For smaller foot print.

I read this blog call reduce your footprint, and last week she asked me for a suggestion for today's entry, and she used my no spending diet. I am going to take this opportunity to update everyone on how that is going for me.

The last few months it has been hard. I needed to get my car fixed, get new tires, and...well lets say my grocery getter is running again.

However I have been sticking to my diet. I have a lot of quilts that I need to get done, but material is expensive. So I pulled out my crate of material and started sorting the material. I had enough material in there to make 5 full size quilt tops. I was also able to make a lot of pet quilts and a few quilts for the seniors. I still have more material left, and then another blogger friend picked up a bag of material for me! This is a God sent. I am able to keep on quilting and I am not spending a lot of money doing it. I do still have to buy the batting.

I have been limited my shopping trips. Now I go to the grocery store once a week, and if we run out of something to bad. With my husband being gone this week, I am taking the opportunity to save money and meat. The children and I don't care for meat, so tonight I am making cheese pizza's and using biscuits as my crust. Whatever vegi's we have on hand will be thrown on top. Nothing fancy, but I am not buying anything either.

My girlfriend had left some stuff here, and she was going to make a special trip to come get it, but I told her to wait. Rusty was going up to her base, so I had him load up his truck with the rest of her stuff. She saved time and gas. Rusty also asked me to send a camel back up because she was going to go buy one. Well we have several just sitting around here, so I will send one up with Chris when he goes to babysit for her. She will not be spending any money and since Chris is going up there we are not making a special trip.

Amber and Ryan are leaving tomorrow and they will be heading to Chicago. My mom told me to pack an extra suit case so she could send me some more material. I am taking advantage of this and send up Christmas gift's for 4 people. Why should I pay to ship something? They are going to have Christmas in July.

Tomorrow I am taking Ryan and Amber to the train station. They will take the train and then the bus over to airport. For the train and the bus I will be out $12, but I could not drive to the airport for $12. I may be spending money, but at least I am not spending as much money.

I have a litter of kittens in right now. For them, I am using all my old blankets. I do have a stash of them out in the garage that I use for all the kittens. I just wash them and reuse them everyday. There is no need to buy blankets and towels for them, when I have old, but usable stuff here. I am also reusing all the old bottles. No money leaving my pocket, and to me that is cool.

I have been trying to do more with the children this summer, but all of that coast money, so I am getting creative. Everyone in my house has their own water bottle, so I make sure that they all have their water bottles with them at all times. We can always refill them with water at any time. I have noticed that most places do have water coolers and that is what we use to refill the bottles. I also try very hard to pack snacks or whatever it is that they might need. I am also combining trips. If we are going to the beach, then I do all my running on the way to and from the beach, so that I am not making extra trips.

Nikki had mentioned that she needed some travel size toothpaste and lotion since she is getting ready to leave on her trip. I found a lady on freecycle giving away samples of toothpaste and lotion! To top it all off she was on the way to another errand I had to run. No money spent on getting Nikki ready for her trip.

With our water prices on the rise, I have turned off some of our sprinklers and I have told the marines that they can't do laundry here any more. This should help lower our water bill, so we will see.

I am still making my own laundry soap and hanging everything up to dry. So there is no extra money going out for me to do laundry.

All in all, my no spending diet is going good. It has forced me to get creative, and do with out, without doing with out. Not only am I saving money, resources, and time, but I am learning just how much I can live without and still have money in the bank. I think I am going to take that extra money and try to go to Oregon this fall. Hubby will be going up there on business, so I am thinking about joining him.

If anyone has a question on how I reduce and reuse please let me know. I will be happy to answer any questions and you help find a solution to your problems.

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/