January 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm (money savings)
Tags: entertainment, family, friends, games, nature
One upside of the current economy is that more people are staying at home with family and friends. Now is a prefect time to pull out the old board games and cards, blow the dust off and enjoy a game or two. Gather a few friends, make some snacks and you can play, talk and have fun for hours for almost free.
If you have kids there is another upside to games, education. Even if it’s not a traditional educational game. My mom taught me how to add quickly in my head by playing black jack with me. I learned the same thing playing dominoes.
If you luck into a warm day, chase everybody outside. There are countless things you can do in your own backyard. Have a nature scavanger hunt or play games like red rover or freeze tag.
Entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive. If you put some thought into it you can probably think of 20 things to do that are free. And the bonus is it’s more fun if you include lots of family and friends.
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January 26, 2009 at 11:40 pm (money savings)
Tags: eating, economy, food, freezer, garden, green, saving money
No matter how bad the economy is we all need to eat. But most people could cut their food bills considerably and save some green.
This week I’ve come across some interesting stats that point to the fact that people are rethinking how they eat. While restaurant revenues are down, cookware and cookbook sales are up. And people aren’t spending as much money on high end flashy appliances, but they are buying more freezers.
Here are some other good ideas for saving money on food.
First, watch the waste. Your not saving if your over buying and throwing food out. If the vegetables are at the end of their shelf live and you can’t eat them all now then freeze them. You can still use them later in soups and stews.
Second, go to the source. I buy all our bread at the Rainbow store. I can buy Sara Lee multi grain bread for $1.25 a loaf.
Third, if you have a freezer buy in bulk. We are getting ready to buy half a side of beef from the butcher. It’s cheaper than even buying in bulk from the store. If thats way to much meat for your family then split it with friends.
Fourth, grow your own food. Anybody can grow a few vegetables and herbs. I usually grow a large garden and enjoy the produce all year.
Everywhere you look today there are hints on saving on your food bill. It’s really not hard to do if you put a little bit of thought into “what’s for dinner tonight.”
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January 26, 2009 at 2:51 am (money savings)
Tags: bad exonomy, economy, green, save money, spend money
I have purposely avoided the subject of the economy for the last several months. There are more than enough blogs that are discussing the subject. However, it is a bit like ignoring the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
So I’ve decided to talk some about the current state of the American economy and how it can effect the efforts of people to be more green.
Actually a bad economy can be a good thing for the green movement. If people have less money to spend, they try a little harder to make sure that they are getting their moneys worth.
Over the next several posts I’ll try and break down some very specific ways that you can go green and save money. Basically if you are paying money for something now, there is probably a greener and less expensive option.
So instead of ignoring the big gorilla, because I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon, we might as well make friends with it.
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January 22, 2009 at 11:51 pm (better health)
Tags: drugs, pharmacists, prescription, western medicine
I generally approach western medicine with a grain of salt, especially prescription drugs. I do believe they have their place, I just believe it is a lot less than is actually being taken.
To my surprise I am finding out that most pharmacists agree with me. My daughter (who I raised with my beliefs) is now working as a pharmacy tech. Her fellow techs and pharmacists also believe that the vast amount of Americans are taking too many drugs on a regular basis. They do understand that that is why they have jobs, they just don’t agree with it.
So why are we being prescribed so many drugs? That’s a good question and I suspect that there are numerous answers. There is one thing that I do know for sure, you are responsible for your own medical care. If a doctor subscribes medicine ask why. Ask what will happen is you pass on the drugs (always your choice). Ask what the side effects are. Ask anything else you can think of and only then decide if filling the prescription is what you want to do.
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January 22, 2009 at 12:40 am (Mother Nature)
Tags: food, global warming, nature, rain, snow, weather
Most if not all of Colorado should look like this picture in January. That is not the case right now, it is way to warm on the plains of Colorado. Today Denver was 71 degrees.
Don’t panic, yet, if your a skier, there is plenty of snow in the mountains for now. But if it stays this warm that too could change.
You might worry if you eat though. There is no snow on the plains where all types of food is grown and raised. Winter wheat needs moisture and we relay on the moisture now to ensure grass for cattle this spring and water for irrigation later in the year.
Is it global warming? Could be. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it doesn’t rain or snow soon it will just be to late and to dry and the name of the problem won’t matter.
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January 19, 2009 at 11:52 pm (good things, money savings)
Tags: economy, energy, environment, saving money, shopping
After checking out some of my stats, it seems that one on my oldest post is still one of my most popular posts, so I thought I’d do a recap.
Saving green is not only good for the environment but it’s also good for your wallet. I realize that the wallet is probably why people are looking at this post right now. That’s okay and maybe these simple ideas will carry over when the economy does get better.
But for now by changing a few habits and doing a few simple things you really can make a difference to the environment and your wallet.
I’ll do a quick recap of a few ideas and you can read many of my other posts for other ideas.
Get an energy audit for find out how to do your own.
Buy used, everything from books to clothes to furniture to jewelry.
Take your lunch to work in a reusable sack. Don’t forget to take silverware and use reusable containers.
Shop for the best deals on the web before you leave the house. Try to plan your errands so you cut down on driving.
Use regular dishes instead of paper at home.
This list is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of things you can do that will save you money and help the environment.
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January 13, 2009 at 11:45 am (good things, money savings)
Tags: books, cheap, green, library
When I buy books it is usually from Amazon.com. They have the best deals out there. Last year I started buying used books from them. A cheaper and greener option.
Last week I needed to buy a book on stamp collecting. I picked the book I wanted and was picking which used dealer to buy from when I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. Used dealers selling old library copies. According to the sealers comments they then share the money made with different library programs like story telling.
What a great idea. So I got a book I needed at a very cheap price and the library gets funds it needs.
I’ll look for this dealer when I need a book.
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January 12, 2009 at 11:45 pm (better health, health ideas)
Tags: exercise, fitness, hulla hopping, yoga
All exercise is not created equal, but you need to start somewhere. For years we have been searching for some type of exercise that my husband can do on a regualr basis.
It’s not as easy to do as one might think. He works the night shift and is most awake sometime around midnight. That rules out our loacl recreation center. It also rules out anything that makes noise, since I’m asleep at midnight.
He tried doing yoga with me. It wasn’t very successful. He was struggling and out of breath in 10 minutes and you really do need a good sized space for two people to do yoga and not hit each other.
He is also out of shape in a pretty bad way. Partly just because he doesn’t move to much, but he did a lot of damage to his body when he was younger. Between motorcycles, cars and bulls he has crushed or broken more bones than I can name.
But I think we may have found the exercise for him. Hulla hopping. He can do it at home anytime. No expensive equipment or noise and it doesn’t hurt anything that has been damaged before. But best of all, he is moving.
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January 5, 2009 at 11:12 pm (better health)
Tags: fitness, health, weight
I was web surfing the other day and found a rather distributing fact about American women’s height and weight. The average height is just under 5 foot 4 inches. The average weight is 163 pounds, up 11 pounds from just a few years ago.
Now I’m about right on for the average height. I know I’m a little on the thin side at 117 pounds, but I would have to gain 45 pounds to even be considered average. I can’t even image that.
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January 4, 2009 at 7:31 pm (better health, green health, health ideas)
Tags: balanced lifestyle, exercise, food, health, rest
Somethings I just don’t understand. Why do people eat a super sized burger and fry meal with a diet drink? Why do some people skip breakfast and lunch only to eat a 3000 calorie dinner one hour before bed? Why do some people never eat fish but take a hand full of fish oil pills each day?
A healthy body is all about a balanced lifestyle. As important as any modern medicine are three things that we can all control in our own lives, food, rest and exercise.
A balanced diet and proper portions are easy to achieve and will make you feel better in about a week. Getting enough sleep, which is about 7 hours for adults, will make you feel better by the next morning. Exercise is hard for a lot of us, but it doesn’t have to be. Take a walk at lunch or walk up and down the stairs a few extra times. Get a yoga mat and start doing leg lifts. Meet a friend for a swim. Just move more, you will feel better in no time.
Enjoying life is really about enjoying balance.
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