Saving and Going Green: My Office is Moving

I spent most of today working on packing and tearing down shelves in my office at work. We are moving from a warehouse-style building to a high rise in downtown Atlanta. By doing so we are getting a much nicer office space, a lot of food options in the building, a better neighborhood, and best of all I can take mass transit to and from work!

This will prove to save a lot of money for me since the company will pay for my transit card. Not only will I have unlimited access to the MARTA system but I will also not be spending $4 per gallon on gas for my car (plus wear and tear). I also don't have to worry about paying for parking downtown. This will add at least another $100 per month to my budget. I look forward to banking that money!

It is going to be a lot of work to get us moved in 3 weeks and still operate a company. It is well worth it since the train station is IN our building! It will take me roughly 15-20 minutes by train to get to work and I get to play on my iPhone while I wait. I am excited! An added bonus is that is helps the environment a little too.

GREAT Article on Food Storage - a frugal hack!

This article is great! I have done a little of this but it has some ideas on reusing food packaging that hasn't crossed my mind before. I like it because 1) you save money and 2) you recycle the stuff you already have and reduce waste and landfill buildup. That is a win-win I will take any day!

Kudos to the Get Rich Slowly staff on this one!

Frugal Tip: Recycle before you Recycle

Trent over at The Simple Dollar wrote in a post "find a second use for everything" as a tip to become more frugal. I never really thought of it that way and it struck me as a good idea. He used the example of using worn out clothing for rags which I have done in the past. He was alluding to a form of recycling.

The idea does have it's limits. It can lead to having too much stuff or hoarding problems. It is most certainly not a tip for "pack rats" as they already have too much!

Problems to overcome:

• Taking up space: limit yourself to a certain amount of each item. Maybe just one small bag of old clothes or a small box of plastic bottles to use later.
• Accumulation of too much stuff in general: Keeping things because they might be useful one day is a bad idea. If you are keeping something to reuse have a specific purpose for it and make sure you will actually use it within 1 year.
• Hygiene: Reusing things has cleanliness limits. Make sure to thoroughly clean anything you intent to reuse. Too much can attract pests and rodents to live in your stuff!

Now that I have all the problems out of the way I want to share what and how I reuse some stuff around my house. I try my best to limit my waste and recycle what I can as a starting point. After that I start looking at things in a new light and figure out if I can use it to fill another need. Here are some examples:

• Plastic Grocery bags: I get a lot of these (free in GA) and use some of them as trash bags for my small bathroom trash bins. They cost me nothing and I don't have to buy bags instead. I get way too many and return the ones I don't use to the grocery store for recycling monthly.
• Old and worn clothes: Aside from Trent's rag idea I keep a couple old or slightly torn tshirts to use for house projects and working my car. This goes for shorts/jeans too. If some of them are in reasonable shape I donate them for the tax benefits.
• Food Scraps: I don't compost as I don't garden but I know people who do and just go over and put my scraps in their composter. It costs me nothing, helps a neighbor, and saves some waste in landfills.
• Jars and Bottles: I keep a bin of jars and bottles of various sizes. Some can take the place of expensive tupperware. I use them for a wide range of things: mixing home made sauces, storing small amounts of liquids and powders for transport in my car, small ones as travel size containers that I can take to the airport, and so on. I limit myself only to what my "empties bin" will hold. I recycle the rest.

I could go on for a while with reuse ideas. The above are the ones I use the most often. I always suggest that "when in doubt recycle it first" so that you don't end up over accumulating stuff you will never use. Finding a second use for items does save money but moderation must be applied and we should not buy something simply because it could have a second use.

Happy Earth Day and Getting Greener

Happy Earth Day to all!

Earth Day was created as a holiday to remind everyone that we all need to do out part in order to help reduce the use and damage to the earth. The government created it to promote recycling and conservation of natural resources. It has, of course, become yet another reason for advertisers to try to make more money.

Here are some steps we can all take to lessen your impact on the environment:

• Install CFL light bulbs in your house
• Stop using paper/plastic dishware
• Wash clothes using cold water
• Line dry clothes
• Start composting
• Install a programmable thermostat
• Do curbside recycling if available
• Reuse containers when you can
• Drive less and bike or walk more
• Combine trips to do errands
• Eat more organic foods

The list of things you can do goes on and on. The above list are generally easy to do and cost nothing or even save you money! Keeping our consumption down will lessen the overall impact over time and make the world a better place for everyone. We all live here let's keep our "house" clean!

What do you do to be more "green" these days?

Enviromentally friendly credits and rebates

The federal government seems to be making a big push on "going green" with home improvements. They are providing money as incentive for folks reduce energy consumption. They offer tax credits and grants to states. I personally have taken part in some of these programs for my house remodel.

Examples:

• Sales tax-free weekend (GA) for energy saving appliances and light bulbs. I saved 7% on my new washing machine and some fluorescent light bulbs.
• Federal Income tax credit for water heaters, air conditioners, and other energy saving appliances.
• 2x $100 rebates for installing 1.28 gallons per flush toilets. I got this from my county government.

I encourage you to look into credits and rebates to see if any of your needed home repairs and improvements will qualify. Most of these have time limits so it is worth your while to evaluate your options now. On top of all this the energy efficient improvements will cut your monthly utility bills while helping the environment too!

Sources for credits and rebates:

• EPA
• Tax credit for first time home buyers
• Energy Star tax credits
  

These rebates and credits have added up over $1,000 that I will get back. It seems I picked a good time to buy a "fixer upper" house. I will also get the large tax credit just for buying the home as well. I plan to use the tax refund that I will receive to pay down my debts.