A few weeks ago I wrote a post on strange ways to save money. I mentioned that one of the most frequent pieces of advice given to those wanting to save money is to write down all of your spending. While this is good advice another way to save money is to examine your trash! Read the post HERE to read what I was talking about.
Now if you’ve examined your trash and have taken the steps to save money what will you now find in your garbage? What do you want to see in your trash? Very little, actually. If you want to reduce your spending and stop wasting money, your goal should be to generate very little trash. When you replace expensive disposable items with reusable products, you not only will save money, but you will generate very little trash! When you stop eating processed food, you stop filling up the garbage with boxes and you start saving money. Chances are you’ll discover a direct correlation between the amount of garbage you generate and the amount of money you spend or save. This is what you might find in your garbage.

Peels, stems, seeds and other remainders from natural food.

Natural food is often cheaper than boxed, canned or bagged. Of course if you also take up composting these items can go directly into your compost pile.

Things that are so broken or beyond repair that they are truly trash. The only things that should go in your trash are the things that no longer have any other life in them. Anything else should be sold, recycled or traded for money.
Larger Containers. It’s better for your wallet if you purchase a large box of crackers rather than a lot of small boxes. You can take the large box and break it down into individual servings. Another way to save money and the boxes can actually be recycled so they don’t have to take up room in your trash.

Reusable items that have been used to death. When the rags you used for cleaning or your cloth napkins are so frayed you can’t use them anymore, that’s when they go in the trash. Only toss items when they break or are so used up that they leak or are starting to break down.

Most of us will never get rid of all of our disposable items, fast food wrappers, convenience foods or cleaning products. The goal isn’t to eliminate all of the ease from your life but to become aware of what you are buying and wasting. If you can cut down on the amount of trash you generate even a little, you’ll see a corresponding jump in your net worth.
Linked To: PennyPinchingParty , WakeUpWednesday, ThinkTankThursday, FromTheFarmHop, LHITS DIY, FlashbackFriday, MotivationMonday, MerryMonday