Comments on: How Low Can You Go?

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:23:52 +0000

Yes, sorry I didn’t report back! According to Milton at Portland General, night time is your best bet – in between 10 pm and 6 am. Since we go to bed at 10, I’ll probably be getting up early and doing dishes and laundry then!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:44:25 +0000

did you ever follow up on whether electricity is cheaper at night? i am curious too. i guess i could call them myself.

By: artemistry

artemistry — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:41:33 +0000

I think that phrase “shit, shower, shave” does sort of give the idea of the severity of military regimen, however, this wasn’t the case for either my husband or I – he was required to shave every morning. Boot camp is the most severe – one learns how to wash their hair and body in less than a minute. Regular military life (non-deployed) is much more similar to regular 9-5 in many ways. I imagine the soldiers in Iraq could probably identify more with the three s’s.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:12:57 +0000

oh man, i came back to read your replies and noticed that apparently most of the keys on my keyboard are on their last leg…..

i was thinking of you today as i was showering….. and being in the military…. my friends who served always said mornings consisted of a choice: shit, shower or shave? is that true? LOL

By: artemistry

artemistry — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:27:05 +0000

Seth opens the fridge a lot too. I’m thinking of getting a child-proof lock.

I have some ketchup bottles, and I washed the dish soap bottles out several times and ran all of them through the dishwasher. I also managed to get some spray bottles from the dollar store down the street. Some of the bottles I will end up using were containers from non-toxic Melalueca products. I put my dishwasher detergent in a glass jar that I found at Goodwill. So, I’m not worried. Thanks for the tip!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:25:10 +0000

i totally understand about wanting to save money, but be careful about reusing old cleaning bottles– there could be residues in them…. old food containers are a safer bet– like those plastic parmesan containers or ketchup squirt bottles.

another electricity saving tip: when you open the fridge, kow what you need and close it fast. zoe tends to open the ridge and just stad there and stare into it….. hat wastes a ton of power….

By: artemistry

artemistry — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:29:27 +0000

Rebecca: I’m not sure if it’s cheaper at night, from what I can gather from our statement, but I’ll give them a call and find out. Thanks for that tip!

Also, I know about the cleaners workshop, however, in the effort to be truly frugal, I’m just using a book I got from the library, and reusing old cleaning bottles that I’ve been collecting. I will recommend your workshop to others who might need something more.

Gina: So glad you found my blog! I look forward to your input. I don’t use the microwave because my husband said something about it changing the molecular structure of food, and that sort of freaked me out. The thing is, I wasn’t using it that much to begin with. We don’t have A/C, so I don’t have to worry about that – although it does make it awful hot in the kitchen.

I just read that vacuuming the coils on the back of the fridge at least once a year also helps (not sure of the specifics) so I think we’re going to pull that out this weekend and see what’s back there.

By: Gina

Gina — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:18:28 +0000

I try baking more than one thing at a time. If I am baking chicken, I will also bake potatoes. I try to cook enough at one time so that I will not have to use my oven every day. Doing this not only saves on running the oven, but also on cooling costs (if you have to run the a/c to cool your home back down).

I bake cakes in the microwave (yes, they are yummy!) I have learned that the quicker I can cook meals, the less energy it uses. I use my crock pot as much as possible. Since it is a small appliance, it takes much less energy than the stove. We eat lots of salads during the summer, no cooking at all!

I found your blog via Rockin’ Granola. I love it!!! Your writing style is so refreshing and I look forward to hearing what’s to come.

By: rebecca

rebecca — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:19:59 +0000

do laundry and the dishes at night. isn’t electricity cheaper on off-peak hrs?

also, i saw you DIY challenges. you do know that i have a green cleaners workshop? i already have everything you’d need available at my house. let me know if you need help getting started or need some supplies. you can bet i scored them all for cheap!!