With that thinking in mind, along with a good frugal friend and some good books, I find other ways to be cheap and unknowingly throw myself into a world of frugality and being ‘green’. I learned how to make my own laundry detergents and cleaning products. I learned how to reduce what we consumed by buying in bulk to reduce the packaging and reuse things that would normally go into the trash or recycling bin like the metal tops on frozen juice. These make great flash cards or matching games when a magazine picture is taped to them! I learned to reach for things in the kitchen, such as coconut oil, for remedies such as diaper rash. Thanks to the wonderful cloth diapering community, I was able to transform our family from simply frugal to frugal and green!

We now have 2 adults and 3 kids (including 1 in diapers) living in our house, and are one of the biggest families on our block. Here’s the kicker…we have the smallest number of trash cans out on garbage pick-up day! How is that? Smaller than the senior woman who lives alone? Smaller than families of four who are at school and work ALL DAY? And much smaller than any family with a disposable diapered baby!