It's not easy being green - or so I thought.

Never one to stick by my New Year's Resolutions - particularly the weight loss ones I make every year - I have to share my excitement over my latest personal life changes.

Since the start of the new year, my husband and I have started down the path of trying to dramatically decrease our spending. I'm tired of feeling like we're never getting ahead, of paying minimal amounts on my student loan and my credit card (which I haven't used in four years but am still paying off).

I don't feel I have more debt than the average person but debt is still debt. It's been an ongoing nagging issue that I would like to eliminate in my life. And after having no raises for the past few years, including a 7-1/2 percent wage cut last year, and having our health insurance premiums increased from $180 to $460 a month when our daughter was born, I've desperately needed to make some changes in my life so I could feel like I was getting ahead and not drowning.

And as a result of my strict money diet, I've had to find ways to cut costs. I used to eat out nearly every day when I worked - sometimes twice a day since I often work late - but I've cut that down to maybe once a month now and I bring my lunch to work. I use coupons at every opportunity, scour my favorite couponing blogs for the latest good deals and have enjoyed my fill of free cappuccinos from Holiday gas station when I need a treat, as well as my gas coupons.

My husband, a wedding photographer, is a stay-at-home dad and he's also an incredible cook.

He's taken up our challenge and is cooking a lot more, so that means I have delicious homemade lunches I actually look forward to eating.

It's so rewarding when I find deals on the things I use, like an incredible deal I recently got online on diapers. I have 4 boxes (96 diapers in each) of Target brand diapers for Maddy that will last us for months that I got for less than 10 cents per diaper and free shipping. I was able to renew my subscription to Time magazine for two years for only $27.

But perhaps my favorite discovery is that I've learned that being green can save us money. A LOT of money.

There are a lot of people out there who make their own household products and I've become one of them. It's so awesome. I've made my own homemade dishwasher detergent and laundry soap and even yogurt in a crockpot that turned out fabulous! I've been using vinegar, water and baking soda to clean, too. Not only is it better for Maddy, our entire family and the environment, but it's so much cheaper than buying the toxic products I normally buy.

We now have a 5-gallon bucket of homemade laundry soap, which actually makes 10 gallons of soap, that comes out to only a penny per load. Our first batch of our homemade dishwasher detergent has lasted a long time and costs about 65 cents for 100 loads, according to the blog, Frugally Green.

Tonight I was so proud of us as a more frugal family. My teen came home with a friend who is now staying overnight. They wanted pizza for dinner so my husband whipped up a homemade pizza using a pizza crust mix (we stocked up on several of them for 39 cents each a couple weeks ago). The pizza was delicious (according to both teens) and my husband estimated the entire thing cost about $2 to make. They also had lemonade Kool-Aid (ok, not so healthy but at 20 cents a packet, what a bargain!) and later I made them popcorn on the stove, using my favorite popcorn popper I got for Christmas. I'm guessing but maybe it cost about 40 cents to make? I like the more expensive Orville Redenbacher gourmet popcorn.

So for about $3, my daughter and her friend were completely happy and full as they watched their movies tonight. The old me would have gone to the store, bought a couple bags of chips, two or three 2-liter bottles of soda and either bought a $9 frozen pizza OR ordered pizza from a local pizza joint. This is what I normally did when she has friends over, at a cost of about $25-$30.

Incredible.

I am working on more "green" initiatives in our lives. We are trying to reduce the amount of processed foods we eat and eating more whole foods. We're talking about growing our own garden this summer in my flower bed that houses more weeds than actual flowers. I'm also looking into other ways to eliminate toxic chemicals from our lives, as well as reduce the amount of trash we create. This may mean making our own homemade deodorant (I'm very intrigued by this) or using a Diva Cup (I had no idea this even existed!), making my own body wash or nearly eliminating the need for toilet paper by using family cloth (It's a thought, but I'm still on the fence about this one.)

I am also hoping to find other ways to dramatically cut costs by making homemade products and gifts. I have just started sewing and have made adorable bibs for Maddy, as well as bibs and burp cloths to give as gifts. (More on this on a later post).

I'm just so excited about the possibilities. And happiness and contentment are the last things I ever imagined I would find when forced to live on less.