Green Builders Blog

we just bought a home, have a 3 weeks old aby and a 5 yr old. We also have a dog and 2 cats. We have a small SUV (Kia sportage), and my fiancee and I both have about 15 thousand $ of student debt each.

We are looking for some ways to cut down on our outgoing cash— we hardly ever eat out (we live rural), I use coupons when I can find them, we do things around the house like turning off all lights/electronics when not in use, turned down the water heater, I make homemade baby wipes and cloth diaper, etc.
We are also going to start cutting down on our almost daily trips to a coffee shop or local ice cream parlour… which costs us about $5 or $6 a day…

Any other tips on how to be frugal, save some money, and have a simple, sustainable life would be appreciated- I’m off today to buy an indoor clothes drying rack so I can cut down on using the dryer… and I have turned off the heat dry option on the dishwasher…
we plan on replacing the dishwasher (its about 9-10 yrs old) with an energy efficent one within the next 2 years, with money we save into a “Change jar” (money we save from not going for coffee/ice cream!)…

So, any other tips on how to save money on kids, babies, pets, household stuff, our vehicle… anything would be appreciated!

Also, is the book the Tightwad GAzette by Amy Dacyzyn worth buying? Our library can’t get it in for me, so I may have to buy it… online because we live far from a bookstore… thanks!

Jenny