It Ain’t Easy Being Green

I jumped on the “green” living bandwagon a bit late, I suppose. By all accounts, old hippie that I am, I should have been “green” long ago. In ways I am and always have been. In my home, I’ve preferred glass containers of all types to plastic, I’ve recycled carpet squares to anything from coasters to mats at the door, I’ve always preferred natural surfaces (tile for floors, concrete for counter tops) to the man-made carpets, and formicaish counter tops. Quilts have been made from a multitude of fabrics, from cottons to wools, just depending on what’s around. And I’ve preferred my cloth grocery bags over the store’s requisite plastic for years. (I had a million uses for the brown paper bags that have disappeared from use)

Now, it seems theres more to think about when it comes to being “green”. It means more than getting the lights turned off in an empty room. Now, I have to think about where my purchases are coming from and where they’re going to. That’s a tough one. The compost bed is great for organics, but not great for quite a few other items. I have to think about what my carbon foot-print might be. Heck even the vacuum cleaner guys are talking about carbon emissions (Dyson).

So, in my efforts to be more earth friendly in my world. I’ve come up with a few guidelines. Maybe they’ll help you in your quest to be “green”

• Going “green” doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. More often simple is the best.
• Make a personal choice to spend more time outdoors. Enjoy fresh air and sun when you can. Heck, even open the windows if you can’t be outside.
• Learn to see the world in a different way, learn to live sustainably.
• Don’t worry about the costs of going “green”, consider what you’re saving, both money wise and life wise.
• Ask yourself the question, “What do I have in my home/office/life that I can use/reuse”. Make a list to remind yourself that you don’t need to “buy” a like item.
• Being eco-friendly (read: “green”) happens in stages. One decision, one choice and one step at a time. Take baby steps.
• Consider your personal environment, part of the bigger picture. Solving your “green” issues becomes easier, when you consider that.

What are your tips for living “green”?

Ning Rings The Bell For Freedom

This week’s Remarkable Blogger© is a unique fellow. While requests from Bird On A Wire for an interview went unanswered, we did discover a few tidbits about David at MoneyNing.com.

David tells us why he’s driven to be wealthy. From a middle class family who immigrated to Canada, without his father (who was afraid he couldn’t secure employment), in the late 80’s; David talks of his mother going without “anything that was not a necessity for 1487 straight days”. His father, in those days was an Engineer by training, and opted to take an Operations Specialist position to better his salary and improve his family’s way of life. Now, here in the states when we think of Engineers, we think of highly paid specialists in Electrical, Civil or Mechanical fields. Things in Hong Kong just weren’t that way.

While David apparently missed out on time with his Dad growing up, he learned to savor what time he had with him and learn from the man a great deal about what it means to be a husband and a father.

Money Ning, the blog and the man, have a few unique goals.

I have decided to be as wealthy as I can be. My short to-do list includes:

• Earn as much as I can.
• Save as much as I can, as early as I can.
• Learn as much as I can on growing my nest egg and how to apply it.

This blog allows me to do all three in some way.

Regular posts from David include tips on personal finance, frugal living, personal happiness, and a map of his progress to self made wealth. I almost always find a tip in his posts that helps me through my day. David also sponsors some of the best contests in the personal finance realm. He recently married the love of his life and celebrated on his blog by giving away $1500. Money Ning is more than the sum of its parts and definitely worth adding to your daily reader.

Thanks David, for being a Remarkable Blogger© ! From our view, you’re well on your way to personal financial freedom! Keep on ringing that bell!

Do you know a Remarkable Blogger©? Are you a Remarkable Blogger©? Use our contact form and let us know who you’d nominate for our next feature.

High Cotton

Spring Cleaning. Its either a YIPPEE or UGGG thing for most people. For me, its mostly YIPPEE. I get to open the house up, let the breeze off the water blow through the house, hang the bed linens on the line outside to dry, and basically feel spring throughout the house. Being closed up inside all winter, I get cabin fever. So, the first inkling of spring, brings me back to my childhood; where on Saturday morning, before we sat down for breakfast, all the beds were stripped, windows were opened and a cool southern breeze wafted through the whole house. Saturdays were work days back then. There were floors to be stripped and re-waxed, windows to be washed, grass to be cut and a thousand other chores (or it seemed like it) to be done. Being the "girl", I had the joy of dusting and ironing. I’d try to trade those jobs, but more often than not, there was not a taker. The smell of furniture polish, floor wax or starch can take me back 40 years in just a sniff. That was Saturday, all day, for as long as I can remember. Of course, we had some fun at it. (kids always find a way) Waxing floors in sock feet, sliding up and down the hall (until we got caught), pillow fights as we stripped the bed linens (until a feather pillow popped, picking up thousands of down feathers by hand just isn’t fun). But, we worked. By sundown, Daddy would fire up the huge barbeque pit he’d built in the back, and we’d feast on burgers or hot dogs. We were kings and queens. We hadn’t a clue that our parents scrimped and saved and how frugally we lived, in those days.Friday fish sticks and french fries were a treat we looked forward to all week (eaten a fish stick lately?)They did without a lot for themselves, so that we could have a good education and nice clothes on our backs. (Put kids through Catholic school for 12 years today. You need a second mortgage) Though, hand me downs were worn, there was never a piece of clothing with a hole in it. Everything was carefully checked in the laundry process. If it needed mending, it got mended then. If it was worn out (after several hand me downs), it was turned into a cleaning cloth or strips to tie beans and tomatoes with. There was a use for everything. And sometimes, 4 or 5 uses. That was the way it was in our house. We thought that everybody lived that way. We were in "high" cotton. That is what frugal living is. Its not living poor. Its not wearing clothes with holes, or onion sandwiches for supper. But rather its a mindset. Setting financial goals and a means to an end. There are a bazillion frugal living sites out on the web today, and about half of them will tell you that you need to set your mind to living without. I disagree. To live frugally, you have to set your sites on a goal, set a budget and live by it. You can have a "high cotton" mindset and a frugal purse. However, it takes some practice, some discipline and some time. Commit yourself to your goal and there is nothing that’s impossible.

« Previous Page — Next Page »