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9/2/10

Too Busy to Save Money….

No. Never.

As my toddler grows bigger and more adventurous by the day, I find that I am having less time to do / get done the things I used to leisurely do. Most me time waits until he is asleep- napping or down for the night.

027 <—P with a little swimmer diaper on his head and his beloved cars. He put the diaper on himself.

I am constantly looking for any tool I can use to make  life a little easier.

I have started to make weekly menus – set shopping lists and lists of the things that need attention around the house. This includes bill cutting back to save money wherever we can.

I was surprised last month when we got our utilities bill to see that it was double what we had paid in previous months.  I studied the bill and then assessed what we had done differently.  A few things stuck out.

1. Air Conditioner usage

2. Dryer usage

San Diego gets HOT in the summertime. We thought that since we had the privilege of  having an AC that we would use it to combat the sweaty misery of the heat.

006 <--- Our AC.

I’m still not sure why, but for some reason it doesn’t do the cooling you would expect. Maybe it’s the way the house is split in two- idk.

In an effort to cut our expenses I stopped using the ac. I have placed fans around the house and keep certain blinds closed as the sun beats down on them. If that is not enough I open the doors to the outside to get a cool draft going through to air out the house. I also keep doors to bedrooms and bathrooms closed, turn off any lights or appliances that are not in use- anything to reduce the heat emitted in the house.

I also realized that with the heat in the house, I could seize the opportunity to start hang-drying our clothing. Not only do we save on not using the dryer (electricity and $ since it’s coin operated) but the drying of the clothes in the house makes it smell fresh and adds a bit of moisture back into the air.

007 <—The dryer I only use for unmentionables.

Currently I am using whatever we have in the house to hang the clothes on. Mainly our weight machine . 

I am pleased with the results and will continue to look for ways to save. 

Do you have any energy saving tips you live by? 

 

3 comments:

Bippity Boppity Glue said...

Great tips! I use cold water for lightly soiled clothes and we only bathe once a week. Lol, of course we wash more than that but since the kids are older, bath time isn't play time anymore so just get clean and get out. Can't wait to see what other tips there are!

it's me ...Twinkie Chan! said...

I don't have kiddos hehe but I always wash clothes in cold water.

Most of our light bulbs are the energy saving fluorescent kind.

I've heard that actually unplugging (and not just turning off) electronics that are not in use can help a lot, but I admit I have always been way too busy to do this on a daily basis (e.g. the VCR,
laptops, etc).

My biggest challenge is heat. I get really cold and Matt doesn't, so then I rely on a space heater aimed directly at myself, which is a huuuuge energy suck. I'm trying really hard to not buy a new one, but it sucks to crochet with cold hands!

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