My 3 Favorite Summer Money-Saving Tips

If you're like me, you don't just want to be green, but you want to save some green too. How is going into debt and spending money you don't need to justified as being "sustainable?" Exactly: it ain't.

Here's three of our favorite ways to stay in the green during the summer at our house:

Shop at the Farmer's Market
We will literally go through hell or high water to get to the local farmer's market every Saturday during the late summer and fall. Around here, commercial farmers are mainly shooting for the corn ethanol and feedstock markets (thanks to government subsidies), but part-timers and backyard gardeners fill the market with their home grown stuff for sale and trade.

Use a Clothesline
No, not the wrestling move, but a real, bonafied clothes line for hanging laundry on. I have to re-install ours and am awaiting new line from the hardware store to do so. Hint: situate the line where you'll actually use it, where it won't tangle clothing in nearby objects, and where rambunctious puppies can't get to it... Our old line went to the last on that list.

Go Yard Sale and Thrift Store Shopping
For my wife and I, yard sales and the thrift stores around here are like going to the mall. Only there aren't any annoying teenagers with pants that are falling off. We like to walk the dogs around town on the weekends, note the yard sales setting up or going on and then come back with the pickup truck. Trust me, you always end up glad you brought the truck...

All of these save money and make life more enjoyable. There's nothing like fresh produce and meats (yep, our farmer's market often has butchered meats), fresh clothing off the line, or great bargains and fun trinkets found at yard sales.

Thanks to yard sales and the farmer's market, I have a decent supply of re-usable lumber, windows, etc. Thanks to the clothes line, I have fresh clothes that aren't itchy from dryer sheets or wrinkly because they weren't quite done when they came out of the dryer.

What are your favorite ways to save some green while being that way?