Saturday, April 16, 2011
Saving Shopping Online
Do you shop online much? I do. I find that I save more money when I do, because I tend to not impulse buy so much. The only down side is shipping costs. However, if you go through Ebates you can offset some of the cost with their cashback rebate program. So, whenever I go shopping online I start at www.ebates.com. I look up the store on the main screen on the left. If it is there (and it is most of the time), it directs me to their site and automatically creates a tracking ticket so that when I check out at that store, Ebates knows how much I spent. The Ebate site will tell you how much of a rebate they are currently offering before you click over. They deposit the current rebate offer into my account, and I get a Big Fat Check cut from all of my purchases quarterly (actually, I just have it all deposited in my PayPal account, as it is easier that way). If you click on my link, you will get a bonus for signing up through me after you are qualified.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Saving the Earth
If you know me very well, you probably know that I don't believe in man-made global warming. So, you might wonder why I would be posting about saving the earth. Well, global warming isn't the only good reason to recycle and conserve energy. I find the dependence on foreign energy disturbing, so I try to do my part to conserve. I also like clean air, so it is in my best interest to buy recycled goods and recycle what I can. I also like promotions and contests, which is why I am posting this particular post.
Are you participating with RecycleBank through your garbage service? I am. They weigh my recycling each month and give me points in my account, which I can then trade for valuable coupons, like $6 off at Cub Foods (which I can get every month) and a $10 iTunes gift card, which I have to save up for a while for, but is still worth it to me! There are a lot of others, including coupons for individual grocery items, as well.
Currently, RecycleBank is having a contest. The highest points-winners get some awesome prizes. The grand prize winner will get a complete kitchen makeover, and a lot of other cool stuff. I could use this. There are hundreds of other prizes, as well, like Barnes & Noble's Nook. Very cool. Plus, all the points earned while doing the Earth Day-type activities are also awarded to your RecycleBank account, which you can also use just as I described up above. If you want to join in, just click this link and sign up: http://www.recyclebank.com/referafriend/?___store=us&bl=c3RlZnByYXR0QGdtYWlsLmNvbQ==&utm_campaign=Refer-a-friend&utm_medium=direct%20link&utm_source=J6302532&cm_mmc=Refer-a-friend-_-direct%20link-_-J6302532-_-referral
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saving Time and Gas with Merging and Roundabouts
A friend's blog reminded me of how frustrated I get with a couple of traffic issues. I hope he isn't upset that I ripped off his topic. First, merging from an ending left lane. Second, the proper way to use roundabouts.
Merging from an ending lane can be really unpleasant. That is mostly because the people in the right lane can get really huffy, as if you are cutting in front of them at the grocery store or something. Some even pull in front of you so you can't get in front of them. The thing that they don't understand is that the wait wouldn't be as long for anyone if they would just move over into the left lane and/or allow everyone to merge like a zipper when they reach the merge zone. This is not just my opinion, but the laws of physics and MNDOT agree. When the right lane is full and the left lane is not, people entering the freeway cannot merge into the right lane easily. This slows the right lane down. If half of the traffic would move into the left lane, traffic would not slow down as much. Then, if at the merge point people took turns politely, there would still be no slowing down.
Roundabouts have been popping up all over the metro area. I have to say that I love them. They save on gas and keep us from having to stop when there is no on coming traffic. We have at least three in my town now, and they have allowed traffic to flow much more smoothly. Unfortunately, they could be even more efficient if everyone knew the law about signaling. When we first got our roundabouts in my town, I read up on them. An article by MNDOT said to signal your turn. I thought that meant to signal as I enter the roundabout whether I am turning right or left. I have frequently been frustrated by my signal turning itself off before I even get into the roundabout due to the way some of ours are laid out. However, now that the law has been officially entered into the books, I have found out that I was mistaken. We are supposed to signal right when we intend to exit the roundabout. If everyone would do this, traffic could flow more freely, as we wouldn't have to assume they are staying in the roundabout any longer than they are.
Let's save even more gas and time by putting into practice these two little changes that can make such a difference!
Merging from an ending lane can be really unpleasant. That is mostly because the people in the right lane can get really huffy, as if you are cutting in front of them at the grocery store or something. Some even pull in front of you so you can't get in front of them. The thing that they don't understand is that the wait wouldn't be as long for anyone if they would just move over into the left lane and/or allow everyone to merge like a zipper when they reach the merge zone. This is not just my opinion, but the laws of physics and MNDOT agree. When the right lane is full and the left lane is not, people entering the freeway cannot merge into the right lane easily. This slows the right lane down. If half of the traffic would move into the left lane, traffic would not slow down as much. Then, if at the merge point people took turns politely, there would still be no slowing down.
Roundabouts have been popping up all over the metro area. I have to say that I love them. They save on gas and keep us from having to stop when there is no on coming traffic. We have at least three in my town now, and they have allowed traffic to flow much more smoothly. Unfortunately, they could be even more efficient if everyone knew the law about signaling. When we first got our roundabouts in my town, I read up on them. An article by MNDOT said to signal your turn. I thought that meant to signal as I enter the roundabout whether I am turning right or left. I have frequently been frustrated by my signal turning itself off before I even get into the roundabout due to the way some of ours are laid out. However, now that the law has been officially entered into the books, I have found out that I was mistaken. We are supposed to signal right when we intend to exit the roundabout. If everyone would do this, traffic could flow more freely, as we wouldn't have to assume they are staying in the roundabout any longer than they are.
Let's save even more gas and time by putting into practice these two little changes that can make such a difference!
Friday, January 21, 2011
How to Save on Garbage Service
Rate increases last month forced my garbage bill up by $8/month after taxes and fees. I really don't appreciate having my set monthly expenses go up, so I decided to lessen the impact. I had been noticing that my garbage can was rarely more than 2/3 full each week. Since I had the largest can size (90 gal.), I downgraded it to the 60 gallon can and decided to do a little better job with composting and recycling, saving $5/month plus tax. No, I didn't come all the way up to that $8/month figure, but it was close. If we find we can go down to the 45 gallon can after we get the hang of this, that would be awesome. If you can't imagine reducing your garbage can size, compare your household size to mine. We have two adults and seven children, ranging from 3-15 years old. If nine of us can go down to a 60 gallon can, certainly a more typically-sized family should be able to do this.
Regular glass, plastic and paper/cardboard recycling has been going pretty well in our household the past year, but I found another way to recycle this month. Mackenthun's and many other grocery stores in the Twin Cities metro area recycle plastic bags & food packaging for free. I found a website that gives details about which plastic items can be recycled just by dropping them off at the store. It also has locations of some of the stores here in MN that take the recycling. Just go to http://www.itsinthebagmn.org for more information. Yesterday, after about three weeks of saving up store bags, cereal bags, zipper bags (with the zippers removed) and wrap from things like bulk toilet paper and water bottles, we had a large garbage bag full and took it to the recycling station while running errands. It was pretty painless.
We have been composting kitchen scraps for a few years, but it has primarily been during the non-winter months. This year, we are composting year-around. Fortunately, I have children I can send out to the compost bin with food scraps so I don't have to tromp through the snow. Composting food scraps, rather than throwing them away, saves space in the garbage can and keeps the garbage can from stinking so much. I have a Tupperware container with a lid that we use, which keeps the smell of our potato peels, apple cores, banana peels and other compost-friendly items from leaking out. Many counties sell compost bins to their residents for a very reasonable rate. Carver County charges $35 for theirs. You can find their address and hours of operation here: http://www.co.carver.mn.us/departments/LWS/env-svc/envirocenter.asp
That last link also has a list of all of the other items Carver County takes, many of which are free, such as fluorescent bulbs, batteries and household hazardous waste. They take paper products that you could recycle in your bin if only they weren't tainted by food, such as the cardboard round inside a frozen pizza box, or a cardboard pizza delivery box, napkins, paper towels, paper plates and even those waxy dairy boxes that you can't recycle. And here's the clincher: they will also take ALL food scraps - even meat and bones. I haven't gotten motivated enough to take that stuff all the way to Chaska yet. Maybe if they were open in the evenings I would, because I go out there regularly for play practices with my kids. At the moment, it is not worth the gas to do it. I wonder how much more room in our garbage can could be saved if we did? Maybe I'll have to experiment and see.
Let me know if you have found any ways to reduce your garbage. I'd be grateful for any tips!
***UPDATE***
Carver County expanded its recycling service to include more items this year. We can now recycle all plastics #1-7. This has already proven to overfill my two huge recycling bins if I don't do a good job of squishing everything down. I haven't noticed my garbage can getting any less full, but I have been doing a lot of de-junking with my spring cleaning so far, so I doubt I would see much of a change yet. Maybe in a few months?
Regular glass, plastic and paper/cardboard recycling has been going pretty well in our household the past year, but I found another way to recycle this month. Mackenthun's and many other grocery stores in the Twin Cities metro area recycle plastic bags & food packaging for free. I found a website that gives details about which plastic items can be recycled just by dropping them off at the store. It also has locations of some of the stores here in MN that take the recycling. Just go to http://www.itsinthebagmn.org for more information. Yesterday, after about three weeks of saving up store bags, cereal bags, zipper bags (with the zippers removed) and wrap from things like bulk toilet paper and water bottles, we had a large garbage bag full and took it to the recycling station while running errands. It was pretty painless.
We have been composting kitchen scraps for a few years, but it has primarily been during the non-winter months. This year, we are composting year-around. Fortunately, I have children I can send out to the compost bin with food scraps so I don't have to tromp through the snow. Composting food scraps, rather than throwing them away, saves space in the garbage can and keeps the garbage can from stinking so much. I have a Tupperware container with a lid that we use, which keeps the smell of our potato peels, apple cores, banana peels and other compost-friendly items from leaking out. Many counties sell compost bins to their residents for a very reasonable rate. Carver County charges $35 for theirs. You can find their address and hours of operation here: http://www.co.carver.mn.us/departments/LWS/env-svc/envirocenter.asp
That last link also has a list of all of the other items Carver County takes, many of which are free, such as fluorescent bulbs, batteries and household hazardous waste. They take paper products that you could recycle in your bin if only they weren't tainted by food, such as the cardboard round inside a frozen pizza box, or a cardboard pizza delivery box, napkins, paper towels, paper plates and even those waxy dairy boxes that you can't recycle. And here's the clincher: they will also take ALL food scraps - even meat and bones. I haven't gotten motivated enough to take that stuff all the way to Chaska yet. Maybe if they were open in the evenings I would, because I go out there regularly for play practices with my kids. At the moment, it is not worth the gas to do it. I wonder how much more room in our garbage can could be saved if we did? Maybe I'll have to experiment and see.
Let me know if you have found any ways to reduce your garbage. I'd be grateful for any tips!
***UPDATE***
Carver County expanded its recycling service to include more items this year. We can now recycle all plastics #1-7. This has already proven to overfill my two huge recycling bins if I don't do a good job of squishing everything down. I haven't noticed my garbage can getting any less full, but I have been doing a lot of de-junking with my spring cleaning so far, so I doubt I would see much of a change yet. Maybe in a few months?
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