Home Sweet Simple Home

Calculating cost per load

Just the other day I posted this about laundry costs in my home- lamenting that I didn't quite know how to figure in the hidden costs of energy consumption. Amy Jo sent me to this great website- calculating in that I have a front loading washing machine and run almost all laundry on warm/cold cycle and our water heater is gas= This calculates to 14 cents per load. Continuing on with the dryer--- According to my calculations it costs 41 cents/load if I use the dryer every time I use the washer. This is skewed a bit by the fact that my dryer has a moisture sensor- so even if it’s set to dry for 55 minutes, it will shut off if it feels the clothes are dry before that time. (this plus a front loading washer has saved us $$$. On the water bill too!) But we’ll go with that time frame for our figures- but it’s nice to think in my head that it’s probably a bit less than this.
Continuing on- So to wash and dry one load of laundry is 55 cents. Add in the calculation of 10 cents [5 cents/load for detergent and 5 cents/load fabric softener] that comes to 65 cents a load washed and dried. 7 loads a week for 4 weeks= $18. 20. If I were to hang-dry half the loads that would drop the cost down to $12.46- a savings of $5.74/month.
Side Note: In January of 2004 we purchased a new washer and dryer and a new upright freezer- all 3 much more energy efficient than ever we had before. Our old washer/dryer was given to us by my parents who purchased it the year my sister was born so in 2004 it was 24 years old. We went from a top loading washer to a front loader. We went from a 1970 something chest freezer (that wheezed- cost us $50 to buy it and about $12/month to run it!) to an energy efficient upright model with more room. We noticed a significant change in our electric bills that next billing cycle.

This website was quite an eye opener. Our average monthly electric bill is $41.00. In our home the stove/oven, water heater and furnace are gas. If I would line-dry 7 loads of laundry/month we would come in under $40/month. It is my goal to get our electric bill under $40.00.
Here are some more interesting tidbits:  It costs approx. $4.21 to run my refrigerator 24-7 and yet it looks like it costs $3.70 a month to run a floor fan for 12 hours a day. Yikes!
And this:
I set the timer on my coffee pot to start my coffee approx. 20 min. before I wake up- I then usually leave the coffee pot on until it automatically shuts off- a 2 hour time span. According to the website- It costs $5.40/month to leave that coffee pot on for 2 hours. If I shut it off after 30 min. and pour the coffee in a carafe to keep it warm it will cost me $1.35/month. That’s a monthly savings of $4.05 which comes out to a savings of $48.60 per year! That’s more than 1 month’s electric bill.
I’d have to guess that approx. 75% of the light bulbs in our home are CFL. Some we are just waiting for the bulbs to burn out to replace and others can’t be replaced due to light shades or some weird reason that they simply *pop* the CFL bulbs (example: ceiling fan light in kitchen). We have a rule that no lights will remain on in rooms we are not in. We have a 5 cent fine for anyone leaving lights on in a room after leaving it (unless it’s to go to the bathroom and come right back) that includes Mom and Dad.

I’m toying with the idea of having a Pioneer Day (we’re studying pioneers right now) here at home where we spend the entire day not using electricity. Of course, I’ll be borrowing my brother’s fireside coffee pot before I embark on that one!

Hat Tip to Amy Jo for sharing this site! Thanks a bunch!

Oops- Laundry too!

 Looking back on last week’s posts, I realized that when I posted this about how I budget for household goods I totally forgot about laundry!
I don’t beat my clothes on a rock . . . . I do purchase laundry detergent and fabric softener.
 In the past I have made my own laundry detergent and have liked it. However, it takes time and patience to do this- two things I’ve had in short supply for quite awhile. Last fall a local big box store had a BOGO sale on Gain liquid laundry detergent. I like the smell and $8.57 for two 100 fl. oz bottles comes to approx. 5 cents a load. That’s a price I can live with. So I purchased 4 bottles (getting 4 bottles free) and haven’t bought laundry detergent since October of 2008. I still have 3 full bottles left.
As for fabric softener— my last purchase was Ultra Purex (Sweet Lavender & Cotton scent) for $2.98. The bottle states it will do 52 loads- I water it down a bit to get it to stretch farther. I figure I get at least 65 loads out of it—making it approx. 5 cents a load. I add fabric softener to every load except Mr. Steady’s work clothes.
Here’s a breakdown of the weekly laundry here on the homestead:
Monday: 1 load darks, 1 load lights
Wednesday: 1 load darks, 1 load lights or whites, 1 load Mr. Steady work clothes
Friday: 1 load towels, 1 load sheets
This comes out to 7 loads of laundry per week. Sometimes it averages out to more like 9 loads depending on what’s going on around here . . . . [Our washing machine is a larger size (a queen size comforter fits in it!) so I can get more clothes in a load.]
So—on average— I spend around 70 cents on laundry each week. This does not calculate in the cost of running the washer (water & electricity & gas for heating water) as I really don’t know how to calculate that!
I have a huge industrial sized jug of Era which I use for pre-treating stains (I think I purchased this jug 2 years ago!). I have a plastic squirt-top container that I pour the Era into for this. I also use a stain stick for light colored clothes (especially khakis) as I’ve found Era discolors these.
How I keep laundry costs down: When clothes aren’t dirty (and don’t smell) they don’t go in the wash. Blue jeans can be worn more than once by at least half the members in this household- ditto for pull-overs, sweatshirts and sweaters. Church clothes are checked for necessary washing or re-hung after wearing- we only wear them for approx. 3 hours one day a week; about 3/5 of the household’s “Sunday clothes wearers” usually remain clean.
And last but not least, use the clothes line whenever possible.

Choosing Home- Routine for evening

CHOOSING HOME

Continuing with sharing how I organize and shuffle my routines:

Home Management- Routines

She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She watches for bargains.
~Proverbs 31: 17-18a

Amy’s Before Bed Routine 

1. Clean Up the house before going to bed (20 minutes)
            a. Living room: Pick up & put away things, magazines,
                dishes, clothes, shoes
            b. Kitchen: Clean it up, shine sink, lay out clean dishcloths
            c. Kitchen: Start Breakfast: set table & prep coffee pot
            d. Dining room/entrance: Clear the hotspots
            e. Review my check list to make sure haven’t forgotten anything       

2. Think about tomorrow before you go to bed.
            a. Check my calendar & planner for appointments
            b. Start PODA (Parade of Daily Adventures) or “To Do List” for tomorrow
            c. Think about: What can I do tonight that will make tomorrow
                morning easier?       
            d. Gather up items that I don’t want to forget & place in a spot by door.
                 Make sure I can see them before I walk out!!!
            e. Make sure children have their things gathered up and put away
            f. Lay out everyone’s clothes for tomorrow.

3. Focus on myself before going to bed.
     Cool Down Time
            a. Get ready for bed
            b. Brush teeth, clean face, comb hair
            c. Bath time! Bubbles mmmmm . . .
            d. Put on jammies

4. Reflect on today’s accomplishments
           a.      Work on journal. TaDa list (accomplishments) &/or Gratitude Journal
           b.      Read for fun.
           c.       Devotional Time
          d.      Prayer
          e.   Snuggle time!

Choosing Home: Afternoon Routine

CHOOSING HOME

Continuing with sharing how I organize and shuffle my routines:

Home Management- Routines

She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She watches for bargains.
~Proverbs 31: 17-18a

Amy’s Afternoon Routine

1. Early Afternoon
            a. Eat Lunch
            b. Clean up Dishes
            c. Check email
            d. Check laundry
            e. Make sure kids get exercise
            f. Quiet time 2:30 pm
            g. Limit Blogging time
            h. Take time for fun reading         

2. Late Afternoon Routine
            a. Set Dinner table
            b. Start Dinner
            c. Light candles
            d. Pick up a couple of hot spots
            e. Spend time with Mr. Steady

Morning Routine- written, printed and filed

  CHOOSING HOME

As I begin to revamp my Home Management Binder . . . . .
I started with my daily routines.
I have broken down my routines into 3 parts- Morning, Afternoon and Before Bed.
Each part is typed up neatly, printed and filed in my home management binder.
I am keeping it simple- I don’t include time of day, liking to leave it general and open.
Here is my simple morning routine:

Home Management- Routines
She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness.
~Proverbs 31:27

 Amy’s Morning Routine

1. Rise & Shine
            a. Morning Devotions & prayer
            b. Make bed
            c. Get Dressed
            d. Clean Inside Toilet Bowl
            e. Fix hair & face
            f. flush toilet
            g. Leave bathroom w/ load of laundry & go straight to washer

2. Kitchen
            a. Pour a cup of coffee & fix breakfast
            b. Feed the Family
            c. Don’t forget vitamins
            d. Put away any dishes left out night before
            e.

3. Think About My Day
            a. Check my calendar
            b. make list of what I am going to do today
            c. Check dinner prep- thaw if needed
            d.

4. Now Think About Myself
            a. Take vitamins (if forgot earlier)
            b. Sit down
            c. Eat breakfast (if haven’t already)

 5. School
            a. Start school- pull out the day’s books
            b. Sit down
            c.

6. Check on:
            a. Reboot laundry (put in dryer)
            b. Hot spot clean up
            c.

Note that I’ve included a verse from Proverbs 31 to remind and motivate myself. I've also left a couple of blank spots to fill in as I'm going about my routine- finding things I forgot to list.
Coming soon- posting my afternoon schedule.

Choosing home and lists

As God directs me back home with a focus on being ALL Home I’ve begun some new lists. Writing is therapy for me and making lists helps to keep my head clear. I am revamping my Home Management Binder- which has led me to making more lists and notes and papers are strewn all over my office.
I have a problem- I follow the rabbit trails.
My filing system here is a mess and it won’t be tackled a day or even two.
I’m trying to be okay with that.
Today I decided on a Home Mission Statement.

I would like my home to be a cozy haven for my family. A place of rest and retreat. A simple sanctuary. I desire a simple God and family oriented lifestyle for my family. I desire to be efficient and organized- for my home to maintain a level of neatness and of orderliness- not a high level that is stressful to maintain but a happy level that can be enjoyed.

I’m not quite sure if this is the final edit or not- I’m praying about it as I most definitely want this to be God directed.
Currently I am revamping my lists of daily routines.
It’s a start.

Being frugal, going green & good stewardship

Are you frugal because you want to be or because you have to be?
If you didn’t have the financial strains you have now would you continue to live such a frugal life?
Hmmm.
Good questions.
I was raised frugal. I know frugal and have lived in that land forever. Sure there are days when I daydream of going to the grocery store and buying whatever I want without thought to the cost . . . . . doesn’t everyone? LOL
Of doing more than just window shopping . . . . .
But its more than just that- to me it’s a matter of stewardship. We need to be a good steward of all that God has given to us- be it money, our home, our food, our clothes- it all comes from Him. Good stewardship leads to being “green”- a term popping up everywhere- meaning being ecologically aware. Stewardship is about taking care of what you have- making it last as long as you can—which leads to a favorite phrase- Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without! That’s good stewardship!
In the past my “good stewardship” led to clutter- keeping things with the thought that someday they would be useful for something or other. Cluttering up our homes is not good stewardship. I found I needed to define it for myself and give myself permission to “pitch” some stuff. Pitching has included giving away and throwing away.
Then there is repurposing- can an object be used in a different way and continue to be effective? Such as washed out peanut butter jars for nails/screws/small objects in the workshop or a chipped dish standing on its side in the garden and a re-glued tea cup for a little bird bath. An old sheet becomes a painter’s drop cloth and the legs from an old chair become garden stakes. Empty ice cream buckets used for holding garbage for the compost bin or holding misc. art supplies and treasures.
My de-cluttering started with FlyLady and from her I made my first Home Manual (many call this a home management binder). I found that in setting daily routines I was becoming a better steward of my time and resources. In making weekly meal plans I again was becoming a better steward for time, resources and money. All good things.
To continue with our stewardship we made it a family rule that for every “thing” brought in one “thing” must go out. Buy a new pair of jeans? Out with one old pair (or repurpose a girl’s pair with holes in the knees into a nifty skirt like a dear friend of mine has done). This rule of thumb works for toys too (but alas not DVDs or CDs- although I’ve gotten rid of quite a few VHS tapes) and serves our family quite well. I will admit though that I’m not one for a one book in- one book out policy but we do enjoy utilizing our library.
So as many are ramping up to “go green”, I’m not feeling like I am that band wagon as much as I am working at practicing good stewardship. Yes the two do align rather well but I believe there is more to being a good steward than just taking care of God’s earth.

Fever?

On Flylady-

Here’s how I did Flylady- I started by spending a good deal of time perusing her website and printing oodles of stuff out. I took the basic routines and tweaked them for myself- starting by writing right on the print-outs. I marked my big family calendar with the weekly zones and referred to my zone cleaning print-outs (complete with my own notations). After a few weeks of this I decided I needed my own control journal and used the marked up print-outs to help me set it up.
I named my control journal My Home Manual- I liked the name better and now I see while traveling the Land of Blog that others have homekeeping binders or home management binders (even nicknaming them HMB!)- it has, dare I say it, become a “trend”. A good trend. To me- caring for my husband, raising my family and taking care of my home are the most important jobs I have and so I resolved to treat them as jobs and give the care and keeping the effort and dedication I would give to a “paying” job. [Let’s not forget too that the care and keeping of our family is our first and most important ministry for the Lord.]
My routines have evolved and streamlined and much of the time I don’t even have to refer to my manual. Its part Flylady, part Organized Home and ALL ME! If you google home management binder you will find a slew of stuff to help you or overwhelm you- be careful and be choosy!

Here’s a glimpse of what’s in my binder:
Amy’s Routines- Morning, Afternoon & Evening
Basic Weekly Plan (also a basic weekly plan for youth work)
Weekly Checklist
Zone Cleaning List
My Menu Plan
Monthly/Seasonal To Do’s

My Home Manual also includes- address book, desk calendar, bill paying necessities (with budget) and paperwork needed for tax purposes.

An added bonus of the Home Manual- if anything were to happen- like say, getting a nasty sinus infection and being hopped up on meds that make you “different”, my dear sweet adorable husband knows right where to go to see what needs to be done to keep on keepin’ on- like what bills to pay which week, what’s for supper and what needs prepped for breakfast and let’s not forget he can easily locate the number of the pizza parlor downtown! All kidding aside- having everything in one easy to locate location would simplify things greatly for my husband if something did indeed happen to make me unable to perform my daily duties. It’s another way to protect and safe guard my family.

Speaking on Menu Planning

Today I am working on my presentation for my MOPS [Mothers Of Preschoolers] group. We meet tomorrow morning (our group meets once a month).
Our theme is In The Kitchen and I will be discussing Menu Planning.
As you all know- this is a subject near and dear to my heart.
I will share my own menu plan plus some tips and tricks I've learned along the way.
It will be interesting to see how this group of ladies reacts and what type of discussion will follow.
Am I nervous? Not yet, but I am sure I will be come tomorrow morning.
Am I prepared? Yes, probably overly so. I've been asked to speak for about 10 minutes and I probably have more than that in my notes . . . . when one expounds on a topic they strongly believe in- they can tend to yak it to death . . . . .
Oh, and I've got hand-outs . . . . 4 copies for each lady.
Naw, I'm not going overboard . . . . .
LOL

Thanks for the advice

Offensive odor

Okay- if you have boys you will understand this.
Boy pe* smells different than girl pe*. It also seems to get in every nook and crany of the bathroom.
It seems no matter how much I scrub in there  . . . . . that odor lingers.
Others say they can't smell it- but I can.
Mothers of Boys- What do you do to combat this offensive odor?
What tips to you have to share?
Now, I understand why a friend of mine has a boys bathroom and girls bathroom at her house!

Finishing School

laundry: water, wet and waste

Well, earlier I walked into my laundry room and found the pile of laundry on the floor sopping wet. I then found out the drawer for adding detergent/fabric softener was leaking- and leaking a LOT of water.
After a lot of wiggling, jiggling and general fussing, I left Mr. Steady with his tools and dug out the manual. And upon turning to the exact page we needed, I found that the little drawer has a hidden lock mechanism. All I had to do was reach in, push it down with my finger and Viola! It came out. Ah.
Mr. Steady was happy it was that easy and readily put his tools away. He then noted that my wonderful homemade laundry detergent had clogged up the works with a couple of big lumps that didn't dissolve.
FYI for the future- make sure the detergent is in no way shape or form- clumpy. I'm not giving up my homemade detergent- no way, no how. Not only is it cheap but it smells wonderful and I believe is helping with all of Sassafras's skin irritations (exema). I think I let the last batch cook a bit too long and then it set up too thick.
Anyhoo- now that I know how to get that do-hicky out, I won't have to worry about such matters because I can now clean the entire little drawer frequently and completely.
Ah, success.

Blog cleaning

Spring Sprung or just my mind?

Grocery Prices Oh, My!

Thanks to everyone who stopped  by and shared in the grocery pricing post. If you missed out- go here and check 'em out. It seems that the prices I pay are pretty low and of course, the good stuff, like organic and farm fresh always cost more $$ but I know its worth it! We don't have a source of raw milk around here and getting farm fresh eggs is hit and miss. [I've tried to talk my parents into getting chickens but so far its a no go and we aren't allowed here in town.] I make homemade bread here on the homestead for cheaper than I can buy it but we always like to have a couple of loaves in the freezer in case I get too busy to make any and Mr. Steady seems to prefer it for sandwiches. [I think what I really need it a bread machine that makes the long loaves. Mine makes them too tall for a good sandwich. But its a great size for toast!]
I figured the grocery prices would be across the board up and down and that definitely affects the food budget. We go through roughly 3 gallons of milk a week here and I'd croak if I had to pay $5/gallon! Oh, to think what that would do to my grocery budget- no more Oreos for the boys that's for sure!
Most of our other bills are fixed here so the grocery budget is about the only thing I can adjust as needed. And I have to say that even on our lean weeks I think we eat very well. In fact, I started breaking down the cost of our weekly menus in order to show Mr. Steady that we weren't "eating high on the hog." He was quite concerned that we were eating too well and spending too much. Sometimes when we sit down to a meal he will ask me what it costs and he gets such a grin on his face when I tell him!
The downside of this is that its even harder for us to go out to eat because we tend to think about how many meals we could make at home for the one meal we're sitting down to eating out! The cost of dining out seems horribly high when we can feed our little family of 5 for the cost of one (or less than one) meal out!
I remember when we were first dating and Mr. Steady and I would go to McDonalds for supper before a movie and we'd spend less than $8 for the two of us. Now to take out our family of 5 to McDonalds costs about $25. Yikes! That's half of my grocery budget for the week.
I guess I am a cheapskate! We actually found we were hardly ever eating out after I started planning our menus. Mr. Steady asked me to figure in a Take-out Nite (or sometimes dine-out) once a month in our menu plan and now we set aside an x amount for dining-out in an envelope (hold over from when we did the envelope system). We try to make eating out a special reward/treat for the family. We ate lunch out a couple of weeks ago when we decided to "go exploring" a local city's downtown area. The kids all were behaving so well and it was lunch time so Mr. Steady thought "Why not?" The kiddos thought it was the most wonderful, exciting experience. It reminded me of how special my parents made eating out- even at a fast food restaurant- just because we didn't do it often. If we took our children out to eat once a week or so it would not be anything special; it would be the norm.
I've never really wanted to be normal.

What do you pay for Milk?

In a previous post I mentioned that I buy milk for around $2.00/gallon. I'm finding out that some shoppers pay more than that- sometimes more than double that! KimMC shared that a gallon of milk costs $5.19 where she lives in Canada! Yikes!
I just purchased milk at Meijer today on sale for $1.88. Wish I could ship it to you Kim!
So here's some normal costs for me in this area and for where I shop.
Milk $2.00
Eggs $ .98 (although I bought 4 doz. a little over a week ago for 69 cents at Aldi's but thats a bit unusual.)
Loaf of wheat bread 69 cents @ Aldi's.
Can of Cream of Mushroom (or chicken or potato) Soup 44 cents @ Aldi's.
4 pound bag of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts $12.88 @ Meijer (but I only purchase when it's BOGO)
Can of Chicken broth 39 cents @ Aldi's.
Shredded cheese (2 cups) $1.58 @ Walmart.
These are just a few staples- so is what I pay low or the norm? What do you pay? Share with me in my comments or write about it yourself and leave a comment letting me know where to check it out!

My Challenge today

Today is the last day of Mrs. Wilt’s Anti-procrastination challenge.
Today I have washed 3 sweaters that have been sitting on top of the washing machine for [ahem] a few weeks because I didn’t want to be bothered with the “dry flat” part. Today they are washed and drying flat- but before I could do that I had to clean off the laundry table to make room (and it hasn’t been cleaned off since November because I found a folded stack of autumn towels!).
I will be taking the slip cover off of the sofa later today to wash also. I like to try and do this once a month (unless we have spills . . . .) and I’ve procrastinated on that too!
So after a week of these challenges I have cleaned and organized my buffet- making room for homeschooling supplies, cleaned and de-cluttered by stairway and laundry table, put away a basket of laundry that had been sitting there for over a week(!), went sledding with my family (Mr. Conductor’s first time!), washed blankets and sofa covers, stored gift bags and tissue paper, cleaned out the fridge, put a dinner in the freezer and finally took all the boxes of Christmas decorations to the basement for storage! Whew! What a week!
The family has gotten into the challenge with me and we will all be chipping in to move Sassafras’s bed and do major clean up under it tomorrow (It amazes me what all can be hidden/lost in a 2 inch tall space). We then plan to tackle the girls’ closet on Thursday. Gotta keep the momentum going!
Last week, Mr. Steady got into the challenge and decided to clean out/vacuum all our huge floor registers (besides dust bunnies, bits of paper and foodie items, he also collected 4 marbles, 15 push pins, 3 plastic necklaces, 1 toy car and a few playing cards). That man is so wonderful!!!

Family Day Fun

Mrs. Wilt said, "Today, let your Anti-Procrastination Challenges deal with something we have been meaning to do with our FAMILIES- whether it be getting outside to play, reading a special book, or having a "date night" with your certain someone...you get the idea!"
We've hada great day today- getting a few things done around the homestead. But now for the fun! The snow has been falling steadily for about an hour and we will be leaving soon for my parents farm to go SLEDDING! Which I haven't done with my children in a couple of years! [Guess I've really been procrastinating! LOL]
My brother and his family will be joining us and after some sledding and tobogganing we'll all troop back into the house for some yummy homemade soup (by Gramma), homemade bread by brother/Uncle), homemade pickles (by Mr. Steady) and my latest new homemade dessert (which has turned out fantastic and I must remember to take a photo for y'all).
I am excited about the family time we will be spending together.
No anti-procrastination challenge tomorrow as it is our Sabbath Rest but I'll hopefully be joining the rest of the band wagon again on Monday to share my latest triumph against my overwhelming tendency to procrastinate!