Green living doesn’t need to cost the earth

Q: What do you get when you cross a Budgeting Buff with a Green Geek?

A: An approach to living a simple and sustainable life that will save you money too!

This post is the first of a series of collaborations between That Budget Stuff and Bright Green. Seeing a strong synergy between living a sustainable lifestyle and living on a budget, we decided to team up to share a message that’s important to both of us.

So who are we?

The Budgeting Buff – Alicia set up That Budget Stuff because she is passionate about helping people to live within their means and be clever with their finances.

The Green Geek - Elly founded Bright Green to make a difference by supporting people reduce their waste, and live more simply and sustainably. Elly works with businesses, individuals and families to make small green changes for a big impact!

We recently met when we completed the online Lady Startups course, and quickly realised we had a lot in common, so decided to put our heads together and collaborate!

Living on a budget and living a green lifestyle go hand in hand!

While the connection between living sustainably and living on a budget may not seem obvious at first, Alicia and Elly have discovered many synergies between their values and businesses. Many actions that have a positive impact on the environment, can also have a positive impact on your finances.

There are some common perceptions that living a green lifestyle costs more, so it is only available to a privileged few. But we believe that a sustainable lifestyle can be available to everyone. 

Our joint vision is to ensure that everyone can live a green lifestyle, no matter what your budget!

In the coming weeks we will share some practical tips with you about living a green lifestyle on a budget. This post being the first, we wanted to share the link between the two to help you live a more conscious and purposeful life!

What do we mean by living on a budget?

Budgeting, choosing how to spend your money or managing your money – there are lots of terms for the same thing. In short, it is all about deciding on an approach to your spending. Some of us might feel that it has a negative connotation and implies that you need to remove all enjoyment from your life! However Alicia feels the exact opposite! Here she outlines the many benefits to budgeting. It can be really empowering to be aware of how and where you are spending your money. As the saying goes, “You can only spend your money once!” so spend it wisely.

Alicia consciously prioritises how she spends her money:

• Prioritising experiences and holidays over everyday spending. They prioritise saving for holidays rather than spending money on takeaway meals (instead opting for “fakeaways”!)

• Saving up for good quality products. She recently bought a Solidtekniks frying pan rather than a cheaper one that may need to be replaced in less than six months

• Buying second-hand rather than new. She regularly picks up great deals at her local op shop, finding quality goods often at half or a third of the price of new! 

Sidenote: What are the benefits of budgeting?

1️⃣ Have money put aside in case of an unexpected emergency - you never know when you might have a big dentist bill or a medical emergency

2️⃣ Helps you prioritise what is important to you & your family - if private schooling is important to your family, you can plan in advance to have money available for this

Read more here.

What do we mean by living sustainably?

Living sustainably or living a “green” lifestyle means consciously reducing your impact on the planet. This involves understanding the impacts of your daily choices. It means considering the resources you use, the waste you create, and overall your carbon footprint.

This also includes making changes to the products you use in your home, moving away from disposable and towards reusable, and even reducing the amount you purchase, especially new.

Elly opts for reusable items in her home as much as possible, such as cloth nappies, to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfill and in the environment. Elly also opts for natural fibres wherever possible and natural cleaning products, which are both friendly to the environment and your hip pocket!

She also opts second-hand goods for her own clothes and her two young kids. The impact of purchasing new clothes (especially fast fashion) is a huge drain on resources such as water and energy. Of course kids will outgrow their clothes and shoes before they wear out, so second-hand kids’ clothes in near-new condition can be a common find! By purchasing good quality brands second-hand, you know they will wear well, and can perhaps even be passed on to someone else too.

Sidenote: Easy natural cleaning products!

Look, it’s not the coolest topic ever but making the green swap to natural cleaning products can have a really big impact - on the planet, your health and your hip pocket!
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These recipes are all super simple, most with 2 or 3 ingredients. They take less than a minute to make, and they really do work!

Read more here.

Since connecting on Instagram, Alicia and Elly have realised that there is a deep overlap between our two passions. This quote by Vivienne Westwood is one that we both subscribe to, and live by every day -
“Buy less, choose well and make it last.”

The common ground is living consciously.

It seems to us that the key commonality between living on a budget and living sustainably is conscious living.

This means consciously choosing to:

• Use what you have rather than buying something – “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”

• Opt for buying second-hand, rather than new products

• Opt for reusable products, rather than disposable (such as cloth nappies and zero-waste periods)

• Purchase natural cleaning products in bulk, rather than store-bought cleaning products (see above)

• Reduce food wastage by using what you have. (More on that here)

All of these things have a wonderful impact on both the planet and your hip pocket! We’ll cover each of these in more detail over the coming weeks.

What are the benefits of conscious living?

Leo Babauta says that “deciding to live consciously could be the single most important thing you do.”

He also says that it is deceptively simple: Be conscious, and think about, everything you do. Make conscious choices rather than going through life on autopilot and doing things you have always done just because you’ve always done them!

Whether it is living sustainably or managing a budget, bringing a conscious approach to your decisions is a refreshing way to live your life. It simply means taking the plane off autopilot for a moment, and considering why you are making a particular choice.

You may choose to buy something brand new, but not just because it’s what you always do – do it because you have looked into all the options and you are making the best choice for you.

You may choose to break the budget one evening to go out for a lovely dinner. Not every day, but enjoy it on a special occasion. (PS - doing this less frequently really does make it all the more special!)

Whether you’re living on a budget, or aiming to live a greener life (or both!), it’s not about being perfect. You won’t always do it perfectly, none of us will. Give yourself a break from time to time, and choose consciously when, how and why you will do it.

David Attenborough articulated it beautifully: “The best motto is… not to waste things. Don’t waste electricity, don’t waste paper, don’t waste food. Live the way you want to live, but just don’t waste.” It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Do you agree on these synergies between spending wisely and treading lightly on the planet? Let us know in the comments below!

There are some common perceptions that living a green lifestyle costs more, so it is only available to a privileged few. But we believe that a sustainable lifestyle can be available to everyone!