Green Your Finances
Turning green and saving money seems to go hand in hand. In fact, you really cannot do one with the other. It doesn’t take an enlighten conscious or a thick manual to start living in a greener shade right now, either. Here are five quick ways:
Go paperless. One of the best ways to immediately green your finances is to stop the paper flow by signing up for online bill pay. With just a few clicks, you can receive statements in your email inbox as well as streamline your payments.
Shop locally. Not only will you reduce harmful emissions by walking or biking to your nearby store or farmer’s market, but you are also making an important case about the quality of product you are interested in, be it hormone-free milk or work by local artists. If you don’t care for CAFOS or Central Animal Feeding Operations, stop spending money on stores that offer this mass-produced type of meat.
Do banking with the greenies. For more information on how to green all your accounts, try this Dummies.com link. The Daily Green features green banks they “don’t hate” like e3bank here.
Be socially responsible about your investments. SRI or Socially Responsible Investing is about owning mutual funds that not only perform but also care about the environment and other ethical issues. Call up your financial advisor or investment firm and talk about switching over today.
Hybrid your car or car loan. Depending on when you bought a hybrid or other green car, which model you purchased, and how many deductions you are already taking, you might be entitled to a significant tax credit, according to HybridCars.com. Also, look for bank loan breaks for buying a green vehicle.
Many consumers are under the impression green means more expensive food, additional bank fees or otherwise extra costs. As this Frugally Green entry wisely states, it is important to remember that frugality is all about seeing the long-term savings of a purchase.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:40 pm
If you think “green” before you make a purchase it will give you more insite
into the whole culture. You will realize what is involved in the background of that product. Like a bottle of water, where does the water come from, where
does the plastic come from, how far is it trucked to get to your store, where
does the plastic go after you drink the water, etc, etc, etc.
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:57 am
Great advice. While I think some get carried away with the ‘green’ movement, we all need to do our part to conserve and be consciously resourceful. What better way to do your part, and keep a little extra jingle in your jeans!?
January 24th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Everyone needs to start being more conscious about what they are buying and eating!
January 25th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
If you can save money and have less impact on the planet at the same time it seems like a no-brainer. We always seem to be told that these two competing priorities are at odds.
January 26th, 2010 at 12:36 am
Lots of good stuff here. Would love to minimize the amount of wastefull paper I deal with; it is far from efficient and gets in the way. Good place to start.