Note

I'm taking a couple of days off from writing while I study for a test. As much as I love writing for this, I have to have my priorities, lol...

Reducing consumption 4

Now, how much difference can small things like this make? Probably more than you think. I haven't done a math crunching exercise in a while, so here goes, using some very generic numbers...

(I'm working with $.20 a kwh, probably on the low end for many of you.)

Turning off a computer monitor for just one hour a day when you leave the room saves $.25 a month for a newer LCD monitor, at least $.50 a month for an older CRT monitor.

Putting a computer to sleep for one hour a day when you aren't using it will save you about $.92 a month.

Turning off a TV for at least one hour a day when you're out of the room will save at least $.74 a month (this will be over $2 a month for a big screen tv)

Turning off the playstation or XBox for one hour a day will save about $1.20 a month

Saving 15 minutes of use of an electric stove burner a day will save about $1.24 a month

Cutting the time a coffee maker is on by 30 minutes a day (an item I forgot to list) will save about $2.80 a month

Replacing four-60 watt bulbs in fixtures used 4 hours a day with equivalent CF bulbs will save $4.16 a month (plus reducing cooling costs during the summer)

Reducing the use of an electric oven by 30 minutes a day will save $6.20 a month (plus cooling costs)

Omitting the drying cycle on a dishwasher that's run once a day will save at least $3.10 a month

Reducing the AC use by the equivalent of an hour a day will save about $22 a month. Heat is closer to $50 a month.

All those small items, not including the AC or heat use reduction? Add up to $20.61 a month, or $247.32 a year. Just the three smallest items save almost $2 a month alone. Add in the AC and heat savings, assuming three months of AC and five months of heat would bring the total up to $46.94 or $563.32 a year.

Just removing the trickle drain of appliances and electronics on standby could save you $2 to $3 for each item per month. If you have half a dozen small appliances and electronics, that's $15 a month just to keep things on standby.

Ethical frugal living

This is written for my dad, the most ethical person I've ever known...

There is a point in being frugal that crosses the line into the unethical, and it's important for us to stay aware of that line.

I used to have a friend who owned a restaurant, and I was appalled at the things people did. Stealing a dish or silverware in a restaurant is still stealing, however petty, and each time someone does that, a business owner has to include that cost in calculating the costs of services, so we all pay, indirectly, for that theft. The same goes for towels in a hotel.

And smaller things... Yes, when you go for fast food, they expect you to take napkins and packages of condiments. And it's reasonable to take a LITTLE extra---two or three napkins per person in case someone spills a drink (possibly an extra couple beyond that if you have a small child), an extra package or two of salt, pepper, or ketchup in case one turns out to be empty or gets dropped. Most places give you plenty of these when you get takeout (one close to us tosses in 4 or 5 napkins with a single burger), and I put away anything that's leftover for later use. That's just being thrifty.

But I have encountered people who grab a big handful of napkins when buying fast food so they don't have to buy them themselves between visits. The same with condiments. And that's crossing the line into the unethically frugal. Every customer of that business will pay, even if it's only a fraction of a penny, for each time one person does that. And it adds up. My friend with the restaurant said that as much as 5-10% of her overhead was the result of theft. Think about that. For a $10 meal, $1 is paying for theft by fellow customers.

Another example: It's perfectly reasonable to use the restroom at work just before heading home. In my case, although my drive home is usually less than 5 minutes, I always stop because more than once, I've had to wait 10 extra minutes on a train or go the long way due to an accident. I dunno about you, but an extra 10 or 15 minutes can be uncomfortable if I needed to go when I left work. The fact that it probably saves a little on utility use and TP at home is a fringe benefit but not the reason I do it.

But taking a roll of toilet paper or stack of paper towels from work so you don't have to buy them at home is unethical, however you may feel about your boss.

There are also things where the line can be vague and depend entirely on your own comfort level. Very few people will pick up a penny in a parking lot then walk into the store to hand it to the cashier (very few people will bother to pick up a penny at all these days). Many would probably turn in a twenty or a check (though this sort of thing tests people's honesty). Some, but fewer, would turn in a ten. Most would not turn in a one, I think. I think the fuzzy dividing line for most people would be a five.

I probably wouldn't turn in a one, simply because it's very unlikely that someone would come back looking for that amount. I would turn in a five if there was a logical place to do so-say it was in the parking lot of a gas station or small store, but maybe not in the parking lot of a mall. A ten I would definitely turn in, unless there was no logical place (it was blowing along the road, not near any shopping or home). A twenty is an amount I would consider reporting to the police. I would report even a one to the police if I found it about the same time as some incident it might be connected with. 

The line is obviously somewhat subjective for any of these, and will depend on your own sense of what is ethical. But ask yourself about that line any time you think about something in the name of frugality that essentially takes money from someone else's pocket.

Weekly groceries-06/18/2011

A good week, only $38.95. For the most part, we're pretty well stocked up, so this is a "payoff" week. 

Of this total, $6.97 was for dairy, a whopping $21.58 for produce, $6.47 for bread and grains, $1.43 for eggs (no other meat), and $2.50 for odds and ends.

As I said, we're stocked up right now on almost everything, particularly frozen meat. We're taking advantage of the good prices to indulge in a lot of fresh produce. I also bought a few canned vegetables that were on sale for my storage foods, the one thing I'm a little short on. And a 10 pound bag of white rice. We didn't strictly need the rice yet, but it was on sale at $.45 a pound, and we're going through it pretty quickly now with the rice steamer.

Our best "buy" was probably 2 quarts of strawberries for $1.88 a quart. Our worst buy was probably the eggs, at $1.43 for a dozen.

By the time this posts tonight, I should have shredded zucchini and carrots and chopped up the green bell pepper and some spinach, and packaged them for stir fries. I also got a pint of pre-chopped fresh onions on sale ($.79) to use for those as well. Sadly, asparagus and ripe peppers were expensive this week. I also plan to wash and cap the strawberries and wash and cut up a couple of cucumbers and some of the carrots to make snack sticks for work day lunches. The berries won't stay on sale much longer, but some other fruits and vegetables should start dropping soon. I can't wait for fresh tomatoes and cucumber for salads and riatas...

Reducing consumption 3

Continued from yesterday...

• Only water lawns as really necessary
• Consider replace a grass lawn with appropriate low-maintenance-and-low-water-use landscaping (well done, this also looks a lot more attractive than a grass lawn)
• Water efficiently
• Take showers instead of baths
• Take short showers (I'm guilty of losing myself in the shower)
• With caution, consider a space heater in one or two key rooms and turn down the thermostat for the rest of the house
• Don't drink a glass of water and put the glass into the dirty dishes. Use a single glass for the day
• Don't spend money on bottled water. The dirty secret of that industry is that it's not only LESS regulated than the water from the tap, it often IS water from public sources. Buy a filter system if you don't trust your local water system
• If you have house plants, wash vegetables and drain rinse water from rice and beans and cooking water from pasta into a dishpan, then use that water to water the house plants. You get a second use from the water, and the plants can often make use of the nutrients in the water   

There are lots of other ideas, of course, these are just the ones I could come up with in a single, quick brainstorming session. My last post on this particular topic will be in two or three days...

Reducing consumption 2

Continued from yesterday...

• Turn off TVs, stereos, computers, etc. when not in use.
• Consider putting all the electronics in the entertainment center in a single accessible strip with a power switch, and turn it off when you leave the house or go to bed. This unfortunately resets digital clocks, but saves the trickle use of power to all these items.
• Do the same with small appliances in the kitchen and with computer workstations.
• Turn off your computer monitor if you're stepping away for more than a minute or two. They warm back up very quickly, and monitors are not only a big energy drain, they generate heat.
• Turn off the computer or put to sleep if you're leaving it for more than 5 minutes.
• Don't let water run unnecessarily
• Use a clothes line, if practical, at least for some things (sheets that air dry smell great)
• Keep the freezer close to full.
• Use the oven efficiently by fixing several items in it at once, especially during the summer, and limit or avoid using it during really hot weather.
• Make efficient use of an electric stove's burners. Keep in mind that the burners take time to warm up AND cool down. This means, for some items, you can turn the burner off before the food is entirely done, and it will keep cooking for a minute or two longer. 
• Another way I take advantage of this is using the same burner in succession. I heat the water for my coffee in the morning while I prep whatever I'm going to cook. When the water boils, I have the fry pan or sauce pan ready to go on the same burner. Since the burner is already hot, the pan is ready to cook as quickly as on a gas stove.

Continued tomorrow...

Reducing consumption 1

One way to cut on your bills is to reduce consumption. Start by looking at utilities. As with anything else, small changes can add up to more than you might think. Most of these are commonly known, but listing them together can help think of new things.

• Turn off lights when you aren't in the room
• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents wherever possible
• Turn the thermostat for the AC up a couple of degrees or the heat down a couple of degrees when you're going to be out of the house for more than a couple of hours. I'm not always good about this with the AC because our unit can struggle to bring the temperature back down
• Turn the thermostat up or down more when going out of town for a day or two
• Take advantage of natural light in rooms. 
• Mirrors can reflect light and make a dark room brighter (any other fans of the Mummy movies?)
• Reduce the cost of outdoor lighting by installing solar path lights
• Put heavy drapes on windows to keep heat in or out (depending on the climate and time of year)
• If you can't afford to replace weather stripping, make draught extruders (basically a tube filled with some insulating material that you put against the bottom of the door).
• Change the air filter on central heating and cooling units
• Clean the outside unit for central heating and cooling units, especially after mowing

Continued tomorrow...