beyondbaffled Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Heidi I'm really glad you started this thread. We need a topic called "How do you save money in this economy?" or something that everyone can post their tips to. I didn't know the one about the water heaters, but if I ever get out of this apartment that's definitely going to be a top priority for my first house. And I love the thought of the electric company oweing me money at the end of the month! I feel bad sometimes, b/c at the bottom of my electric bill it has a place where you can "help your neighbor" and donate $ or just round your bill up and I guess it goes to folks who can't afford their electricity. If I had solar panels or a windmill thing then I would just donate whatever amount came back to me. I live in an apartment and we're not allowed to hang anything outside so I can't have a clothes line, but I do improvise a bit if I can. I hang clothes over the backs of chairs at the dining room table and on the stair railing and open the kitchen and hallway windows when it is warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 I would not donate a thin dime to the electric company..Grrrrr (you see our state has the 2nd highest rates in the country) but I would donate to the organizations that help people with their utilities instead. You can contact your local social service agency to find out where to send you money. I think I read they are going to raise our rates again in May, the cable co is going to raise our rates again in April (they just raised them in January)..Cannot win for losing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 I would not donate a thin dime to the electric company..Grrrrr (you see our state has the 2nd highest rates in the country) but I would donate to the organizations that help people with their utilities instead. You can contact your local social service agency to find out where to send you money. I think I read they are going to raise our rates again in May, the cable co is going to raise our rates again in April (they just raised them in January)..Cannot win for losing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intrinsicat Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I saw a really cool way of home heating this past weekend when I went to pick up my car... the guy lived on a mountaintop - it was absolutely beautiful!! Anyway, he had this oven-sized steel box with a tall smoke stack smokin away. I figured it was some new-fangled smokehouse. But apparently it's like an outdoor woodstove that heats the house!! A system of fans and underground piping delivered the heat to the house and heats the water! And since it's outside he can burn all kinds of wood, even pine. Apparently they're very popular in rural areas. If the ppower goes out and the fans don't run in the unit you definitely need to have a power generator standing by, but what an economical idea!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakyshaky Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Thanks for the tips guys! I talked to DH and we should be getting a clothes line pretty soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 It has taken a bit of coaxing but the family is turning off and unplugging. I set up the cable box to always be on because it takes forever to re-boot when it has been completely turned off (no juice), I put the tv and the Wii on a plug strip that is turned off every night. The DVD players are completely unplugged because we do not use them everyday. The computer and internal hard drive are on a plug strip. The printer is just unplugged. We do not use it constantly. Coffee pot, toaster, and microwave are unplugged. We do not use the clock on the microwave so it is not an issue. All phone chargers are unplugged and put in a drawer next to the outlet. We like to melt tarts from Yankee Candle. We have the kind of tart thingys that do not require votive candles (we have those too). We have the plug in kind. They are all unplugged too unless in use. I am going to sit in the yard..when it is warmer..and figure out how to string another clothesline without interfering with the one that is in place. There is basically only that one tree and the house to hang it on. If I do figure it out, I will share with a picture. I am hoping by this September I will have saved enough money from not having car payments to buy a scratch/dent fridge and oven. Ours are on the oldish side. The newer fridge will make a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butlerestates Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Thanks for the tips guys! I talked to DH and we should be getting a clothes line pretty soon. Where we live there is so many allergens in the air that we can not use a clothes line.Plus it's so windy the clothes line usually gets blown away especially in tornado season. Plus we are really irritated that the horse pasture behind our house is now being turned into a neighborhood so thanks to the construction there is dirt blowing non stop at our house. It's like the dust bowl. If we tried to use a clothes line everything would be covered in mud. It's such a shame because when I was little I remember the sheets smelling so nice when being brought in from outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Where we live there is so many allergens in the air that we can not use a clothes line. For the same reason we dont leave windows o[en. Plus we are really irritated that the horse pasture behind our house is now being turned into a neighborhood so thanks to the construction there is dirt blowing non stop at our house. It's like the dust bowl. If we tried to use a clothes line everything would be covered in mud. It's such a shame because when I was little I remember the sheets smelling so nice when being brought in from outside. Do you have a basement that you could string clothes line in? If you do and the basement isnt damp and stinky, you could do that. I havent done it yet, but I am thinking that will be my next project. Then we can hang down there when it is cold, raining, or snowy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 People always talk about the fresh, clean smell of laundry that's been hung outside to dry, and I do remember that smell. My last house backed onto some woods, and any laundry I ever hung up wound up smelling like "wet dog". I use that phrase because when my son used to come in after running around the neighborhood and woods, his thick hair would stink, and DH said he smelled like a wet dog, and that's what my laundry would smell like. I hung a few things out at this house once, and we're surrounded by woods too, and sure enough, wet dog. Anyone else know what I'm talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 Anyone else know what I'm talking about? Yeah, sometimes it can. I do not know if has to do with the weather that day or any odors hanging around. I would say the majority of the time it smells good. If it is a dampish kind of day then you can smell it on the clothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Back when I lived in neighborhoods with nice big, open backyards I had the carousel-type of clothesline, about five sets of lines running around four sides of a clothespole with ribs. I also had one long line when we lived in SC that was there when we bought the house, that I used for bedsheets until the day a neighbor's pony got loose and decided it'd be fun to run through my long clothesliune and take my sheets with him; I took off after that plny with a broom, and retrieved my sheets from the front yard, and it took three washings to get all the grod out of my poor sheets! Ever since then we've had no more clothesline in the yard nonsense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Back when I lived in neighborhoods with nice big, open backyards I had the carousel-type of clothesline, I remember we had one of those when I was a little girl. We had a tiny city yard at the time, with shrubs and trees, and a big driveway out back that led into a wide alley. The driveways had holes in them designed for those carousel clotheslines. I used to love to wind in and out of the drying clothes. I always used to wish we lived in the part of the city where they had trolley clotheslines to pull the laundry back and forth through the air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 25, 2009 Author Share Posted March 25, 2009 I wanted to introduce you to our Recession Pig. Fred and I started with filling it with just quarters. No dimes, nickels, or pennies. I have thrown in half dollars, $1 singles and coins every once in awhile. Right now it weighs 11 lbs. When we started the thing didnt even weigh a lb. It is about half full. We are waiting until we cannot fit another coin in it. We will have to tip it on it`s side eventually because the neck and head counts..LOL (fred said that..I did not). Once it is full, we are going to bash it open, turn the coins into the bank (they have one of the self serve coin machines and they do not charge) and we are going to split the proceeds. We have a really UGLY pig bank that I bought for a dollar last year at a yard sale. It is three times bigger then this pig. But it has a hole in the bottom. I have decided I am going to super glue the thingy into the hole so we cannot open it. When recession pig is done, we will move onto Vacation pig! ROFL You can find these pigs at yard sales, thrift stores, and on evil bay. If you cannot find a true pig bank (the kind with no hole in the bottom) you can do what we will do. Just super glue that sucker closed. Then save your quarters and see how much you can save! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SugarPie Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 $270 average. Horrible, but we have lots of laundry and cooling here. No gas bill...only electric. We should be better conservationists.... I'm close to your area so it's the same for me (But I can't complain. I work for the power company.) Please don't hurt me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Dh has decided we could start a business, installing clothes lines! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 Dh has decided we could start a business, installing clothes lines! Seriously, that is not a bad idea. I had never strung one before and I had to ask on here and look it up on the internet to get it just right. Now I could do it backwards and forwards but before that I just stared at the stuff. Our power went out for a couple hours yesterday...lineman said it was squirrel suicide...and Fred had to *gasp* hang his work clothes on the line. He did a good job. None of them fell on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Minis Dollhouses Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 My bill is around $140 a month average. It can get a little higher in the summer months and a little lower in the winter ones. I run the AC year round, non stop. It has a thermostat so thats set and I dont move it. I dont have a washer and dryer because I hate laundry so I have my clothes laundered for me. I do run the oven occassionally. I cook everyday, breakfast and dinner. I have those new swirly light bulbs that supposedly use less energy and I tend to use them a lot since opening the blinds in Miami is like letting in a nuclear holocaust of sun. I run the water heater all the time but I dont use hot water often since the water that comes out of the faucet is always warm from it being so hot down here. I used to run the dishwasher a lot, which uses very hot water, but dont anymore. Florida is suppose to be getting a price hike from FPL so I dont know how that will affect me if it goes through but we will soon find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Wow.. all this talk of Clothes lines outside is amusing to me.. here in Australia we think that drying your clothes in a dryer is weird and for people my age and older at least.. slightly sinful LOL Where I sit I can see 3 of my neighbours clothes lines and my own.. we have the rotory ones someone mentioned earlier in this topic, (they are an Aussie invention actually ) and it is pretty rare to find a house without one, only apartments or townhouses have no line, most have the rotory, or multiple straight line pull out versions - they are a unbiquitous statement of Aussie Suburbanality, and are just starting to be seen as an Icon as we appreciate all the power we have saved over the last 60 years since the "Hills Hoist" became an instant best seller! I love this photo, it won a Photo competition... it is Soooooooooooooooo typical it could almost be my back yard LOL (we haven't started landscaping that bit yet and it is as barren and typical Aussie backyard circa 1960's as this one...) I know we enjoy a very warm/hot climate and it rarely gets too cold to dry outside.. in fact This last Summer was so hot (up to 125F) that you had to hang your clothes out at dawn and the first ones would be dry before you finished hanging out LOL Having said that.. hanging out washing is one of those jobs I HATE with a passion, and I would use the dryer a lot more if I didn't A) want to save money, and B) feel like I was commiting a heinous crime by doing so LOL Some of your Elec bills are truly scary, we have been told we have some of the cheapest power in the developed world.. and I always thought that was just a "line" to get us to swallow higher bills each time, but it seems we are paying less than some of you anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 That was me, Kim. Between the humidity & the pollen & mold there's no way I can dry clothes outdoors now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katethesape Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Hey! We just got our power bill - our last one was $120 and we were REALLY worried that it would be higher b/c we've had the air on, it's getting hotter (and muggier)...BUT I did these things to help bring down the bill: 1. Only turned the air on when we were home (a few hours in the evening, it was cool at night) 2. Unplugged everything except the essentials (washer/dryer, refrigerator) 3. Kept lights off unless necessary We dropped our bill from $120 to $80!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!! Anybody else had any luck bringing down your power bill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julygirl56 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 I can't believe what some of you pay for your electricity!!! If I had to pay that much I'd be living on the street. Our electric bills run about $32.00 to $45.00 a month in the spring, summer and fall. $52.00 in the winter, except for December. With the Christmas tree and outside lights the bill is usually around $60.00. We use electricity for the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, sewing machine, washer, dryer, microwave, toaster oven, 2 tvs, vcr/dvd players and computer. Our heat is Kerosene and our hot water heater is gas. We have CFL's in all of our lights. 3 of us live here, but I am the only one here from noon until 1 a.m., and I only use one light in the living room when it gets dark. The kitchen and bathroom have night lights. I do sewing every day because I have a home-based sewing business. I use the oven just about every day, either baking or fixing dinner. Even with all this, we usually only use around 350 kilowatts a month. lyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 Oh, I plum forgot to mention the bill last month! I was under $200!! I already paid it so I cant remember specifically but it was not $150..more like $160-170. Much better but I know I can do more. I have become the Computer Nazi. Macs can be left on if you are not going to be away from them for days at a time. But I told Chelsea we are turning it off. Sometimes she remembers, sometimes she doesnt. But she is getting better at it..she is the last one on at night. Lyn, I think we have the same amount of stuff plugged in that you do. My problem is our state and the utility companies. CT is charged one of the highest rates in the country. So unless we want to live by candlelight..I have to suck it up. Do any of you have whole house fans in your attic? I learned something the other day. I never really knew how to use that darn thing and now I do. In the summer when it is hot, you open all your windows at night and turn on that fan. It sucks all the hot air out of the house and pulls in the cool night air. Only have to do it for about an hour or so. Going to try that this year and see what difference it makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogster Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 How to save money on laundry. Socks, 2 pairs should last a week. Underpants, a pair a week. Shower BEFORE bed, bedclothes, 6 weeks minimum. Shirts and pants? shower, use deodorant, 2 or 3 washes a year more than sufficient. Towels are good for at least a month, hey you are SUPPOSED TO BE CLEAN WHEN YOU USE YOUR TOWELS! Use these tips, extend them as appropriate and you should be able to cut the laundry down to 5 or 6 loads a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 We had an attic fan in the house I grew up in. I must have been about 12 or 13 when I got the bright idea to close up the house except for the basement door and turn the fan on to pull all of that nice, cool, basement air up into the house. Temperature wise, it worked great. The hitch in the git-along was that there was a fireplace in the basement, and air was drawn in through the flue, which gave the entire house a lovely aroma of damp fireplace that lingered for a long time. I don't remember my parents being particularly angry, but I'm sure they weren't happy! Heidi, you put your finger on it when you mentioned the rates for electricity. They range widely, depending on where you live. The amount of kilowatts used is a better way to compare the amounts used. We're charged about 11 cents per kilowatt and we used 1007 kilowatts last month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidiiiii Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 Next bill I get, I will post what they actually charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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