Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My naughty and nice list

This Friday is the last day for my girls to turn in their list to Santa.  "Santa" needs the list to give the elves because it takes a long time to make each gift.  Or Friday is the day we do our Christmas shopping. You can believe which ever option you want. For my girls its do or die time and they have been working very hard at thinking of what they want or need. 

We have been talking to my 7 year old twins about how Santa expects them to be good all year and not just for this month.  As I'm telling them this I started to think about if I had been good.  After a few minutes I started to realize that maybe I should practice my own medicine.  Or mommy would be getting a big fat lump of coal this year.

So today I decided to write myself a good and bad list of things I have done this year.  This way I could see everything and determine whether I would be getting any coal under the tree or not. 

NAUGHTY  LIST

-Stopped making & using my own liquid laundry soap. I really missed the smell of store bought soap so I have been using the Eco friendly kind. I am using half the amount to save money.
I can fix this by using up my store bought and start making my own again.  This will save me a bunch of money.  Just suck it up Nancy sheesh.

-Driving my kids to school when I should be walking & driving more in general.
Since I carpool with neighbors this isn't all that bad.  BUT I now will walk anytime its not raining. I live only 3 blocks away so there's no excuse.  I have been driving my bug more because its mine and I can only drive it by myself when the kids are in school.  But it uses less gas than my euro van and makes me happy.  Wanted a bug since I was little and I finally have one.

-I stopped making my own bread.
Well I get my bread free from the bread store so I'm saving money this way. BUT all the bread items come in plastic. I went from zero plastic waste with making my own to several plastic bags a week.  Ugh.  I will start making my own bread again but still get the free bread when I need it.  I would be making bread non stop otherwise.  4 kids lunches a day is a lot of bread.

-I have been eating out more.
Okay I admit I'm hooked on Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha. DAMN THEM!!!! I bought a few of them this last month and I should of known better.  Damn liquid happiness! I will stop buying them and cry in the dark by myself.  I sometimes meet my husband for lunch but its never fast food and only once in a while.  This is the first year were able to do this so I won't stop this naughty thing.  Sorry but I love my time with my hubby.

-I purchased beauty products instead of making my own.
I started to notice lines around my eyes and completely freaked out.  Up until now I have been able to make my own products and have good luck with them. Obviously I need more moisturizer and work.  While shopping at my favorite natural store I came across some beauty products for 75% off.  So I snagged myself some goat milk all natural eye cream, moisturizer, and face mask for around $10. That's a screaming deal. So I feel bad for spending that money but don't feel bad about spending it on myself. 

-Spent more money on new clothing
I bought myself a pair of jeans for $24, spent $35 on undies and bought myself a $20 dress.  Until this year I have not allowed myself to buy myself anything new unless it was under garments.  Due to my thin build its hard to find jeans so when I found them that cheap I snagged them.  Undies are always new but this time I bought some "wow factor" ones...I'll just leave it at that.  And the dress ....well it screamed "me" and it was over 50% off.  I buy my children everything so this year I decided to once in a while splurge on myself.  I'll try to only buy if its a really good deal.


NICE LIST

-I expanded my garden & was able to store my produce to use for the whole year. 
We build 2 very large garden beds using untreated wood.  Topped them off with copper to keep the slugs out naturally.  I also purchased and used my greenhouse for many things.  I rotated my crops and planted things all year long. I also expanded my garden to the front yard by adding a few beds up there using left over wood.  End results were plenty of produce which I canned, froze or dehydrated.  This way I can enjoy green beans all year long and make pumpkin baked goods anytime I want.  Also saved me a bundle of $$$$$

-Replaced all our windows in our house. 
Wow is all I can say.  After we replaced them we never had to put our A/C during the summer.  I am truly amazed what new windows can do to your home.  We did all the work ourselves which saved us a bundle of $$.  Total spent for 8 odd shaped window and a sliding glass door was $1,500.  Woot woot!

-Added insulation to our attic.
We just did this last month so I'm not sure exactly how this will help out.  We spent about $700 for materials and the machine was free because we bought over $200 in products.  My husband was up in the attic spreading and I was in the garage stuffing the machine.  Only took about 2 hours so it was pretty fast.  We saved a bundle because we did it ourselves. 

-I ran the Helvatia Half this year and improved my time. 
I have always enjoyed running but it wasn't until 2010 that I actually ran in a race.  I plan on running the Helvatia Half each year and plan to add a new one each year as well.  2012 my new run will be the Hippie Chick Half with my oldest daughter.  Each race I will try to improve my time and enjoy the whole experience.  From improving my health to enjoying my surroundings.

-I volunteer at my daughters school two times a week.
I also volunteer for events when they need me.  Just recently I helped with 3 of my daughters Fall parties.  My children LOVE when I'm at their school and get to see them.  I love helping the teachers out because they need it so much these days.  Instead of planning my volunteer days around my life I decided to plan my life around them.  Its a win win if you ask me.

-We are gathering hats, scarfs, gloves, jackets and blankets to hand out to the needy this winter.
My husband is the one who brought this up this year.  What a great thing to teach to our children.  We are blessed and healthy so why not try to help others? I have been gathering things from friends and family and been buying them when I find good deals.  So far we have a good stash but are in need for more.  So if any of my friends/family have more let me know. For those I don't know I encourage you to give to the needy.  Clothing or food it doesn't matter. Just give!

After making this list I believe that I will be getting no coal for Christmas.  I realize I'm not perfect and I make mistakes just like everyone else.  My mistakes are not the usual ones and may seem silly to some but they are things that I feel bad about.  I have this inner struggle with being as green as possible but I am human and have my cravings and wants.  I can change my mistakes very easily and will learn from them.  I also can better myself each year. 

What about you?

Do you have a inner struggle when it comes to being green?

Try to make a naughty/nice list and see if you learn from it.

No comments: