Little $$ = Green Living

Now that my husband has been out of work for almost 2 years this summer I've found that a lot of how we live now pretty much lines up with most "green" living ideas. Here are my top examples: -Probably the biggest thing we do is just going without. Having no money leads to not doing a whole heck of a lot or buying very much! When we do buy stuff is pretty much going to be something used (like clothing for example) or we are going to think that purchase to death if it isn't used. If something can't be found on Craigslist for example and we do have to buy it new its probably more then we need to spend in the first place. Which translate into giving room for pause on spending in the first place. -We don't eat a lot of meat. Mostly because beans are cheaper and meat is a lot more expensive if you want the good meats. Organic meat is pretty much not an option when you are squeezing that nickel for all its worth. -We don't drive very much. We just go to work and come home. most errands are run in one day on a weekend so they can get done quickly. This of course goes along with the green mindset of drive less and group errands together. -We make a lot of our own foods. I made my own tarter sauce the other day and I was really proud of myself! And I didn't have to buy anything else - just used what I had on hand. Little mayo & relish - instant tarter sauce! I did the same thing with making my own salad dressings. instead of rushing to the store like I would have in the past, I had to figure it out. Plus making my own dishes is overall more healthy for you and I actually tend to eat less. its a lot of work to make things like deserts sometimes and I want it to last! -We clean out our pantry, fridge & freezer a lot more now. Instead of finding food buried in those places we are trying to just use up what we have. Its amazing what you can dig out and make. Sometimes its a bit of a hodge-podge of meals, but its still food we didn't have to rush out and buy. Obviously this means we don't buy a lot of prepackaged foods. that goes without saying. -Being at home a lot really makes you look at your STUFF in your house. If you need it, use it or even if you want it anymore. For us its about making some fast cash, but reality is its a good thing to get rid of clutter. I would have thought after this long I couldn't find stuff to purge from the house but I still see stuff I wonder why I am still holding onto these things. Being surrounded by your stuff makes you see it just as that - Stuff. -I'm more willing to network online to get the things we need or get help/advice about things. Instead of driving around for answers I network on Facebook or I just hit the library or the Internet for answers. Gone are the days of going from place to place - now I'd rather one stop shop for stuff. Sometimes we barter for things we need in return for something. with a neighbor lady around the block we trade her coffee and she shares with us usually food like Pasta sauces or Oatmeal for example. She usually stocks up on things she shops for with coupons. But her thing is she gets too much stuff and she's more then happy to trade! Bartering and networking works for me! Another example is I needed advice on getting a good alteration done and a friend mentioned she'd help me out. Networking saves us so much money in the long run! Love it! -Without Cable we save money naturally but my son is more creative because of it. He has no problem making videos of himself on the Flip or drawing for hours when I'm watching a movie he doesn't want to watch. Thank goodness he can Entertain himself without needing a TV to do it for him! not that he doesn't watch TV- he does. But not seeing TV as a constant around our house helps me look for other things to do. See all those people who we might think how sad it is to be what we might consider Poor really are the ones living the TRUE green lifestyles. they know how to wear stuff out and make it last or at least fix it. while I'd like to pride myself on being as green as possible, I'm not even close to how some people live. But I'm glad I'm not only learning to live it. Sometimes you just have to get by on what you got - rather then lusting after what you don't.