I do a lot of the things you do. I use the clothes lines, I do not use our heater in winter, I wash all laundry in cold water, and we have a nice garden. (this year our garden has burned up,) We are going to go for a fall garden this year too.

We keep our AC set at 78 and run some fans. It does help to keep the air moving.

Blessings to you and your family

I am currently visiting my son and family in Japan where the cost of living is through the roof and they are forced to be frugal. Last month this family’s water bill alone was $300 – JUST WATER. They thinktwice about long showers, extra laundry etc. Power and propane fuel is unbelievably high. I notice that they don’t dispense paper napkins, towels, etc. at home or in restaurants. We have come to rely so much on disposable everything and we waste so much in overpackaging – another reason to do more from scratch.

In Japan, they carry their groceries to the car, bus or train in reusable containers because they have to pay extra for a plastic or paper bag. Wouldn’t it be wise to start this before we have to pay for the luxury?

My son does the laundry and he hangs the clothes, often strung in bedrooms, kitchen and anywhere they can mount a rod or hang a plastic hanger. With lots of rain here, (and snow in winter in this part of Japan) they often don’t have the option of hanging outside. But, when they can there is plenty of support since everyone here is in the same boat – no snooty neighbors or ridiculous restrictive covenants that force unnecessary expenditures.

Where I live incineration is against the law due to air quality concerns. I remember having these in the 50s and early 60s. It really cuts down on garbage. The local restrictions can make it hard at times but in this valley we do need to make changes for the good of the community.

You probably use ceiling fans. I have installed these in two bedrooms as well as the living room and find them to be very helpful and cost very little. (Be sure they are switched the right direction depending on the season). How quickly we forget that we managed without A/C in the past – even in the car driving through the desert to Disneyland. I have no doubt that some places are worse than others without A/C or central heating. Here in northern Japan where climate is similar to Salt Lake where I live, only individual rooms are heated in winter when they are in use – thus the sliding walls and window coverings (paper, rice weave, bamboo, etc.). The children are very good at knowing to keep the rooms closed to conserve the energy and not let heat escape in winter. The same in summer but they only use A/C rarely in a single room. They have also learned that huge homes are not “needs.” There is much we could learn from different cultures.

I guess my suggestion is just to consider all we take for granted and realize much of it is habit; not necessity. You are showing many great examples in your blog. Thanks

We use the water for drinking, ice, cooking . . . and once or twice I’ve caught a child allowing water to flow from the spigot onto the floor to MOP THE FLOOR! Well! Doesn’t everyone purify their water in order to clean the floor? And this was from a child who was plenty old enough to know better. (No wonder we need to fill the Berkey a lot.)

“Filling the Berkey” is on our job list. The six oldest children each have a day of the week in which they are responsible to do certain things, among those things is keeping the Berkey filled. The clandestine purifed-water-mopper makes up for their misdeed by being the best at keeping the Berkey filled.

We’re in New England. It’s been so cool here this summer that we’ve used our window AC for only 3 days! Winter, however, is another story.

We put in a woodstove. The chimney goes down to the basement. My husband cut vents into the first floor and attached fans to bring the heat up. For the next winter he is going to run large PVC pipes up to the second floor to pull the heat up there. When the fire is going well, it really does a nice job of heating.

We’re on a learning curve, though, and we’ve also done a nice job of “smoking” the place.

I line dry my clothes in the basement and there have been a couple of times where people have commented about our having had bacon for breakfast. Nope! Just another bad fire building job that produced a lot of smoke LOL!

I’ve made my own laundry detergent for a while.

I’ll be trying out your deodorant recipe. Do you use a powder puff to apply?

It was interesting to read this post. As well as see your update on paying off debt and your freedom from your other house! Woo-hoo! We really feel that God has told us to sell our current house so that we are not carrying a mortgage. Are there any farms for rent near ya’ll?

If you are interested in seeing how God spoke to us on this issue I blogged about it.

so I think I’m good.

We put all of our plugs on these power cable strips (microwave included).. and just shut them off at night.

We cook at home. I do laundry once every week or two weeks, because we wear items 2-3 times or more.. and we just.. live

Bring them to a boil then set the timer for five minutes. The middles should be solid but slightly orange. I boil a dozen at a time and keep them in the fridge.

In fact, while we were traveling we had a lovely picnic lunch of boiled eggs, cottage cheese, fruit, cheese sticks and homemade zucchini cookies. It was a good break from sandwiches.

(Do you know anyone else who could go on for paragraphs about boiled eggs? I sincerely hope not.)