It was about six months after I got out of a bad relationship, I was living in a terrible neighborhood. My last straw was when my apartment was surrounded by cop cars and a police officer came into my house thinking I was hiding a fugitive. One of the women I worked with showed me a very nice trailer park that she lived in and I was sold. Within a week I moved into my new trailer with only a $1000 deposit. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best idea but it was the catalyst that I needed to change my life.
From there I started to formulate my ideas about saving money and living a green lifestyle, but at this point they still were only ideas. Fast forward six years. I have started making those changes and starting to live my ideas.
1. I try and eat mostly organic products from local health food stores and locally owned stores. I want to eat healthy... weight has always been an issue for me. I cook the majority of my meals now and try and avoid Mejiers and Walmart like the plague. Keep it local people. Yes sometimes it costs more, but at local places you get to know the people and hey when have you ever had a corporate grocery store say "that piece of produce is almost unsellable you can have it for free" probably never. I have though at my health food store.
2. I don't need cable. This one I wrestled with for a long time. But I am happy to say I have been cable free for about four months and I save about $100 a month. Don't get me wrong I still have internet and netflix but I watch less tv and have much more savings.
3. No car payment. It is such a relief not having a car payment. I am saving like crazy I don't ever want to go through that again.
4. Paying my car insurance every six months. You get a small discount and its nice that there is less to pay off every month. I still have full coverage, but I will definitely be lowering it to pl and pd once I can.
5. Savings account. I have now maintained a saving account for five years. At some points there is only $5 in it, but it has been there.
6. No credit card, lines of credit etc. I have done this for two months and it feels great! Before that I only kept about a $200 balance for three years.
7. 401k. I have maintained this for about seven years now. It feels great to save for retirement.
8. Ira. I don't plan on staying with my current employer forever. So I want another retirement savings venue to be able to utilize.
9. Regulating the temperatures in my house. I try and keep my heat at around 65 degrees and airconditioning at 78 degrees.
10. Gardening. This was my first year gardening so it didn't yield a ton, but I learned a lot.
These are some of my next money saving ideas that I want to put into place:
1. Go car less or limited driving.
2. Get my house paid off
3. Learn to embrace lawn care myself- this one probably will happen after I leave my current job. Working 55+ hours a week, dancing, school, and having a life means that something has to give so I have been paying $20 a week to have this done.
4. Find a roommate. I need to find someone I could live with, that has similar ideals, and can deal with my idiosyncrasies.
5. Convince my trailer park to allow retractable clothes lines.
6. Make my own laundry detergent, dog treats, and dishwasher detergent that works well.
