Here’s a little secret; being environmentally conscious and fiscally responsible can bring with it some really good times. Newly acquired, I picked-up a really nice deal on this retro style Yamaha Vino this past weekend. Between scooting around on this 50cc to work and hoping on my trusty Marin bicycle, I’m having a ball. With Texas being such a mild climate one can ride virtually year-round aside from the far too few rainy days.
I also love the idea of parking my Camry with 190k on it and extending the life of that old ’95 model even further. It’s still humming like it was just driven off the dealer’s lot.
I enjoy the adventure that comes from trying new things. Looking for alternatives to our resource-guzzling, over-sized and over-extended culture requires some creative thinking and flexibility. Alternative transport is just one great way to save resources as well as positively affect the environment. Some other ideas I am happy to employ:
- Be content with TV from an antenna instead of cable. With a high-def unit and a good antenna I can pick-up both the regular pbs channel and the new Create pbs channel (what more do you need).
- Stay content living in a small house. It keeps our family close (both figuratively and literally) and we save big, big bucks with small mortgage, low utility costs and we don’t have room to just accumulate more stuff we don’t really need.
- Live close to work which makes scooting and biking very convenient. I used to work 25 miles from where I live in which I would bike and bus to work. Busing is a whole other adventure.
- Shopping at Goodwill and garage sales. It’s amazing what folks will discard that is in perfectly good condition.
I’m sure there are many other things I could do that would be good stewardship for what I’ve been given. What ways have you employed?
Start to think of everything you own as stuff. If you are a person of the Bible reading flavour additionally start to think of your stuff as “treasure on earth” and so in the great map of eternity of no worth what-so-ever.
Even so I am not the brand of shoes I have on. I am not my car and I am not my job.
Home made clothes are not in style right now but why not. A bit of practice plus a handful of pocket change for some patterns and those old curtains, oversized shirts, sheets etc. become all sorts of things. This is easier of you can get hold of a reasonable sewing machine.
Okay so you’ll never ware them to a grand opening ball but when you are cooking, shopping, gardening, relaxing – what difference does it make?
We’re going to be looking at such topics over at CC. Can I talk you into guest writing for Credit Crunchies Phil?
Good stuff Matt. I wholeheartedly agree with you. Stuff is just overrated. The crazy thing is how enamored we are with getting the next latest and greatest thing until we bring it home, use it a few times and then attach our hearts onto the next latest and greatest thing we must own. Certainly the valuable things we “possess” are not things at all.
If there were anyone I’d guest write for Matt, it would be you. Problem I have currently w/ my workload is that I feel more like a guest writer to my own blog. I’m just slammed at the moment. However, you’re response to this blog and the thought’s this generates are certainly inspiring for future posts. Perhaps I could write a good post or two that could that would fit to be re-posted or referenced on your site.
Hey Phil! Happy New Year to you and yours! Great advice here. I agree w/ you on the smaller home. Ours isn’t huge, but I notice that we rarely use our living room, so could do w/less space. As far as the scooter goes, pretty cool. My husband lives only 10-15 minutes from here, so that doesn’t use too much gas, thankfully. I’ve seen lots of people around here with Smart cars and these sort of large golf cart type things for running errands, etc. My car doesn’t have quite the miles that yours does, but when we get another some day, it won’t be new, and will be very “green.”
Kelly, Hope you have a great New Year as well. Going green often pays dividends financially as well for sure. I recently made the move from the scooter to a 500cc motorcycle. It gets lower gas mileage, but still more than twice my car. And given that my car is looking to finally be giving-up the ghost, we are excited about living with just one car and the bike.
I’ve been longing for a little scooter so I can save money and gas and better serve the environment.
If I get to a point where I trade in my truck, I understand I can get a $4500 credit, which could get me a good deal on a Smart Car.