It seems everyone else is blogging about the past year, so I was thinking how we were living cheap and green in 2008.

I'm a big believer in baby steps and doing what you can. It would be great to be the perfect eco-family but let's get real: it doesn't work that way. But I do look back at seemingly small things I've done that have made an impact.

Probably one of the most noticeable has been our trash level. Months back I joined in on Enviromom's One Can A Month Challenge. I never expected to lower our level to only one can, but we did! It also led me to investigate composting, and to be much more conscious of buying products with less packaging.

And the up side to the bad economy was that we became more conscious of our driving habits and energy usage.

We have almost stopped using paper towels thanks to our super absorbent kitchen towels (think sham-wow) and by sheer luck, our trash pick up started picking up recyclables #1-7.

We switched over to low flow shower heads and put aerators on kitchen and bathroom faucets...and never noticed a difference in performance, just in our water bill.

Lots of little things, over a year...but it has made such a difference in our budget and in our impact to the environment. Living cheap and green is the way to go :)

But overall, I think what I am most proud of (and probably have never blogged about?) is that my son is picking up these little habits...and thinking about them. I am proud he rinses his cup and sets it on the counter for later use instead of using 5 or 6 cups a day, and that he turns the tv off when he's done watching, and puts recyclables in the bin.

So my assessment of the past year? Pretty good job...except I still haven't made homemade yogurt yet! (See March 24th's entry!) Sounds like I have a New Year's Resolution...

Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:37:00 +0000

With work and the holidays, I have been neglecting my blogging, but hopefully I'll get back to it more in the New Year.

In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday!

Postcard update

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 01:06:00 +0000

I got the postcards in the mail about a week ago. They came faster than I expected and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. They were like actual postcards- nice thick paper weight and shiny front picture side.

There was the pre-printed message I included, but also plenty of room to write a personal message too. So all in all, I am really happy with these cards and plan to do them next year too!

So, the only problem was...the stamps. It seems the only postcard stamps are tropical fruits. The stamps look like this:

Kinda weird for Christmas cards, but hey, I figure people will really only be looking at the picture on the front anyway! I think I will look into those make-your-own picture stamps for next year.

Can Holiday Cards Be Cheap and Green?

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:15:00 +0000

I struggled with the idea of holiday cards this year. By far, the cheapest and greenest thing to do would be to send e-cards. No photo cards to pay for, no stamps to pay for, no trash from envelopes or pollution/carbon from the transport of the cards from my house to all over the country. So the simple answer would be e-cards...right?

While e-cards are definitely the cheapest and greenest, I just can't do it. I LOVE getting cards in the mail. I LOVE seeing pictures of my friends and relatives' kids as they grow. I save those pictures every year. And I love hearing from people I don't necessarily hear from any other time of year. So how do I reconcile sending cards with my budget (I send out a little more than 50 cards...that postage adds up!) and trying to be kind to the environment?

Here's what I came up with. Postcards. I found holiday themed postcards at snapfish and York Photo. Not only does that eliminate the envelope trash (or recycling, we'd hope!) but the postage is cheaper. So I am happy with being able to share the holiday spirit while finding a way to make my greetings a little cheaper and a little greener.

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:25:00 +0000

I'm still here!

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:34:00 +0000

Wow, I haven't posted for quite some time! It's been busy with the Thanksgiving holiday, family and of course, work. But never fear, I have some ideas and will be posting soon :)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Cheap and green books

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Just got a phone call from my aunt who knows how much my family LOVES books. Even my 7 year old loves reading. Well, my aunt told me of a "bookstore" she recently visited downtown called "The Book Thing".

Why is the Book Thing green? People donate books to them to be re-read, re-used, recycled. Less trash in the landfill...although I have no idea how someone can throw away a book!

Why is the Book Thing cheap? Well, it's beyond cheap. It's free. No, not a typo...it's FREE. Look around, take as many books as you want. FREE. The guy who started the Book Thing wanted to keep books in circulation. He knows there's a book out there for everyone. I know this is a local Baltimore thing, but perhaps there's someplace like this in your community?

There's a great article on this that appeared in the Chicago Times a few years ago. Check it out, and I'll be making my trip down there to check it out in person soon!

Breaking up with Netflix

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:13:00 +0000

Before I get into this, can I say I LOVE Netflix? It's cheap and convenient and it gets delivered to your mailbox. I've used Netflix for years and never a problem. BUT...in this economy, we've been looking for areas to cut out extras. We've been having the "do we or don't we keep Netflix" conversation for about a month now. I think Netflix is pretty cheap (we pay about $9 a month for one dvd at a time) considering what the video store charges.

Twelve months a year x $9 is more than $100/year for movies. While a little painful, we decided to break it off ("it's not you, Netflix, it's me"). We already have digital cable which had millions of channels including the free movie by request channel. Our local library is AWESOME. It has all the new movies and great classics and it's free. So, really, we're just losing the convenience of getting a particular movie at a particular time. I can be patient...no biggie.

So I go to Netflix's site to cancel. I call my husband at work to make sure...one more time...do we really want to end it? Netflix has been so good to us. But alas, he confirms it. I click the cancel button.

Then, unexpectedly, a screen pops up. "Too busy for movies right now? Put your account on hold." For 90 days I can put my account on hold, not receive movies and not be billed. It's like the Ross and Rachel "on a break" from Friends. So we're on a break from Netflix for a couple months, and if we haven't missed it by February, then we'll end it for real and save ourselves some money.

But I'll always love you, Netflix ;)

Trying to EAT cheap and green

noreply@blogger.com (Christine) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:24:00 +0000

I have a dilemma. Eating cheap and green is getting to be quite the challenge in this economy. We don't eat 100% organic (although we do buy organic for the dirty dozen), but we do make most of our foods ourselves instead of prepackaged, processed stuff.

I am totally intrigued when I see articles saying, "Feed your family on 25c a day" but then I read the food/ingredients and know that won't work for me. Sure, I could feed my family for super cheap if I served Hamburger Helper, but we started avoiding that stuff mainly because of my husband's high blood pressure.

So I have the dilemma of preparing foods that are cheap and green, healthy yet easy. We have a couple of standby's (chili is one of our favorites) but I need some new recipes that stick to my cheapness but are healthy. I have found some good ideas at A Year of Crockpotting, but what kinds of recipes do you suggest? Keep in mind...easy recipes...I'm not a great cook :)