Saturday, November 26, 2016
A greener Christmas: name tags for gifts
In my family, we re-use Christmas cards, and turn them into name tags for gifts. Well, unless the Christmas card is turned into a new Christmas card. To re-use Christmas cards, it's really handy to have a paper cutter. Just start looking out for one at the thrift store and on Craigslist, and I am sure you will find one soon.
Dreaming of a green Christmas: easy fabric gift bags!
There are many little ways in which you can make your Christmas greener and more creative and save money in the process. One creative fun way to a greener Christmas is to make your own re-usable fabric gift bags. I buy Christmassy fabric at thrift stores, in the form of Christmas table cloths, or Christmas-patterned clothes, or anything else made of fabric that I like. Then I sew them into very simple bags of different sizes and shapes. If you have a little experience with sewing, you can make the bags pretty, with a fabric tie to close it, or what have you. If you are a beginner with the sewing machine or you sew by hand, just make your gift bags like pillow cases. You can use regular gift-wrap ribbon or string to tie it shut with a bow. I started making fabric gift bags about ten years ago, and my collection keeps growing each year. It also makes wrapping really fast: pop the gift in a pillowcase -shaped bag, tie a ribbon around it with a card, et voila!
If you don't have a sewing machine, I highly recommend getting one! Where? At the thrift store! I see sewing machines at thrift stores alllll the time, since sewing is a dying art. Making gift bags is a great first sewing project. They don't need to be perfect!
If you don't have a sewing machine, I highly recommend getting one! Where? At the thrift store! I see sewing machines at thrift stores alllll the time, since sewing is a dying art. Making gift bags is a great first sewing project. They don't need to be perfect!
Friday, November 25, 2016
Plastic bags: how to organize and re-use them
The plastic bag ban passed in California, yay! Even when you never buy plastic bags or get them from the grocery store, you will probably still get lots of them in your house: bread bags, produce bags, tortilla bags, the big bag your toilet paper came in, etc etc. It's a matter of organizing them, to make re-using them easier. Long ago a good friend gave me a cute fabric plastic bag holder as a gift, and I have made many more since then. It helps me a lot to have one for "not perfectly clean" bags and one for clean bags, see picture. We only use re-used bags and never buy any. Even for the trash cans!
Vinaigrette, the healthy simple French way
During our ten years in France, we never saw any purchased salad dressing in any household. The French just mix some oil, balsamic vinegar, and mustard, et voilà! Those three simple ingredients make a perfect vinaigrette. Why you would purchase a pricy bottle of "vinaigrette" that includes all kinds of additional unhealthy ingredients, and possibly in a plastic bottle, is unclear to me. Actually, it is not that unclear to me, given the "salad dressing" aisle in the grocery store. Clever US marketing has created a mindset that salad dressing is something to be purchased in a bottle.
In case you want to try the cheaper, healthier, yummier French way:
- Save a glass jar when you empty one, and wash it
- Mix the following in the jar: 2/3 of a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, two shakes of salt. Adjust the ratios depending on your taste. The more vinegar, the less calories. I re-use jars a lot, and the one in the picture says "pesto" since that's what it contained before it was used for vinaigrette.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
a little "do", and a little "don't"
A little "do" and "don't"
A small "do": start buying used things instead of new things. Start going to thrift stores! You won't believe all the things you can find there. Shopping at thrift stores is good in so many ways! First, it's recycling! Every thrift store purchase you make is keeping an item out of the landfill. Also, many thrift stores have their earnings go to a good cause. Third, if you shop at thrift stores instead of regular stores, you will save tons of money! Thrift stores are great for finding so many things: kids toys (most are washable), small appliances, Pyrex glassware, picture frames, and washable items like clothes and bedding. Of course it's key to buy things you need, not random things you don't need. Easier said than done, but well..keep trying.
Other great places for buying used things are yard sales and Craigslist! Yard sales are especially great for kids toys and clothes, but also for so many other things.
A small don't: don't go to Starbucks. Why not? Have you ever calculated the cost per month of a Starbucks habit? Or the calories per month? Make your own coffee at home or at work, with a simple drip coffee maker. The thrift stores are full of perfectly fine regular coffee makers, now that marketing has convinced many people they need a $1000-plus coffee apparatus. Don't even get me started on that...!
That's all for tonight.
Good night, future retirees!
Ann
A small "do": start buying used things instead of new things. Start going to thrift stores! You won't believe all the things you can find there. Shopping at thrift stores is good in so many ways! First, it's recycling! Every thrift store purchase you make is keeping an item out of the landfill. Also, many thrift stores have their earnings go to a good cause. Third, if you shop at thrift stores instead of regular stores, you will save tons of money! Thrift stores are great for finding so many things: kids toys (most are washable), small appliances, Pyrex glassware, picture frames, and washable items like clothes and bedding. Of course it's key to buy things you need, not random things you don't need. Easier said than done, but well..keep trying.
Other great places for buying used things are yard sales and Craigslist! Yard sales are especially great for kids toys and clothes, but also for so many other things.
A small don't: don't go to Starbucks. Why not? Have you ever calculated the cost per month of a Starbucks habit? Or the calories per month? Make your own coffee at home or at work, with a simple drip coffee maker. The thrift stores are full of perfectly fine regular coffee makers, now that marketing has convinced many people they need a $1000-plus coffee apparatus. Don't even get me started on that...!
That's all for tonight.
Good night, future retirees!
Ann
A big "do", and a big "don't"
To get to that financially free point in life at a young age, in a green way, there are some big "things to do" I would recommend, and lots of little "things to do".
The big umbrella "do" that I will blog about is to start living well below your means, or below your income level. Why? Because that's how you start saving money, and/or to pay off any loans you might have. I do realize some people have very low incomes, some have very high incomes, and many are somewhere in between. My goal is to give all of you ideas that will help you live on a smaller budget, so you save more!
One big "don't" is...don't buy a new or expensive car, ever. All cars lose their value, fast, so the money you spent buying it just disappears. That money could be used for an actual investment or to pay off debt. It could be a chunk of down payment for a home! Or tuition for a degree to get you to more rewarding work! Instead, buy a practical small reliable used car, preferably one that is 2-5 years old. Buy a gently used Honda Civic, or a Subaru, or a small hatchback, or some such. Small cars use less gas, which is green, and thrifty. Reliable cars are less likely to cost an arm and a leg in repairs. Hatchbacks and wagons can carry most thrift store/craigslist/yard sale finds. Buy what you can afford, without a car loan. Do you have $4000 saved up for a car purchase? Well, then buy an older car for $4000. Do you have $7000? Then expand your options to that amount, but not more. You don't have $4000? Then buy a $2000 Craigslist find or keep saving a little longer until you have a better car budget.
That's all for tonight.
Good night, future retirees!
Ann
The big umbrella "do" that I will blog about is to start living well below your means, or below your income level. Why? Because that's how you start saving money, and/or to pay off any loans you might have. I do realize some people have very low incomes, some have very high incomes, and many are somewhere in between. My goal is to give all of you ideas that will help you live on a smaller budget, so you save more!
One big "don't" is...don't buy a new or expensive car, ever. All cars lose their value, fast, so the money you spent buying it just disappears. That money could be used for an actual investment or to pay off debt. It could be a chunk of down payment for a home! Or tuition for a degree to get you to more rewarding work! Instead, buy a practical small reliable used car, preferably one that is 2-5 years old. Buy a gently used Honda Civic, or a Subaru, or a small hatchback, or some such. Small cars use less gas, which is green, and thrifty. Reliable cars are less likely to cost an arm and a leg in repairs. Hatchbacks and wagons can carry most thrift store/craigslist/yard sale finds. Buy what you can afford, without a car loan. Do you have $4000 saved up for a car purchase? Well, then buy an older car for $4000. Do you have $7000? Then expand your options to that amount, but not more. You don't have $4000? Then buy a $2000 Craigslist find or keep saving a little longer until you have a better car budget.
That's all for tonight.
Good night, future retirees!
Ann
Putting it all together
There is lots of trendy info on the internet about minimalism, about reducing waste, about organic food, about staying slim/fit/healthy, and about how to save and retire when we are still young. To me, these are not separate topics, but they are very much linked and have all been part of my life style for decades, to some extent. Many people in their 50s with a variety of earnings/income levels tell me they won't be able to retire for a long time, and most are very unhappy and stressed out about it. Maybe I can help out by sharing ideas in this blog.
My lifestyle is not extreme in any one way, except maybe in thriftiness. I own way too much stuff to call myself a minimalist. I am pretty green, but there's definitely room for progress. I eat organic food most of the time, but not always. I don't eat meat, most of the time. I am healthy, but I'm not a health nut. So what's my secret to an early, green retirement? A lifestyle that embraces all of the above trends, without going to extremes on any. It's all in the balance.
I will sleep on things, and figure out where to start with sharing ideas tomorrow.
Sweet dreams,
Anne.
My lifestyle is not extreme in any one way, except maybe in thriftiness. I own way too much stuff to call myself a minimalist. I am pretty green, but there's definitely room for progress. I eat organic food most of the time, but not always. I don't eat meat, most of the time. I am healthy, but I'm not a health nut. So what's my secret to an early, green retirement? A lifestyle that embraces all of the above trends, without going to extremes on any. It's all in the balance.
I will sleep on things, and figure out where to start with sharing ideas tomorrow.
Sweet dreams,
Anne.
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