Here at the Penny Pinching Family, we're working on taking stress out of our lives, and we're starting with the constant stress that comes from overspending. If you're new here, I encourage you to check in on our progress from the beginning of September to date, starting here!
Overspending isn't about taking everything "fun" out of our lives. Sure, we're not taking any trips for a while, we've stopped eating out, and shopping is just out of the question, but we can still have fun and do the things we want to do!
I have wanted to start a compost pile for quite some time. We have big plans for a vegetable garden next year, and I loved the idea of our food waste being put to good use and not going to a landfill. I did some research and found tons of great tutorials for compost containers, but all of them involved spending money (we currently don't have any empty tubs, which was the easiest tutorial I found), and that extra money just isn't in the budget this month. I finally came across this tutorial on Friday, and got very excited because I happened to have three pallets (two from the new roof we put on at the beginning of the summer, and the other from some construction work my parents did at their house). I talked my husband into doing it and . . . BEHOLD! Our new compost bin:
It's nothing fancy (or attractive), but it gets the job done! We screwed the pallets together together where we could, which was three screws in each side.
We used a piece of plywood that's removable on the fourth side to make it easy for us to get into it but more difficult for the dog to get into. We filled it up about a foot with soil, leaves, and some plants that I forgot to water died of natural causes.
We used a watering can to get it damp, and started filling it up! It's relatively close to our house, but far enough that I don't want to walk outside every time I cut the tops off a strawberry or peel some potatoes. We devoted a small bucket under our sink that will hold the "compostable" items (spell check says "compostable" isn't a word. I beg to differ).
It will be Piglet 1's chore every night to empty the contents of the container (so far he's excited, we'll see how he feels tomorrow), and we'll stir up the goodies every other day or so with a pitchfork or a shovel. I have a list on the refrigerator door that shows compostable items, including but not limited to: potato peels, fruit rinds, coffee grounds and filters, moldy bread (tore up), tea bags, pumpkin guts, egg shells, etc.
We are very excited to see a reduction in the amount of waste we take to the curb every Monday for trash pick up. It was also rewarding to accomplish something we've always wanted to do for free. Before, we would have went to the lumbar yard and probably spent a whole lot of money we didn't have. I'm all about free! Who isn't?!
This is my first post in the 31 Days to Financial Freedom challenge. Check back here every day to see the newest post. You can expect craft projects, money saving tips, recipes, and much more during the 31 days of October.
