How to save money and make life better.

We are expecting a baby at the end of July and I’ll be taking some time off to welcome him to the world. I am grateful to friends and fellow bloggers who are helping out with guest posts.  This article is by Dagmar Bleasdale of Dagmar’s Momsense.

Here are just a few money-saving tricks I use, and some of them not only save you green, they also let you be green.

1.  We just moved, and I didn’t pay a cent for moving boxes (and we needed a lot of them). I asked for free ones at our local Panera Bread, and they were very happy to give them to me. When we moved from Los Angeles to New York two years ago, I did the same thing at my local Starbucks.

2.  I always use those free store cards from grocery stores and pharmacy chains, and I use coupons. I try to only buy the products I have the coupons for when they are also on sale; that adds up to incredible savings. Sometimes the product is free that way. I saved close to $1,000 in two years, and that was just at the grocery store!

3.  A lot of people don’t know that Target takes coupons. I find that their food prices are lower than supermarket prices on a lot of items. I also use the coupons Target sends me.  Here is a link to the Target coupon site. Just pick the ones you need and print them out!

4.  There is no need to shell out a lot of money to entertain your child — find out about the kids’ programs at your local library and find free events in the free parenting magazines in your area.

5.  I buy cards, gift wrapping paper, toilet brushes, sponges, etc. at dollar stores. You can’t beat their prices for those items. I have scored beautiful silk pillow covers, Gund plush toys, and Filofaxes there. If you are spending more than a dollar on a great calendar these days, you are wasting your hard-earned money.

6.  Use the comic pages of your newspaper to wrap gifts! It’s colorful and I always get a great reaction when I do that.

7.  Check out Freecycle.org for free items someone else wants to get rid of.  Craigslist.org also has a free section, or you can get used things on there for very cheap. I have also sold a few items through Craislist, and I don’t have to worry about shipping them since the people who want them are local and pick them up.

8.  Buy generic brands instead of the brand items. Different package — same item inside. Before your doctor writes you a prescription, make sure he or she writes it for the generic drug. Also, ask for the stronger prescription and cut the pills in half — it’s the same strength in the end, yet insurance companies often make you pay more for the lower-dose pills.

9.  I go to VistaPrint.com for all my printing needs — I love them. Occasionally they offer free products — cards, stamps, business cards, sticky notes, calendars, etc. I have free rubber stamps from them and used to get my 10 beautiful, personalized Christmas cards there (with envelopes) for our closest family members — everyone else gets pretty cards I bought at the dollar store (10 for a dollar!). Every year, I make my parents (who live in Germany) a beautiful calendar with recent pictures of my son at Vistaprint. I get everything done in one order and save on shipping costs that way.

10.  Breastfeed! Can you imagine how much I saved in formula and food costs in three years? I am going to let my son self-wean because of the amazing health benefits of breastfeeding for him AND me, so the savings are secondary, but they are a welcome side effect!

11.  Buy affordable, multi-functional furniture pieces that can be made smaller or bigger. I love Ikea. There might be nicer furniture around, but with a 3-year-old in the house, you can’t beat the prices, plus I don’t have to stress if something gets scratched or dinged up. If you go shopping at Ikea, you HAVE to eat breakfast or lunch there:  it’s such a steal for a nice meal. Plus you can leave older kids in the playroom while you shop in peace.

12.  I love the dollar/$2.50 station at Target. I avoid the toys made in China, but I like the storage gizmo for shoes that you hang on the door. You can use those to organize all kinds of things — we have one in the hallway closet for scarves and hats and one in my son’s room for little toys. Super functional.

13.  I only buy batteries from the Target dollar station or the dollar store — you can’t beat getting four for a buck. My son’s Thomas train seems to need another battery every day — I’d be in the poorhouse by now if I bought batteries at their regular price. Better yet, invest in re-chargeable batteries.  (Make sure you collect and recycle batteries.  Find out from your town where and when you can drop them off, or bring them to Ikea — they have a recycling program for batteries and other things.)

14.  Save cardboard, address stickers, and toilet paper rolls for fun, free and green art and craft projects. I have a box full of those free address stickers. I cut off the address and let my son play with the pretty little pictures.  Here is a free e-book on recycling crafts.

15.  Before I go shopping at stores like the Children’s Place, Borders, or The Body Shop, I go online and find and print out coupons for the stores. I can always find one with at least 10 if not 20 percent off.

These 15 tips should save you some nice green!

Leave a comment and add to this list!  What do you do to save money and be green?

Dagmar Bleasdale, a writer, copyeditor, and social media consultant, blogs about natural birth, breastfeeding, attachment parenting, green and frugal living, and her addiction to Twitter at Dagmar’s momsense.

Photo credits:  grass, comics, furniture.

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Being frugal, to me, is not just about finding what’s cheap.  And it’s also not about sacrificing my happiness in an all-out pursuit of a fat bank account.

Of course, spending less comes out of necessity for our family  – my husband wanted to change careers and is still in medical training, and I choose to take care of my children full-time.  But I’ve been happily surprised to realize all the ways we gain, even while we cut back.  This bright side of being parsimonious is what I like to write about at Frugal Mama.

Sometimes what we gain from keeping a tight budget is a new skill, a stronger family or network of friends, a simplified life, or a sense of satisfaction.  And in more cases than not, an extra benefit of spending less is that we end up polluting less and wasting less.

So when I was asked to co-host an online talk last week on The Motherhood about Saving Money While Living Green, I knew there was a lot of material to mine.

Also organized by Discovery and led by Annabelle Gurwitch of Planet Green’s Wa$ted!, the talk was co-hosted by an impressive line-up of women who run these dynamic websites:

• Big Green Purse
• EnviroMom
• Green My Parents
• Inhabitots
• Mindful Momma
• Practically Green
• Real Mama
• Stimeyland
• Twofer Mom

The text-based chat galloped along at a lively pace and, while you can read the transcript, I felt it was worth trying to condense the conversation into bite-sized pieces.

In a few words, here is the wisdom of many:

1.  School supplies: Instead of going out to buy pencils and notebooks, use up what you have. If you don’t find all you need “shopping” from home, try Freecycle.

2.  Backpacks & lunch boxes: Cheap of-the-moment backpacks usually need to be replaced every school year.  Why not buy a long-lasting quality one like those from Dante Beatrix, EcoGear, Columbia, or REI?  Same goes for lunch bags.  Try Goodbyn, Laptop Lunches or Mimi the Sardine.

3.  Meat: Eat 20% less meat (much more expensive than vegetables, grains and legumes) and reduce your impact on the environment as much as you would by switching to a hybrid car.  (Livestock production creates almost 20% of the world’s greenhouse gases.)  Even making one meal a week meat-free (Meat-Free Monday, for example) can save a family hundreds of dollars a year.

4.  Produce: Buy in-season fruits and vegetables.  (See this peak season map at Epicurious.com.)  They cost less, taste better and can reduce the environmental impact of long-distance shipping.   An added plus?  When produce is in peak season, organic sometimes costs the same as conventional.

5.  Cleansers: Clean almost everything in your house with vinegar, water and baking soda. (Fill a spray bottle with 1 part white vinegar and 1 part water and use it as you would Windex or Clorox cleaner.)

6.  Exchanging: Try swapping with friends and neighbors everything from clothes to dinners to babysitting. It’s amazing how our communities can grow and our quality of life can improve when we help each other out.   Also think of borrowing and lending large, infrequently-used items like tools, garden equipment, car luggage carriers, or inflatable mattresses.  A neighborhood listserv is a huge help in connecting people.  If yours doesn’t have one, start one at Google Groups or Yahoo Groups.

7.  Baby food: Make your own with as little equipment as a saucepan and a food processor or food mill, or simply by oven-roasting in foil.  When your baby is ready, simply grind up a portion of what you’re making for dinner.  Or prolong breastfeeding to the point where you can just cut up food into small pieces or smash with a fork. For a simple cookbook, try Cooking with Baby.

8.  Transportation: Ditch the car a few days a week and use public transportation. The average family can save almost $10,000 a year by using public transportation. Or try car sharing service ZipCar for in-town trips and GoLoco for longer trips. Carpooling is another great way to build community and save gas.

9.  Books: If you like to keep your books instead of borrowing from the library, try online book swapping services like Papberback Swap or Book Mooch.   If you can’t find a book you want, check it out from the library first to make sure you really want to buy it.

10.  Paper towels: Annabelle says, “On Wa$ted, I found a heretofore undiagnosed addiction in America: PTA, paper towel addiction. Break the habit, save hundreds of dollars a year!” Use sponges, rags or kitchen towels instead.  Try placing a basket of cloth where you would normally keep paper towels.

11.  Napkins: Cloth napkins are so much more pleasing, besides being more effective.  Use them for a few days then toss them in the laundry.  Favor darker colors so you don’t worry about spot cleaning.  Try them in your child’s lunchbox, along with real silverware and re-usable containers.

12.  Party favors: Make edibles to stuff your goody bags and you win three times:  get off the treadmill of buying single-use items, model behavior for your children, and save money all at once.

13.  Seeds: Plant a family garden for super-cheap organic food and teachable moments.  Try just one vegetable first, like tomatoes, which can be incredibly rewarding for your tastebuds and your wallet.  Or place pots of herbs on the porch in reach of the kitchen.

14.  Large appliances: When purchasing washers, dryers, refrigerators and dishwashers, choose machines with an Energy Star star rating.  Not only do they use less water and energy, they’ll pay you back big time in reduced energy costs.

15.  Beauty: Simplify your morning routine and cut back on the number of personal care products you use (like shower gel and body wash), which usually contain parabens and sulfates that wash down the drain, get into ground water, and damage fish, frogs and other aquatic wildlife.

16.  Home energy use: Save money by using programmable thermostats, keeping the shades drawn, lowering the temperature on hot water heaters, turning off the tap, and using fans instead of air conditioning.

17.  Dinnertime: Eat meals together. Not only do home-cooked meals cost less and taste better, but important bonding happens over the dinner table.  Sharing meals is even thought to be a mood-lifter.

What are some ways that you save money and feel good about it?

Congratulations to Vicki Pennock who won last week’s family pass to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Photo credits: flowers, transportation, tomatoes.

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