5 Ideas to Save $500 a Year & Stay Green!

Save $500 + A Year With Any of  These Green Tips!

As life wooshes by and gas prices rise even if you keep your calendar up to date and your “Smart-phone” in hand, simple life planning gets lost in the shuffle.  Making a little time to plan simple things like laundry tasks, errands around town and meals can save a family thousands of dollars a year.  Try some of these ideas AND keep track of your savings so you know how much your efforts saved you (and the planet) each month.

1) Save $100 bucks a year by hanging your laundry out! I know this sounds hard to fathom, but when I was in grade school my mother didn’t have a dryer!  She actually hung her sheets out to dry on a line in the back yard.  Our sheets were always crisp and they smelled great!  From the time we got a dryer I thought convenience—not environment.  But as they say, “The pendulum swings back,” and here we are in the millennium trying to save money AND energy.  I live in the Midwest where it isn’t feasible to hang laundry to dry outside, unless you want your socks and sheets to freeze and shatter.  However, hanging laundry out to dry when possible can save more than $100 a year in energy if you do it when you can.

2) Walk for Small trips & save $10 a week ($520 annually) I never even imagined the possibility that gas would cost more than $5 a gallon but the reality is that it does!  If you can shave a few short road trips a week from your schedule and walk or bike for a few errands, if your car is a 20 mile per gallon job you can save about two gallons a week.  Grab your iPod & a little Bon Jovi and count it as cardio 9and a (FREE) workout!

3) Eat Veggies One Day a Week & Save $400 a Year for a Family of Four: When I was a raw foodie (I am going back) my friends thought that I was spending more at the supermarket because I was buying a lot of fresh produce.  However, the fact of the matter was that I was saving an enormous amount by NOT buying meat—an expensive part of any grocery budget.  I’m not preaching a lifestyle for anyone else, but going “Meat Free” one day a week can save a family of four more than $400 a year in meat costs—even more if the produce you choose is local and in season.  Just give it a try.

4) Eat Left Overs & Plan Out Your Meals—Save $10 a week! We all live a hectic lifestyle and planning meals sometimes falls to the wayside.  Keep a small date calendar and plan out your meals; Use your left overs for a second meal and make up the difference with a big salad or take last night’s dinner for lunch tomorrow and skip a fast food meal.  Planning and stretching your meals saves on energy (less shopping—less delivery?) as well as $$$.

5) Take the Train (or bus or subway) When you Can-Save $400 a year in gas and parking for a 45 mile round trip & parking only once a month! I live in a Chicago suburb & have to go “downtown” about once a month. Gas for the round trip runs at least $12 and parking an outrageous $25.  The round trip train ticket is a bargain for $6 and I can listen to music, read the newspaper, work or just relax while I am travelling: BONUS! Amtrack has a ton of deals, you might even consider a Train Vaca!

Jan Leasure is the creator of $uper $aver Survival, a time and money saving website which features frugal living advice, household tips, coupons, recipes, giveaways and more. Visit www.Jan-Leasure.com and join her savings community.