Living a frugal lifestyle doesn't just mean "watching your money." If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you should know that I believe heavily in being frugal with our Earth's resources. Now, I don't have a wind powered house nor can I afford to drive an electric car, but we are all capable of doing SOMEthing. (you KNOW you should be using those cloth grocery bags - get to it!)
Have good intentions but don't know where to start? Begin with the "Three R's": Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. You may think that buying individually packaged snacks is very convenient and really doesn't cause much trash. But, if you live in a city of 10,000 families and each family bought a snack box with 10 items in it - that trash equals 10,000 boxes and 100,000 packages! And, how many people are actually recycling that trash? Therefore, "reducing" is a great first step in being more earth friendly.
And speaking of reducing, my Tackle It Tuesday deals with this topic.
Do you hate junk mail as much as I do? Ugh. What a waste, right? Okay, okay...I realize that it supports our Postal Service and jobs and all that jazz (which I'm all in favor of since I have friends who work there), but doesn't it seem like such a waste? I have worked hard to start receiving e-bills, e-statements and making payments online. Not only does this save on paper, but there is no mail-mess-clutter laying around, no checks to write and wait for to clear and less stressful overall!
But, what about the mail you can't control. Remember two years ago when Aunt Mabel sent you that fruit tower for Christmas and now you are receiving their catalogs every time a new fruit comes into season? Or what about that special themed party for little Johnny's 1st birthday? You only needed to order the pinata but he's now ten and you are still getting their flyers.
Catalog Choice may be able to help you. It is a FREE online service that can help reduce your mailbox clutter and lessen a little stress in your life. All it takes is a simple sign-up. From there, if a you receive a catalog that you no longer want, just enter the info and Catalog Choice contacts the company and unsubscribes for you. It works! I've already used this service for my home subscriptions but now I'm doing the same thing at my job. If you work in any sort of office, you know how much junk mail you get - at least 2 to 3 catalogs every, single day. They are just never used and I am constantly throwing them in the recycle bin.
A few notes to remember:
- If you are seaching for a catalog that is not in their database, be sure to make a request. Most of the popular ones are there; I have run into a few more "niche" specific ones that had to be mentioned.
- Once the subscription stops, and you order from that company again, they will start sending the catalogs again - so be sure to keep up on it.
- This is a free service to you but run by donations. You can donate if you wish, but isn't required.
- When wanting to unsubscribe, be sure to enter the information just as it is on the catalog mailing label.
More Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Mom.
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