The “Cash for Clunkers” program started off with a bang yesterday. The idea is that you can take your old car to a dealer and get a coupon for $4500 to be used toward the purchase of a new, energy-efficient car. There aren’t that many requirements, except that the old car has to really be […]
Gross National… Happiness?
I read this interesting NY Times article a little while back about how the government of the tiny country of Bhutan in the Himalayas is being judged by the happiness it produces, not the economic benefits. The prime minister of the Buddhist kingdom blames the current worldwide economic catastrophe on “insatiable human greed” and insists […]
Update on the Mars Chocolate Relief Act
Last Friday I told you about the Mars Chocolate Relief Act, a giant giveaway of chocolate to the first half million people who go to their website every Friday through September. Mars claims it’s an effort to spread joy across America. But then one of my readers wrote in and alerted me to this article, […]
Update on free chocolate Fridays
When I told you about the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act last Friday, I thought I was doing a good thing. Spreading the word about free chocolate, what could be wrong with that? But a reader left me a comment that included this link to a story about how companies like Mars and Nestle use […]
Welcome Frugal Girl readers
I know a lot of you are new readers who were referred to me by The Frugal Girl and I just want to welcome you here. I am always happy to have new readers, because it means more ideas and interaction. The more the merrier! Every day I’m learning so much about simple living, frugal […]
Stay married and save the planet?
I couldn’t help noticing that provocative news headline yesterday. So how does being married help save the planet? According to Senator Steve Fielding from Australia, staying married is better for the planet because newly single people lead more wasteful lifestyles, so divorce makes climate change worse. He says that when people separate they need more […]