Red Cross in Haiti (2008)

Want to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti?  Relief organizations need your help, but want donors to know that some kinds of help are definitely better than others.

InterAction, a coalition of U.S.-based international non-governmental organizations (including the Center for International Disaster Information)gives these tips:

• Cash donations are widely recognized as the most efficient and effective means of relief in the established international disaster response community.

• While they may be well-intentioned, clothing, canned goods, and other in-kind donations are *not* the  preferred choice for humanitarian contributions to Haiti.  Consider reserving these kinds of donations for needs in your local community.

• Donate wisely!  Make sure your money goes to a credible responding agency for international emergencies.  InterAction is regularly updating this list of  member agencies who are responding to the earthquake.  For more information about how to choose a legitimate charity, visit www.give.org.

But lots of them were on sale, PLUS I had a coupon!!

This is a portrait of our cat, Archie.  Isn’t he cute? 

And as you can see, his insides seem to be in perfect operational condition, which you wouldn’t know by all the vomiting he has been doing all over the house the last few days, just to annoy us apparently.

It’s not often that you get to see cat poop actually being FORMED (upper right), is it?  Well, now you have seen it for your own eyes, live right here on Almostgotit.com.

The real reason I am blogging about this $300 picture?  Because maybe now I can convince the IRS that it was a business expense. 

Good news!  The utility company has given us a couple months off its billing cycle.  The poor thing still can’t decide how to bill the Almostgotits, as our low meter readings always make it suspicious (we heat with wood).   

The only thing is, we got our woodstove a couple years too early to qualify for Obama’s 30% tax credit for energy efficiency.    Ah well, we ALMOST got it!!

Saving money and saving the planet make wonderful bedfellows, so here’s six ways you can do both, just for today:

1. Hang your laundry out to dry.  If you don’t have a clothes line, buy one or just tie a rope between a couple of trees.  Clothes dryers are one of the biggest consumers of a home’s total energy use.  And yes, you can even hang your clothes up indoors!
2. Skip Starbucks for a day and find an Earth Day event to do instead  (or)
3. Do a fun Earth Day project with your kids at home.
4. Plant a vegetable garden!  Tomatoes and beans are the easiest of all, grow practically anywhere, and your own, home-grown vegetable plants are so gorgeous and satisfying.  Plus also, you’ll have great tasting food for much less than what you’d pay at the store!
5. Stock your freezer.  You’ll save money and energy by reducing your trips to the grocery store.  You’ll also reduce the temptation to eat out (more car trips, more money spent) because you’ll have things to eat at home.  And finally, freezers use less energy when they’re full, too. 
6. Plug your TV into a power bar.  Many appliances draw electricity even when they are turned off, so using a power bar can make a real difference in energy savings.

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Related posts:

5 Ways to work greener & cheaper 

11 Ways to be cheap in honor of Earth Day

Laundry and spring break and blogging: oh my!

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Good News:  
Almostgotit bought a new washing machine!!

Bad News: 
Only Almostgotit would buy a new washing machine that is currently the object of a class-action suit.

Good News:
Almostgotit’s new washing machine was not available for delivery or even in stock at the warehouse, so she can go back to the store tomorrow and cancel the whole thing and…

More Good News:
… buy a much cheaper one that Consumer Reports recommends. 

Which Almostgotit should have done in the first place.

Image  Paul Denton Cocker

Creative Commons Image: Wally G

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

- John Donne

Many of us are now learning, the hard way, that we need to save more and spend less.

Many businesses are closing because we no longer bring them enough patronage.

This is the enormous dilemma at the heart of the current recession: the more careful consumers become, the deeper the recession grows.

If I stop buying books or groceries from my favorite shops, my favorite shops may go out of business, which diminishes me too. If I stop going to restaurants, they may not be able to offer entry-level jobs to my children.

If I stop supporting my local charities, they may not be there when someone I love – or even I myself – may need them, too.

No man is an island. When working out your own recession budget, don’t forget those businesses, services, and even charities that you hold most dear.

Many thanks to Emily Anderson for the suggestion.