This week, I decided to pull out those books which were more about going back to nature and living a more green lifestyle. Although I am by no means a green person by nature, my frugality often puts me in the same boat because I am trying to save money (and saving the planet in the process is a big plus). I use rags instead of paper towels to do all my cleaning and we are down to using only one roll of paper towels a month. We use cloth napkins and not paper. I don't have a garden because I have lost more money then I have gained the few times I have tried. I don't raise chickens or goats in my suburban backyard or live on a farm. I don't have only one jar of trash for the whole year but I try to cut back to one bag a week. We do not eat out that often and get take out about once a month so we are home making meals from scratch every night. In order to mix it up and make it a little more interesting, I try out new recipes and some become favorites while others go back in the pile. I do lots of baking with all of our breads, rolls, and homemade goodies. All of these things are great starts and some of the tips I learned from these books. Check them out and see if they have any helpful hints for your family and inspire you to do better.
The Zero-Waste Lifestyle is a great book about cutting back and living a more green life. The great thing about a green lifestyle is that is often goes hand and hand with money saving so there are tons of tips. There are some that might be a little over the top but I loved the book and the suggestions.
The Dirty Life was a book about a couple that decided to leave the city and move to a farm. They work long days and live very simply to make ends meet. They live off the food that they get from their vegetables and animals. It is super motivational and a great story on how you can live on less (even if you aren't going to give it up and move to a farm).
Made From Scratch was a great book about making more of your food from scratch but I didn't read the table of contents or any information about the book before getting it out the library because I probably wouldn't have gotten it. They tell you all about raising yours own chickens, bees and more while living in a rented apartment. Since this isn't in my list of to do or even ideas, you would think that it wasn't interesting but the book was fascinating about living a more independent lifestyle.
The New Good Life was a book about how a couple lived and raised their children with very few resources and how they went from rags to riches. It gave information about budgeting and different money types to learn a little more about how you might see money differently then your spouse. There were so many things that had me surprised and I learned a lot.
