How to save about $1,000 a year

Here’s a simple LivGreen solution that is easy, non-invasive and saves you money. I know I’m not the first person to suggest this, especially recently, but just stop consuming so damn much! It doesn’t matter what the product is; soap, electricity, water or plastic bags, just stop using so much of it. I just heard on the radio today that the average household wastes more than a nausea-inducing $1,000/year throwing away food. Good Lord, that’s a lot of food. Just hearing that makes me feel guilty. Potatoes, tomatoes and bananas were among the most wasted food items. You have to throw out a lot of bananas to get to $1,000. I am by no means suggesting that you quit eating potatoes, but I think everyone could cut back on many things in their lives without noticing any real difference. Often times it’s nothing more than a lethal combination of laziness and apathy and I’m not above that myself. But when you think about it, try not leaving the light on in the kitchen after you’ve made your sandwich, or running the water while you brush your teeth, or driving 3 miles down the road to get a lottery ticket, or warming up the car for 15 minutes before you get in over winter (this is a tough one, I know) and, probably most useful, try to reuse anything you can. It’s even fun to try to get creative modifying items for different applications, or simply using them in their current state for a different function. Check some of these ideas for some inspiration. I want to mention that I am not a crazy tree hugger type guy. In fact, I think most of my decisions are based in logic, not emotion, and I am one of the few people who is actually AGAINST recycling (for another post). I mention that because this isn’t an extreme, move to the backwoods and eat berries and dirt for the rest of your life kind of life change. It’s truly common sense that simply consuming more is not necessarily improving your life at all. Try making a few changes and see what happens. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!


P.S.- If you like what you read, subscribe to The Crank RSS and get a fresh post delivered to your computerstep every day!