“Trim the budget!” tops my list of New Year’s Resolutions. How on earth am I going to pull it off when I’m averaging three hours of sleep and even the thought of cutting coupons makes me nauseous? Starting today, every Monday during the month of January the Green Baby Guide will feature a few favorite penny-pinching resources to kick me into gear.

One of my favorite blogs is Frugal Babe because of her focus on simplicity and living with less. She’s incredibly resourceful—dumpster diving for free lumber, doing hydroponic gardening in the crawlspace under her house, and using baking soda instead of toothpaste or shampoo.  And she manages all this with a baby in tow! Her posts consistently deliver doses of down-home thrifty wisdom.

Can secondhand shopping can be utterly luxurious?  Yes!  Maybe it’s because I am addicted to the treasure hunt of buying used but I love The Thrifty Chicks. Its authors (Ms. Shopping Go Lightly, Ms. Gently Used, and Ms. Modern Mommie) encourage us to realize that thrift shopping isn’t about grungy gear but about finding high quality goods for much, much less.

With a little creativity and patience, living on the cheap can inspire artful play for childen.  Frugal family fun has all sorts of ideas for winter entertainment including “painting the snow”–which involves filling a spray bottle full of water and food coloring and letting the new fallen layer become a palette for your budding artist.  Or maybe you need to allow your children to enjoy “indoor ice skating” by using waxed paper and rubber bands to fashion ice skates for living room twirling.

Do you have any favorite frugal sites to share?  Next week we’ll have more money saving blogs to choose from. Feel free to make suggestions!

We hope your 2010 is filled with rich experiences and quality time with family and friends.  (Notice neither of those things hurt the environment or cost a penny!)  Whether you opt to start your own garden, cloth diaper your newborn, or switch from paper towels to rags, may you relish the green adventures in store for you this year.  If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our post on The Green Year, a great handbook for a daily dose of conservation wisdom.

I won’t officially call them resolutions, but my eco-hopes for the year include expanding our raised beds, strapping both children into the bike trailer for errands, and spending more time in the great outdoors.  Picking, freezing, and canning local produce (including our own) is my fantasy but we’ll see how it goes with two small children in tow.   Wouldn’t it be incredible to be able to put away enough fresh food to sustain us through next winter?  Sigh…

If you’re looking to cut costs in 2010, fear not!  On the 4th we’ll begin “Money Saving Monday” a weekly series through January that will feature frugal, eco-conscious resources.

What are your green dreams for the coming year?  What’s standing in the way of achieving them?