For the longest time I thought I was pretty clever in that I recycled clothing that was beyond repair–and beyond being suitable for donation–into cleaning rags. Then I found out from my mother, who also recycles clothing into rags, that she knew of a local group of knitters who recycled sweaters into yarn for them…
Shopping
Holiday Shopping on a Shoestring
Attention K-Mart Shoppers–well, and all other shoppers. It seems like it’s going to be a shoestring shopping season for the 2008 holidays. At least that’s what some experts are predicting, saying that the small increase in holiday spending in 2008 will be the weakest since 1991. And guess what? Technically, our country was in a…
The Suddenly Frugal Seal of Approval
I’ve come to enjoy providing the readers here with regular features, such as “Random Reusables” and the “Reader Q&A” and it seems you guys have liked them as well. But I’m thinking it’s time to add yet another regular feature to The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal). Since many people have written to me…
Grocery Shopping on a Shoestring
One of the first things that I always do soon after we get back from vacation is to grocery shop. If you can plan things right before you leave, you can buy just enough food to get you through the days before you leave, and you leave enough non perishables at home so that you…
Random Reusables: Water from the Dehumidifier
Last year when I started this blog, I mentioned briefly how I used to use the water from our sump pump to water our plants during a drought. I also would use the water that our dehumidifier collected in a similar fashion–and continue to do so now. However, it’s been so rainy and humid lately…
Brand Loyalty
An interesting email popped into my in-box this morning. It was from Lands’ End and was all about how Lands’ End can help parents like me shop for back to school. I’ve been getting tons of these emails lately, now that retailers are salivating over potential back-to-school earnings, even though industry projections show just a…
The Etiquette of Being Green
A friend of mine, a New Yorker, used to tell me how he was too busy to recycle. In his old apartment building, there was a garbage compactor chute on every floor, and if he dumped canned goods, newspapers or plastic bags down there, no one was the wiser. Then he moved on up to…
I Missed My Own Anniversary
One of my husband’s favorite “party games” is to say to someone, “Give Leah any address in Manhattan, and she’ll tell you the zip code.” Nine times out of 10, I’m right. You see, I have this weird, almost “Rain Man”-like obsession with numbers. Over the years I’ve memorized phone numbers, zip and area codes,…
My Green Thumb on a Budget
Little by little, since moving into this new house a year ago (guess it’s not so new anymore, now that it’s been a year), we’ve been putting our personal stamp on the place as best we can–given time and budget constraints. We’ve managed to get the living room painted, and the mudroom cleaned out (it…
Vacate Your Car This Vacation
I posted last week about this notion of “locavacation,” vacationing locally as a way of saving money on gas. Building off of that idea, another way for you to be able to enjoy a vacation this summer without burning your budget with fuel costs is to figure out an all-inclusive-like trip. This way, once you…
Q&A: The Dishwasher vs. Washing Dishes By Hand
Last month I addressed a reader question about whether it was more eco-friendly to use paper plates rather than run the dishwasher–the answer was to go with the dishwasher, which surprised many people. In response to that another reader wrote with a related question. I’m sure it’s a quandary all of us green and frugal…
Summer Vacation Blues Can Save You Green
I was a bit surprised earlier this month when the Automobile Association of American (AAA or Triple A) released findings that more than 25 million Americans will be taking foreign trips this summer–and that’s up slightly (2.6%) from 2006. Granted, we took a short jaunt to London last summer and managed to stay on budget,…
Q&A: Paper Plates Versus The Dishwasher
Keeping with the theme of reader questions (which I’ll say again that I love. I find your questions to be very inspiring and help spark my creativity), here is one I received from Suzanne last week. I’m sure her quandary is one we all face: I’m slowly learning about greener living and your insight has…
The 411 on CSAs
The summer I belonged to a CSA (community supported agriculture), our evening meals often featured purple potatoes, kale and just-picked watermelon–all organically grown. That’s because a CSA membership is a “subscription” to a local organic farm that allowed me to a weekly pick of fresh, organically grown produce. According to Local Harvest, a website devoted…
On the Road to the Right Car for Us
For many Americans buying a first car is a rite of passage. Perhaps it’s because I spent my formative years living in a place with abundant public transportation, I didn’t own a car until I was 26. Rite of passage, my foot. The only reason my (then new) husband and I bought a car was…