Thanks to Prairie Eco-Thrifter for organizing this blog swap and putting together this round-up:

Welcome to the 10th Yakezie Blog Swap. This time around my fellow bloggers and I shared our Best Go Green Method To Save Money. As always, I was amazed at what people came up with and shared. Please check out the different tips below on how you too can save money and be green:

Nickel by Nickel tells us how they read green using ebooks over at Beating Broke.

Everything Finance shares with us his success in growing his own veggies at Retire by 40.

Narrow Bridge Finance tells us how going green has saved him some green at Mom’s plans.

The 60K Project shares 8 ways she has made her kitchen green at Stock Market Basics.

One Cent at a Time shares 23 ways reusing household items can save you money at Sustainable Life Blog.

Prairie Eco-Thrifter shares numerous recipes for making your own cleaning products at Financial Success for Young Adults.

Debt Eye tells us how to eliminate the paper trail at Little House in the Valley.

Sustainable Personal Finance tells us why air sealing your home is a good idea at Financially Consumed.

Stock Market Basics shares 5 ways to go green and save natural resources at Free Money Wisdom.

Financially Consumed tells how you can go green at home incrementally at Sustainable Personal Finance.

Little House in the Valley (me) shares how going car-lite can save money at Debt Eye.

Financial Success for Young Adults shares how you can go green on a budget at Prairie Eco-Thrifter.

Sustainable Life Blog tells us to watch out for a leaky window at One Cent at a Time.

Free Money Wisdom shares why we should avoid country funds at 60K Project.

Mom’s Plans tells how we can eat green at Narrow Bridge Finance.

Retire by 40 shares how living in smaller home is green at Everything Finance.

Beating Broke tells how cycling makes you green at Nickel by Nickel.

I hope you have enjoyed the different posts and have learned some new things you can try in your effort to live a greener life.

This week’s Give Away’s: Debt Free by Thirty’s Blog Anniversary!

Now for a big welcome to our new Yakezie Challenger Members over the last week:

• One Income Dollar
• Aaron Hung
• Baking the Budget
• Master the Art of Saving
• Before Your Invest

To learn more about the Yakezie, click here.

As the dust begins to settle from the fall out that was the spending review, experts are busy digesting the figures to see what it means for the people of Britain. For many the future is bleak, however one group of people are celebrating a victory.

In George Osbourne’s spending review he announced that there will be a £400m electric car package. This means that every person who buys a brand new ‘Green Car’ will receive a nice £5000 electric car grant.

Combine this news with the fact commuters now face an increase in both train and bus fairs, many will choose to now drive to work instead. This could mean both a rise in both the production of green cars and number of green cars on the road.

A Green Car for Free

If you are thinking of ‘Going Green’ then it doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, with all the incentives now available for green car drivers, it could pay for itself. Unfortunately, due to the technology involved in these cars, your insurance company may increase your annual premium. However using comparison sites such as Confused.com or MoneySupermarket.com will help you find a cheaper deal. Here is a list of the Top Ten cheapest Eco-Friendly Cars available today.

Electric cars and vans are exempt from road tax, saving you at least £100 a year. Fuel costs are also very low. It can cost as low as 2.0-2.5p per mile therefore for an annual mileage of around 10,000 miles per year, switching from a conventional to an electric car or van could save you around £800 in fuel costs alone.

For drivers in and around London, the other major running cost to consider is the Congestion Charge. Again electric cars are exempt from this and with it currently costing motorists £8 a day, this could provide a potential annual saving of up to £2000.

Combine all these savings with the £5000 grant and you can now see how, choosing to ‘go green’ can end up paying for itself.

Be cool, Be Green

Many of the world’s top celebrities are leading the cause for a greener lifestyle. Whether you are a man admiring Edward Norton’s work in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ or a woman ‘pining’ over Orlando Bloom in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, all our favourite celebrities are making ‘Going Green’, the ‘cool’ thing to do.

Leonardo Di Caprio – Fresh from the highly successful film ‘Inception’ Mr Di Caprio has long been the most outspoken celebrity about environmental issues. He even encouraged other celebrities to arrive at the 2007 Oscars in hybrid vehicles.

Sheryl Crow – is currently on a Stop Global Warming Campus tour. Included in the 90-minute show is a performance by Ms. Crow herself. The tour ends on Earth Day in Washington, D.C. where Crow and crew plan to lobby the U.S. Congress.

Cameron Diaz – recently spoke about the responsibility of being a celebrity and making sure to set a good example for other citizens. Doing her part, the actress drives a hybrid car and attends many events for the environmental cause.

Edward Norton – comes from a family of environmentalists. His father even founded China’s “first large-scale conservation movement.” Now, Norton has his own non-profit company called BP Solar Neighbours which helps other celebrities become involved with environmental causes by buying solar power systems for their homes.

Orlando Bloom – he recently spoke to Elle magazine about his views on the environment, telling them he wasn’t too educated on the topic but he realizes the little things he can do. For example, the actor is building a house in London using solar technology.

Tuesday Tips, Just Another Great Post from Little House. I'm so humble.

This week’s Tuesday Tip, air dry your wash. I’ve been trying to sun dry my lightly used towels to reduce the amount of laundry I do, and I’ve also been much better about air drying my laundry to save energy and money.

Tip #21: Use the warm summer sun to air dry your laundry!

• Instead of using electricity to dry a load of laundry, let nature take care of it. My husband installed an inexpensive shower rod directly above the washer and dryer. Since most of his shirts are made of the quick-drying golf shirt material, I can hang them up in the laundry room to air dry. Not only does this save money by not turning on the dryer, I’m also extending the life of the shirt; electric dryers can be harsh on some materials.
• Reduce the laundry load. I’m trying to get better at air drying our bath towels instead of throwing them in the wash as soon as they get damp. The middle of summer is a perfect reason to place the towels in the sun and let them dry out naturally, instead of wasting water and electricity cleaning them after each use.

Air drying laundry is better for the environment.

• Not having to turn on a dryer in the middle of summer is also better for the environment. Saving electricity not only saves me money, it keeps the house cooler, and is better for the environment. Much of my laundry gets hung in the laundry room, so it’s not an eye-sore for the neighborhood either. My clothes last longer, reducing the need for additional resources, and I limit my electricity use.  I’m reducing on many levels!

Small house plans, little house plans, anything to do with residential architecture seems to resonate with me. Perhaps that’s why I named my blog “Little House in the Valley.” However, recently our little rental house in the valley has been the bane of my existence. How’s that? I run into door ways while turning a corner, I trip over  the vacuum that someone’s left in the hallway, I have to leap over hall fans that are placed in our narrow hallways to generate some air flow; all of a sudden our little rental house seems just too little.

But I’m not going to let a poorly designed, 1950′s ranch style house deter me from my dream of a little-not-so-mcmansion kind of house. There are a plethora of options out there, especially if you’re a DIY type of person. I’ve found plenty of prefab designs to drool over, yet one has recently struck a chord with my little house dream: Blu Homes. Not only do their prefab homes start at a reasonable price, they are environmentally friendly, and have open floor plans. Their four initial designs range in size from 408 sq. ft. to over 1,500 sq. ft. (still somewhat small compared to modern-day homes.) The basic floor plan that all four designs include is an open design incorporating the living/dining/kitchen area. No need for walls separating out each room making it compartmentalized, Blu Homes opens up the “living” area for a more natural flow of traffic. A few reasons why an open floor plan appeals to me:

• Increased air flow. This is important considering I own pets and my husband is a smoker. The dust, smoke, and pet smell is easily trapped in smaller rooms, but diluted in larger areas (not so sure this is any safer, but it’s less smelly!)
• Furniture options are innumerable. Instead of worrying about wall placement, or too much wall space, furniture can be moved to the center of the living space giving each area it’s own function, while at the same time, keeping foot-traffic flowing.
• No more running into doorways or tripping through narrow halls. The days of the long, narrow hall are disappearing in modern home plans. Yet, they still do exist. That wasted space isn’t needed in a living area, there’s no need to separate the living room from the dining room or kitchen. An open floor plan makes better use of available space without clouding it up with hallways.

Blu Homes Element two-bedroom floor plan

Blu Homes smaller plan, the  two-bedroom Element, is one of my favorite plans. The only thing I’d add would be a kitchen bar or island for seating 2-4 people, an option available in two of their larger plans. The open floor plan in the living area allows endless possibilities for furniture arrangement and foot-traffic. No more running into doorways!

Does your home have an open floor plan? Are there drawbacks to an open floor plan?

Tuesday Tips, Just Another Great Post from Little House. I'm so humble.

This week’s Tuesday Tip, use Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda as your all purpose cleanser. At pennies a scoop, Borax and washing soda can be combined to create all kinds of washing detergents.

Tip #18: Make your own cleansers for less! 

Making your own cleansers saves money.

• Borax and washing soda can create all kinds of cleansers for half the price of store-bought. My husband has gotten on a “make it yourself” kick lately. He read an article and found a recipe for making laundry detergent for about 11-cents a gallon. Inspired by how much money it saved, he combined Borax, Washing Soda, soap flakes and water, then brought them to a boil and voila! laundry detergent. The same recipe, minus the soap flakes created dish washer detergent, all for just pennies a gallon. Borax and washing soda can also be combined with white vinegar for a surface cleanser. Borax can also be used by itself to clean porcelain tiles.

Creating your own cleanser is environmentally friendly.

• Borax and Washing Soda doesn’t have the chemicals that store-bought cleansers contain making this a much safer household product for your family. Also, since the Borax and Washing Soda come in fairly large boxes, there is little packaging wasted. Mixing these products together in reusable squirt-bottles or reusing old detergent bottles makes reducing and repurposing materials all that more friendly.

Have you tried making your own cleansers? Did you like the way the cleanser worked? Do you find it too time-consuming?