I recently finished Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, and it is a quick and easy read. I would recommend getting it from your local library – I would not buy it just because there are enough blogs and information on his methods on the web (and you can use the cost of the book as your first snowflake!). I think that Get Rich Slowly has a nice synopsis of the book here if you want to get the basic idea before investing your time reading the whole book. Is Total Money Makeover going to change our lives? I’m not...
Simplify
Need to recycle those packing peanuts?
We were cleaning out the basement this weekend, and had a lot of packing peanuts that we wanted to get rid of. Throwing these out makes me feel guilty, as I know they take a long time to decompose in a landfill. A quick google search helped us come up with a solution, and I just wanted to share the link. The Plastic Loose Fill Council has over 1500 collection sites in the US – you just need to fill out an online form to find the collection site nearest to you. Hope this helps someone out!
Get a free tote from Earthbound Farm Organic
I recycle our plastic grocery bags from large shopping trips, but have been trying to get in the habit of taking my own totes to the store when I know I won’t be picking up a lot. I have a small assortment of bags that were given to me as gifts, and I’ve been considering getting some more. If you’re interested in getting a free tote to get you started on your independence from plastic bags, you can take a short conservation quiz at Earthbound Farm Organic. I’ll be getting one myself to add to my collection!
The Story of Stuff
photo credit: Manuel.A.69 A friend of mine sent me a link to a site with a 20-minute video called “The Story of Stuff” with Annie Leonard. It took me over 3 months to follow the link an get around to watching it, being that if I don’t do something right away, it takes me awhile to get to it. I’d highly recommend watching it, and sending it along to others (who hopefully get around to things before I do!). Here is a short excerpt from the website regarding what “The Story of Stuff” is about: “From its extraction through...
Setting goals for April
I feel like February and March kind of flew by. I know that I have been sick, but I also feel like I have been busy. The problem is that I am not sure exactly what I was busy with. There’s all the daily things that have to do with life in general, but this is the first time in awhile where the fruits of my labor are not really tangible. This is why I’ve decided that it is time to set some general goals for April. It’s going to be more like a long list, but I...
Watch tv and movies for free with hulu.com
I have a confession to make. This weekend, we splurged and picked up some potato chips and Oreo cookies at the grocery store. They were real Oreos (not generic), and for the record they were absolutely delicious. Both cookies and chips are an extremely rare find in our household – neither my husband and I really watch our weight (thankfully, we are both at a healthy weight), but we usually keep all junk food out of the house and only have healthy snacks (granola bars, yogurt, etc.). After the kid went to bed, we pulled out the junk food...
Do you really need your cell phone plan?
I was talking to my friend the other day about bringing down their household costs, and he mentioned that their family cell phone plan cost $90 a month. This is just for he and his wife. They are on a network plan where they can talk to other members of their family for free (ie. their parents, sisters, brothers, etc.). However, I was still amazed at the cost. My husband and I each have a cell phone from Virgin Mobile, and they are pay-as-you-go phones. At a minimum, it costs us $160 a year to keep these phones...
No More Valpaks for us!
After getting back from visiting family, there was a pile of mail waiting for us. One of the most annoying things we receive is the Valpak (the big blue envelope of coupons we never use), so today I decided to do something about it. After a little online investigating, I found that you can take your name off the Valpak mailing list by filling out this form from Cox Target Media. I also found that if I ever have a burning desire for some of the coupons I never use, I can go to Valpak.com and enter my zip...
Simplify part i – getting rid of lotions and other toiletries
“So toss away stuff you don’t need in the end, but keep what’s important, and know who’s your friend…” –Tom Marshall (lyricist for Phish) I mentioned that I picked up a bin for our bathroom this weekend. Our bathroom is not that large, and we only have one of them (gasp!). Since I’ve been getting some good deals at CVS, I have been running out of room to put things like toilet paper and shampoo – hence the bin. While transferring items to the bin, I was forced to come to terms with all those useless gifts I’ve been...
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