Every year I try to downsize and re-organize a bit so that we have less clutter to deal with. I have dreams of coming home to a perfectly calm, serene space where not only is everything neat and clean…but I actually remember where I put everything.

I’m still working on it.

The following is a list of a few things that have really helped make the task easier, that also happen to be earth-friendly and pretty cheap!

Receipts

Wrangle Receipts and Business Cards – I have only one solution to this problem. Shoeboxed.com They send you a few large envelopes in the mail, you stuff the envelopes with all of your receipts and then drop them back in the mail (postage is free). They scan, organize and post the receipts online for you in a password protected account, then destroy/recycle the originals. I can easily see what receipts I can use for deductions as well as what we’re actually spending our money on. They also have a nifty and free iPhone app that lets you take pictures of business cards and automatically imports them into your address book! The service we use is $9.95 a month, and since we’re independent contractors is a tax write off. (Money well spent, trust me).

There are a few ways in which you can collect your food scraps in your kitchen so that you won’t be constantly running outside to dump them in your compost bin. There are a bunch of countertop containers on the market and I even have some available for you along with compost liners in the Savvy Shop.

But here, I’m gonna show you how to make your own! (It’s really easy).

DIY Countertop Compost Caddy

What you’ll need:

• An empty container that’s at least a 3lb capacity (I recycled an old oxygen cleaner container for this, because it has a nifty handle.)
• Power drill with small drill bit to make hole in top (No drill? You can use a hammer and drywall nail instead)
• Charcoal filter (You can find these here and at pet stores )
• Hot glue gun or Crazy Glue
• Velcro (you’re only going to use the side with the “teeth”)

Directions:

I saw this over on Pinterest, (my new favorite hangout), and I couldn’t resist!

It’s originally from Martha Stewart

This laundry bag has 3 components:

• 12” embroidery hoop (she used a 14” one, but I felt it was too big.)
• Standard pillow case (you can use larger if you wish)
• OR regular sized laundry bag with drawstring
• Twine, string or ribbon to hang the whole thing up with

I made the pillowcase version, cuz, well, we’ve got a bunch of orphaned pillowcases laying around…

Believe it or not, you can compost indoors very effectively, and no it will not smell up your house or apartment. Here are two types of indoor composters to chose from:

Automatic Indoor Composter – This little baby works like magic. It can take all kinds of food, including meat, fish and dairy that other composters can’t take. It’s compact, can fit under a sink or in a cabinet and consumes and aerates large amounts of food rather quickly. You can have a full harvest of ready-to-use compost in as little as 2 weeks with this thing. It eliminates having to collect your

I was all excited the other day when I picked up basil, parsley, rosemary, sage and a few other herbs from the farmer’s market. But not so happy a week later, when a week later, in my kitchen, they all seemed very wilty and unhappy.So I decided to brave the neighborhood cats in favor of more light and plant them in the backyard on the deck alongside my other veggies. One problem though.

No planter.

Lately, I’ve been making sure to “shop my house” before I run out for something new.

Since I just got very first composter about a week and a half ago, I thought I’d share some of my research and chronicle my composting journey here on the blog. I’m going to start with some of the basic wuestion that I asked when I was looking to join the composting corps. So here goes:

What is composting?

The most basic definition is decayed organic material used as plant fertilizer

What is the Purpose of Compost?

The organic matter in compost helps plants root systems grow stronger and produce a bigger yield. (Bigger flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs or whatever you’re growing). It does this because decayed organic matter has all of the same essential nutrients as what you’re trying to grow out of it.

I, for one, am really excited about Memorial Day weekend this year. For once, me and Sexy will both be in town at the same time, and we won’t be traveling. We also have redone the backyard a bit, and I’m determined to grill and go back there more than just when company’s coming. One of the things I’ve learned about summer BBQs and parties, the more you make yourself, the more money you’ll save. Here’s some of the things I look forward to doing/making this summer.

• Green/Frugal BBQ – check out this post I did last year about how to save money and stay green for your BBQ.

 

• Homemade Lemonade and Iced Tea – What’s summer without lemonade and iced tea? Ever since I figured out how to make them on my own, I’ve stopped buying the store bought stuff, especially those godawful cans of iced tea mix. It’s too simple and too cheap to do myself!

Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Easy Iced Tea Recipe

• DIY Chips and Dip – What’s a BBQ without

Since spring has hit, I’ve been bitten by the DIY bug. My goal this year is organization and simplification. That’s how this jewelry organizer came about. I was perusing the “Jewelry Organizer” boards on pinterest and found a few people who had created some for themselves. This one seemed really simple, so I patterned mine in a similiar way. Here’s what I did…

DIY Wall Jewelry Organizer

What you’ll need

• Cork bulletin board with wooden frame (mine’s about 15.5” x 23.5”)
• About a yard of medium weight fabric* (or at least enough to cover the board with)
• Heavy duty stapler or staple gun
• Push pins
• Picture hanging kit (including eye screws)
• pencil

Directions

1. Place the fabric over the front of the board on a flat surface, and adjust the pattern, (if there is one), to your liking.

My father-in-law brought back soya chunks* from his home of Jamaica a couple of years ago, and I remember staring at the package trying to figure out how to cook the things. I’ve come along way since then and recently after I bought a bag of Imitation Chicken Chunks, I found this recipe on VegWeb and adapted it a bit. It came out so well, that I thought I would post it in honor of Meatless Monday. This takes a while to prepare, but the results are definitely worth it. And the best part? All of the ingredients cost me less than $15!

Vegetarian Caribbean Chicken Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chicken flavored soy protein chunks
• 2 carrots
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 medium-large onion
• 4 cloves garlic,chopped
• 1/2 medium red pepper
• 1/2 medium green pepper
• 2 medium tomatoes

I adapted this recipe from Crunchy Betty and I love it! It cleans everything in my bathroom and in other parts of he house as well, and is so cheap to make.

DIY Bathroom Scrub Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. baking soda
• 1/4 c. washing soda
• 1/4 c. liquid castile soap
• 1 capful of hydrogen peroxide
• 2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 25 drops lemon balm*
• 10 drops peppermint essential oil*
• 1/4 c. Water

Directions:

Pour all dry ingredients into a wide-mouth glass jar. (I find that a salsa jar usually works best for this). Next add