Become a Frugaly Green Family

It’s hard to imagine when you go into a health food store that being “organic” can be cheap. Sometimes it seems that eating healthy is eating expensive. But being green minded is more than being organic. It’s about not being wasteful, it’s about avoiding or reusing disposable items. SimpleMom.net has a great list of frugal ways to become a greener family:

Reuse Plastic Bags
As I mentioned earlier, plastic grocery bags are our garbage bags. We also do what we can to use reusable shopping bags. If I’m visiting a local produce vendor in our neighborhood, the bottom basket of our stroller works perfectly - no bag needed at all.

Composting Made Easy

Even items that are usually sent to the trash can be put to one more use by the frugal mom. Moms Living Green shows us that it’s not difficult at all to create our own compost from kitchen scraps. Added bonus: it may reduce your garbage bill as well!

First of all, we bought a plastic bin with a carbon filter to keep on the kitchen counter. That way for a few days at a time, I can just collect the kitchen scaps as I’m cooking. All kitchen scraps except for meat, dairy, eggs or oil can go into the compost. Vegetable and fruit scaps, peels, rinds, coffee grounds, filters, tea bags, etc. can all be composted. Rachel Ray keeps a “garbage bowl” on her counter when cooking. I do the same thing, it’s just a “compost bowl” at our house.

Upscale Book Furniture

A few days ago we posted some tips on how to make furniture from used books and magazines. Designer Laura Cahil has taken it to the next level and created some frugally fabulous masterpieces out of old books. Find out how she did it at Dezeen.com.

Survive and Thrive in a Bad Economy

The Millionaire Mommy Next Door has put together some interesting facts on how to survive the current economic downturn. First of all, you need to survive. Figure out what your financial bare minimums are and what’s gravy. (I know it may seem like your cell phone is a must have… but is it really?) Then find ways to turn your current problem into an asset:

Embrace the “downsizing is cool” trend and “right-size” your lifestyle. As green living becomes not only necessary but the cool thing to do, ditch the Jones family and aim to keep up with the Green family instead.