Very pleased with myself

I made a decision a little while ago to cut down on some unnecessary spending and to also try to help the environment a bit. When I sat down and had a bit of a think about what exactly I could do I found a huge amount! A bit of web surfing also helped. I wanted to 1. Spend less cash on things I really don't need to buy 2. Reduce the amount of rubbish we output here and 3. Be more environmently friendly. We already do a HUGE amount of recycling at the moment to the point were our recycling bin is over flowing and our rubbish bin isn't even half full but there was still more I could do.

First things first, I went from disposable nappies to MCN's (Modern Cloth Nappies). First we started out with about 40 Mandy Mac fitteds with Snappi's and 9 BBH (Baby Beehind) PUL covers. I loved them so much I moved onto AIO's (All in ones) and pockets that don't require a cover and come in amazing different fabrics and designs. After that came my obbession with making my own AI2's (All in two's) as I found that they dried alot quicker. We have now built up a stash of about 70 nappies (and the addiction continues!). Zach and Anna are in full-time MCN's at home and out 'n' about, Mitchell even wears one to bed with a Bamboo booster! I haven't purchased any disposables for months!.

The next thing I did was decide to use cloth wipes. Having twins and a 3 year old we would go through an enormous amount of wipes that aren't cheap! I was given a stack at chrissy time so I finished those off and went using fleece wipes. I purchased 24 fleece nappy liners from Oztion , cut them in half to make 48 and there you have it, all for only $4!! We just use water or a little bit of JnJ cream and it works great.

Other ideas for money saving that I have taken on board are:

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  Shopping at Aldi instead of Safeway or Coles
  
  


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  Buying in bulk - I now purchase most of my meat in bulk at great savings
  
  


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  Walking more places - living in a smallish town has its advantages
  
  


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  Ashlee catches the busy home from school - cost less then driving
  
  


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  I make most of Ashlee's lunch stuff i.e Muesli bars
  
  


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  Homemade snacks and yogurt
  
  


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  We converted our 4x4 to gas a little while ago - we have a late model Prado and it was really consuming the petrol. Brett has a late model LC Ute that is diesel - not so cheap :(
  
  

To name a few.....

I make my own cleaning products (its amazing what vinegar can do!) and have begun sewing a lot of the kids clothes. Ashlee thinks this is great as she gets what she wants in the fabric she choses.

So that is my contribution to the environment and also our hip pocket!

Some excellent sites to help you out if you would like to make some changes are:

Saving Mums - A1 Top Site!

Simple Savings

Green Living Australia

Thrifty Fun

Till next time, take care everyone!