I am all for new and improved ways of doing things but there are times we need to return to the old paths, sometimes we need to *experience* some foundational ways of doing things.
Being frugal has always been a way of life for us, well at least I thought it had. Only recently have we come to realize how wasteful and spoiled we are. Some of our friends have been on a quest to seriously become more self sufficient and they have been an inspiration to us. They have dramatically reduced their power bill and learning so many skills to save/earn them money. The character training that happens while learning these things, both on the part of the children and the adults, is priceless!
Although we consider ourselves to be frugal we are taking steps to become even more so, which in turn will help us to become more self sufficient. If a family of 15 can reduce their power bill to $65 a month...SURELY WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!!! ;o) Our house is half their size and we only have 6 people living here!
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This week as part of our series on Resourcefulness I will share a few things we are doing to become better stewards of our time and money, and how we are building some character, which is not pretty sometimes when it is being developed.
~One of the biggest things we are doing is turning the hot water heater off after bath time at night. There is usually enough hot water in the tank to get us though the next day of keeping dishes washed up and hands washed. We turn it back on about 30 minutes before bath time at night.
~No Clothes Dryer -I usually hang out our clothes during the summer, but don’t think much of it if I have to throw a load in the dryer. So now I am being much more deliberate. The girls were not real happy that I was hanging out socks and underwear (I usually dry those), so this was a lesson in humility. ;o) btw, I am very discrete in how I do it, it’s not real obvious. lol… And we do not live in a high traffic area. 
) Wonder what they will think of me posting them to the WORLD WIDE WEB?! lol…
~No Air Conditioner until June 1st. Now this may not be a big deal to some of you, but living in Alabama air conditioning IS a big deal! So right now the goal is June 1 …and yesterday I was wondering if I would make it…but I did! We do have a couple fans running and windows open. The biggest key here is to not heat up the house, I’ll share what we are doing about this later this week.
Doing these things takes a lot of planning, organization and sacrifice. All of which are good for us. If there were to be a disaster in our country (attack or weather), I hope we will be somewhat prepared to take care of ourselves and our neighbors. I heard someone say if an economic fall were to happen (which it probably will) the Amish would be the last ones to feel it.
From another angle, think about the possibilty of your children someday serving under dire circumstances. What if they were called to be missionaries or were stranded somewhere? Let’s make sure we have trained-conditioned them to the best of our ability.
Have you ever wondered how you would do if the power were out for several weeks? Is there anything your family is doing to become more self sufficient?
Kathy
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Angie says:
When the ice storm hit in Jan. here in Western KY it was truly a wake up call for so many people! We did very well considering we still had the gas stove, gas hot water heater and a kerosine heater. The power was out for some for 3 weeks.
I heard of at least one death due to freezing to death. The man was hugging his hot water heater trying to stay warm. How sad! There may have been more, but you always hear rumors. There were some that died because of poor air circumstances and using things indoors that shouldn’t have.
I know that God watched over us at our house. We had people coming here to take showers, get warm meals, or just to stay till there power came back on. I was glad that they had somewhere to go.
I was blessed to know that we were safe. My DH was out on the road and the phones wouldn’t work, cell phones or land lines. He didn’t know if we were ok or not. We didn’t know if he was or not.
My church lady neighbor stayed with us…..I went and got her from her house!! Her husband was out on the road too! So, we were together and our husbands were able to talk to each other and they both admitted later that they were terribly worried about us. They kept hearing rumors that it looked like a bomb went off here.
Well, it was scary but God got us through and I’ve told everyone how blessed we were. We were warm, fed and clean! :0)
Just had to share our experience. You never know when you’ll be tested on anything. Your reaction says a lot I believe. I am Thankful that God got us through it and it’s past us now.
Hugs!!
Youthful One says:
Well, you beat me to the biggest way we have saved on our energy bill in the last year. Hanging laundry! We live in suburbia, and have what’s known as an umbrella clothesline. I can get about 3-4 loads on that thing! I’ve found many items actually dry faster on the clothesline than in the dryer (like sheets.) Oh, just so y’all know, I am a mom of 5, soon to be 6, and my dad lives with us. So, we are a family of 8 right now, 9 in Sept. We started using the clothesline during the summer last year, but I didn’t want to give it up for the rainy season. (We’re in Oregon.) So, we moved it into the den for the winter – where the wood stove is. Our electric bill in January this year was LESS THAN HALF of what it was January the previous year! And we had snow this year! (We didn’t last year.) I’ve become a pretty die-hard clothesline user, although I still use the dryer for towels, socks and blankets too heavy for the clothesline.
So, we also do our best to avoid using air conditioning unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Obviously, in our area, that isn’t as often as in yours. However, this year we also did our best to avoid turning on the heater unless absolutely necessary. It certainly helped having loads of free firewood we had already gathered and seasoned the previous year to burn in the wood stove. Another note: the wood stove is in the opposite end of the sprawling ranch-style house than the bedrooms. The heat really never made it down the hall to the bedrooms. Hubby & I used the hide-a-bed for a few months in the den just to keep warm by the wood stove.
Adrianna says:
Living in the Southwest we have become very creative at staying cool-blackout shades on western windows, strategically planted trees, keeping cross ventilation windows open etc.- (yesterday it was 107 degrees) because due to the increase energy demands of the summer we will usually have some kind of city wide electrical failure. One night we were without power-no cooler, no air conditioning, no fans and even though it was the middle of the night it was well over 100 degrees-we had to think-what did people do before electricity. They slept outside of course-even large hotels had an “Arizona room”-which are basically screened in porches-everyone slept on cots outside. We pulled our sheets and pillows outside and slept on the damp lawn, covered with wet sheets with enough of a breeze to keep cool. We just told the kids we were camping out tonight. Luckily blackouts don’t last too long but it doesn’t hurt to investigate different ideas every now and then.
Dana says:
I have to agree with Olivia and Emma on the clothesline thing! Back when we had a clothesline, I wouldn’t hang out the undies either. I would have worked a 2nd job to pay for the electicity! Silly, I know.
We bought a few of those silvery-metallic energy blankets that you put in your car in case you get stranded in the winter. They kinda look like a big piece of dull tin foil. Anyway, we line the western-facing windows with it in the summer and it really helps keep those rooms cooler. It lets in a little light, but it’s minimal.
Blessings–
Dana
Martha says:
I am so thankful for the timeliness of your post today. Just this past weekend, I had my husband hang a clothesline for me. I can only hang one load of laundry at a time. Another way we are saving on electric is utilizing the electric company’s off-peak times (which means throwing in a load of laundry and running the vacuum at 11pm.) But it works great to hang that load on the line first thing in the morning. I also started hand washing my dishes (I’ll save just on the dish detergent!) We replaced all of our light bulbs with the energy efficient ones. So I am actually looking forward to our next electric bill to see what we have saved!
Looking forward to the next post…
~Martha
Denise says:
One of the best big ticket items we’ve purchased was a tankless water heater. We have used it for one year this month, but have not as yet calculated the savings, although hubby says it is significant. Energy consumption is money draining. We discovered this thru a non functioning oven. We have used a little table top broiler over OR the grill on the back deck and are saving $$ there as well as calories. Thanks for your tips. Great to see them.
Denise in NW Indiana
Deborah Dunne says:
Two years ago our noisy old fridge gave out. I had always wanted one of those french door types but they were so expensive. While I looked around for a good deal we used a cooler to keep the milk cold. We have a small chest freezer we use for the produce we grow and we would freeze water in gallon milk jugs and use them for the cooler. Well that was two years ago and we have never purchased a fridge. It did take the kids a while to get used to it but I simply dont know what I would use a fridge for. Sounds crazy but we eat a lot more healthily now and a large cooler and a dorm cube which my son donated more than serve us. We were a family of 6 and are now 4.
Kelly says:
We live in rural NC. When hurricane Fran came though we were without power for over a week. Talk about a lesson in preparedness!!! The most difficult thing was being without water. (no electricity = no power for the well pump) We collected water in the rain barrels. When a rain band would come through we would send the kids outside in bathing suits with a bar of soap. They thought it was loads of fun (not recommended if its lightening of course!) God created us to be self sufficient, relying only on the blessings that He’s provided for us. It encourages a strong work ethic and makes our hearts happy knowing that we are being good stewards.
Kathy says:
WOW Ladies, thanks for all the great ideas!
Karla says:
Keeping the electric bill down in MA is a difficult challenge. I was told we have some of the highest rates in the US. Most of our our lightbulbs have been changed to the energy effecient ones. The ones in the barn are regular light bulbs because it takes so long for the florecent ones to come on in the cold.
I have been hanging laundry for years and when I don’t, we have a propane dryer which dries the laundry much faster than an electric one. I had an indoor clothesline at one our 1st home. It was in a hallway that was not used very much and was warm because of the woodstove in the kitchen. Our 2nd home had a south facing porch where I could hang luandry out early in spring and late into fall. Even on rainy days as long as it was warm out. AT this home we had solor power as well. That takes getting used to but you learn how to schedule your tasks and to turn off everything at night when you go to bed. Anything that has a clock in it draws power all the time. We have all our electrical appliances with clocks on power strips. At night you just hit the red switch. We still do that now even though we do not have solor anymore.
I enjoy cooking on my wood cook-stove in the winter. It is already running to heat the kitchen so dinner gets cooked there. It does take more time. Things have to be watched closely or they can burn. It is fun though. Our power went out a few times this winter. My parents came to our house one evening because they had no way to stay warm or feed themselves. I love that we have the ability to not be dependant on utilities.
Judith says:
We are in the uk and while we do not have many hot summers i found ways to keep cool from the internet. either fill a hot water bottle with icy water and put it in your bed or damp a thick towel (not dripping wet) and place it over your legs when you get into bed. It was amazing how well it worked.
Also I got the idea of making thick window quilts for winter from websites I visited. I just made mine from duvet covers with a wool blanket inside. I stitched a few vertical lines to keep the blanket in place and made a place to put a rod or wire at the top so it could be hung in the window on hooks behind the curtains.
We were able to keep the heating on 24/7 this winter (very low)
and it cost us just about the same as the previous year even though the prices went up nearly 50%.
I have lines high up on the landing upstairs and the clothes dry well because we have a radiator in the hall downstairs. I am so glad I was insistant when we had the central heating installed,the plumber was not keen on putting one there.
My reasoning was that if the hall is cold then when you open any door the cold will enter that room.
Emily says:
Due to allergies we can not hang out laundry-it collects pollen. To keep cool, I use a fan in one window blowing out and place filters in the other windows to keep the pollen out! Then about 30 minutes before my husband comes home, we close all the windows and turn on the air conditioners because he inssist that anything above 65 is unbearably hot!
Linda says:
Hello everyone! Just a little tip about hanging clothes out on the line. Take the wet laundry that has been washed from you washer and put it in the dryer for about 3-4 minutes before hanging it on the line. Then after it is dry put it back in the dryer for another 3-4 minutes, you will not have wrinkles in your laundry. It really works great and then you don’t have to iron. Saving on your electric bill, by not drying it completely in the dryer!
I just love the fresh smell of laundry!
Becca Fay says:
I am light years behind y’all–I want to be more self sufficient and appreciate all your idea’s. I’m at a loss as to where to start however, even hanging clothes isn’t allowed in our neighborhood. Urban dilemma’s–However, I’ve started gardening, second year, small but didn’t want to spend too much until I get some return (nothing was edible last year except the herbs). I love to sew and have been re-using clothing w/alterations and sewing from my stash. I love the idea of quilts in the windows–my son’s room gets rank! in the summer–Boy+a hot room=stink. LOL I’m looking at our home with new eyes. Thank you.
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