Finally Frugal's Weekend Roundup

I can't believe it's the weekend already! This short week just flew by! Meanwhile, there were loads of great posts at blogs I either read regularly, or just discovered recently.

With summer fast approaching, Being Frugal writes about ways we can decrease our water usage. I know my bill increases in the summer, what with yard watering and filling the pool, so I read this with interest.

For those of you who are digging out of debt, Cash Money Life has a wonderful series on how to improve your credit score. Amazingly, I have a pretty good credit score already, but there's always room for improvement!

Frugal Dad writes a great review of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, one of the books that changed my attitude about debt repayment and financial security. Follow these steps and you'll be out of debt faster than you'd imagine!

According to Can I Get Rich On A Salary, there are only two ways to save more money: spend less and save more. Along with this 'duh' statement, the blog includes a list of ways to achieve your earning/savings goals.

David, at David Makes Cents, gives us his opinion of why the gas tax should be raised, not lowered. I must say, I agree with this rather unpopular opinion. What do you think?

Since I'm currently questioning the value of paying a mortgage, I was particularly interested in a buy versus rent post at Greener Pastures. I'm going to spend a little more time researching this over the weekend.

So that's it for this week! Have a lovely weekend, everyone and I'll be blogging again on Monday!

Frugal support, part deux. . . .

Wednesday, I met with a small group of people in the Portland area who are also pursuing increasingly frugal habits, attempting to spend less, save more, and basically reduce our own contributions to a society filled with overconsumption and waste.

While the group was small, it was interesting and included the following (names and genders have been changed to protect the frugal):

John: recently moved to Portland, and while the transition has been a smooth one, he wants to learn how to live on less and save more. He shared some of his strategies, which include using coupons, lighting his home with candles in the winter to reduce energy usage (this sounds so cozy), and taking public transportation when he can.

Ann: has been living by the tenets of Your Money or Your Life for the past two years. As a result of insight gained from the book, she decided to sell her house and now rents an apartment. She is also a fan of the Tightwad Gazette, which is a wonderful (though giant) book of hundreds (possibly thousands) of frugal tips. This is someone I think I can learn from.

Jeff: Jeff is an entrepreneur, and was primarily interested in issues related to consumerism, greed, and more 'global' problems. The rest of the group, including myself, were more interested in discussing what we, as individuals, can do to live more frugally. Still, an interesting person.

Mike: Mike is married with a child, and, like John, also recently relocated to the Portland area. He is also a member of a "green parenting" group, which sounds interesting. Although he's been in the city for a short time, he's already made contact with other vegans and those interested in forming a food co-op.

This was our first meeting, and I sincerely hope we can manage to get together again. I'm definitely going to suggest meeting with one or more of the people who were there to discuss voluntary simplicity and frugal issues in more depth.

Frugal veggies. . . .

Apropos of my new interest in Urban Homesteading, I found an article today that discusses the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This is a system in which community members work on a local farm for a specified amount of time (for example, two hours a week) in exchange for free produce.

This sounds like a great option for people who live in apartments---I have a small yard, big enough to grow tomatoes, zucchini, and lettuce (my beans are just about ready to put in the ground). I know people who don't have the luxury of a yard, though, and since I'm considering a move to a condo or apartment (I'll discuss this on the blog later when I've thought this through a bit), I felt sad at the 'loss' of space for vegetable growing.

I was curious about opportunities for this in my area, and just did a basic google search on CSA and Portland. It turns out there's a book called Sharing the Harvest, which is described by our local Powell's Bookstore as a must-read for people who are considering either growing their own backyard harvest, or joining a CSA. The authors came to Powell's and spoke on March 10 (darn, I missed it!).

Another valuable bit of information is a link to the Dancing Roots Farm, which offers memberships to individuals who want fresh produce grown locally. According to the website, the cost is $435 for 26 weeks of fresh vegetables (from late May through Thanksgiving). No work on the farm is required. Other benefits? Farm fresh eggs, food preserving workshops (I need this), free range meat orders, and u-pick blackberries. As evidence that the CSA movement is taking off, all the memberships for 2008 are sold out!

I encourage you to do a basic search in your own area. Do you have access to this type of membership through a local farm? What is the cost? Would it be worth it to you and your family to have locally grown, fresh produce available? Can you see yourself working 2 or 3 hours a week on a farm in exchange for produce?