Sorry, there will be a few weeks long hiatus for this blog.

I used to drive to work each morning. It was a part of my life as anyone else’s. Although I have always been close to my work place, only 5km, actually exactly 5km by the route I went. I could have walked, but I am not a morning person. I like my mornings to be done and over with.

But then something changed. A funny hydrophobic, inflammable, lipophilic substance decided it was going to control our fates. Suddenly prices everywhere were going up and the biggest pain was gasoline. And gas just kept going up, and up and up an…. (you know how it goes).

As I was trying to figure out where I could cut down on some costs it hit me. Cut down on your biggest expense and you will make the biggest savings. Thats the key and as it happened to be, my biggest expense was gasoline. I started to cut down.

• Walk to your destination if it’s less then 3km away.  You’ll burn some 200 calories and save gas. Lots of people don’t walk due to safety issues in there areas, never risk your life just to save a little money.
• Even better, bicycle to your destination. Not only will it cut your time down by 80% but you’ll burn even more calories and if there is a climb, on the way back it’s a downhill.
• If you have to drive learn to cruise. Pump your car up to the speed limit, (disclaimer: I do not condone speeding, it’s bad and illegal, use at your own legal and physical risk) and then let your car cruise down to 20km/h under or so. Yes you will tick off other drivers like crazy, but you will also save a lot of money on gas.
• Car pool! Why not, you sometimes don’t even have to drive and it saves loads of money plus you get to be closer to your co-workers.
• Make sure your tires are inflated. I happened to drive on a flat for a few days and finally realized it after a passer by waved me down. After fixing the hole, which was caused by a huge nail, I instantly noticed my mpg go up by around 7mpg. Yeah, it was impressive :D.
• Get rid of all that extra weight and shed a couple pounds. The lighter your car, the faster and the more economical it is.

I’ve been following these tips for years and the money I have saved is in the thousands. Plus I am in better shape then before, more active and my car has a longer life due to less stress on it. For the last couple years I have been walking to work in the Winter and biking in the summer. In the years 2006 and 2007 I didn’t use a car to get to my workplace once throughout the whole year and you can do the same.

Really, it’s not that hard.

I’m going to share a bunch of different recipes of how to make your own dish washing detergent for dishwashers.

Disclaimer: I have never tried any of these. They have been suggested by random people on the internet and I’ve agglomerated all of them together at this source, so follow these instructions at your own risk.

1.) 1tbs (table spoon) Borax and 1tbs baking soda mixed together.

2.) 50/50 mix of Borax and baking soda.

3.) No brand dish washing detergent, then add vinegar.

4.) Just use vinegar.

5.) Washing soda and Borax, then add vinegar to the rinse cycle.

6.) No brand dish washing detergent, then add baking soda.

7.)1 cup washing soda (crystals) + 1 cup borax + 2-3 drops perfumed oil (optional)

From http://www.recipezaar.com/91963

8.)1 part baking soda + 1 part borax + 1 part water +1 drop lemon or orange essential oil per cup of detergent.

From http://tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipes/

9.) 1-1/2 cups of Borax with 1/4 cup of Citric acid. Use 1.5 tbs per load.

10.) A few cap fulls of bleach per load. (This is really nasty for the environment)

11.) 50/50 mix of borax and washing soda, then 1tbs of corn starch for the rinse cycle. (Very popular supposably)

Thats pretty much all the recipes for making your own dish washing detergent. The reality of it all is that you can basically do whatever you want when making dish washing detergent. It all just different mixes and then mixing them to perfection or to your liking.

Dish washing detergent for the post part is not that expensive and if you worried to the damage some of these recipes may cause to your machine, then don’t try it. From what I’ve been reading, most people are satisfied with the results of these recipes and the only problem I have heard about is some residue building up over time.

I have a bad habit, I must admit. Whenever I leave the TV room, I leave the TV on. Even at this moment, when I’ve been at the computer and other places for hours, the TV is still on. This costs me.

The TV is like a companion, or really more like ambient noise. Like a gentle seashore. So while some people decide to put in the latest Gentle Sea Breezes Cd in, I much like more to leave the TV running on Top Gear or a similar show. To each his own. But it doesn’t stop there.

Lights, computers, printers all cost you and these are the things that people leave on when they leave a room. They figure that it’s more convenient to walk into a room with the lights already on, or to be able to sit down at the computer and instantly be able to check your email. We want things to be convenient like c’mon, no one likes to wait for a computer to boot up for 3 minutes just so you can check your email in 20 seconds.

But these things cost us.

For instance, computers use around 160 watts every hour and it doesn’t matter if it’s just using a screen saver, they still use the same amount of energy. Then you have to add in your monitor, your speaker unit, router, modem and whatever else your using. Suddenly your computer is using over 200 watts each hour,(conservatively) and possibly more if it’s an older model.

Then you factor in the printer, another 100 watts (yes that’s when it’s not being used), so your using up around 300 watts an hour. If you leave that on all year round and many do. Your going to end up paying 234$/Year. Possibly more if it’s an older model, and of course possibly less. Either way, it costs you money.

The same goes with lights, so listen up and Shut the Computer Off!!

Thats right, I don’t like writing on weekends. Be back tomorrow.

Last night I had a craving for something sweet. No thanks to my frugal lifestyle, I happened to have nothing that could be considered sweet other then a jar of honey and thats not something that ticked my fancy. You know how it is. When you want sweets, you need sweets.

But then my frugal mindset kicked in.

“Wait, you don’t need the sweets. They cost money, you can’t walk because it’s night so you’ll waste money on gas. You’ll waste time going there ….”,  my mind rolled through the reasons why I shouldn’t go. Did it convince me?

Heck no.

I ended  up buying a cookie, yes that’s all. But it was worth it, even though I lost 50 cents on gas and another 99 for the cookie, it was so worth it. The internal struggle was over and I don’t regret a thing. We have to realize that although we may be frugal at heart, it’s okay to splurge every so often. Life should be enjoyable and sometimes that means spending a little more then usual. Don’t hold back if you want something. There is no need to be a frugultralist.

To wash by hand, or by machine, that is the question. Personally, I’ve been washing by hand all my life. I don’t find dishwashers very effective, they take up room in the kitchen that I would rather use for other things. The dishwashers I’ve worked with are usually old and don’t work very well and new ones, well, cost money. Another reason I washed my dishes by hand was because I’ve always believed that it saved money. But is that really the case? Can dishwashers really save you money? Lets find out.

So if you wash by hand, there are two ways to do so. (1#) You either fill up a container and then use that water to wash and then you run water over the washed dishes to rinse them. (#2)Or you wash and rinse over freshly pouring water. There may be other ways of washing your dishes by hand, but these two are probably the most common ways.

Method #1. Clearly there are some problems with this method. You’re washing your dishes with dirty water after some point. Your container must be large enough to accommodate your larger dishes or pots and pans and your still using some water to fill up your container and then, to rinse your dishes.

Method #2. My method also has some clear problems. First off, your using a heck of a lot of water, as it’s constantly being used and the water being used is hot. Heated water is more expensive then cool water, as energy is required to heat that water. Then you got the problem that eventually all your hot water will die off. In my case that’s at the 40 minute mark and yes, sometimes I get to that point.

With a flow rate of 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm) and with a dishwashing rate of 50 minutes every 4 days, you’re looking at a cost of 15.06$/Year, plus 76 hours.

Now the dishwasher.

So the dishwasher needs 3 things to operate efficiently. Energy, water and some sort of detergent. Without energy the machine doesn’t work. Without water your dishwasher isn’t really washing anything and without detergent, your dishes will come out wet but not clean. So with all three, the dishwasher becomes a formidable opponent to hand washing.

According to Energy Star average dishwashers use around 6 gallons of water per cycle. Say you wash your dishes 3 times a week (full loads). You’ll be using 18 gallons of water a week, so roughly 936 gallons of water each year with your dishwasher. With water at around .75$/500 gallons, you’d be paying around 1.5$ for the dishwasher’s water bill.

If we still take into consideration that we’re using a newer energy star appliance (from the year 1999 we’ll say), it uses 422kW a year. At a price of .089$/kW your looking at a cost of 37.56$/year. So a total cost of 39.06$/Year for the operation of a dishwasher.

In conclusion?

Believe it or not, dish washing under running water is actually cheaper then using a dishwasher, as there is little to no electricity being used for the duration of the wash.

Food is an absolute necessity and thus we can’t really rid ourselves of all the costs associated to it. However, we can cut down our costs and at the same time help ourselves too. It so happens to be that money and weight loss are two of the biggest issues we face in our modern day world. We want more money and less weight. So lets tackle both.

1. Coffee: Can’t get enough of it can you? Over one half of the United States drinks coffee each day and another quarter drinks occasionally. The drinkers take in an average of 3 cups of coffee each day. Over 2.03 million coffee drinkers get there fix from Starbucks, known very much for it’s coffee and it’s price. It’s coffee costs over 3$ on average. With a fix in the morning and one at lunch your spending over 1500$/Year. That is really obsessive, cut down and you will see the difference in your wallet. As for me, I don’t like coffee :). If you can’t stop drinking, then buy your own coffee and drink it at home.
2. Soft Drinks: The average American drinks up 2 servings of soft drinks every day. Now thankfully soft drinks don’t cost 3$ a can, however most now cost over 1$ if your buying from machines and I have seen the prices up to 3$+ for cans in odd places (top of mountains and such) but that’s not a common place to buy one. Your pop drink addiction is costs you over 700$/year. Cut down a bit, the savings will be instant you will see.
3. Beer: I mention beer and not alcohol in general because it’s more common to drink beer then to take shots of absinthe and such. Plus you can take a lot of beer before being taken down, can’t say the same for hard alcohols. The average consumption of beer in the US is 24.5 gallons or 92.7 litres. The equivalent of drinking 261 cans of beer. So over 70$ on beer each year. For many people this is a lot higher and cutting down wont hurt you a bit.
4. Bread: Bread and anything made of wheat has been steadily rising for the past year due to the world shortages. The cost is expected to rise for the next few years. Try purchasing semi-older bread, usually close to the same taste but a third of the cost.
5. Potatoes: French fries don’t have to be bought. Try cutting up some potatoes and create your own. It’s not a tough thing to do, it only takes some time but can save you dozens of dollars. Buy the largest bag of potatoes as they are usually cheaper then smaller bags.
6. Generic Brands: There is a large department store around here that advertises the cost of goods made by brand name retailers and those made by no name brands. The first shopping cart is full of stuff, all from brand names Kellogs, Kraft, Breyers, Coca Cola etc. The cart runs up to 320$ of goods. The second cart is filled with the exact same products, but without the name, Corn Flakes, Macaroni and Cheese, Ice Cream, RC Cola etc. That one only goes to 120$. The difference is clear.
7. Pick Your Own Fruits: Depending on the season, fruits and vegetables can be quite expensive. So why not pick your own? Take an hour out of your day and spend some time in the sun picking your favorite fruit. It’s very cost effective and your helping the local economy.
8. Brown Bags: Now while you wont be the coolest worker on the block bringing in your brown bag, you will be saving money. People needlessly pay extra money to get someone to make there lunch at a fast food joint. Do it yourself and save some money. Plus your lunch will be much lower on calories then the one offered at a restaurant or the local McD’s.
9. Stop Going Out: Face it, most people don’t like making there own food. We like to have it done and available whenever we want it. Thats why fast food joints are so popular. Low quality food for low prices. The trade off is not worth it. And don’t think that by going to a restaurant your doing yourself a favor, rather then going to McD’s. Most restaurant menu items have huge numbers of calories compared to fast food chains. Plus is a salad with some spaghetti worth waiting 20 minutes for and then paying 30$ more? It’s up to you, but if you really want to save money… it ain’t.
10. Comparing Prices and Coupons: Don’t feel bad pulling out a coupon in a shopping line. Throw your pride away and save some money. There are reasons those coupons are put out so take advantage of them. You can save hundreds of dollars annually by using coupons. Create a drawer for them in the kitchen so you can see and compare the coupons to each other. Also, don’t be afraid to check and compare prices at different stores. Is it really worth paying 50% more for your items at a supermarket with shorter lines? The sad part is that too many people do, and they just don’t realize that there are much better prices out there, but they just have to go out and look.