Saving Money by Growing Your Own Produce

Posted by admin on July 19, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

Whether you have a large yard, small yard or no yard at all you can grow a garden that can dramatically reduce your produce bill.  Growing your own vegetables is quite easy and the rewards can be more than just inexpensive produce.

Fruits and vegetables that are home grown generally always taste better and are much healthier for you.  Supermarket produce will never be as tasty as home grown produce and supermarket produce is overpriced for what you get.  Growing your own produce from seed makes these foods extremely inexpensive and it is a very rewarding endeavor.

With a little careful planning you can create an easy to care for garden that provides delicious homegrown vegetables from spring till fall.  Fresh vegetables not contaminated with chemicals but rather help the environment and save you money.

To start the process, select a good location in your yard for the garden.  Starting off with a small space is a good start or even some large containers for the deck that can hold tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and even more. 

Look for as much sunlight as possible.  The more sun the garden gets the better.  Sunshine, water and good soil is essential for healthy vegetables.  Locate your garden where it will receive at least six hours of direct sunlight a day.  For those that do not have a very sunny location, plants such as lettuce and spinach can grow well without a lot of sun.

Once the general area is selected, make sure there is ample room allow movement around the garden to care for the plants and that are accessible to a water source.  Avoid any area that may have water runoff that contains possible contaminants in the soil.

Decide what veggies to grow.  Always do a little research for the best plants in your region.  Start with about four or five easy to grow varieties of vegetables, choosing the vegetables you like the most and that work well with your soil and climate conditions.  Choose the right plants that are suitable to your growing region and you can manage.  Don’t jump in too fast and overplant.

Make sure you research how much water the plants needs.  If you live in a drier region, try using a rain barrel to collect rainwater to further save and help the environment.

Many gardeners recommend mixing plants that grow fast with slower growing plants.  The slower plants help to maximize the yield of the soil.  Healthy soil is the key to a successful vegetable garden.  Improve your soil by adding natural compost.  Cover your gardening area with organic material such as leaves, dried grass and fine plant material.

To get a quick start on spring planting, start by planting seeds indoors.  By the time the temperature is right outside, the seedlings will be ready to go in the garden and bear fruit earlier in the season. 

Home grown vegetables taste better, help the environment and save money.

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Cheap Home Living by Knowing Your Financial Strengths and Weaknesses

Posted by admin on July 3, 2010 · Leave a Comment 

In order to live a more frugal lifestyle a consumer should take inventory of where they currently stand.  But, this time the inventory isn’t a physical breakdown of what you own and what you owe but rather an inventory of your behavior.  Living a frugal lifestyle doesn’t mean living without goods and services it simply means buying the most cost efficient and effective good and services.  But for some consumers the transition to a more frugal lifestyle even when it requires giving up very little is difficult because of poor learned behaviors.

By analyzing your current spending habits and activities, you can see where your strengths and weaknesses are regarding these behaviors.  By dealing with your financial short comings, you’ll be able to cut down on the time it takes to embrace a more frugal lifestyle.  If you are the spend thrift but already convinced of the need for financial change in your life, the road ahead is much easier.  If you are not even aware of your reckless buying habits or spontaneous decision making, then the road to savings may be more difficult.

To start the inventory, sit down and review the details about your personal money approach to spending, savings and education.  Some key points to consider include: do you carry credit cards with little regards to the number and amount of debt on each?  Do you carry cash and had do you keep track of the amount and its distribution?  How well do you know you monthly living expenses?  How well do you now the price of everyday expenses such as groceries, gas, clothing, etc… What does your credit history look like?  Do you have a system for paying your bills and managing debt?  What are your limits for personal shopping?  How do you decide and evaluate major purchase such as a car new furniture, large appliances or a home?  How much of your income do you save each month and do you have a savings goal or plan?  How do you allocate your free time? 

Unfortunately, reforming yourself from spendthrift ways can sometimes be difficult and requires patience and help.  Help that can come from education and resources that lead the way to obtaining knowledge on where the best buys are, what products work the best, where the cheap activities and entertainment can be found as well as information on good resource utilization.

Sometimes the road to a consistent awareness of using less resources is challenging but the rewards on how adopting frugal living habits can reduce outstanding consumer debt, free up money for activities such as vacations, help finance large future expenses such as buying a house or paying for your children’s college tuition or free up more time for family and friends is well worth the journey. 

Identify your weaknesses and strengths and spend some time planning how to modify your behavior to become more frugal with financial resources and physical resources.

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