Help the Earth, help your marriage, help your pocketbook!

These are three entirely different things put into one post. Why? Because I can. Let's get down to it.

Everyone has big talk about helping the Earth. It seems so overwhelming. The whole, "What could I possibly do to help?" often puts people off. Let's start small. Plastic bags. View this slideshow (you may have to manually scroll through the slides) to learn a bit about plastic bags and their destruction. Ta-da! One thing you can do to help the envoirnment is to cut (better yet, eliminate) your plastic bag usage! Most stores are pushing their own reusable bags, usually with their logo on them.

You can get them for about a dollar, or less. You can always opt for fancier, logo free bags that are more expensive, but why? I have no qualms with taking my Wal-Mart reusable bags into other stores. I do have some plain canvas bags too (gifts). Anyway, there is your little way to help the Earth! BONUS: these bags hold more per bag than plastic bags and I have yet to have one bust, even with the wait of two gallons of milk in one.

"My heart is ever at your service" William Shakespear

Marriages, or relationships for that matter, take work to make them successful. We're not talking back breaking labor, but some amount of effort is required. So, today, do one little thing for you sweetie. Stick a note to their windshield, make them a favorite dinner, text them a lovey-gooey text, whatever. Last night, while the hubs was in the shower, I pulled out his worn out insoles from his workboots and replaced them with nice new ones. It was a small thing, but it showed that I care and that I was thinking about him. He noticed! With a kiss he said, "Thanks for thinking about me."

Saving money is becoming increasingly difficult. Try feeding your family healthy things and it becomes even harder. You notice how cheap all the junk food and prepared foods are? Still wondering why we have a childhood obesity and diabetes problem in this country?

Here is a small thing to look into: food buying clubs. Find information on buying clubs and possibly one in your area here. Basically, several families come together to buy things in bulk (if you have large enough orders you can buy at wholesale prices) and then split up the bill resulting in savings.

Another option are food co-ops. This is very similar to buying clubs. A lot of these are springing up in recent years. Local farm co-opts are something I wish we had available around here. Lucky are you folks in areas that have these. You can recieve the freshest foods straight from the farmers themselves. This cuts out the middle man (grocery stores) and thusly, cuts costs. The upfront cost is higher because you may be buying more (I read somewhere about a co-op where they bought entire cows directly from a farmer!), or it may not (just buying a month or week's worth of fresh items.