Waste

I just sat down and did my budget for where the money is going to go this month. I can't honestly say I have really done or not done this before, as what I have done in the past has just been a very basic list of the bills that needed paid and left any other money unaccounted for as a grocery/whatever I need money for fund. I know how much money I am pulling out to put in my envelope system tomorrow, and even what bills I need to be able to break it down correctly. I also realize just how much money I have been wasting on things here and there.

As I look outside at the storm that is brewing I find that I'm irritated with myself because if I hadn't spent a little here and there I would have my rainbarrel by now. I look around my living room and think that I really need a declutter session on my desk and couch so I don't have to constantly spend time trying to find things that I need. That time could be an extra few minutes with my kids or an extra 15 on my homework. I also think about the carrots I threw out instead of feeding them to the worms, the apples that should have been processed by now and haven't, the research on how to do so many things in the garden that have yet to get done.

But you know what? It isn't so much that so much has been wasted. It is the potential that I have to use what would be waste in the future. I sat here and worked out my budget in maybe half an hour, wrote out checks for the month, and know where my money is going to go. Maybe in a couple of months I will even have enough saved so that by next spring I will have that rain barrel.

Where is your waste going these days?

Love, Megan

Babystepping

So I have been thinking about what all green entails lately. I have a friend looking for a wringer washer, because it will save on water from a front loader, is wanting to start canning for the year, and is just as chemical conscious as I am. Does it matter? No. I haven't been able to can before, I don't have a closeline, and I probably won't have one unless I move. Can I still look at how I can be more green than I am now? was a year ago? or five years ago? Definitely. It isn't a race, it is a collabrative effort. I live frugally out of neccessity. I can't afford every green gadget that is out, but thinking about it lately, do I really want to? 50 years ago, how many gadgets did they have? Yeah, I will pass on the newest gadget. I'll freecycle for the stuff to build a rainbarrel---when I get to it, and I will put the tomatoes I get out of the garden on a salad or let the kids eat them for the snack they want before they ever make it in the house. I'll can next year. I had a garden this year. That is better than last. Sometimes babystepping 2 green means babystepping... one thing at a time, one system at a time, one bit of effort. Over, and over, and over again.... and the persistance of the 5 minutes at a time over the course of the year, the decade, and the century add up. As flylady would say, it didn't get this way in a month and it isn't going to get better in a month either.