Guest post from Nancy of Blessed Earth
A few years ago, I gave a talk on simple living, and a man in the back of the room asked, “Are you Amish or something?”
Although I arrived in a Prius, not a pony, I do believe that the Amish hold many answers to both our budgetary and planetary woes. Frugality and conservation overlap about 90 percent of the time. When we conserve resources, we also save money.
About a decade ago, motivated by a desire for a more sustainable lifestyle, my family and I moved from our doctor’s sized house to a home the size of our old garage—eventually reducing our electricity to one-tenth the national average and our fossil fuel usage by two-thirds.
We did not make all these changes at once: for most of us, going green while saving green is a gradual journey. Try doing ten percent better each year — or changing one habit each month and watch the savings add up.
20 Simple Ways to Simplify Your Life and Save Over $5,000 Per Year
1. Make your own nontoxic cleaning products. Have fun! Host a laundry detergent-making party.
Possible Savings = $100
2. Dry clothes on the line. If my teenage daughter can dry her clothes in a dorm room, you can do it, too! Do laundry in cold water. Wash clothes by hand instead of dry cleaning.
Possible Savings = $210
3. Buy second hand clothes. Nearly all the clothes I wear are hand-me-downs or from consignment shops/GoodWill. Remember to dress in layers—climate control your body, not your entire home.
Possible Savings = $250-$1000
4. Borrow and buy used. Look for toys and sports equipment from yard sales and Craigslist. Visit library book sales, share toys and sports equipment with neighbors, and post items on www.freecycle.org
Possible Savings = $150
5. Reduce your refrigerator/freezer usage. Stop refrigerator gazing; turn refrigerator to warmest setting; unplug ice maker. Save more: Unplug your second refrigerator. Keep a list on the refrigerator of things you need so you can combine trips.
Possible Savings = $160
6. Stop buying drinks. Drink filtered tap water instead of bottled water. Make your own coffee at home instead of buying carryout coffee.
Possible Savings = $310
7. Don’t buy disposables. Stop buying disposable plates, cups, and utensils.
One small church did the research and figured out they could feed four families for a year if they used real plates instead of paper. The men in the church volunteered to wash all the dishes for the first year! Save more: Invest in cloth napkins and re-usable lunch containers.
Possible Savings = $50
8. Cook from scratch. Cook meals at home instead of eating in restaurants. Start a garden, purchase food in season, and avoid convenience foods.
Possible Savings = $1050
9. Install low-flow shower-heads and reduce shower time by two minutes.
Possible Savings = $130
10. Don’t run water while shaving or brushing teeth and stop buying disposable razors.
Possible Savings = $70
11. Buy tree-free toilet paper in bulk from an office supply store.
Possible Savings = $30
12. Adjust your thermostat. Turn up your thermostat three degrees in summer and down three degrees in winter. Use programmable thermostat to adjust temperature an additional 10-15 degrees at night and when not at home.
Possible Savings = $200
13. Switch your light bulbs. Switch to CFL bulbs — 75 percent more efficient — like getting 100 mpg instead of 25 mpg! Bonus: When summer comes, the A/C won’t be fighting the heat. (Ninety percent of energy of incandescent bulbs goes toward heat rather than light.)
Possible Savings = $210
14. Reduce electronic usage. Use power strips for TV, computers, and audio. Always completely shut down lights and equipment when leaving the room.
Possible Savings = $140
15. Insert a fireplace balloon or close damper when not in use.
Possible Savings = $200
16. Share or eliminate subscriptions. Share newspaper or magazine subscriptions with a neighbor. Save even more: read news on-line and get magazines from the library.
Possible Savings = $260
17. Recycle used printer cartridges, electronics, and cell phones. Buy refilled ink cartridges, and save more.
Possible Savings = $25+
18. Insulate hot water pipes and water heater.
Possible Savings = $120
19. Caulk around windows and doors. If you can’t afford to replace windows, make heavy, lined curtains; close at night in winter and open windows on cool summer evening.
Possible Savings = $100
20. Go on a spending fast. Register with www.dmachoice.org to remove your name from mailing lists and go on a spending fast one week or month.
Possible Savings = $600
Total Possible Savings = $5370
Nancy Sleeth is co-founder of the nonprofit, Blessed Earth, and author of Almost Amish: one woman’s quest for a slower, simpler, more sustainable life (Tyndale, April 2012)
Heidi James says
I agree with all of these things and have used these ideas for years but it isn’t so much the things you suggested where we need to save money. Being self-employed it’s things like healthcare, insurances, car maintenance, gas and phone service that tax our budget. Any help here?
Steve says
You mention CFLs, but with plummeting LED prices, folks can save even more in energy costs. Keep your eyes peeled — HD is temporarily selling (2) 60-watt replacements in a pack for $5.
Also, you can save even more on laundry — get a residential ozone laundry system and you won’t need laundry detergent OR warm / hot water when doing laundry anymore. We use (and for transparency, now sell) the EcoWasher. There are other brands too, but I mention this one because it works on both high and low flow washing machines.
Crystal says
I love the Amish and Mennonites where I live! A big inspiration to me!!!!
Alaine says
Great tips! Sometimes when I’m reading these blogs about all of the things you can get for free, I have to stop myself and think if it’s really something we need. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and wind up “purchasing” free products that we don’t even need or that might not be as good for the environment just because we are trying to save a buck! (Like, really, what’s the point in getting free bottled water? Water is free, right out of the tap!) Still trying to find a way to do away with the newspaper subscription but still get coupons, though! Thanks for the tips.
theresa says
i recently decided to try drying my clothes for 1/3 less time than i used to and i have found that i only have to hang one or two items per load – usually one of my husband’s jeans or thick hoodies – i don’t have any calculations for this, but i am certain i am saving something!
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving says
Thanks for all the great tips, Nancy. 🙂 I think I need to focus more on cooking, I rarely do it. Just a bunch of throwing stuff together and quick-cooking foods.
Deborah Jennings says
We set our AC on 80-degrees in the hot Texas summer time. And it is usually around 68 or less-degrees in the winter. We have propane fireplaces with blower fans (2 one in the living room and one in our bedroom). They have a thermostat on each one. We just stopped our DirecTV that was costing us $90 a month. We have quite a few movies that we have recorded or bought for from $2 to $19.99 each. We don’t pay any more than about $20 for any one movie. I love to read and have a Nook and an Android. I usually just get the free books or if I do happen to buy one, it is usually less than $5.00 and it has to be one that I will read more than once. We also buy books at the Dollar Stores. $3 – $5. No more than a couple at a time (each month).
I have ordered some books from Amazon that are about being prepared and for survival after a disaster. We live in tornado alley, so it is good to be prepared. We garden and can our produce. We have fruit trees that we hope to be able to harvest fruit from this year. I am so loving being frugal and living as much off the grid as we can.
WorkSaveLive says
These are some wonderful tips, Nancy! We’ve implemented many of these ourselves but I’m not sure I could dry my clothes on a clothes line. Well, I could of course, but I do like when my clothes smell like the dryer sheets!
We also have cut back by eliminating our cable and going to netflix.
Mitzie says
I would like to know what “tree free toilet paper” is.
Andrea says
Recycled 🙂
Lisa says
Hmm….would Marcal toilet paper make this list? Or Seventh Generation? Just thinking out loud to the few brands we use who are recycled.
Stephanie says
Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s what she’s talking about.
Whitney says
The one tip I’m surprised no one has commented on is: turn your refrigerator to the warmest setting. Honestly, that’s just dangerous. Your refrigerator should be set between 35 and 38 degrees. Anything higher than that and your food is more likely to spoil. So to me, this tip is the opposite of frugal. Yes, your electric bill will be lower, but the increased bacteria growth will mean your food won’t last as long, and you’ll be throwing more of it out before you can use it.
Sporksoma says
Not to mention getting sick from eating spoiled dairy products. The little bit extra keeping it cooler costs per month or per year is a LOT less than the amount of time you’d spend down with upset stomachs and food poisoning because the yogurt spoiled and you didn’t realize it!
Chris says
I totally agree! That’s just dangerous and asking for trouble.
Emily says
Did someone comment already about the “turn your fridge to warm” suggestion? I have mine turned up to one of the coldest setting to keep the fridge at at least 40 degrees F. I am really funny about spoilage, so I can’t imagine turning it warmer than recommended.
Julie in IN says
Agreed. We can turn our second fridge in the garage down in the winter but we keep it turned a little higher in the summer.
Meredith says
I was just thinking the same thing. I could see if you we’re just housing fruits, veggies, most condiments, and some other things that don’t need to be that cold, it would be okay. However, all of the dairy products, chicken, eggs, etc, need to be on the recommended settings.
Also, I didn’t even see a difference in my electric bill when we put the deep freeze in our garage (it’s the smallest one you can get)….maybe a few dollars a month. Since afterwords, I started shopping at Costco and freezer cooking, I think it was well worth the three dollar investment.
Julie in IN says
“11. Buy tree-free toilet paper in bulk from an office supply store.
Possible Savings = $30”
Could someone enlighten me to what tree free toliet paper is from the office supply store? I haven’t seen “family cloths” at Office Max of Office Depot.
God designed trees to grow and send out sprout/drop seeds so more trees would grow. We are to take dominion of the land and to care for it not worship it over the Creator.
Tiffany says
Julie I was thinking the same thing. My husband works in forestry and constantly reminds me and others that trees are a renewable resource!!!! Your statement “We are to take dominion of the land and to care for it not worship it over the Creator” was exactly what I was thinking. If I even mentioned buying TP at an office supply store my husband would freak! He is very particular about his TP! 🙂
Kate says
The trees themselves are certainly renewable, but you can’t exactly replant the entire forest ecosystem. A tree plantation is not the same thing.
Stephanie says
I think they mean Marcal toilet paper? We buy it, but only because I can get it super cheap with coupons at a grocery store! 😉
Andrea says
Does anyone out there actually save money using CFLs? Mine are constantly burning out. I’m paying more to replace them than I am saving in my electric bill. I like the idea of them (well, not mercury in them) but I’m not seeing any savings. Also, remember that CFLs shouldn’t be thrown in the trash since they do contain mercury. They need to be recyled.
Jessica says
We have the same problem with CFLs. I did not realize that they need to be vented on the top and sides. We had some in our ceiling fan and they kept burning out. Also in a light fixture that was mostly enclosed with glass around the bulb. Basically we’ve only had luck with them in the 6 lamps in our home.
Andrea says
Are you in an older home? Inexpensive fixtures? I’m in New England and a lot of people I know have complained about this. I think it is the older wiring. When we lived in new houses out west, we didn’t have as much trouble, but they still didn’t last as long as the packages claimed.
Sporksoma says
I save money using them. In 6 years, I have had to replace *1* bulb in my entire house! Before switching all my bulbs, we were replacing them every few months. In a year, before switching, I would probably spend about $100 on lightbulbs, in general. Now? I spend about $0 annually on lightbulbs. That’s a HUGE savings lol!
Kate says
I think it depends a lot on the brand you buy and where you put them. Most CFLs don’t do well in ceiling fans or lights with dimmers. I used the GE brand in our old apartment. I couldn’t tell any difference in light quality between them and incandescents and none of them had burned out when we moved three years later. I’m hoping LEDs keep improving and the price keeps coming down. We do have LED Christmas tree lights and it’s nice to know that they use barely any electricity and are about 90% less likely to set the tree on fire.
Emily says
Wow that is wild. I have never had a CFL burn out. They last for-ev-er usually. My incandescents burn out probably every 6 months or so, but for the last few years I haven’t replaced any CFL’s. It may be your fixtures, or the wattage is too much for the appliance? I don’t know. That is odd, though. Usually they are much more cost effective.
Jenni / Life from the Roof says
I recall reading somewhere that if CFL’s are used in a place where they are constantly turned off and on they burn out more quickly.
april says
mine go out quickly also! it’s so annoying(and getting kind of expensive) I went back to regular bulbs
Brooke says
Mine burn out fast too…annoying! It seems like the cheap old regular ones last longer! And are more durable! Those CFLs just seem so dangerous to me :/
Jenni / Life from the Roof says
I think to me the best part of this article was how so many seemingly “little” changes can add up to a big chunk of change. We already do quite a few of these things, and I’m not sold on the laundry detergent tip, because I have a hard time getting my son’s clothes clean as it is and feel like we’d be wasting clothes by not cleaning them as well, but maybe there is a recipe out there that really removes stains.
Jenni / Life from the Roof says
Also, I calculated that it costs us about $0.35-0.40/load to dry clothes. For me to go outside and hang at least one and sometimes two loads a day and then go back out and take it all down would easily take 15 minutes a day, and that only works out to a $1.60 hourly rate.
The Prudent Homemaker says
I love that you calculated the time to hang clothes! We have a gas dryer, and I do 22 loads a week. The time savings is huge to me! I never thought about the cost per hour in hanging clothes. I have so many other things that I would rather do than hang clothes (I do hang several items that can’t be dried in the dryer), and these save us more money in the long run.
Sporksoma says
One thing I always factor in when it comes to line-drying clothes is the fact that we have so. much. pollen. Everything is covered in green/yellow dust from about the end of February until about November here. If you leave your clothes out on a line, they come back in covered with pollen, and during the later spring/early summer you get love bugs all in them.
So, while it seems like line drying would be a big money saver, when you factor in the fact that your clothes come back in covered in bugs and pollen, and usually have to be re-washed (plus our wonderful, unpredictable tropical-climate-afternoon-showers, which can happen *any* time with no warning), you’re spending more time and money than if you’d just put them in the dryer to begin with.
Heather says
I can’t line dry in the borough/township where I live. Believe it or not, it is against the law to hang your laundry in your yard (likewise no signs of any type are allowed anywhere – you can’t have a camper or trailer sitting in your driveway – lots of little rules like that!)
Thrifty Military Mommy says
Where do you buy razors that aren’t disposable???
Andrea says
You can buy razors with replaceable blades at CVS, Target, Wal-mart…use you the handle many times and only pay to replace the blade.
Thrifty Military Mommy says
Haha! I totally assumed this was talking about some kind of razor we could buy that never dulled. I use the Venus razors with the replaceable heads already. Thanks 😉
Jennifer says
Seems like those blades were super expensive when I checked? I found that I could get the whole razor cheaper/free using a coupon. Am I missing something?
Andrea says
Nope, the blades are crazy expensive unless they are on sale! I occasionally find good deals/coupons and stock up.
Lisa says
And far as I can tell, even the replacable still counts as disposable. I think the razor item there is one that should be more figurative than literal. If you can get all your razors free, then I don’t see where getting the expensive ones versus the disposables makes a difference you’d want, unless you just mean the environment. 🙂 I buy a mix of both, whatever is free/super super cheap at CVS using my ECBs.
Kate says
You can also get an old-fashioned safety razor, where the blades last a lot longer and aren’t set in plastic housings. I haven’t tried it myself, but here’s a blog entry describing it (it’s from 2007, so I don’t know if the links it includes are still current):
http://myplasticfreelife.com/2007/08/plastic-free-shaving-part-1/
Brooke says
I think maybe she could also mean electric razors? My husband uses one, but still uses a regular one with a disposable head for touch-ups. I just use good old fashioned disposable bics because they are always soooo cheap- sometimes free- with coupons!
Sporksoma says
One thing that has saved my family a ton of money is by installing a timer on our water heater. I’ve got the timer set so that it comes on at about 9 in the morning and goes off at 10 p.m. at night. That means from 10 p.m. until 9 a.m., the water heater isn’t heating the water, or keeping the water hot. Look at all the money I save by not running the water heater during those times! Want some hard figures on that? We save more than $50 PER MONTH by having a timer on our water heater. If we weren’t home so much during the day, we’d be able to save even more.
Jenni / Life from the Roof says
That’s a really good tip – I have never thought of that. Did you install it yourself or have someone do it for you?
Sporksoma says
It was already installed when I moved in, but I do not know if my husband installed it or the previous owners (my husband already owned the house when I moved in with him).
The Prudent Homemaker says
If it doesn’t come on until 9 am, do you have cold water for showers and for washing breakfast dishes? Or does everyone in your family shower/bathe at night?
Do you have an electric hot water heater?
We have natural gas for our hot water heater, our central heat, and our stove and oven, and our dryer. My coldest winter month is January, and my bill for my gas was $65 total.
The gas rates go down in the summer, and our summer gas rates are about $45 a month.
I’ve never heard of a timer on a hot water heater. How much does such a timer run? I’m interested in running the numbers for my own family. I often run a load of dishes at 10 pm (dishwashers don’t run if you don’t have hot water; I learned this when we had a hot water heater go out!).
Sporksoma says
We shower and bathe at night, not in the morning, unless it’s a really hot streak during the summertime and we take a quick shower during the day (the afternoon). All our baths are done by 9:30 p.m., but I let it stay on a little bit later in case we’re running late.
We wash breakfast dishes and lunch dishes at the same time, or we load them into the dishwasher. Breakfast is almost always cereal or oatmeal in bowls, and lunches are usually sandwiches eaten on a paper towel, or sometimes something else eaten on a plate. The little ones are on sippy cups, and they have assigned cups in the morning that they re-use all day long. Our day usually doesn’t start until 9 or even 10 a.m. (we are night owls in this household; the 1 year old sleeps from about 10 p.m. until about 9 or 10 a.m. and I do most of my extra stuff at night, so there’s no real reason to get up early for us!).
I believe you can just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and get a timer. It was already installed when I moved in, and I had never heard of such a thing before. It works wonders, though.
About the dishwasher: ours is a portable dishwasher that hooks up to the faucet. I run the faucet cold water only, either while we’re gone for a while or overnight, and it gets the dishes wonderfully clean. It heats the water itself, so there’s no need for extra hot water. The water heater is electric (it’s all electric in our house) so it may not be as much of a savings for a house on gas. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Heather says
Not sure if the timer would make much difference with a natural gas heater – especially if it’s the kind that only heats the water as you use it.
My father -in-law has a timer on his electric one, except he had it set to come on for only about 2 hours a day! Drove us crazy. That ended when he got remarried. Don’t know what he paid, but I am fairly confident it was inexpensive.
Sporksoma says
I’m not sure, but I think my reply to you got eaten, so I’ll reply again. If you get it twice, that’s what happened!
We take all our baths at night, so we’re all done by 9:30. I leave it on until 10, though, just in case we’re running late. Sometimes, during the really hot parts of July and August, we’ll take short, cool showers during the afternoon, but none of us are morning-shower-type of people.
We have one of those portable dishwashers (no room for a full size dishwasher) and I don’t know if it is ours in specific, or if most dishwashers do this, but it heats up the water itself. You don’t have to run it with the hot water, so I just hook it up to the faucet overnight, run it with the cold water, and it cleans the dishes wonderfully. We just load up dishes from the day into the dishwasher, or just let them pile up and do dishes after dinner. There are 5 of us, but we use surprisingly few dishes (and we don’t use disposable plates and cups). Breakfast is usually cereal or oatmeal in bowls, lunch is usually a sandwich and some fruit, which doesn’t even require a paper towel, much less a plate.
All of our house is electric, so maybe having a timer on there wouldn’t work for gas. I’m not sure how much the timer was, since it was on there when I moved in, but I don’t think they’re very expensive. Even if they run about $50, they pay for themselves, for us at least, by the end of the year because for almost 12 hours a day, the water heater isn’t heating the water, and thus not using the power to heat the water. You can set the timer for other times, too; if you run dishes at 10 p.m., you could set the timer to go off at midnight and come back on at, say, six a.m. At least it’s not heating it for those six hours, right? Saving a little bit of money. I’m not sure if it would save anything for gas, though.
Good luck to you, figuring it out!
Jennifer says
Very interesting! Thanks!
Chris says
If you have a 40 gallon water heater you are not going to save money with a timer. It will take as much or more energy to heat all that up All at once rather than a constant heat. But you could turn the temperature on it down.
The Howard House says
I love these articles because when I was first starting out trying to cut our budget I searched and searched for helpful hints. Now these ideas seem like just common sense and everyday choices. I have to remember where I started and that I can learn something still from these articles.
Tree free toilet paper? I’m going to have to do some research. I think it is really helpful when buying clothes, especially for kids, to shop the season before and make detailed lists of what you have and what you need. It’s easy to grab a cheap shirt on clearance, but if you alread have 10 shirts and no pants for the boy, it really isn’t a great deal. I love getting great steals on clearance clothes. We just tuck them away in our trundle drawer under the boy’s bunk beds sorted by size and season and I know exactly what we need!
I have also learned that we don’t need as many clothes as I used to think. With our first baby, a boy, we bought so many items and people gave so many things. When it was time to pack away a size he had outgrown, many outfits had been worn only once, some still had tags on them 🙁 Luckily God sent us another little man that wore many of those things, but still drawers were stuffed, so we blessed other with some things. When #3 was on the way and we knew it was going to be a little lady, we made an effort to just wait and see what we were given first, get a FEW clearance items to stock up on and then leave it at that. It’s so nice for her to wear everything and it get good use!!
Thanks for the article!
Sporksoma says
Both of our little ones were surprises, so I tried to buy as much gender-neutral clothing as possible. Even for the older girl, I try to buy things that are gender neutral looking, so that I can pass them down to her little brother instead of having to buy new. This means lots of plain jeans, plain overalls, plain colored onesies, white socks, etc. My older one picked out some Sesame Street jammies one time that she’s still held onto, and now her little brother can wear them. She likes pirate things, so they get passed down as well.
Brooke says
I completely agree with you on having too much clothing! I was driving myself crazy with all of the clothes the kids had! The dressers were stuffed, laundry piled up because we never ran out of anything. Now I try to go for as simple as possible. My 4 year old son got 5 summer outfits, 2 swimsuits, and 1 pair of sandals for his birthday and paired with clothes that still fit from last year, that should be plenty! I try to only buy quality items that will last, since they’ll be worn more, and people are always surprised when I tell them that I only shop at Goodwill….its amazing how many brand new things get donated. Our local Target donates all unsold merchandise to our Goodwill- that is like jackpot day for me! LOL! The feeling that simplifying gives you is amazing! 🙂
Mandy W. says
I have some questions about #13 – using CFL’s instead of “regular” light bulbs. I am pretty sensitive to traditional fluorecent bulbs, and exposure over several hours gives me a headache. Is this an issue with CFL’s???
Also, we have three small kids, and lightbulbs are glass, and therefore get broken. I, so far, have refused to have CFL’s in the house because I am concerned about their exposure to them if one were to break. Is my concern unfounded? Anyone else worry about this?
Lastly, they seem so much dimmer to me. Are they? Would I need to get like a 75 or 100 watt CFL to get the same amount of light as a 65 watt incandencent?
Thanks!
Andrea says
I am sensitive to some brands of CFLs, but not all. LEDs might be an option, though sometimes those bother me, too.
There is mercury in CFLs (completely contained unless they break) and you’re not crazy to worry about it. However, how many times have your kids touched a broken lightbulb? Are they old enough to know (or learn quickly!) not to touch broken glass? Mercury is heavy and doesn’t evaporate into the air, so if you can keep them from touching it, the exposure is minimal.
The wattage is different. A 60 watt incandescent is about the same as a 15 watt CFL. I don’t believe that 75 watt CFLs exist; the highest I have seen is 50 and that’s equivalent to a 150+ watt regular bulb.
Andrea says
I wrote you a detailed reply, but I think it got eaten.
Some CFLs do bother me; but LEDs bother me more. It is not an uncommon complaint. I try to use natural light as much as possible and have incandescents in my sewing room.
Wattage doesn’t work the way you’re thinking. A 15-watt CFL is similar to a 60-watt incandescent. I don’t think 100-watt CFLs exist. Some bulbs are quite dim when turned on and take a while to warm up (especially in the cold), though that is getting better.
Sometimes, MSM posts deals for CFLs that are almost free (and certainly cheaper than regular bulbs), so maybe one of those will come around again and you can try them in the basement or in your outdoor fixtures for cheap.
Jen says
Mandy W, your safety concerns with small children in the house are NOT unfounded. When my son was 2, he went through a phase of throwing toys out of his crib. After I put him down for a nap one day, I heard him throw something, followed by tinkling glass. It took about 2 seconds for my mind to comprehend the fact that he probably just broke a CFL, which contains mercury. I raced into his room, saw the shattered bulb and powder all over his room, grabbed him, opened the window (in the middle of a midwest winter), ran out and closed the door. After my heart stopped racing, and I settled him in for a nap on the couch, I researched how to clean up. As a reserch scientist who worked in labs for about 10 years, I knew mercury gas could be deadly. I went back into the room and opened the second window, then waited 30 minutes for the room to air out. Let’s just say that I threw away about half the items in his room that day, including everything that was in the crib, all toys that were on the floor, and the area rug. I then had to carefully clean the crib, the dresser, and the floor. Thankfully the floor is hard wood, because you are not supposed to use a vacuum (which is why I threw the rug away). You have to be very careful not to contaminate anything else in your house, so EVERYTHING you use to clean up has to be thrown away. It was a nightmare. Even though I had totally aired out the room, and wore a cloth covering my mouth and nose, I still felt lightheaded and weak in the legs after about 15 minutes. I had to take many breaks. We do still have a few CFL’s in the house, but I will NEVER have them in a child’s room again, or anywhere the children play. By the way, the bulb was in a ceiling fan fixture over the center of the room. There was a glass cover that surrounded the bulb, but it was open at the end. Just google “how to clean up a broken cfl”, click the first link at the EPA website, and choose the detailed instructions tab to see what you’re in for if it happens to you.
Lana says
When I was a child and even a young adult churches didn’t provide all those disposables. Families brought their own dishes and silverware for a potluck dinner and then took them home dirty to wash in their own kitchens. I used to enjoy seeing what kind of dishes everyone brought! I don’t know how it changed.
Sarah T. says
That is a fantastic idea. Even if my family started doing it for the picnic lunches this summer, it’d give other people the example, and perhaps others would start. Rather than ruing the fact that the church uses disposable, just do something different.
Stephanie says
Line drying – I have a load in the washer right now. I’m going to line dry starting in 15 minutes!
Temperature – I will gladly pay to keep my house at 70-72 year round, day and night. I know it certainly costs more, but my husband and I both get cranky otherwise. 😉
Clothing – I haven’t shopped for NEW clothing for years. I attempted it the other day, just because I thought I was worth 5 new shirts for the summer. Boy. I can’t believe how expensive new clothing is…. and I was only at Kohls!
Jenn says
That makes me laugh, because for me the thought of sleeping in a temp controlled at 70-72 degree house makes me cringe, lol! I like it cold when I sleep. In the winter we go down to 59!
Sara H says
The only warning I will give is that I grew up with a very “frugal” father. It took me many years of tossing his ideas out the window before coming back to doing some (not all) of them. The constant savings and scrimping are important in our family since I have been a SAHM, but I try to remember how it felt to always feel like things had to be used to within an inch of their lives, that I had to wear clothes I didn’t like because they were a great deal, or the foods that we really liked always had to be generic (which then just weren’t always as good). Extremes in either direction are worrisome to me.
Andrea says
Good point, Sara. I have a friend that was not allowed to eat/drink anything other than tap water without permission growing up. He is very obese now, in part because he can’t control himself around food.
BethB says
I agree completely. We need to be mindful of how our children feel. Within reason, of course. So much of it depends on the attitude we display for them.
Slight tangent, did anyone see that yahoo article last week written by the guy whining his family made $100K per year yet he didn’t “feel rich”. His financial situation sounded much like mine (increased expenses offsetting higher income) yet I feel incredibly privileged to have everything I need. I work hard to try to teach my kids we are lucky and should count our blessings rather than focusing on the things we can’t afford.
KP @4our2cents says
@BethB, I agree with focusing on the blessings in our lives instead of what we don’t have. I have chosen to never tell my children that “we can’t afford something”. Rather we say, “We’re choosing to do this or that with our money instead”. I’m hoping it will show our kids that we all have choices to make with our money, it has more to do with priorities.
Amber says
Yes!
Mel says
That’s a great reminder! Very good point. I’m going to work on that more with my son.
Jen says
I read that article, and felt the same as you. Even though our income isn’t at $100K, I realize how fortunate we are. My husband makes a good income in a secure job, and I’m able to stay home with our 2 boys. We have everything we need and a lot of what we want (we prioritize quality food for our family). I’m so thankful!
Rachael says
If you want to get others in your household on board and keep yourself motivated, it really works better to have a balanced approach to frugality. For instance, I’ve found that convincing my husband that we don’t need cable isn’t going to work. But, I have been able to convince him that we don’t need both cable and Netflix. And we have a basic package. I have also convinced him to bring his own lunch to work. We do buy pop, because he loves it. If we didn’t have it, he’d probably end up eating out more. I’ve found we’re much happier not going to an extreme.
Joy says
I’m sorry I just can’t give up my disposables. We use real plates most of the time, but for quick lunches or snacks we use paper plates. Otherwise, I would be doing dishes all day long with a house full of boys! LOL. Some of us work either full or part-time outside of the home. So when we’re not working we would rather spend it with our family not doing dishes. Same goes for napkins and paper towels. If I didn’t use these, I would be constantly doing loads and loads of laundry. I can barely keep up as it is with the laundry we do have. And, yes we do wear some of our items (like pants or jeans) a couple of times before washing. 😉
Andrea says
We use less than one roll of paper towels per month and rarely use paper napkins or paper plates. I wash our cloth napkins with sheets (or sometimes with clothes) and throw all the rags in with our towels (wash in hot water), so we’re not creating any extra laundry.
CR says
If the whole family washes and dries the dishes together it is a great opportunity to chat with everyone together. It also teaches them to help so that you are not the one doing it all! 🙂 And it gets done very quickly!
Flo says
Some thoughts on buying for convenience reasons because mom will be doing all the work and won’t have time with family:
Let go of any perfectionism!
Each person in the family can learn that work is enjoyable and necessary!
Teach your children to work beside you and DON’T redo their work to your standards; develop patience as you teach them to do it in a way that works for your family!
Set things up for success:
For laundry we had two baskets–darks and lights–so clothes were pre-sorted.
Have a spray bottle in reach for them to put on stains when it goes into the laundry basket and train them to take care of their own.
Towels are hung flat in the bathroom to dry between uses and laundered once a week in their own load.
(Children should not use chlorine bleach, so that is an adult responsibility.)
Have the washer set on your normal wash cycle and limit your wardrobes to what fits that wash cycle!! (cold/cold makes clothes last a lot longer, as does not washing until they need washing)
Children who wish to change clothes several times a day must do their own laundry all the way through putting everything away before they get to do the fun stuff. Since that will take at least 2-3 hours, it should discourage that habit.
Do train every member of the family to help keep things done.
Every person can carry their dishes from the table to the sink.
Teach them how to put things in the dishwasher so they come clean.
The next morning or afternoon, they can be put away according to who can reach where.
Put things away before getting new things out. (Adults as well as children!!) It doesn’t have to look like a designer home, but don’t let work accumulate.
Parents have control of electronics: if things aren’t getting done, they will run out of time for electronic pastimes.
Your children will eventually appreciate what they know how to do when they get out into the world and realize how untaught so many of their contemporaries are when it comes to life! And you will have some time to do something other than collapse in front of the screen at the end of the day!
beth b says
Funny, I’m quitting part of my job after this semester so we’ll have an income drop of almost exactly $5000. So this is a great article for me.
Line drying clothing is something I want to try this spring and summer for conservation reasons but I had thought of it as a money saver.
Clothing is an area I need to cut back. I’ll never be the minimalist Crystal is but I can do better. And I won’t need as many clothes if I work less.
Being more intentional with how much I drive is another area I need to improve. Errands could be planned more efficiently and I want to work out a better balance for driving my kids to school since I don’t want them riding the bus in the morning.
We’re putting new windows on our house this summer which should help with the utilities. And being more conscientious of turning the AC temp higher during peak usage times.
jeanine says
I left working outside the home many years ago. And one of the very first changes I noticed for our family was that just by paying attention at the grocery store I was able to literally cut our monthy shopping bill in half.
BethB says
I’m a freelance musician so I’m already home during the day and have time to do all the household stuff. I’ll still be doing performance work like the orchestras I play in, weddings, and a few misc. gigs here and there. What I’m quitting is private teaching, which I currently do about 10 hours a week. It’s being gone after school, paying a sitter, and my husband shouldering both dinner and bedtime with the kids that’s getting to be Too Much. We’re very lucky this is a fairly significant lifestyle change without a big loss of income.
The Prudent Homemaker says
Beth,
I’m certain you can cut $5000! Every little thing adds up.
You probably won’t need to buy any new clothes for a while, except for possibly a good apron 🙂 (a great clothes protector!)
Lisa P says
I became a SAHM when my twins were born-almost didn’t pay to work with daycare and never seeing them. But I do work VERY hard to cut costs due to the loss of income. I coupon, keep the temp lower than my husband would like in winter-we have time of use electric and gas-you get charged less in off hours so we do our laundry, run the dishwasher and bath our kids in those times. Some of these “luxury” cuts were optional and some necessary to survive. Honestly how can most people make it if they don’t do some of these things? Kids retail clothes are very expensive and I would very rarely pay full price for anything.
The Prudent Homemaker says
My husband ran numbers on the things I do to save our family money. He concluded that by staying home with our children, and with all I do (we are also a one-car family) that I save our family over $65,000 a year. When people (usually men) ask him how I can stay home, or say that they wish that they (or their wives) could afford to stay home, he tells them how much it saves our family by my being home.
One man that he told this to recently was wondering how his wfie could save so much by not working. My husband quickly corrected him. He said, “Oh, no, she’ll have to work. She’ll have to work hard, cooking from scratch and more. My wife stands up most of the day.” The man concluded that this probably wouldn’t work in his family; his wife wouldn’t cook from scratch or do the other things that would save them money; she would play video games all day!
I think your numbers are great; I actually did sveral things to reduce our utility bills, and I’ve seen those kinds of savings, and higher. I cut our electric bill by over $250 a month in the summer, despite having had over 18 price increases from when we moved in 5 years ago. (Our house was built with low-flow toliets and shower-heads; it is the law here).
If you’re looking to buy bicycles for children, you can save a LOT by buying used. My parents have bought them for as little as $5 at garage sales. Thrift stores are a good source for children’s bicycles as well.
Andrea says
I would love to know what things are included in the calculation so I can calculate my own number!
Obviously childcare and the cost of another car are savings, but keeping the house warmer/cooler (depending on season) would be an expense, as would the extra things we do for homeschooling.
The Prudent Homemaker says
Andrea, I don’t know all of what he figured, but I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine, who quickly calculated that after the cost of daycare for one child, a second car (including registration, which is high here), and gas for work, she only brought home $5000 a year. She worked full time and it took her 30 minutes to get to work. She made $30,000 a year. She leased her car.
That didn’t include any extra food costs that she incurred for lunches, or for work clothing.
I think many readers of this site could find ways, including the ways to listed, to save $5000 a year.
To calculate your own numbers, think about the extra expenses you would occur for working out of the house, including food, transportation, daycare, etc.
I know for me, I save money by homeschooling over sending my children to school. Even with the cost of books (and there are ways to save there), I don’t have other expenses: backpacks, lunch boxes, convience foods/baggies, purchases for the classroom (we have required lists here; when I’ve been buying school supplies at back to school sales I’ve asked other parents to share their lists with me that they have–some stores have them there, too–and they have all sorts of items for each classroom that the students have to bring), fund rasiers, certain clothing expenses, driving children to school, etc.
Expenses are different wherever you live, so everyone’s numbers will be different, but if you want to know what yours would be, do some research (childcare in your area, gas and how far you would drive each day to work and daycare, etc.).
Andrea says
Thanks, Brandy!
Lana says
By the time you figure in private education (homeschooling) for each child I believe your number should be even higher. 🙂 I KNOW how much work that is!
Allison V. says
I never ran all those numbers, but when I was still married I was a SAHM. Hubby made well under 20K a year. I did the math on daycare and income and it would have put us upside-down – even our tax refund would have disappeared – not to mention I would have no time to take care of my family! I had absolutely no money but I had plenty of time and I learned to do great things with it. I stockpiled like crazy with coupons, and then when the income stopped I sold it in a garage sale and made money! I did online surveys for a few bucks. I was really resourceful with how to come up with something special by waiting on freebies and coupons.
NOW I’m single and I work. I make more income than hubby ever did, but even with childcare assistance, I’m paying more out of pocket for daycare for three young kids, gas, etc. My food costs more because I don’t have a free minute to do laundry or invest in my kids, let alone clip coupons. I have enough to get by and we’re doing okay, but I really loathe the “cost” of working!
CR says
Re: Prudent Homemaker post – my husband fortunately recognizes that I work just as hard at home as he does at his job (and harder much of the time – his words). I am shopper, chef, gardner, accountant, landscaper, animal caretaker, house keeper, social secretary, bargain hunter, vet, repairwoman (?) , etc… When both work full time, you spend a lot of money on convenience. Nice that he understands and acknowledges my contributions are just as valuable.
Jadzia @ Toddlerisms says
I kind of love that it was the *men* who volunteered to do those dishes. : )
Crystal @ Blissful Homemaking says
My problem is sodas. My husband drinks too many of them. I’m sure we could save a lot of money every year if we cut them out.
Denise says
My husband loves his pop…especially Mt Dew and he found that he likes the Aldi store brand of it just as well so that saves us TONS of money!
Jenni / Life from the Roof says
We just recently discovered GT Cola and like to have some on our date night at home every Friday night.
Theresa says
Wow, I already do all of these things! Wait until I tell my husband I’m saving (or earning, depending on which way you look at it) over $5,000 per year!
Lauren says
Driving the speed limit and keeping your tires inflated is a good easy way to save a few bucks. And if you can get there a few minutes later without turning purple and screaming, it is a good lesson in patience for the kids 😉
Sarah T. says
And for the parents! 😉
Denise says
I live in Amish Country in OH and TRUST ME some of the Amish aren’t frugal at all….
beth b says
Ha ha. My parents grew up in an Amish area of Northern Indiana. They don’t share this idealistic quaint image so many people seem to have of the Amish.
Denise says
I might have until I moved to Amish Country Ohio where I’ve seen first hand how not so quaint or idealistic it is. Both my mother in law and father in law grew up Amish and so did a lot of my husband’s friends. Notice I say grew up – they aren’t Amish anymore! But a lot of people in our friends/family group still have gardens and line dry clothes and do other things to live a green/sustainable life!
BethB says
One of my great-grandparents grew up Amish but I’m embarrassed to say I’m not sure which one. Anyway, my parents’ families were Mennonite and long ago the two groups split. My Dad was a sociologist (before becoming a university administrator) so he’s a little jaded toward the Amish with regard to their attitudes about education. Which I can understand.
Becky says
Now you’ve caught my curiosity. Can you give a few specific examples of how they aren’t frugal/quaint? Not to bash them, I’m just having trouble imagining.
Ann says
Okay, obviously this is an old post based on the date of the comments, but I still felt the need to comment. I was going to say the same thing. I live in a mostly Amish/Mennonite town in Lancaster County, PA. They definitely are not as frugal as people would think. Most of their homes are HUGE and very nice, newer homes. Of course, they aren’t heating and cooling with electricity, but still they like their big homes. And the general store in our town, the stuff there can be expensive. I was looking at the Amish clothing (not everything is handmade!) and it was more than I’d pay for clothes. I realize they probably don’t have as big of a wardrobe as most people do, but based on the large number of outfits I see hanging out on the clotheslines each week when I pass their homes, they must change clothes fairly often, if not daily. I agree that they save money in some areas not using electricity and such, making meals at home (they do go out to eat a lot too), etc., but they sure spend that money elsewhere.
Kim Jones says
Funny how we change in different stages of our lives. I’ve always loved hanging my clothes out to dry but recently decided that the cost ofour allergy problems outweighed the savings from not using the dryer. We do many of the other things! It’s a good list to make each of us think.
Lana says
You are so right! We would never hang our clothes outside in the pollen and mold! We got new neighbors about 4 years ago and he was taunting us about running our A/C in the spring. We told him we were keeping the pollen out of the house. He kept laughing at us until their son ended up in the hospital with out of control asthma. They now keep their windows closed and the A/C on year round too! Some things are just not worth saving money on.
Becky says
Agreed! We have allergy issues at our house too. The pollen is so high this year that our driveway is coated in yellow, not to mention the cars. I can’t imagine how that pollinated air would affect my husband & kids if I hung dry our clothes, on top of the regular discomfort they’re experiencing. Guess each to his/her own.
Amie says
You can use drying racks in your house. Hang shirts(on hangers) on shower curtain rod, it’s not an all or nothing. You can dry some and hang some.
Andrea says
Good tips, though the numbers are going to vary a lot by region/urban area. Some people might save a lot more (and some a lot less).
Just one example…we have a propane clothes dryer. Line-drying half of our laundry saves more than $300/year.
Julie says
Wow, I think I’d rather spend $160 a year and keep my icemaker plugged in.
Andrea says
If you use a lot of ice and rely on freezer cooking/buying in bulk to save money, this probably isn’t a good tip. We’d have to buy ice cube trays and give up most of a shelf in our (narrow, side-by-side) freezer, which would mean I wouldn’t have as much space for freezing garden vegetables and freezer meals.
Joy says
Yes, I agree with you Andrea on this one.
AC says
very interesting post! i’m going to send your “climate control your body” line to my husband. we have a major disconnect on thermostat settings because he is cold natured but doesn’t want to wear pants and long sleeved shirts inside in the winter – ha!
i felt more peaceful just reading your list by the way. 🙂
Katie says
I have the same problem with my husband! He never wants to put any extra clothes on even though he complains about being cold all the time. I don’t get it. Lol.
The Prudent Homemaker says
You must live in a colder climate than I do. My children know it’s cooler out when my husband actually wants to wear something with long sleeves–which is only for a month or two out of every year.
Laura at TenThingsFarm says
All good tips…that we already do. I think we’ve about tapped out on ways to save around here.
Amie says
It would just be made out of a plant that grows faster…like bamboo, hemp, etc…they do have some made of recycled paper, I think.
Bonnie says
Seriously? Are there any moms who read your site who are doing any of these things to begin with? 😉
The “doctor’s sized” house made me smile. 🙂
Crystal says
We’ve had a lot of new readers recently, so I thought this would be a great starter article for those who are new to frugal and simple living. I’m sure there are many, many of you who are doing all of these things–and many more. But it’s a good starting list for beginners.
Bonnie says
I agree. Thanks, Crystal!
Meredith says
I sometimes get a chuckle out of these articles. I have to read them with an open mind and see if maybe even one of them could apply to me. If I came home and said we could save a lot of money by buying tree free toilet paper, he’d laugh and tell me to go buy what we like. Or if I said we were going to line dry everything….he’d probably start asking where our extra money was going that we couldn’t run the dryer. Yet, I’m a decent cook so cooking from scratch is something we could do.
Jennifer says
That reminds me of my conversation with my husband last night:
“Honey, I read a great idea today: reusable toilet wipes!”
Let’s just say the conversation went down-hill from there (with lots of laughter, so it was all good)
Becky says
What is tree-free toilet paper anyway, just recycled?
CR says
My spouse protested for a year about buying 100% recycled toilette paper. Now it is the preference! Less linty and it is thicker. Keep trying. 🙂
Susannah says
Some things are do-able; others, not much motivation there. Frankly, if sustainable winds up looking like life in an Amazon rain forest tribe, what’s the point? I happen to like civilization and all its blessings. On the other hand, saving money for a good purpose and learning to be more resourceful are good. Frugality and gaining skills toward self-reliance do interest me, but not retreating to a more primitive lifestyle for its own sake.
Heather says
Me too! And it doesn’t get cold in the Amazon like it does in much of the world . . . .
Lauren says
I like civilazation and all of it’s blessings too, don’t get me wrong, but I love living on earth, eating clean food and breathing clean air more. I just read an article in which a science study pretty handily connected rising temperatures to the unusual weather we have been having lately. It honestly makes me scared for the futures of our children (and ourselves at the rate we are going)
rkessler says
Susannah,
You made me laugh until I cried. I love your sentence on life as a Amazon rainforest tribe. I had to read it to my husband. Thanks for the laugh.
Meredith says
Sell your old cell phones through online services. Trust me, you’ll make more than that! There is a market for used old cell phones. Also things like your first generation ipods and such are big ticket items sometimes!
Staci Michalicek says
Meredith,
Where’s your favorite site to sell to?
Meredith says
We’ve used Gazelle in the past for our cell phones. Ipods sell well on Ebay.
L says
How do you erase your information?
Jen says
Just remove the SIM card before selling the phone.
Momof5 says
Love that your daughter air dries her clothes! Kids really do pick this stuff up, which gives me hope that they might not find themselves on such a steep learning curve as adults – like my husband and I did, ahem. We’re in the middle of a radical (unintentional) money-saving week – we live in the far northern tier of the country, but I try to turn our furnace off every year on April 1. This year our oil tank ran dry on March 24 . . . but the kids have heard me say, “Put a sweater on!” for so many years that they said it back to me! (I’m wearing fingerless gloves to type this.) We’re re-reading “The Long Winter” to get through it 🙂
When I think about the savings – heating oil is up more than $2/gallon from my last fill, our oil company keeps increasing the required minimum number of gallons per visit, we have our fingers crossed that prices will be down in the fall – we’re saving at least $400 plus whatever we’d have used until we actually turned the furnace off plus whatever the difference between $5+ per gallon and what it will be in the fall. Guess the kids are onto something 🙂
javajunkie says
Stop buying disposable razors?? But I get those for free! lol
CR says
Razor blades will last much longer if after using you rinse and then dry them. Just wipe the razor on a towel. I have used the same blade cartridge for over a year and it is still sharp!
Mackenzie says
I love what you said about “climate controling your body, not your home”. We do that in my home. Extra blankets on the bed during the winter. The heating bill will get out of control if you leave it on all the time.
MaryAnne @ Parenting and Money says
Completely agree! Somehow, my husband is always cold when he is in the house and always hot when driving. We can’t get our temperatures to sync! It’s useless to use the thermostat to find a medium. Using additional clothing and blankets is easy and more cost effective.
jessica says
I love this statement too!.
Danna says
It’s a great idea in climates where the weather is not extreme. When we lived in Seattle climate controlling our bodies not our environment worked easily. Now we live in Phoenix and in the summer, AC is life saving, not extravagant. We can “climate control our bodies” down to naked and at 113 degrees out (as it is today) we still need AC. Ours is set to 80 degrees all summer (and even that is warm).
Jessica says
How exactly were these numbers calculated?
Kristie says
I wondered that too. These are great suggestions that everyone should try, but it’s good for writers of these posts to be careful not to “hard sell” the numbers and make these sensational. $260 is a lot of subscriptions.
Patti says
Our newspaper subscription is $204 per year. And I also get magazines monthly! EEEKKK!!
Andrea says
Visit the author’s website…it sounds like she’s in the “green” industry, so probably has sources for all the numbers.