Sunday, May 3, 2009

On your mark...get set...get frugal!

Ok, so I am somewhat new to actively being frugal. We did little things growing up and I still do things today but I am trying to step up my game. Some things I already do is we have switched to CFL bulbs, always turned off lights when not in use, I usually do not turn on lights during the day if it can be helped, (I have to when its stormy & dark), & we compost. At my last house I had a clothes line & we just never got around to putting up another...well that changed. My husband was not impressed with our last electric bill. ($200) But in all fairness it was not my fault. I mean its not like I started air conditioning the free world. Usually our bill runs between $100-$150. I showed him online where our highest bill is usually in Dec & in Feb we used less energy yet our bill was higher. They (the electric co-op) decided to really give it to us. The next bill for Mar. was only $90. Now some of it was steps taken after seeing the $200 bill.
Here's what I did.
  1. I got more ruthless about lights/TV etc on.
  2. I walked around the house & made sure if it wasn't being used it was unplugged.
  3. At night I shut down my laptop & UNPLUG it. (those things are energy hogs)
  4. I flipped off the breaker to my water heater at night.
  5. If I don't have a full load of dishes I wash them by hand.

That's it. Now that my husband is home he showed me a few more things. First he made sure all of our breakers were properly labeled. Then we shut off 2 major appliances that we don't use constantly, the stove & dryer. We also try to go as long as possible before we turn on our a/c but hello we live in southeast La. so that lasts till about 1. If my husband is home & I am not it stays off longer. (He spends every other month in Panama so its colder here now.)

I am working on using my coupons more so I plan to update more on that & other frugal ideas such as making my own baby wipes, cleaning products, & laundry soap.

Until then y'all take care.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you are doing a lot. A clothes line would cut your bill significantly, depending on how many loads you dry. I think it costs about a quarter a load to run the dryer.
    Toni

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  2. You are off to a great start! :)

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