Frugal Friday: Mowing the Grass 'GREEN'

I have to admit, I never considered mowing the grass to be anything other than a result of having a yard and something I didn't have to do! Don't think too poorly of me, though I did have to mow the yard as a teen so I've had my fair share of that!

We had a push mower and an electric weed-eater...now we have a rider and a gas powered weed-eater (hey! we have half an acre to mow!)

Aside from the gas and oil required to run the mower there is another aspect that I personally had not considered "pollution" - except when my kids are napping! The noise!

Read the article linked below and check out some old-fashioned push mowers around you.

I will be trying to talk my "gardener" into it - he's rather obstinate and enjoys his "power" tools! How lovely would it be to have a couple of hours once a week to get some exercise, listen to my ipod and enjoy some adult time?? hmmm...renewed incentive!

http://simpleandgreen.net/2008/03/09/push-mowers-rule/

Frugal Friday: Mowing the Grass 'GREEN'

http://naturallycentsable.blogspot.com/2008/03/frugal-friday-mowing-grass-green.html

Things I Learned Today...

I used to (before I had children and when I had some form of adult time!) feel like I'd had a good day if I learned at least one new "relevant" thing...now that I have kids I am guaranteed to learn several new things, however, their relevancy is in question most of the time!

Note to the old me: Today was a VERY good day!

First, I learned that I DO still miss my morning coffee! (ehh, too sad and long to get into here!)

But more importantly I learned that I don't have to pay an arm and a leg for yeast, flaxseed meal and wheat germ! Now, considering that I am writing a blog about saving money on whole foods you wouldn't think that would surprise me but, nonetheles, it did.

We make all our own breads and granola so I'm going through these items VERY quickly.

I was at a local natural foods store and discovered they buy and bag bulk flaxseed meal, wheat germ and yeast. The flaxseed meal and wheat germ were from Bob's Red Mill and cost me about $1 less a pound than the pre-bagged stuff right around the corner! The yeast was only $2.50 for a bag twice, wait - correction...3 times the size of the jar I buy at my local grocery store where it costs me at least $4.

I was so happy and proud of myself.

I also noted that I should NOT by pre-bagged whole wheat flour there. They sell the same brand my local grocer does and it was $2 more per 5lbs. I didn't have time to check the prices on the bulk flour - my son needed to be picked up and my daughter was getting impatient! Oh well, save something for another day!

Check your whole foods store's bulk goods area and hopefully you can snag some deals!

Things I Learned Today...

http://naturallycentsable.blogspot.com/2008/03/things-i-learned-today.html

Frugal Friday: You say Swiffer, I say Spiffer...

I have accomplished an eco-friendly, frugal milestone this year! I haven't bought a cleaning product since September...well okay, I have bought one cleaning product but that's only because I have two dogs and two small children. Have you SEEN how messy they can be???

Swiffer makes my life easier and while I am truly committed to bettering the environment and teaching my children that you can be green and still live in the suburbs, I can't fly in the face of basic convenience all the time!

That sent me on a search for a better swiffer solution. I purchased some homemade reusable refills on eBay but they are too thin and floppy to hold much dust ,and it gets really dusty in my house (did I mention the kids and the dogs?)!

I finally found this article "How to Hack your Swiffer" at treehugger.com and thought they had linked some great ideas for using your swiffer in a more frugal manner and saving the environment. My favorite is the "spiffer", I just need to talk my sister into making one for me!

Let us know if you try it and how it worked or if you have a swiffer hack!

Frugal Friday: You say Swiffer, I say Spiffer...

http://naturallycentsable.blogspot.com/2008/03/frugal-friday-you-say-swiffer-i-say.html

Join us for Frugal Friday!

Check out BeCentsAble and CentsAble Baby for our Frugal Friday installments!

Check back here next week for Naturally CentsAble's Frugal Friday installment on starting your own herb garden indoors with all-natural and organic materials!

Join us for Frugal Friday!

http://naturallycentsable.blogspot.com/2008/02/join-us-for-frugal-friday.html

Frugal Friday: Cloth Diapers

What could be better than a natural and frugal tip for Friday afternoon? Nothing!

Check out this week's Frugal Friday Tip on Cloth Diapering over at Centsable Baby

Frugal Friday: Cloth Diapers

http://naturallycentsable.blogspot.com/2008/02/frugal-friday.html