TV Free

Here's how it happened: the cable company was running that “if you steal cable, you are the worst person in the world” commercials and, having just paid another cable bill, I was doubly insulted.  This happened to coincide with “National Turn Off Your TV Week” so that's what we did. 

It was painful, but after I got out of the habit of watching, something weird happened when I turned it back on... it seemed noisy and empty.

I knew that unrewarding feeling would disappear, and I would eventually be lulled back into a tv stupor, so instead, I called the cable company and cut the cord. Yep.

At first, it was amazingly difficult. I felt lonely. Undirected. The house seemed too quiet. But oh, how nice to have an extra 50 bucks a month. That's 600 a year. Since we had poor reception without the cable, we quit watching local tv too.

Saving the amount we were spending on cable was a big incentive to make the switch. But by doing this, we actually ended up saving even more. Without our daily exposure to television commercials, we no longer have a list of things we should get, and are getting by with what we have just fine. 

By the way,  we haven't completely disconnected... we can watch shows online. There are some commercials, but not so many, and at the moment, many of those are for causes rather than stuff, so I am good with that. So we still watch, just not nearly as much. 

Don't Preheat

For some things, like breads and pizza, you have to preheat the oven so it cooks the outside with a crispy crust, without baking the softer insides to. But for other stuff, you can put whatever you are cooking right away, and let the cooking begin. No need to preheat the oven.

When your dish is almost finished, turn the oven off and let the dish finish cooking using the heat of the oven. If you leave the door closed, the heat will remain inside for a surprisingly long time.

Save Hot Water with Low Flow Showerhead

This tip is one we stumbled on by accident. We lived in an apartment with TERRIBLE water pressure. A small stream would eventually turn into a dribble, and we'd put the seasonal call in to our landlady. She'd send a plumber over every couple of months to temporarily fix it. Awful.

So we found this low-flow shower head for about 10 bucks. Ahhh, the joy of real water pressure. Like holding your thumb over the garden hose, this baby shoots water out in a stream strong enough to really rinse. It even has a "hold" button, for hard-core water savings. You can pause the water while you lather, then start it up again without having to reconfigure the hot/cold ratio.

I wish I could say I use that button, but I am not that much of a conservationist of water. In fact, one of my big vices is the long shower. Now, however, I can take the occasional long shower with less guilt, knowing I am wasting much less water.

Window Curtain Insulation

For the longest time, I didn't think about window coverings as functional. Oh, sure, they keep prying eyes from seeing what's going on inside, and they can make a room look more finished, but until recently, I didn't use them for temperature control. When I was cold or hot, I just bumped the thermostat. But no more!

Our south side windows let in a lot of heat (just ask the cat, who will follow the sunbeam from the front room to the back bedroom for his afternoon catnaps). Even on a cold day like today, with the sun shining, these windows are letting in tons of heat. The north side of the house is constantly cold, but by adding thick coverings to the glass, we have cut the cold coming inside significantly. At nights and on cold, overcast days, we close all the window coverings. The heater comes on less often now.  In the summer, it's the reverse... we keep the south blinds down. 

This isn't anything new. I remember an old friend who took down the heavy winter curtains and put up the airy summer curtains every year. Now I finally understand why.

Solar Powered Clothes Dryer

There’s an apocryphal story about a guy who made it rich in the seventies by advertising “solar-powered clothes dryers” which were, of course, nothing more than outdoor clothes lines.

Clothes lines have been around a long time. They can be as simple as a line between two trees, or as complicated as a permanent structure dedicated to line drying. I just saw a beautiful, modern design line, with a minimal tree shape cut out as the two ends. It’s pricey, but if I didn't have one already, I’d be tempted to make this one.

Clothes that are line dried last longer as well (drying clothes in a dryer is really kind of rough on the fabric, all that heat and tumbling) And of course, the energy to dry them is free.

According to California Energy Commission, “A dryer is typically the second-biggest electricity-using appliance after the refrigerator, costing about $85 to operate annually.”

In the winter, drying clothes inside can help put moisture back into the air. Collapsible clothes lines can be set up in the bathtub. If the clothes are not dripping, you can drape them over moisture resistant surfaces (I like to imagine that my ficus tree loves being decorated with damp socks and underwear).

Our outdoor line is on our back deck, and I intend to give it a cover so it will double as a patio umbrella.

Test your Olive Oil

I hate being ripped off. And it isn't like olive oil is cheap, but given the choices in oils, for my own reasons I prefer olive oil to corn or canola... too bad corn or canola oil is probably what I have in my cupboard!

This is the most expensive canola oil on the planet! It SAYS 100% extra virgin olive oil, and has no other ingredients listed, yet I know it is not extra virgin olive oil. How? I did the refrigerator test. Olive oil hardens, canola and corn oil do not. Apparently there is big money to be made in fake olive oil. Add a little green coloring, maybe a slight flavor, and there you have it.

Apparently, Italy was exporting more olive oil than they make. So someone figured something was up. ABC did some tests to discover the fake oil. NPR did a report. I am just flat out mad about it. Maybe I should have known. I bought mine at the Devil's own “Sam's Club”. Oops.

The NPR guy says if it’s less than 10 bucks a half litre, it’s probably fake. I hate using price for my pre-buy test, though.

Homemade Toothpaste

We started making our own toothpaste because we didn't like the ingredients in regular toothpaste. Some of that stuff is scary! But as it turns out, it is also cheaper. Here is our recipe:

• baking soda
• hydrogen peroxide
• flavor (optional. We've used peppermint extract and anise extract. I think cinnamon is next.)
• Dr. Bronner's (optional)

Here is the how-to video that got us started. Basically, it's a paste of two parts baking soda, one part hydrogen peroxide, add in flavor.

We make ours fresh every morning, but I am thinking of making a small amount of paste. I like a drop or two of Dr. Bronners (hippie soap) because I like a little foam. We are also growing stevia just so I can add the ground, dried leaves to make it a little bit sweet. Stevia is a very sweet herb that does not cause cavities. Or so I've read. As for fluoride, well... it's in the rinse water whether we like it or not.

Cheap Vodka Drycleaning

I read this tip from a stage costumer. She wrote that to keep costumes fresh, costumers spray the costumes with vodka, the cheaper the better. (We used the ironically named “Aristocrat” brand, $4.49 at Price Cutters)

“This shirt says ‘Dry Clean Only’. Which means it’s dirty.” Mitch Hedberg said it, but I always think it when I see my own pile of dirty dry cleaning. The worst, though, was my green suede jacket. I love that thing, but have been forbidden to wear it until it is dry cleaned. Yeah, that's gonna happen.

So I tried the vodka trick. I turned the jacket inside out, sprayed vodka in the pit regions and let it dry out. At first it smelled a little of alcohol, but that soon disappeared. Now I have my jacket back, and it smells like suede. Not booze. Not B.O. Just suede.

Play Pretend with the Weather

When heating your home in the winter (or cooling it in the summer) try to keep the temperature as close to the outside temperature as comfortably possible.

If you are doing the opposite (heating to 80, cooling to 65), you are already halfway there, you just have your seasons backward! So pretend the weather outside is opposite and enjoy your inside temperature. For example, in the winter, pretend it's summer outside, baking hot, and you are keeping your house pleasantly chilly. In the summer, pretend the weather outside is frightfully cold. Look at you, all warm and toasty in your house.

Turning the heat down at night or when you aren't at home is another way to save. Programmable thermostats are available and our local utility company has a rebate to make the switch even more attractive.