Comments on: Resourcefulness- Becoming Self Sufficient

By: Teaching Good Things » Blog Archive » Window Quilts

Teaching Good Things » Blog Archive » Window Quilts — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:24:45 +0000

[...] part of our cutting the spending at home and becoming more self-sufficient we are keeping the air off until June 1st..at [...]

By: Teaching Good Things » Blog Archive » Keeping the House Cool- Out Door Cooking!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:15:03 +0000

[...] of us in our circle of friends are doing all we can to try to live more simply and become more self sufficient, while saving money at the same time. Some are more dedicated than others, but the important things [...]

By: Becca Fay

Becca Fay — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:07:50 +0000

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.

By: Linda

Linda — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:00:20 +0000

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!

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:03:13 +0000

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!

By: Judith

Judith — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:40:48 +0000

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.

By: Karla

Karla — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:38:23 +0000

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.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:42:31 +0000

WOW Ladies, thanks for all the great ideas!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:02:02 +0000

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.

By: Deborah Dunne

Deborah Dunne — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:06:33 +0000

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.

By: Denise

Denise — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:59:42 +0000

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

By: Martha

Martha — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:49:26 +0000

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

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:42:36 +0000

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

By: Adrianna

Adrianna — Tue, 19 May 2009 22:21:31 +0000

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.

By: Youthful One

Youthful One — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:46:17 +0000

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.

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:28:36 +0000

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!!