One of the ways frugality helps save money is by reducing unneeded waste. For example, instead of throwing last night’s dinner down the garbage disposal, you pack it up and take it to work the next day. Or instead of driving your own car to work, you save money on gas by carpooling with somebody.
It’s not surprising, then, that many frugal practices run parallel with eco-friendly practices. Part of environmentalism is learning how to reduce waste – be it wasted gas, wasted electricity, or wasted garbage. We’ve all heard the three R’s of environmentalism: reduce, reuse, recycle. All of these practices focus on eliminating waste and being efficient with the resources we have.
The same goes with frugality. Frugality is all about being efficient with our money so we get the most from our dollar. A while back ago, I made a list of 180 things you can do to save money. Looking back at the list, most of the things I listed not only save you money, but also helps the environment. Why? Because they focus on eliminating waste.
Here’s a quick list of different things you can do to eliminate waste, save you money, and help the environment:
- Keep your tires inflated at the correct pressure. You use less gas when your tires are inflated correctly. Thus, you save money and reduce the amount of petroleum you use.
- Use the bus to get to school or work. No brainer. Save money on gas and reduce the amount of carbon being spewed into the air by having one less car on the road.
- Buy clothes at a thrift store.
- Avoid buying clothes that require drying cleaning. Dry cleaning is expensive. Plus, it uses chemicals that could possibly harm the environment.
- Buy in bulk. You reduce the amount of packaging you have to throw away.
- Grown your own vegetables.
- Buy furniture at a consignment store.
- Don’t throw away “dead” batteries. Remove them from your radio and use them in quartz clocks. These clocks take such a small amount of power that batteries too weak to run anything else may have enough power to run a clock for a while.
I could go on, but I’ll just let you check out my 180 money saving tips for more ideas. What are you doing that is not only frugal, but also helps the environment? Drop a line in the comment box and add to the conversation.
Don’t forget to enter into my Chambermaid giveaway! Contest ends September 13!