Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tightening the Purse Strings

So, yesterday I unplugged my clothesdryer.  I mentioned on Sunday that Trent finally hung my outside line and I am fortunate enough to have a very large laundry room for hanging stuff inside, so I decided that enough was enough.  I hung my sheets out to dry for the first time yesterday and I must say, they sure smell delicious!  Bettter than fresh bread even.  At first I wasn't sure about drying clothes outside in a Canadian Winter, but we have the perfect setup with our south-facing aspect.  And it is all about timing (and more planning), so I have started looking at the forecast to see which days will be 'laundry days'.  Good news for me, the rest of the week promises to be sunny and quite warm for February.  YAHOO!  On another note, Trent is very concerned... "What will I do if I ever need to dry clothes?" he asked me.  What a dumb question, wouldn't you agree?  Oh, and just in case you wanted to know just exactly how much these extra efforts were going to save us?  An estimated $104 annually.  Worth it?  I guess we'll see....

Onto another topic, I had more adventures in the kitchen yesterday.  I have really been getting into the Hodding Carter entries, he really is a fabulous writer and he has great tips that are really helping me out in this endeavor.  Carter advises to NOT plan when you go shopping, and just buy what is ridiculously cheap and on sale.  This is quite the opposite of what I have been doing so far, and not a great strategy for me to fully employ just yet because I really don't know a fabulous deal when I see one (I am getting better, but it sure is a lot of math!  And on that note, why doesn't the grocery store make it easier to compare?  They quote prices per pound and kilogram on different things, it is so annoying!!!)  ANYWAY, shopping with Carter in mind, I have been buying produce off the 50% off rack and found a bag of three artichokes sitting there the last time around.  Now, if you are like me, and have only eaten those things canned before, I knew that this was going to be quite the culinary experiment.  Last night, after looking online to see how to cook the buggers, I served up two of them to my family.  The results?  They are sure a lot of effort for not a lot of reward and I would much rather buy them for 50% off in the can next time!

Well, I must go, the sun is getting higher in the sky and I have laundry to do! 

“Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by colour.” - Author Unknown

(A fitting quote for today's entry, no?)

Marebare :)

2 comments:

  1. I look at the drier, as well as pretty much all major appliances, and cars, as "for emergencies only". I'm not ready to give them up because, let's face it, when the cat pees on the bed in the middle of a blizzard and you have to wash 15 loads or so in one day... it's really sort of essential to have a drier. But the rest of the time it's sort of useless.

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  2. I like the way you are looking at that, 'for emergencies only'. That thought process will serve me well on this adventure - thanks for sharing!

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