Life

I'm still trying to adjust to our new daily routine. There are so many chores to get done in our short evenings, and I'm trying to adjust to seeing The Man less in the evenings. So life is busy right now but good. I have to say that I love working at home. I love that the things I do are so wrapped up in this man that I love so very much and not some money grubbing corporation. I would love it even more if I could find the time to sit down and knit a couple of rows after work and before I start all my home work, but The Man is scheduled to be gone for schools a lot during May, so before I know it I will have too much time on my hands. In doing some of my 'home work' the other day I started thinking about some of the little decisions we have made which have helped us save money and live more sustainably. I find it fun to see how little decisions starting adding up to lower bills or a whole new way of life. So I thought I would share some of these little things; you have probably thought of them all, nothing earth shattering for sure, but if you have ideas which aren't on here post them in the comments. Blessings!c

• As you can see we try to hang out the laundry. It drys SO fast here in the south. We don't live in a place where we can leave our line out, so sometimes there just isn't the time to string up the line. Oh and they smell so good, and there are no wrinkles in the sheets like my dryer gives them.
• I filled up a 2 liter with water and placed it in the water tank of the toilet, so it doesn't take as much water to flush and fill up the tank.
• I unplug all appliances but the refrigerator and the wash/dryer when I am not using them. This includes the TV, VCR, computer, radios. I was amazed to see my electrical bill drop from this.
• The Man has a job so close to the house that he can bike to work.
• We kept the heat at the mid to low 60s in the winter (and wore sweaters and the crocheted house shoes my grandmother makes) and the cooling at the upper 70s in the summer. We would adjust this to accomidate any guest we had over. The blinds stay open during the day in the winter and closed in the during the day in the summer. This really does make a big difference if your place is in the sun. If the days are hot and the nights are cool I open a few windows at night, one downstairs and one upstairs. I put a box fan blowing out of the house upstairs, so the cool air gets pulled all through the house from window downstairs and out the window upstairs. It would probably work better if I had two box fans.
• Ceiling fans make a world of difference & if you use the switch on the fan you can actually make a room feel warmer in the winter by using them, since hot air rises.
• I try and use the oven for more than one thing at a time, like baking cookies and roasting potatoes at the same time. A baking day is a good idea so you get a lot of things done, but you only have to preheat the oven once.
• When a bulb goes out replace it with one of the new Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. A buy them when they are sale. Also look for coupons; I've run across a few in our paper.
• Compost. You can build a bin, buy a fancy one, and just start a "pile" like we had when I was a kid. Anything biodegradable goes in there: banana peels, egg shells, apple cores, coffee grounds, grass clippings, leaves, etc. In the fall or spring mix it into your flower beds or vegetable garden for a natural cheep fertilizer.
• Bring your own bags to shop. I have had the WORST time forming this habit! I finally have remembered to bring in my own bags by writing it across the top of my grocery list.
• Check the weather stripping around the doors and the windows for drafts and replace or caulk if needed.
• We bought a SIGG for each of use and fill up with filtered water at the house before we hit the road. We've been using them now for a little over six months and really like them. These bottles and others are supposed to be good for you since they don't leach any weird stuff out into your water like the cheep plastic bottles do.

Well I know there must be other things, but I can't think of them right now!