Kindle Reader – The Green Way to Read?

green kindle

Who hasn’t heard about the Kindle Reader yet? It seems you cannot get away from talk that electronic books are the future, and indeed their sales are soaring so fast Amazon has already said that US ebook sales are doing better than sales of real paper books.  People love gadgets, and something that is even smaller, lighter and perhaps more convenient than a paperback is certainly a popular choice for fans of reading. I admit I have on occasion lusted after a Kindle myself.  The convenience of having several books (or thousands if you want) all stored in one little […]

Frugal Sustainable Gift Wrapping

Today we have something a little out of the ordinary at the kind of Self Sufficient Life; a guest post from Kate Willson about helping achieve a frugal gift giving season this year.  So over to Kate: Christmas is fast approaching, and as some of you may know, sometimes buying the wrapping paper can cost as much as the actual gifts. To save money this season and continue with your mission to live green, below are some great and cheap ways to package your gifts this Christmas. Old Gift Bags/Wrapping paper—The easiest way to save and be green is to simply reuse old […]

The Most Important Frugal Living Tip You’ll Ever Need

Or why window shopping is bad for you, oh and magazines, the internet and tv! The most simple and straightforward way to save money and live frugally is just to avoid shops.  Hardly a jaw-dropping surprise that one is it?  But it is true that window shopping whilst relaxing and an excuse for a coffee with friends, is also totally detrimental to a frugal life.  If you don’t see stuff you don’t think about all the things you are missing, or would like to have. I’m pretty lucky as I am not a big shopper.  In an ideal world my […]

You Can Be Too Frugal

The Dirty Boots Gang are pretty frugal.  Indeed, before life on a mountain some may have even implied Mr DB was a little um ‘tight’.  Not I of course, but you get my drift. In September I threw caution to the wind, and cash at the checkout girl and bought Special Salt.  Oh how I paid for my extravagance.  Still it is delightful!  And, I do not share! But, back to the point.  In our frugal living plan, we often avoid buying things.  Even when really we just should.  A question in point is our shower head.  For the last […]

What Does Being Self Sufficient Mean?

I was talking about this with Mrs. Dirty Boots last night. What exactly does being self sufficient mean? I guess it means different things to different people. I would love for you to leave a comment after this post and let me know what it means to you. EDIT: Please note that this is a long post. I seem to have got a little carried away. I believe it IS important though. Please read it and leave a comment about how you feel about it. This article kind of sums up at least my attitude to the way we live […]

Drastically Cut Electricity Costs

Well, it seems like I haven’t been here for ages. This is Mr. Dirty Boots in case you had forgotten about me. In an effort to ensure we can continue our self sufficient life on our mountainside I have been spending the last few months learning all there is to know about Internet marketing and making money via the Internet. Amazing what you can do with a laptop, a solar panel and a satellite Internet connection really. It has gone surprisingly well and I can see us being able to easily support our lifestyle whilst making money online via what […]

Cheap Easy Meals – Chapatis

Homemade Chapattis are the thing we use instead of bread the most.  They really make cheap easy meals in no time at all.   There are many ways to personalise chapattis but all are healthy quick recipes for frugal food.  Of course you could serve chapattis with meat but I find they really lend themselves to Vegetarian Quick Easy Meals.  So all the ideas below are Vegetarian.  And, yes we eat chapattis for supper too, but they make fantastic frugal brunch recipes too. In my search for a substitute to bought bread I do occasionally make real bread.  But I wouldn’t […]