Save Some Dough This December

. . . And have more money for baking. Glamour magazine’s December issue states that of those readers polled, 55% spend $500 or more on gifts. If you’re looking for ways to cut back on holiday spending (and who isn’t?), try these ideas:

• Give selectively. I am not the first to lament that Christmas has become an escalating consumer-fest, but have you really considered what that means for you ? I bet you can remember, right now, a recent time you gave a gift to someone and wondered why you needed to. The answer is: you don’t need to! Start your own campaign to give meaningful gifts and to give them meaningfully, which requires a) only giving gifts to those you wish to give to, and b) giving gifts for their significance and not their price or status. Those who love you will understand any reduction in quantity, and those who don’t? They don’t deserve a present, anyway.
• Give homemade. Simple homemade gifts, elegantly presented, are great for giving to those you know less intimately. It’s a way of being thoughtful without spending too much, and it’s not hard to find ideas that don’t require special cooking or crafting expertise. Consider trying these ideas: Cinnamon and Applesauce Ornaments; Holiday Gift Ideas (scroll down); and Gifts in a Jar.
• Send an e-card. I know, I know; they’re not made of beautiful paper with glitter, gilt, and ribbons, and they’re definitely harder to display in your home, but e-cards are often free, and the environmental benefit is great. Even if your family won’t stand for such things, send e-cards to your extended friend and co-worker network. It’ll save you money on stamps, cards, and gas to drive to the card store and post office. The Nature Conservancy has some pretty e-cards to get your started. You could even make your own; all you need to know is how to paste a picture into an email!
• Don’t buy into fancy trimmings. You don’t need the blow-up snowglobes (they reek of planet-wrecking anyway), the timed light display, or even the designer wrapping paper. Try focusing on the spiritual purpose of Christmas, and when tempted, remember that people care more about what is in the package than what it’s wrapped in.
• Cut down on the little things. Make a few sacrifices in your own life to meet more needs this holiday, especially if current conditions have you strapped for cash. Don’t buy unnecessary luxury goods like liquid hand soap (use a bar); special candy for your home (you’ll likely eat your fill elsewhere); and coffee from coffee shops (buy ground coffee in bulk and brew at home). Think ahead to save even more: can you push your haircut to right before peak holiday party time? Can you do all your shopping online or in one big day instead of making many trips?

One last tip: check RetailMeNot.com for coupon codes before making online purchases. Have a relaxing and simple holiday season!

Lower bills and energy use

TheNest.com has some novel tips for reducing energy loss in your home, as well as lowering other bills:

10 Ways to Cut Monthly Bills

Penny-pinching Tips

Found: frugal article to jumpstart your thriftiness. Location: About.com. Be sure to check out the two links in the article. The takeaway lesson: secondhand is a good thing.

6 Ways to Buy Things for Less

Simplify the Holidays

Once again, saving money often saves resources. Surprisingly, a commercial website, Right@Home, has a great list of (albeit brand name-dropping) tips for simpler, cheaper holiday celebrations and gift-giving.

How are you going to reduce waste in your life and the world this season?

A few ideas that readily come to my mind are: sending homemade, recycled-paper, or e-cards; making homemade wrapping paper and gifts; asking friends or family if they would be willing to forgo present-giving for a meaningful get-together; requesting or giving charitable donations in place of presents. Too many web resources exist on these ideas; do a search and check ‘em out!

Green Deeds That Save You Money

In the current economy, it’s harder to be consciously green. Some of us (myself included) might feel guilty when we can’t afford the organic this or the non-polluting that. There are, however, eco-friendly actions that can make a difference while saving us cash, and that’s something to be proud about. Below, five frugal ways to care:

• Stop the bottled water habit. Invest in a Brita-style water filtration system to cut down on needless resource and money waste.
• Buy fewer convenience foods. Look up recipes online for your favorite frozen or canned prepared meals and learn to cook them yourself for a lighter grocery bill and landfill load. Be careful, though; the ingredients you buy for some foods, like pizza, may add up to more than the prepared version’s price, so shop carefully.
• Unplug sleeping appliances. Summer’s fans and the T.V. in the guest bedroom aren’t doing your electric bill any favors, so unplug appliances not in use to save between 6 and 26% on your monthly payments.
• Keep your tires inflated. It might be a small difference, but improving your gas mileage is always good news for you and the planet, and it’s doesn’t cost much if you’re already at the gas station.
• Make it last. In our consumer society, folks are often more inclined to throw something away when the going gets tough than to attempt a repair. Next time your favorite clothes get ripped, stained, or too small, consider learning some basic sewing skills and care techniques to extend their life. Also, it may be cheaper to repair an appliance with a simple problem than to send it packing, but according to Nick Harder of the Orange County Register, “If the cost of repairing the appliance is more than 50 percent of its replacement cost, buy a new appliance.” Consult an expert when diagnosing the problem, but if it’s really time for it to go, don’t throw it away–recycle!

Chemical-minimal personal care products

Wisebread.com, a group blog for the frugal, has a great summary of some healthier toiletry options that are still mainstream brands and therefore easier to find in the stores and in the coupon books. Stocking stuffer and sale season is upon us!

Small Ways People Waste BIG Money and Resources

We’ve all heard that small things can add up fast. Here, in my completely subjective list, are the biggest money-and-resource wasters of our modern lives, in no particular order:

1. A daily coffee shop habit. Every time you pay $2.50 for a double skim latte (or whatever), you could be making that puppy at home. For a lot less money. And if you don’t bring along a reusable mug or cup, you’re wasting more than money. Try saving the coffee shop trips for special days and time with friends and family.

2. A weekly take-out habit. Obviously, a similar principle applies here as above: choose the DIY version more often, and you’ll be surprised how little you miss spending the extra cash. Still don’t want to cook? That’s okay–store-bought convenience foods, if chosen wisely, can still be fast, yet cheaper and with less packaging.

3. Idling a vehicle. My husband and I never cease to be amazed at the ways people waste gas and hard-earned money by idling cars: in the drive-through lane; at notoriously long traffic lights; while waiting for their spouse to deposit checks/buy the milk–you get the idea. It doesn’t hurt your car to turn it off, and it pays in the long run. Try it; you just might like it.

4. Throwing things away unnecessarily. When I was in elementary school, someone told me that you need to get new things for school each year, regardless of how well the old things are holding up.
I see this attitude in the trash piles of neighbors–perfectly good items cast off for the new. In college, my friends and I watched as other students placed year-old appliances and furniture into dumpsters to make moving easier. Clearly, the scrimp and save mentality is no longer in vogue, but it’s not dead if we don’t want it to be.

5. Buying what you won’t want later. Avoid guilt and waste with a little forethought. Will that slushy maker pay for itself? Do you need the 10-oz steak? Will one doughnut suffice? You can also try the time-honored trick: If you go away from the item and still pine for it a month later, it might be a good investment. Of course, it’s still a good idea to think about any impact on the earth before you buy.

6. Fearing public opinion. And by public, I mean your parents, your best friend, those neighbors your don’t even like . . . most of the time we overestimate in our minds how much people will actually notice about our lives and choices, anyway. But even if people take notice when you start bringing your own coffee or buying less stuff, the important thing remains: how you feel about these choices.

A new approach to driving

Within the last week, National Public Radio did a retrospective on the Ford Model-T, remarking that the assembly-line car domesticated driving and changed the landscape of America, in addition to contributing to the very fuel situation in which we now find ourselves. This highlights a feeling that has grown in me over the past month, as I react to the way people are not changing their habits.

I want to offer a public service announcement, if you will, about our nation’s driving habits. It is true that our choice of vehicles–their overall size, fuel economy, and emissions–and our driving patterns–making fewer trips–have changed in recent times, mostly due to rising gas prices. This is to be cheered. But there are still some who insist on driving large, military-style vehicles when they truly don’t need them; some who still deny that their actions affect others. I want to say, for anyone feels the same, that you do not really need to waste that much gas. You can change. You do not need to continue taking your 13 mpg vehicle down the street to mail a letter. You do not need to continue driving it separately when you could carpool. You can trade it in; you can get a four-while drive vehicle to replace it, if you truly need that feature, but you might not even need that feature, either. I do not deny that some need to haul things and drive in more rugged places. I do, however, call to account those who are now affecting us all out of a style preference.

It is time to recognize that every time we use more gas than necessary simply out of laziness, we are hurting the entire world supply of fuel. That includes, eventually, our own. The prices will continue to rise. Gas will become prohibitively expensive for all but the most wealthy, and that includes those who now say it doesn’t matter to them because they have enough wealth to absorb the increase.

The bottom line is, unless you are conducting tank maneuvers or bushwacking through the Amazon, you can change your fuel intake. You can recognize that the amount you use today is only contributing to the price hikes. Until all of our vehicles use alternative fuel sources, we must work together toward stretching the remaining supply. It is so easy to become selfish in trying times. What we need now is intelligence and compassion. You can change your habits, and it won’t change your life as much as you think.

I just thought I would say it, once and for all. What do you think?

Regis and Kelly Go Green

Today’s Live With Regis and Kelly show is part of a “Green Week” series, and it featured several of the tips I’ve discussed here for saving money while going green: cutting down on junk mail to reduce spending; buying in bulk at the grocery store; and using clean greening products (bought or made). Other great ideas include eating out less for lunch to reduce paper (and money) waste and taking fewer short trips by car in favor of bicycling or walking. I was a bit disappointed that the recommendation to plant trees and shrubs around one’s house for greater heating and cooling economy didn’t caution against non-native species, but the intentions were good.

Check out the full list of tips here at the Green Week site by clicking on “Save Money.”

Paper Redux, Part One: Reading Online

The day seems to have passed when some forecasted the death of the book and the reign of the e-book. Many pundits now claim that the book is safe, and I join those who agree. Yet no matter how enduring the printed word, electronic reading materials definitely have their place in the green girl and guy’s arsenal. In addition to their obvious tree-saving benefits, e-books and e-magazines join online news in being easier on the bank account, as well. Below are some resources for happy web reading:

• Project Gutenberg. The original source for free e-books, now with over 25,000 titles on its own site and over 100,000 in its affiliate network.
• Questia Online Library. More than just a student’s or teacher’s resource; scroll to the bottom left corner for “FREE BOOKS”–more than 5,000, to be exact, in a pleasing e-book format.
• The Online Books Page. Links to over 30,000 free books on the web.
  
• Access the Great Books showcases 240 of the greatest written classics found online.
• World Wide School. A plethora of classic literature and educational books.
• Bartleby.com. A classy and searchable collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and reference materials; especially good for finding a poem or poet easily.
• Internet Sacred Text Archive. The self-described “largest freely available archive of online books about religion, mythology, folklore and the esoteric on the Internet.”
• Zinio. Subscribe to your favorite magazines, but read them in a digital version. Caution: Turn on “Safe View” if you want to skip the mature magazine covers as you browse. While this isn’t generally free or cheaper than print (like my above links), I thought it was worth a mention for the green aspect. Along this line, check out Amazon’s new, wireless, e-book gadget Kindle, where you browse, order, and read books from one handheld device that supposedly mimics the book experience with an electronic paper display.

Of course, there are many ways to purchase e-books, from Amazon to ebooks.com, but I wanted to focus on the fun and free. What do you think of digital reading? Will Kindle-like devices become more popular (especially if the price comes down from $399)?