Penny for your thoughts?

This kind of financial ooky-spooky stuff is really starting to freak me out. I am beginning (somewhat selfishly) to wonder what this "economic crisis, " "regression," "depression" -or whatever it is -is going to mean for us: Will the Husband have a job in a year? Will we EVER be able to afford a house of our own?

I'm not the only one (obviously) who has this on my brain; at Ask Moxie yesterday and then again today, they are discussing the economy, with today's post focusing on "Practical Ways to Tighten Our Belts". (You should check it out- the comments are great!) So that has me thinking.

Here are the things we are currently doing to "tighten our belts":

- Groceries:
We have switched some grocery items from name brand to store brand, and are opting for some things frozen rather than fresh (i.e., blueberries which we eat a TON of) so there's savings and less waste if we don't get around to eating everything. We switched from the jugs of orange juice to the frozen concentrate (cheaper AND better for the environment). We are also being more careful when we plan meals for the week, looking for ways to stretch a meat
purchase, for example. We are also using generic diapers during the day (they DO NOT work for overnight, though.)

- Eating Out:
We have definitely cut back on our eating out lately. We cook at home more and if we do go out we generally limit ourselves to once a week at a 'cheap' place (i.e., take n' bake pizza). I also bring my lunch to work every day and the Husband goes home for lunch.

-Cleaning:
I have switched from grocery store brands of cleaning products and detergents to an online store that offers concentrated, environmentally safe and affordable stuff. This has made a big difference in what I spend (especially on laundry and dish detergent) and our home is safer
and healthier without all the nasty chemicals (i.e., bleach, nitrates, etc.).

-Heat:
We've only just turned on our furnace in the last week, but plan on keeping it at 62 overnight and during the day and 65 when we are home in the evenings.

-Purchases:
We are buying used or borrowing whenever possible. We are works in progress with this, but I am using the library more, and shopping second hand- we got little O's entire fall/winter
wardrobe at the consignment store!


Looking at this, it is interesting that many of the choices we are making to save money are also 'green.' That's motivating in and of itself.

So what else can we do? There are some 'luxuries' that I am loathe to part with: cable TV and Internet, buying music (mp3 downloads), organic milk, little O's book club, our newspaper subscription...

How about you guys? What are you doing now to save money?

Earth Days are Easy

Happy Earth Day. While its silly that we need to have a day to remind everyone that our home is slowly but surely falling apart I think Earth Day is a good excuse to reevaluate your (read: my ) life and look for areas where you (I) can improve your (my) greenness.

My goal this year is to look for ways to clean my home that have less of an environmental impact but still leave things sparkly and fresh and so on. Fortunately, I came across this article that details great solutions that may also be incidentally easy on the pocketbook. And who wouldn't love that??

So, Happy Earth Day. Go clean some shit.

Face the (plastic) Music

So I've been hearing about this issue for a while, but in true ostrich-like fashion, I have buried my head in the sand while plugging my ears and whistling "Dixie." The time has come, however, to face the sad, sad facts: Plastics are EVIL.

Exhibit A: Toxic Baby Bottles

Exhibit B: Na!gene Water Bottles being not so good either

Sigh.

Today I ordered some of these and one of these.

We don't do a ton of plastic, but Otto takes bottles at daycare and my na!gene bottle has been practically attached to my water-guzzling face for the last 5 years or so. So I may be a little behind the curve but I'm trying to catch up!

Of course, its impossible- IMPOSSIBLE, I say! to protect our babies (or ourselves, for that matter) from every potential harm out there, but when its something like this...something that just might be really harmful and is avoidable, dropping upwards of $50 to replace bottles, sippy cups and such doesn't seem like that big a deal. We do the best we can, don't we?

On the plus side, I got a little shopper's high from ordering all this stuff. And that has to be a good thing. Right?