The Curly Light Bulb

I was reading Mina’s blog entry last week and have been thinking of my own don’t need list.  I am trying to conserve money and resources and I love the idea of determining what you need versus what you want.  Though I do think that I do deserve some splurges, I think I can get too relaxed and go overboard sometimes.  So… here goes.

1.  I don’t need a $5 cup of coffee from Starbucks every weekday.  That adds up to $100/month!  Okay so it is actually a $3.62 venti iced coffee with an extra shot, skim milk and a splenda… AND I tip $1 b/c I believe in karma.  I now make my own hot coffee in the French press when I wake up and do an extra pot of coffee and throw it in the fridge for my own diy iced coffees in the middle of the day.  So far, so good.  I compost the coffee grounds and with the coffee press this leaves no waste whatsoever.

2.  I don’t need more than one lunch out per week.  I have been eating lunch out a little too often and it is adding up.  I spend an average of $13/lunch about twice a week.  I am not cutting out my weekly Ladies Who Lunch.  By cutting down to one a week I will save $52/month.  Nice.  I’ve also been trying to save really good leftovers so I can have good lunches.

3.  We do not need a home phone line.  I just bought us a Skype number and subscription which adds up to $60/year.  We were spending around $90/month on our phone line with long distance.  So trading it in for Skype will save us $85/month.

So with just those three things I will save about $237/month.  Not bad for just a few adjusted habits and bills.  Not to mention less waste from the Starbucks cups!  Other things I am considering for my next round of “I don’t needs”: 20oz diet sodas in the checkout line; take-out on Wednesday nights; parts of our premium cable subscription; and our 3-movie subscription on Netflix.

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GrowingWisdom.com posted this YouTube how-to video with simple directions for composting.

If you cannot find a composter like the one in the video or want to be a little bit more low-key about it, you can simply use a regular heavy-duty plastic garbage can from your local hardware store. Get a 44 gallon whopper and cut the bottom off with your jigsaw. Then drill a few holes around the walls to get some air going. Press the can into the ground a few inches and top it with the lid. You may want to locate it a little ways away from your back door and in the shade; there may be flies and smells associated with all that yummy decomposition. To compost, follow the directions suggested by the GrowingWisdom.com guy. You can also add some already made compost to the mix instead of the activator to get it going and some worms if you can get them. If the smell starts to get ripe, add a layer of dry leaves or torn newspaper every once in a while. Remember to turn every few days with a stick or hoe. Only put in yard waste and fruit and vegetable waste. No meats or other animal proteins. Though eggshells are okay. Coffee grounds are good too. When your compost is “done” after a few months or when the stuff on the bottom starts looking like finer dirt, lift up the can and enjoy your fresh garden soil. But before you get too excited be sure and relocate your can, putting any solids which were not decomposed back in to get things going again. Sprinkle your new compost soil on your beds and in your vegetable patches, they will love you for it.

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