The Little Cold House

There was once an old man who lived in a little old house, all alone. During the summer, he tended to his garden and took care of the harvest, putting it up for the winter.

In the fall, he walked here and there, looking for wood to keep the little house warm all winter. Sometimes he came across a tree that had fallen and he went home to get his saw and cut it up. Some of the neighbors left odd pieces of scrap lumber and other wood for him.

The little stove was enough to warm the house, but the windows were loose in their frames, so when the wind blew, they rattled and banged and the wind blew right in and the little house got very cold.

He didn't know what to do, but he thought he could use some of the small wood pieces to stop the windows from rattling. He hammered in a few around the edges of the frames and that stopped the rattling, but the wind still blew through the frames because they didn't fit the little house very well.

One cold, windy day, a little girl came walking along; dawdling, really, because she was a good little girl on her way to see her aunt and she wasn't in any hurry. Her aunt was very old and the little girl thought her house smelled funny.

As she passed by the man's old house, she saw him working on the windows and stopped to watch.

The old man looked up and said hello and she answered hello.

Then she asked why he was driving wood between the window frame and the house. He told her that he was trying to stop the wind from blowing through.

The little girl went along with new purpose and soon came to her aunt's house. She asked her aunt how to keep the wind from blowing through windows. Her aunt told her to get some old cloth and cut it into strips and poke it between the frames and the house with a butter knife.

So she did.

No, that's not the way to end a story. What she did was go home and tell her mother about the old man and his troubles and what her aunt had said. Her mother went to the rag box and soon, loaded with strips of rags, they went to see the old man. Between the three of them, they figured the best way to stuff the rags into the loose frames.

The old man was so happy that he cooked a big pot of soup and sent it home with them.

And... they lived happily ever after. Now, THAT'S the way to end a story.

Make Your Electric Bill a Bargain: Save Pennies

Are you worried about your electric bill this winter? According to the US Energy Information Administration, US households pay an average of $110.20 each month for electricity.
That's an average, so if you use electricity or fan forced heat to stay warm in the winter, the chances are that your bill will go quite a bit higher.

Since the average residential rate is 12.50 cents per kilowatt hour, it doesn't take much to rack up the bill. One kilowatt is 1,000 watts. A hundred watt light bulb burning for 10 hours will burn one kilowatt (100 X 10 = 1,000) so that single light bulb will cost you twelve and a half cents. That doesn't sound so bad, does it?

But let's say you replaced that hundred watt bulb with a 75 watt bulb. You would pay 9.375 cents instead of 12.50.

I hear you. You're saying, "Pat, you're really pinching pennies! That's not going to make much difference in my monthly bill!"

Well, yes, it will. Here's why. First, multiply that times 30 days for an average month: a little over $2.81. Okay, still nothing to lose sleep over, right?

We're talking about one measly light bulb. One. How many do you have in your home? Oh, I know you don't have all of them on for ten hours every day, but you do have some of them on some of the time, and it's quite possibly more than ten hours' worth each day.

Let's add in the refrigerator. How about the freezer? TVs? Computers? How about the electric cookstove or the electric heater? Or the fan on the gas heater? The microwave? And those are just the most common appliances and electronics the average household uses.

IF - and that's a big "IF," and of course it's nowhere near true, each appliance only burned the same as that one hundred watt bulb, then these basic appliances would cost you (theoretically) $33.72. That's figuring two computers, two TVs, one of all the rest and ten hours worth of lighting per day. Of course, most households use quite a bit more than that. Add in hair dryers, sewing machines, radios, etc., and start figuring the wattage for each one and you'll see what I mean.

Why all the figures? I am trying to show you how little things add up. If 25 watts can make a difference in your total monthly bill, how much can ten times that make? Did you know that it's your choice how much to spend on electricity? Sure, it is. Do away with that high wattage bulbs. Unplug the TVs and the computers when you're not using them. Minimize use of the cookstove (no, that's not an excuse to go out to eat!). Layer clothing and turn the heat down another degree. It all adds up... or rather subtracts down.

It's real money and it's your money, so why not keep it instead of blowing it by overusing electricity?

Cut Your Water Costs

Most of us are entering into a season of high water use. Besides watering lawns and gardens, kiddie pools need filling, we take more showers and baths because of outdoor activities, and we tend to want to play in water because of the heat.

Along with recent increases in utility bills, water bills will no doubt be rising in the near future so now is the time to get a head start on saving.

Outside, only water your lawn or garden when it needs it. I know... surely everyone knows that!

Fireplaces and Attics Can Waste Your Money

Heat rises! You know it does. Places like attics and fireplaces when not in use, allow the air that you pay to keep warm  float right out the roof.

Enough insulation in your attic will make a big difference in your heating bill, but if your attic door is leaking warm air up and out, you still will be paying more than you need to. There are special bats that cover attic doors, or you can cut one to fit the door. You'll need to tape it on to keep it in place when you close the door. Weatherize the edges, too, with strips they make for doors, or make your own from felted wool. Just cut strips and use white glue to attach them.

Fireplaces are great for cold weather, but they don't heat well unless they're equipped with a "heatilator," which are pipes going through the masonry and opening into the room, carrying the heat that would otherwise escape up the chimney. Some fireplaces work better than others due to their mass and the way it's arranged.

More than losing heat through the chimney when it's burning, a fireplace loses heat through an open damper when it's not burning. You can't reach in to the chimney to close it until the fireplace fire is out and fairly cold, so there is a lot of hot air going right up and out. Close it as soon as you can, but don't forget to open it before building the next fire!

Save Money by Not Heating These

Do you heat your pantry, closets and empty guest rooms? Do you heat hobby rooms or bedrooms all day long when no one is in them?

You're wasting home heating energy and money if you do.

It's a simple thing to close vents and keep the doors closed to unused rooms. Go a step further and make or buy draft stoppers if there is a gap under the door. Weatherstrip the inside of pantries and closets and wherever else it may be appropriate.

The idea is to seal these rooms away from the rooms you want to heat. Less space to heat = less money to heat it.

Note: It would be very unusual for food in a pantry to freeze unless it's on an outside wall and your house gets really, really cold, but keep potatoes and other fresh foods toward the inside wall for the best flavor. 

How Can We Save on Electricity?

I don't use much electricity. According to some figures I see from here and there, my electric bill is very low. I know that I have better opportunities to save than some people. For instance, I don't use a hair dryer because I don't wash my hair every day and I can plan most activities around it so that I don't have to go anywhere until it dries. Some women have to go to work every day, so washing their hair means using a hair dryer before they go.

There are other things, though, that I do that most others can do to save electricity.

• Use a manual instead of electric can opener
• Use extra blankets instead of an electric blanket
• Microwave things that take a long time in an electric oven or stove top
• If you have a laptop, run it on the battery until it needs to be charged, then unplug it as soon as it's charged.
• Turn off the lights! It's been said so many times that we become numb to it, but it really does matter.
• Keep your freezer full. If you can't keep it full of food, put bottles of water to freeze to fill up the empty spaces.
• Keep the refrigerator door closed, the coils and gasket clean.
• Put the TV, computer and other electronics on power strips, then turn them off when they're not being used.

Those are just a few possibilities and it may not seem like you'd save much, but added together these things can make an impact on your bill.

Some other things I do that not everyone may be able to do:

• Wash dishes by hand rather than paying for electricity for dishwasher
• Sweep my (hardwood) floors with a broom rather than vacuum
• Use fans instead of the air conditioner whenever possible
• Make bread by hand instead of using an electric bread maker
• Use natural light as long as possible to avoid turning on electric lights
• Shower, wash dishes and other activities during the daylight hours to avoid using more lights.
• Use a minimum of electric kitchen appliances like food processors. There are many manual versions available.

If you save electricity in other ways, I'd love to hear about it!

Water, water, water....

The weather seems lopsided for the US this year. Parts of the nation are dealing with far too much water and parts of it are dealing with none at all. We're lucky so far in that it's been hot, but not as hot as some places, and it's been dry but not as dry as some places.
If you're in a severe drought, getting water to the lawn or flower bed may not be number one on your list of priorities. A vegetable garden might be on the list, but if it's hard to get enough water to it, you may still be able to save it.

First, mulch everywhere you can immediately after watering. Use whatever you have on hand: Newspaper, cardboard, grass clippings, weeds, sheets of plastic. That will trap and hold moisture right away, then you can concentrate on finding ways to get water to the garden without having to run the hose or sprinklers.

Using gray water is illegal in some areas, so not all of these ideas may work well for you. Whether it's illegal or not, use gray water with caution on food plants. Some is fine, like rinse water from dishes; some may not be, like bath water. Whenever you use gray water, use it immediately. It becomes "black water" quickly as pathogens multiply under ideal situations. Once it's on and in the ground, it doesn't deteriorate.

Save rinse water from your washer. There are many different set ups in laundries, so it may be difficult for you to save it, but try to figure a way to do it. Some people can pump water out onto the lawn straight from the washing machine. Mine goes into one of those huge granite sinks and I just put the plug in it when the wash water drains. (More often, I use the wringer washer and that makes it simple.)

Save rinse water from washing dishes. I don't know how hard it would be to do that with an automatic dishwasher. I wash dishes by hand. Rinse water from dishes is good for the soil.

When it rains, get a bucket or a bowl or whatever you can find and catch the water from your gutters. (In some states, catching rain water is illegal, too, so be sure to check first.)

Keep a bowl under the kitchen faucet to catch drips and drops and water run to cool off or warm up. It's not gray water, so anyone can use it.

I put a pitcher on the back of the cabinet and dump bits of leftover water and ice cubes into it. When it fills up, it waters a couple of plants.

Put a bucket under the faucet in the shower to catch water while it warms up. This isn't gray water either, but if you also put a plug in the tub and catch the shower water, it is.

As you work on it, other water saving ideas will occur. Don't ignore them, no matter how outlandish they may be.

Water Savings

With the drought continuing in many places, using fresh, treated water from the tap for everything is beginning to seem very wasteful. If you want to save water and save money, too, there are a lot of ways to do it.

For instance, at any given time you walk into my kitchen, there will be a glass or glasses set back on the counter with varying levels of water in them. I fill each one as water becomes available from leftover drinking water and melted ice from drinks. It's then used to water the house plants or to dump on the floor for a quick mop up.

There is at times a bucket just outside the back door that holds rinse water from doing dishes or water that's run to heat up or cool down, or water that I've rinsed my hands in. I use it to water outside plants or sometimes to mop the floor.  I've washed the car with it and even washed windows with it. It's plenty clean enough for things like that.

Water that has been used to rinse dishes with is sometimes recycled in the bathroom to wash the sink or toilet - and again, the floor.

There's always the shower water which can be used to flush the toilet, pour out on plants or lawn, scrub the floor or wash the car.

When I'm cooking, I leave a pan of water in the kitchen sink to rinse my hands between tasks. When I stopped to pay attention, I was amazed at how many times I turned on the water for that.

Leftover tea or coffee waters plants, too. Put the sugared drinks on outdoors plants to avoid attracting insects into the house.

Go to Extremely Frugal and search for water. There are many, many ways to reduce the amount of water we use.

Heaters for the Frugal

Probably the cheapest way to stay warm when it's cold is with a wood stove... IF you can get out and get your own wood. Buying it may be cheaper than buying gas or oil, but again, it may not.

You can get wood for free or cheap but you have to work at it. Some places (newspapers, notably) get deliveries on wood pallets which they sometimes give away. It's cheaper to do that than to ship them back where they came from and they're there for the asking.

Besides that, keep an eye on your local Freecycle or Craigslist for trees that need to be removed or other free firewood for the picking/cleaning up. You might even have some in your own backyard.

Besides wood stoves? Kerosene can be inexpensive if you live in a small house, but there are dangers to using kerosene heaters indoors. Look for one that's made specifically for indoor heating and don't use lamp oil in it. Go to a gas station or farm supply store and ask for plain old fashioned kerosene. It will smell, yes. If you can't stand the smell, you can get kerosene that's been deodorized, but it will cost more.

Electric heaters can inexpensively heat a small space like one room of your house while you turn down the heat in the rest of it. Figure the cost by finding the cost per kilowatt hour on your electric bill, then multiplying times 1 1/2, which is 1500 watts, the maximum allowed by law. Multiply that by how many hours you use the heater to get the cost.

How else can you stay warm? Warm yourself and not the house.
Or go for some extremely frugal warming up tips.
Or see how I stayed warm when the power went out!

Don't let conventionality make you pay more in heating bills than you need to. If your  bills are too high, look around, make some adjustments and do what you can to stay warm and keep as much of your money as you can.

More about passive solar power

If you're into saving money, using as many solar powered ideas as you can find makes sense. It can be fun to find different ways to get the sun to do for us what we now pay to have done. If you haven't tried these, they're worth thinking about.


Passive solar powered oven
It took me a long time to decide to spring for a solar oven, but I'm glad I did, not only for the money it's saved, but for the pure pleasure of cooking a pan of cornbread or soup in it. The food is delicious and it never burns or dries out.

The concept is simple: A black box to absorb heat, a see-through cover to allow the sun in and to trap the heat as well as to keep the food safe from dirt, bugs and animals. There are many variations on the basic plan, from elaborate solar kettles to cardboard pizza boxes. Aluminum or mylar can help reflect even more sun rays into the box to raise the temperature a little more. You can cook anything from hotdogs to cake in the right solar oven. 

Passive solar powered dehydrator
A simple tray with a mesh bottom can be put together by almost anyone. Put the food on it, cover with a cloth and set or hang it in the sunshine, or use your car. Just be sure that the mesh is food safe. Window or door screen are not. You may find a plastic mesh that's food safe or look around at what you already have. It doesn't have to be "mesh" as such, just something flat that will allow some air circulation. I have used a mesh type of no splatter lid, and although it was small, it worked fine. The ridged part of a broiler, if it has holes, will work. If you can't find anything else, go ahead and use window or door screen, but cover it with a cloth before putting the food on it. Cloth itself, when it's stretched tightly onto a frame, is good to dry things on. Use your imagination.

Passive solar powered food warmer
Again, use your car. Put your food, wrapped like you would a sandwich or in a covered container, on the dash of your car when it's in the full sun. It won't be long until it's warm enough to eat. Use this method to save honey that's started to crystallize, to thaw frozen soups from the freezer and to melt butter or to melt chocolate for dipping or any time that you would use a double boiler. It may be a little slower, but it's cheaper by far.

There's passive solar and then there's passive solar...

And the most frugal is the latter.

Okay, I'll explain.

Passive solar power is usually used to produce heat for various applications, and indeed, heat can do a lot of things besides just heat your house. Unfortunately, most passive solar "systems" are expensive to obtain and install and it takes someone very handy to build their own system.

But of course, there's another way. It may not produce the dramatic results that a system does, and it may not be visible so that others can see how cool you are, but you may save just as much money with even more efficiency. Affordable passive solar power comes in many ways rather than one, and some of the ways might even be frowned upon by your neighbors. If you're ready to be a rebel with a cause (that of saving your bank balance), read on.

Passive solar powered ice tea maker
Fill a gallon glass jar or pitcher about half full of water, add three heaping tablespoons of loose tea or four to six teabags and set it on a slab of stone or dark cloth in a sunny location for several hours. That's all there is to it. If the tea is too strong, add water. Add sugar if desired. You'll save money hand over fist if you've been buying tea premade from the grocery store.

Passive solar powered water heater
This is a very affordable way to heat water. Put it into well washed milk jugs or other clear or semi clear containers and put them in a sunny place. In a few hours, you'll have water hot enough to wash dishes or wash your hair (or take a bath if you've put out enough containers). If you need convincing, just test the temperature of the water from a garden hose that's been in the sun all afternoon.

Passive solar powered clothes dryer
This was invented many years ago. In the traditional manner, two T-posts are set in the ground, usually about 20 feet apart, and wire or plastic line is strung from one to the other. You pin wet laundry to the line with clothespins and wait for it to dry. It works best when the sun is shining, of course and a breeze will hurry the result. The sun dries, kills pathogens with its ultraviolet rays and, given enough time, will whiten whites and remove stains.

Do you use the sun in these ways? It will save you money.

There are more ideas coming up, but share yours, please. Why not use passive solar power for all it's worth?

Saving water is not just for summer

Winter comes and it doesn't seem so important, does it? At least that's the way I've thought of it before, but I've been thinking about this. Sure, the water bill drops when we quit watering our lawns or gardens and quit playing in the water on hot days, but we can make it drop even more.

When the weather got cold, I quit putting a container under the kitchen faucet to catch water that would otherwise go down the drain. I put it back today and will leave it there. What to use the water on? Cleaning where hot water isn't necessary, watering the houseplants, watering trees when we don't have much snow, mopping the floors, washing my hands, rinsing a cloth or cup or whatever. I just have to pay attention so I don't rinse a cup after washing my hands!

Another way to save water in the winter: Make showers quicker and less often. You won't die because you didn't have two showers today. Honest, some people do that. (Shower twice a day, I mean, not die because they can't.)

Save water from cans or pans of vegetables and use it to water houseplants.

Save water from your shower to clean, flush the toilet or do nasty jobs like wash the trash can.

Draft dodgers

AKA, draft stoppers, draft snakes or draft guards, these soft log-like forms are great for stopping cold air, insects and dust from entering your home under a door or a window.

As frugal luck would have it, they're easy to make and chances are that you have something already on hand to make them from.

I say "something" because they can be made from a lot of different things. If you're in a big hurry and don't have time to cut and sew, roll up a towel or rug to place under the door.

If you want to make a real draft dodger, you will need some kind of material. Closely woven works best, but if you don't have any, use what you have and of course, used fabric is perfect for the most frugal draft stopper.

Besides that you will need 

• Needle and thread or a sewing machine 
• Stuffing, which can be dry corn, beans or rice, cut-up rags or yarn scraps, or (better because of its insulating nature) use newspaper rolled to fit the tube. If you don't want to use newspaper or rags, remember that something rather heavy will keep the draft stopper in place better, but even plastic bags, crunched and rolled tightly, can be used. 

Here's the way I do it: I cut the material at least 12 inches wide (wider if you have a healthy gap to fill) and 8 to 10 inches longer than the bottom of the door.

I fold the fabric in half lengthwise and sew the side to make a tube, then I sew one end firmly closed. I have gathered the material with thread and then tied it closed tightly with ribbon or string but I like the sewn end better.

Then I just stuff it and sew the open end. That's all there is to it.

Keeping out the cold is more important than making something look good, but when you have time, you can decorate your draft dodger with embroidery stitches, ruffles, lace or rickrack, or make a cover for it that can be laundered.

I don't need them at the outer door, but I use them against the bedroom door during the day to keep from heating it. You could use one against closet doors, or any door to a room that doesn't need heat.

Since they're so cheap to make, why not?

Frugal ways to prepare for cold weather

Cold weather is just around the corner for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. Every fall, I start thinking of frugal ways to keep warm without spending everything I have on a heating bill. There are lots of ways, but some of them only return small savings and some of them require a lot of effort, so here are three of the easiest, most frugal ways I've found to save prepare for cold weather.

My snowy back yard (2009)

I've seen people walking around in short sleeved shirts and complaining about how cold they are. Layering clothing is a very frugal way to keep you warm without having to turn up the thermostat (or put more wood on the fire). A sweater or overshirt or even a jacket makes frugal sense when you're chilly, whether that's inside or out.

Men wear undershirts in cold weather, why not women? And children? An undershirt, a long sleeved shirt or sweater and a jacket will keep you toasty warm. Do the same with pants. Long underwear is a frugal alternative and is available for men, women and children. Use them, along with heavier weight pants like jeans and corduroy and if you're still too cold when sitting, put a blanket or throw over your legs.

Another frugal way to stay warm is to eat warm things. Cold weather calls for soup and stew, but any other meal served hot is good, too. There are two reasons for this: One, is that the heat really does warm you up from the inside out and the other is that the richness of the dishes give you energy that helps the body maintain an even temperature.

Drinking hot fluids like tea, hot chocolate or broth will help, too. Avoid cold drinks except for water.

Another way works only if you heat with gas or oil: Use an electric space heater only in the room where you are. Close off the rest of the house and turn the thermostat down so it doesn't have to heat the rest of the house much at all. Even two space heaters can be more frugal than running the furnace enough to heat the whole (unused) house.

Come on, autumn!

I don't know about you, but I'm eager for cooler weather! It's begun to cool down at night now and the days are shorter so even a hot hour or two doesn't really seem bad. This is a perfect, frugal time of the year because the air conditioner isn't sucking electricity and the furnace isn't sucking gas so my utility bills are reasonable.

It won't be long, though, until it's cool enough to need a little heat in the mornings and evenings and the gas bill will begin to creep up if I use the furnace. I put off doing that as long as I can. Instead, I do these things:

Put on long underwear in the morning, even if it's going to be in the 80s or even 90s later on. I take them off when it starts to warm up. I also wear a sweater or jacket as long as it's needed.

Never drink cold drinks until it warms up. I like hot tea and sometimes will drink a cup of hot chocolate or broth to keep me warm. It keeps my hands warm, too!

Keep my feet warm by wearing socks and warm slippers. So what if the weatherman calls for 88 degrees by midafternoon? If my feet are cold, I'll do what I can to warm them up - short of turning on the furnace.

Have a hot breakfast. Hot cereal, eggs and toast or even a cup of soup sure tastes good on a cool morning.

Actually, I love these things. That's one reason I'm excited for the changing of seasons. I love getting back into my soft sweaters and wearing warm house slippers. It makes me feel pampered somehow.

Then add fall colors and the last of the harvest coming in... smells of late onions and fresh apples and first wood fires... is there anyone who doesn't like autumn?

Sights, smells, tastes, and even saving money. What's not to like??

Keeping the house cool

How's your weather? Getting hot? It's heading that way here! I hate to run the air conditioner, so I find ways to avoid it as long as possible. Unless we're having a really hot spell, I can wait until afternoon to turn it on. That's because the back of the house has high windows that don't let in direct sunshine in the summer and because there is a very large evergreen tree at the southeast corner that shades most of the house until the sun gets into the western portion.

Using just those two things can make a difference in the temperature of a home. Did you know that there can be as much as 20 degrees difference in the shade of a tree and in the sun? That's a lot! If you could drop the inside temperature from 90 to 70,(or from 100 to 80) you could do without an air conditioner altogether.

There is a tree - well, two trees - growing on the west side of the house where the hot sun shines in the afternoon, but they're not nearly as big or as thick as the one in back. It will be awhile before they'll do serious shading, so I am careful to keep the curtains closed against the sun and to avoid any dark colored furnishings where they could absorb the heat.

Other ideas I've used:

Fans for air circulation. Just air moving will make it seem cooler.
Stay hydrated. Water, water, water. Avoid alcohol.
Open the house at night and close it tight during the hot hours of the day. I watch the thermometer to know when to open and close the house.
Eat light foods. Avoid heavy meats and sauces and stick with salads and other light foods.
Daydream. Think about cool places or times.

I use many other ways to stay cool as long as I can. That keeps money in my pocket just a little bit longer!