More tips from the Live Green Movement.
Keep your car tuned up.
Keeping your air filter clean saves 800 pounds of carbon dioxide, and P1,500 a year. Make sure your tires are adequately inflated, and save 250 pounds of carbon dioxide, and up to P40,000 in fuel costs each year.
Avoid idling: turn off your car engine in heavy traffic.
If your car will idle for more than 45 seconds, it’s more fuel-efficient to turn off the engine and restart the car when you’re ready to go.
Avoid disposables.
Don’t get the plastic cutlery that goes with takeout food, get a proper razor, invest in a pen that uses ink refills, or use a sponge instead of kitchen paper towels. If you can’t swear off disposable baby diapers, limit its use for travel or nighttime until baby is toilet trained.
Avoid ordering takeout.
Instant processed foods always involve less packaging, disposable plastic cutlery, paper tissues, plastic tumblers and Styrofoam clamshell packs. Bring packed lunches, or step out of the office and eat out! Keep your own mug at the office, as well as a reusable small plate (for the birthday-cake slice), cutlery or chopsticks.
Set your clothing quota.
Nobody needs six pairs of black dress shoes, or two dozen pairs of socks, or three handbags in exact the same shade of blue or brown that matches your wardrobe staples. (Ouch!)
For Mommies: the best money-saving tip I know. Decide to breastfeed your baby! The money you save from buying formula milk and spending on infant illnesses can be used for downpayment on a house! Bonding with baby, emotional security, more intelligence — is priceless.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Qwerty: good points there. another problem is the effects from smoking are impossible to contain. Smokers should buy their own exclusive right to air, IMO. And if you can’t afford that, then don’t smoke, right? **tries to do a Matrix-like stunt to avoid the bullets from my officemates who like their vit. c break everyday**
July 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
hi steve:
I’m not sure about how safe tap water is in Metro Manila. If its totally safe for drinking, definitely bottled water is a luxury we can all do without. I spent quite a lot of money, for example, for my table top water purifier, so what I do is I bring water whenever the family goes out.
July 26th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
@salve: i actually encountered such a finance article 2 or 3 years ago, (”How costly smoking is”.) the link got lost together with other contents of the site where i posted it when an overhaul took place however.
to sum it up though, add the following:
- cost of cigarettes in a year, (lighters included)
- if you’re smoking in your car, add a certain amount of depreciation, (or additional cost to keep its interior in mint condition,) to your set of wheels
- if you’re smoking at home, another set of figures much like the previous point
- medical/dental costs related to smoking
- other family members’ medical costs because of second-hand smoking
and many other things. if you get unluckier though, you’d need to add more serious medical costs due to complications, (respiratory ailments or even lung cancer)
July 26th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Hi salve….how about avoiding the use of bottled water…..
July 26th, 2007 at 8:55 am
ei scud, you definitely could! I was toying with the idea of computing how much people can save from quitting smoking and what that amount of money could be in five years, just like what i did with gourmet coffee. Article here: http://www.inquirerbloggers.net/moneysmarts/2007/03/09/what-latte-can-do-to-your-finances/
Wouldn’t that be fun, hehe. Ilag nga lang ako sa mga magagalit!
July 25th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Can I add “Quit Smoking”?