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Paper vs. Cloth – DFA Tip of the Week – 1/26/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…substituting paper products with reusable cloth products

“With over 90% of US households taking advantage of the convenience of paper towels we produce over 3,000 tons of waste each day.” *

“Giant paper producers including Kimberly-Clark — the maker of Scott, Cottonelle, Kleenex and Viva tissue paper products — are forcing the destruction of our continent’s most vibrant forests…” **

Let’s see what we can do to combat this wastefulness and become better stewards of God’s money.

Paper Towels

Here are a few alternatives to paper towels.  Once you stop using them, there’s little doubt you’ll feel liberated, more environmentally conscience, and less wasteful!

  • Use sponges – Sponges are a great way to handle those “messy spills” we normally use paper towel for.
  • Use microfiber clothes – These reusable clothes from Sam’s Club have gotten rave reviews and are a great substitute for paper towels.  I am going to purchase some tonight, and will post a review after I get a chance to use them.
  • Cotton kitchen towels – Instead of using paper towels to dry your hands, simply use washable & reusable cotton kitchen towels.
  • Use homemade rags – Have some old socks or t-shirts you are about to throw out?  STOP!  Instead cut them into pieces and use as rags in the kitchen in place of paper towels.

From here forward I will be employing the above methods to save on the cost of disposable paper towels.

Kleenex/Facial Tissue

To reduce/stop having to purchase facial tissue, simply carry around a reusable & washable handkerchief.  This may seem gross to you at first; that is only because you are in the habit of using disposable tissues.  Similar to paper towels, once you make this change you will most likely wonder how you ever wasted so much money on disposable tissues.

Toilet Paper???

Who knows, after reading this post from Amelia at TheMomCrowd maybe I’ll even start using clothe toilet paper!  I’ll keep you posted on that as well, although I’m not so sure you want updates on that info!  😉

*Source:  EzineArticles
**Source:  NRDC

Training Children How To Handle Finances

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In these economic times it is not only crucial that we reevaluate the way we handle our finances, but also the way we teach our children how to handle finances!

It should be stated first and foremost that children learn from watching their parents behavior, not from listening to what their parents preach.  I suppose then, the best way to train children on the proper use of finances is to use our own finances properly! You should also be aware of the fact that I do not currently have any children, though Lord willing my wife and I would like to have some soon; so please…take what I say with a grain of inexperienced salt!

My inspiration for writing today’s article came from a recent post by “Nickel” at FiveCentNickel.com on the topic of Paying Children for Good Grades.  Nickel pays his children an allowance which is mostly used to train them on budgeting and how to handle their finances, he does not give the allowance as a reward for completing household chores.  I agree with this philosophy entirely!  Children in a family should not be paid for their contribution to the daily upkeep of the home.  I do believe they can be rewarded for going above and beyond the normal call of duty, but they should not be rewarded for performing everyday tasks.

Allowance needs to be a tool used to train the child on the matter of money management.  Nickel also describes in this post how the allowance system works in his family.  I agree with Nickel’s strategy with one exception.  While he makes no mention of this, I believe children should have taxes taken out of their allowance in order to paint them a more accurate portrait of how money is handled in the real world.  Some may find this legalistic, but I’d rather they be as prepared for reality as possible.

Once I have children, here is how I plan to train them regarding the distribution of their allowance:

  • 10% tithe to the church (% based on the gross amount…taken first, before any taxes or anything else)
  • 15% to taxes – this I plan to put into their college savings fund that my wife & I manage.  It may not seem like a lot will be going into this, but every penny counts!
  • 25% to savings – to go into their savings account
  • 25% to bills – to go back to their parents in order to help pay for the household bills.  I hope to use this philosophy to teach them to conserve spending on household utilities, groceries, etc.  I plan to involve them in my bill paying/grocery shopping process and believe this will give them a “vested interest” in cutting costs.
  • 25% to spending – this portion will be able to be used for whatever they want.  If they want to spend it, they can spend it.  If they want to roll it into their savings, they can do that as well.  If they want to help out with bills, that will also be welcomed!

I plan on giving the children all their money up front, so they can see it and physically handle it.  Then divvy it up accordingly.  I don’t want to simply withhold a certain amount, because I want them to be as involved as possible.

What do you think?  For those of you that currently have children, what are some challenges I’ll face while trying to implement this system?  What system do you have in place?

Bone-in Chicken – DFA Tip of the Week – 1/19/2009

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There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves…boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I’m not sure when they started to get popular, but I think we’ll all agree that boneless skinless chicken breast have taken over the chicken breast market & are most likely here to stay!

Thinking back as a child, I don’t remember my parents cooking with them.  Instead they bought breast on the bone.  I don’t know if this was because they were budget conscious or because that was the only way chicken was sold back then…at any rate…growing up we always ate chicken on the bone.  I tried to look up “the history of boneless skinless chicken breast” on Google but found nothing.  If you want to look it up, good luck…the search results are filled with recipes, but no history.  Not even Wikipedia had any information on the history of the boneless skinless chicken breast.

**I’ll give someone a free blog ad on Debt Free Adventure for the entire month if they can give us a decent history of this modern convenience food.**

Now on to the Tip of the Week for January 19th, 2009:

Don’t buy both boneless skinless chicken breast and canned or boxed chicken broth from the grocery store!  Save around 75% of the money these would cost and cook healthier in the process.  Simply buy chicken breast on the bone, then boil it in water with a few of your favorite spices to make your own chicken broth!

I did so today and make a big pot of chicken stew.  Instead of spending $10 – $15 on the BSCB & store bought stock I did the following:

  • Boiled the breasts on the bone, sit aside to let them cool
  • pull the meat of the bone
  • chop veggies, saute veggies
  • add everything back into my homemade chicken broth & Voila…soup on the cheap!

Not only was this meal made a lot cheaper than normal, it was also more delicious! The homemade broth was EXCELLENT!

If you use this tip, let us know about it by leaving a comment…