Getting by with less

I think we can all agree that it has been a tough year. Incomes are either flat or down while costs of stuff is up. Personally, I don't see things getting any better for quite a while. This is an election year, but the people we elect in November won't be able to begin doing anything until next year. Who knows how much time it will take for what they do to actually take affect. Optimistic is not a term I use to describe myself anymore.

Regardless of what else happenes or may happen, I have learned some valuable lessons this year. Perhaps many other Americans have learned this one as well: how to get by with less. I've had to drastically cut my spending just so I could pay my bills. If it's not an absolute essential, I'm not buying it any more. Sure, there are things I miss, but I've discovered that I can get by without them - that I really didn't need them. This is a lesson we all need to learn: how to separate what we need from what we want.

America has been a society of consumers for a long time. A billboard for one of the local "factory outlet" malls near where I live has the slogan: "Shop till you drop". Advertisers show us all the things we need to look good in, smell good wearing, all the stuff we've 'got to have' so that we'll be enticed to go out and buy it. While the money lasted, it was good. But did we really need all that junk?

Did you know that America is the largest consumer of a majority of the natural resources of this planet while not having the largest population? The American Association for the Advancement of Science has this to say: "For many resources, the United States of America is the world's largest consumer in absolute terms. For a list of 20 major traded commodities, it takes the greatest share of 11 of them: corn, coffee, copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminum, rubber, oil seeds, oil and natural gas. For many more it is the largest per-capita consumer." When it comes to energy consumption we again are the biggest consumers. And when it comes to oil consumption, no one else is even close.

So it might not be such a bad idea for us all to try and get by with less. Sure, some jobs will go away because of this. However, if we were to start doing/building some of the things that we as a nation really need then new jobs will be created. Some ideas: research and develop alternative forms of energy, rebuild our highway infrastructure (remember that bridge that fell in Minneapolis?), and clean up the environment.

I'll end with a link to a post by Frances Ellen on 6 ways to beat the cost of groceries. She's got some excellent suggestions.

Ways to Save Energy Costs Now

My post last week was about alternative ways to produce energy for yourself. While there were many good suggestions there, what do you do if you don’t have the money to purchase one of those systems? Well, whether you rent or own, you can make some simple changes to where to live that can save you hundreds of dollars in energy costs over the year. Let’s take a look at a few of these cost saving measures.

Lighting:

• Here’s a no-cost solution: turn the light off when you leave the room. Unless you need the light for security reasons, turn off lights when they are not needed.
• Replace incandescent bulbs with efficient, compact fluorescents. The new compact fluorescents produce the same amount of illumination for a fraction of the energy requirements. My power company posts the following information comparing the energy costs of the two types of bulbs for 10,000 hours of use: incandescent bulbs cost $51 to use while compact fluorescent bulbs cost just $12.75.
• Don’t need all the illumination all the time? Consider installing dimmer switches (solid-state are best) to save money.

In the kitchen:

• Match the size of the cooking element to the size of the pan. If the pan is too small for the element you are just heating the air and wasting energy.
• Use a toaster oven or microwave when cooking/heating just one item instead of your big oven. Save the big oven for when you have a number of items to cook.
• Let carry-over heat do part of the work. You can turn off a burner, toaster oven, or oven several minutes before the food is done cooking. The existing heat will finish the job for you and you will have saved some energy.

Home laundry:

• Use cold or warm water to wash clothes. Modern laundry soaps don’t need hot water to get your clothes clean. Unless I’m washing rag cloths, I only use cold water when doing the laundry.
• Get a clothes drying rack. Not only do you save money by not running the dryer very long, but your clothes last longer and you don’t have to iron as much (save money and time that way!). I put shirts and pants in the dryer for about 10 minutes and then transfer them to the rack. This is a big money saver.
• Keep the dryer exhaust vent and line clean. Not only will you save money but you reduce the likelihood of a dangerous dryer fire.

Heating & cooling:

• In the summer just turning the thermostat up a couple of degrees can save a lot of money. If your home has ceiling fans, use them to keep you comfortable. In the winter drop the temperature a few degrees and put on a sweater to save money.
• Replace the filter on a regular basis. When it gets clogged your heating/cooling system will have to work harder and use more energy.
• Use the sun to your advantage. In the summer keep curtains closed when the sun is shining to reduce heat. Because I live in the deep south, I’ve installed a solar shade on my west-facing windows; I can still see out, but the heat of the sun is greatly reduced. In the winter let the sun in for some additional heat.

Looking for some more ideas? Check out these Web articles:

• Edison Electric Institute – Energy Efficiency
• U.S. Department of Energy
• Alliance to Save Energy
• Sierra Club – Energy Saving Tips
• Check the Web site of your power provider. Many power companies also offer free home energy audits. Take advantage of anything that’s free!