How to Buy with Confidence on Craig's List

Earlier this week I posted (Almost) Everything I've Ever Bought or Sold on Craig's List. In today's post I'm sharing some tips that I hope will give you the confidence to try buying a used item on Craig's List. I've heard people say buying on Craig's List seems creepy. Maybe you heard a sketchy story on the local news involving Craig's List once. Having purchased tons of items on Craig's List, I can tell you that almost everyone selling something that you would want to purchase on Craig's List is just an ordinary person like you. Take a few precautions, and you should never find yourself in an iffy situation.

Note that Craig's List is used for other things besides buying and selling (personals, services like tutoring and child care, job postings, rental housing). This post is about buying an item that is in the "For Sale" section. Go to the Craig's List site page, click on your nearest metropolitan area, then click on the heading "for sale" and you're ready to go. 

A few tips for buying safely and successfully on Craig's List

Deal locally with people you can meet in person, and you will avoid 99% of all scams according to Craig's List. As a general rule, you should hand over the payment only when the object in play is in your sights, ready to be loaded into your car. This is not eBay.

(Almost) Everything I've Ever Bought or Sold on Craig's List

The other day when I mentioned that I'd recently sold something on Craig's List, a friend asked me, "How does that work? I've never used Craig's List." I was shocked. SHOCKED. This frugal soul had neither purchased nor sold a single thing on Craig's List. Just in the past month I have purchased a TV stand, infant bucket swing, and kid's bicycle, and sold 2 portable air conditioners on Craig's List.

My conversation with my friend inspired me to try to catalog all the items I've ever bought or sold on Craig's List. It's not truly possible, because it's just been too many things over too many years (dating back to my single days in Los Angeles over 15 years ago), but I did look through my emails and walk around my house to try to remember what I've bought and sold on Craig's List. Here is what I came up with.

Green Changes that Save You Money

Soon after I decided that I wanted to live a greener healthier lifestyle, I discovered that green changes and choices come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Some green changes are really challenging and may require perseverance despite repeated failures, like trying to find a natural deodorant that works for your husband. Or a natural cleaner that conquers mold. On the other hand, some green changes are downright easy. For example, opening your windows to improve indoor air quality or turning your thermostat up one or two degrees in the summer.

Certain green choices are expensive, like buying an all-natural bed free of flame retardant chemicals. Organic and natural food products also tend to cost more than their conventional counterparts. But many green choices are inexpensive and will save you lots of money.

Click here to continue reading about money-saving green changes at The Green Sisterhood

Top Methods of Entertaining a Child on the Potty

How to get your child to sit on the potty and stay on the potty long enough to relax and do her business: this is one of the central dilemmas of potty training, whatever age your child may be. I'm currently potty training my third child. Since I've done early potty training with my 2nd and 3rd children, I've had a chance to hone my skills for entertaining a wide range of ages on the potty, from 3 years all the way down to 5 months. Whatever age your child may be, here are some ideas for getting them to take a seat and make a deposit.

Potty Time Entertainment

The list below is roughly in the order I have used them with my third child, who started sitting on the potty around 5 months and is now about 18 months. 

New Loves Discovered on the Green Path

This week, as I wrote my umpteenth post about how much I love the farmers market, I realized how many wonderful things I have discovered only because of my permanent detour onto a greener path.

Farmers Markets

For me, one of the greatest benefits of living greener has been becoming connected to my local food economy and developing a greater appreciation for where our food comes from. Since I don't really garden, the farmers market for me is the shortest path of production available. Food has such far-reaching implications for our family's health, how land is used and the health of the planet. It is also a large and recurring expense. I view changing how I buy my food as one of the most important green changes I have made. In addition to feeling great about giving my family the healthiest and tastiest produce available, I feel good about consciously choosing to support small local sustainable farming. I like handing my money straight to the farmer. I have always said that I don't like shopping, but I have discovered that what I actually don't like is shopping in conventional grocery stores and mega-stores and especially malls. Thanks to our local farmers markets, now I often go more than a month without setting foot in a regular grocery store, which means no cheapy toys or salacious magazines at my kids' eye levels, no wandering through a dozen aisles to find the one thing I actually want, no processed foods beckoning, no checkout line. Love that.



Click here to continue reading at The Green Phone Booth.

Why I No Longer Pay Much Attention to EWG's Dirty Dozen™

Last Saturday my entire family was out and about doing errands in an unfamiliar part of town when we passed a farmers market. We made a note of it and on the way home stopped there for lunch and groceries. We were so glad we did.

This market was much larger than the farmers markets closer to my home that I usually frequent. While it was tougher to keep track of my kids (I was very glad my husband was with me), there was plenty to love among the aisles and aisles of vendors. In addition to tons of beautiful produce, there was honey and freshly squeezed juices, tamales and hummus, natural meats and fresh fish, flowers and potted plants, bread and pastries. There were eggs, $6 for 30 ($2.40 a dozen, about half of what I normally pay). I bought 60. When we passed a musician playing a James Taylor-esque version of "Up on the Roof," one of my 5yo's favorite songs, my son looked at me and immediately put his hand out for a dollar to put in the hat. It was like we were meant to be there.

EWG's 2013 Dirty Dozen List

The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™

Every year for the past nine years, the Environmental Working Group has published their Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ based on tests for pesticide residue conducted by the USDA and FDA. EWG specifically highlights "The Dirty Dozen™": produce likely to have a higher level of pesticide residue, which they recommend avoiding or purchasing organic. For the last couple years, EWG has expanded their Dirty Dozen™ list with a Plus category resulting in "The Dirty Dozen Plus™". The "Plus" refers to crops that do not meet traditional Dirty Dozen™ criteria but that were commonly contaminated with exceptionally toxic pesticides. Consumers should prioritize purchasing organic versions of these vegetables as well if possible. The produce with the least residue is termed "The Clean Fifteen™." 

Use the The Dirty Dozen™ to Prioritize Purchases

This guide is not intended to scare you into not buying fruits and vegetables. Any produce is better than no produce. And conventional fruit and vegetables are certainly better than processed or packaged foods. Instead, this information is intended to help families who cannot afford to purchase all organic produce limit their exposure to pesticides, especially harmful to developing fetuses and young children. You can use the guide to substitute produce from The Clean Fifteen™ for The Dirty Dozen Plus™ (for example, I might decide our family will eat more kiwi and fewer apples), or use the guide to help you decide which produce you will buy organic and which you will buy conventional (for example, I might buy organic strawberries and conventional onions). When I first started going green, I found that selectively purchasing organic produce helped a lot with the sticker shock of switching to greener foods.