Being green and frugal

Happy New Years Eve everyone :)  Hope you have plans for tonight, mine are to go out for dinner with the husband and then back home to watch our TV shows until midnight then bed, boring I know but after my new years eve last year with my best mate and her crazy ex trying to throw himself out of her 3rd floor flat window, I will take boring every time...Thank god she is with a new bloke now who looks after her.

I  thought I would hit this blog post off on being green and frugal, since I would like to write about these topics plus the normal personal life dribble and new computer programs I find (saying that I have found a new one I would like to review but I will do that Saturday or something).

Being green is looking after the environment, you know recycling, turning off lights when your not in the room, using environment friendly product and growing your own food (that links in with being frugal too), and being frugal is all about living on the basics and not over spending.



These two topics are the ones I am so passionate about, I never use to be, I use to be a shopaholic I don't lie I have the loan to prove it but funny enough when I met my husband even though he loves new shiny items, I kind of grew up.  I took over all the money his account and mine to budget, which is odd as I have said before I was about erm £11,000 in debt and you know what I spent my money on? Rubbish, apart from my trips to Ohio and Zurich.  But now I am down to £4,000 which will be paid off in the next two years (I hope!!) and then I only have my student loan but I don't really count that as I wouldn't of been able to go to university without it.

And being green, I couldn't care less when I lived at my parents, they are both very very green, but lately I have realised if I don't try and do something now the world might be different for my children and grandchildren.

What I do to save money is BUDGET! Yes it is a horrible word but it works!!  I have all our bills on a spreadsheet on the noticeboard so I see how much is coming out and when, my husband is on a very low income and I am a full time uni student so his wage only just covers all our bills so anything left at the end of the month we put into our savings account.  I also shop at discount supermarkets which aren't as bad as I first thought, seriously, I wouldn't even enter one until our money was so bad that my husband dragged me there.

I joined me and husband back up to spendingdiary.com, this website allows you to enter what you spend every day and then it gets a spreadsheet at the end of the month, I use to do this one my own but it wasn't solving anything so now since it being January the first tomorrow both of us are going to use it, hopefully it will work.

I found a great list of frugal tips from another website:

Frugal living is a very rewarding way to live. Not only do you save money, you get to learn a lot of skills that many would consider long-dead. When living a frugal lifestyle you are seldom bored because there is always something you can be doing to save money. Here is a list of the top tips for getting started in frugal living. You will notice that this is not a “top 10? list – but rather just a “top list” – I would like everyone to contribute their own items and a small description in the comments and I will place them in the main list. Let’s see if we can make this the best on-line list of tips for Frugal Living.

10. Budget

This is essential for all lifestyles – not just frugal living. Make a budget (be completely honest with yourself) and put a special section aside to keep track of how much money you spend. Each week, try to spend a little less than the week before. This can be a lot of fun as you start competing with yourself. You will be amazed how much lower you can go week by week.

9. Cancel Unneeded Services

Cancel cable TV and any magazine subscriptions you have. If you are like me, the chances are that you don’t read the majority of your subscriptions. I have a subscription to the New Yorker and on the rare occasion that I do open the latest copy, I normally just look at the cartoons! Most of the magazines that are available have websites with many of their print articles on-line. Use those instead.

8. Sell Sell Sell

Spend a weekend to go through every room in your house, picking out all of the things that you don’t use or need. Once you have finished rounding up all your unneeded goods, sell them on ebay. Not only will you simplify your life by de-cluttering, you will make some money which you can put in the bank for an occasional treat.

7. Talk to other frugal people

There are thousands of brilliant resources on the internet for people who are interested in Frugal living. In addition to websites I strongly recommend the newsgroup misc.consumers.frugal-living which has thousands of subscribers and a non-stop flow of useful tips and advice for frugal living.

6. Save on Bills

Run your washing machine on cold, and make sure you turn out any lights that are not in use. Another great way to save money here is to turn down the thermostat on your hot water boiler. Most electric and gas companies have brochures that tell you how to save money – take advantage of these. You can save a lot of money by wrapping up warm on the sofa with a good book and leaving the heating turned off.

Just paying the bills...

5. Freebies

There are lots of freebies available that can save you a great deal of money. A google search for free goods can bring up a lot of useful items that you would normally have to pay for. You can also try writing to some of your favorite companies and ask for samples. If you have to stay in a hotel for any reason, be sure to pack up any left over soaps or shower items – you are paying for them as part of your hotel room bill, so you might as well get some use out of them.

4. Cleaners

This may sound horrifying complicated, but it is very easy to make all of your own household cleaners. Not only is it easy, it is fun. One bar of soap can make enough washing detergent to last months! Here are some excellent recipes for home-made washing detergent. For other cleaning needs you can often use vinegar in place of the expensive items you are used to buying. Don’t bother buying dryer sheets – they are totally unnecessary and cost a lot of money.

3. Use Coupons

Check your local stores regularly for coupons or special deals. You should be careful though – don’t buy something that is not essential just because it is on discount. Keep the coupons handy in case you need one at a later date.

2. Clothing

Don’t buy new clothes unless you absolutely must. It also goes without saying that you should not buy big label brand clothing as it is much more expensive than regular clothes. This is also a good opportunity to develop some good old fashioned skills like sewing – if you have clothes that are in need of repair, don’t throw them away – repair them. It is not difficult to learn how to use a needle and thread.

1. Eat Well

I say eat well because if you follow this tip, you will eat better than you have before. First off you need to stop buying any pre-packaged meals. Start making your own meals – all three of them. As you get better at being frugal, you can set aside time on the weekend to bake bread and other goods – it is much cheaper to make your own bread than it is to buy bread from the shop. In addition, it tastes much better. You can also dispense with things like milk and use milk powder. Remember to buy your flour and milk powder in bulk. At some point in the future I will write a list of top 10 frugal recipes.

As you can see being frugal and being green goes hand in hand, at the moment I recycle, use energy light bulbs, the gas is only on for 30 minutes a day, I had a shower fitted (saves water and my water bill), I have a tumble dyer but I am hoping my husband will put up a washing line up for me in the summer and I would like to try (again) to grow some vegetables, my mothers patch this year grew the most amazing food ever!!! I only have a small garden so I will grow what I can.

Another things I would like to do is shop at my local stores I have a vegetable and fruit store just 5 minute walk from me, I have to start using it more and buy a electricity monitor so I can see how much we are using.

Ha ha after saying all this you are going to think I am crazy :P I drive my husband mad but even he has come around to recycling the man who didn't as he put it "give a shit" now washes out all bottle and cans for me.

Hopefully this is an introductory post about it and I will talk more about what I learn and how this year is going about being green and frugal and how much money I manage to save :) Or you could try playdominoesonline.