03/29/12

With warmer weather comes first-time gardeners. Gardening can be an expensive investment for people who have more of a brown thumb than a green one. If you'd like to give gardening a try in your yard but are working on a limited budget, consider picking up flowers, herbs and other outdoor plants during the weeks between spring and summer. Spring plants will be seriously marked down (up to 90 percent off) to make room for heartier summer/fall plants, but the spring blooms will still be healthy and flourishing. So even if your garden wilts under your care, you'll learn from your mistakes without losing a lot of money. And remember: Many home and garden stores will take back plastic planters for free recycling.

03/28/12

Do you know the cheapest time to stock up on organic fruits and vegetables at the supermarket? Wednesday night. Supermarket circulars come out on Tuesdays, advertising sales that start Wednesday. At night, supermarket managers take inventory of perishables and mark down items that are overstocked. Combine the weekly sale with the markdowns, and you have a chance to score organic bargains every Wednesday night.

03/27/12

If buying large electronics or beauty products at the store frustrates you because they come in layers of excess packaging, do what the bloggers behind thezerowastehome.com do: Leave the packaging behind at the store. Many stores recycle plastic and paper, so they'll add your packaging to their recycling system. And if the store refuses, the message will be heard loud and clear that customers are refusing packaging material.