Sunday, January 18, 2009

Things I'm doing to save money and the environment:

On decent days I hang out the laundry - except jeans and towels. I hate the way they feel if they've been air dried.

I use ECO, an all natural laundry soap I buy at Sam's Club. One jug costs $12.00 and last me a month (and I do a LOT of laundry)

The old "if you aren't using it, turn it off" of course.

I unplug appliances that aren't in use - like the big mixer and the coffee pot.

I continue to gripe about the length of showers that Mark and Seth take (to no avail)

Since we live 15 miles from town I only make necessary trips, usually only once a week and that is the only night we eat out.

I am buying more and more from the buying club. I've found that if I am careful and watch the prices I can save a lot of money. But, it helps that we have lots of storage space for items like bundles of 36 rolls of toilet paper and huge packages of paper towels.
And, when we go this month we won't be going to Red Robin and waste all the money I just saved.

These are just a few off the top of my head.

I'd like to see your list, maybe I could pick up a few more tips.

5 comments:

Sandra said...

I'm consolidating laundry so I only do 3 loads a week. I can't hang the laundry out right now, but I will as soon as the weather allows.
We buy food in bulk and freeze it. It's so much cheaper that way!
Following Kellie and making my own laundry soap/dish soap/cleaning supplies.
Paying much more attention to what we buy vs. what we use.
Invested in a special power strip that automatically turns 8 of the 10 plugs off leaving only two on all the time. (Really more of David's area than mine.)
Using lots of wood rather than the gas because we have to pay.
Limiting our trips to town to once a week or less if possible.
Looking at buying a timer for the water heater so we don't waste gas keeping water heated all day every day.
Washing all the laundry in cold water.
Reading several sites to learn more tips and tricks. :)

Unknown said...

Hmmmm....

Saving money:
Take the bus to work
Eating at home more - huge for us!
Change of shopping habits
Turning the heat way down and dressing up.
Netflixing instead of Buying

Saving the Planet:
Being more picky about what qualifies as 'dirty clothes'.
Using those shopping bags that are all the rage.
Taking the bus to work
Optimizing my dams so that the rivers run more efficiently.
Just got two more Solio devices to power my small electronics. They are so nifty.

Talking myself out of big purchases (I'm really dying for a house right now).

aola said...

Sandy - the timer on the hot water heater is a great idea. Mark mentioned it once but I had forgotten all about it. I will ask him to pick on up tomorrow so we can get it installed. Thanks.

Cara - yeah, the eating out thing is pretty huge for us too. I love to eat out or get take out but we are limiting it to once a week.

Kristen said...

Off the top of my head...

Using what I have (clothing, food, etc.) and finding "hidden" things instead of just buying more. Being more organized.

Planning meals better so food doesn't go to waste. Eating all our leftovers (J is really good about this). Checking out grocery outlet stores for overstock items and that sort of thing.

Keeping a price book so I know what the best price for grocery items and where to get them. Helps me know when to stock up, too. Really researching for stuff I buy online and always checking retainmenot.com for discount codes.

Using the library for books and movies or redbox ($1 per night per movie).

Using frozen fruit and veggies when I can. Splitting larger Costco purchases with my parents (batteries, etc.).

Buying gifts instead of things for myself--the payoff (personally) is much greater. Really figuring out if I need something before buying it and making it a fun challenge to get it cheaper than retail.

Some limited coupon clipping. Buying secondhand clothing, books and toys for Alyssa and me.

Learning to cook more and better. Not eating out as much, but really appreciating it when we do!

When my cleaning supplies run out, I'll take a cue from Kelli and try that. I would do cloth diapers, but Jason won't, so...

I "encourage" savings from J in other ways, but he's already pretty frugal (with a few fun extravagances like satellite TV)--he's a budget analyst after all!

aola said...

You know, I had to use cloth diapers with my first child, Pampers were a new thing then and they were not very good and too expensive for me to use. All I remember about cloth diapers was the constant mess. Baby was always wet, soaked thru everything every time he peed, constantly having to fight diaper rash because cloth diapers don't pull the wetness away from them like disposables do and all those nasty wet, stinky diapers to be rinsed out and then washed..... NO THANK YOU!!

Great tips BTW !!