Freezer Update (Energy Savings)

Remember when I decommissioned and sold my upright freezer back in December? It was an impulsive decision but I was curious as to whether I would notice a difference in our electric bill.

I can't say I noticed a huge difference in December and January in terms of the dollar amount from previous months but it's clear our "usage" of kWh is definitely less. In February, our bill was about $74 compared to about $100 in 3 previous months. We just got our bill for March yesterday (due April 10) and it's $69.

Next, I went back and compared recent bills (after I got rid of the freezer) to the same months in 2011 (Jan-April). In January 2011, our bill was $130.88 compared to January 2012 ($101). In Feb. 2011, the bill was $138.82 compared to $101 again in Feb 2012. (I thought it was weird that the bills were identical in those 2 months-but that's irrelevant). In March, 2011, our bill was $105.42 compared to $74. Finally, we paid $92.84 in April 2011 compared to $69 for this year.

Based on electric bills from the years before I got the freezer (consistently under $100), I was expecting to save about $25 per month and I'm thinking that's about right.

We did switch suppliers sometime in the summer and that might account for a small difference in the bills but would not account for the savings in usage. I calculate roughly a 20% difference in usage since we haven't had the freezer. One other disclosure...I imposed a screen fast during lent. The kids do watch some movies as a family but everyone's viewing, including mine and Mark's is significantly lower. I'm sure that accounts for the approximate $5 savings between Feb and March. That's actually surprising. Wonder how much it would be if the desktop was turned off most of the day and night. It's usually on sleep but still plugged in.

A note about living without a freezer aside from the energy savings. I actually think it's liberating. There are a very few things that I like to freezer (extra spaghetti sauce and meatballs, cookie dough balls, muffin batter) but I honestly can live without doing all of those things. It's actually less imposing making one batch of sauce rather than enough for 6 meals. I prefer working with 1-2 lbs of ground meat rather than 6. I can live without frozen cookie dough and muffin batter.

When I had the luxury of the freezer, I tended to waste more and even spend more weekly on food. I'd prepare more food than we needed, throw it in the freezer and about half the time, not get around to using it in a timely manner.

Basement Update

I posted about getting to my basement almost exactly one year ago. Admittedly, some projects take time but there's no excuse for THAT! I am happy to report that I finally organized a little in this space-finally, I had no idea it had been so long. Remember what the back room looked like?

"Work" bench-ugh

Last year, one of my goals was to hang a peg board above the unwork bench.

Ta-Da!

I used paint leftover from the boys' room to jazz it up. I like it better than stark white. I know it's not exactly beautiful in this room, but that little touch of color makes me feel better.

Here's the other wall before:

CHAOS!

One major barrier for me is changing something that has been in the house since we moved in. I don't have a sentimental attachment, it just takes me a long while to realize that something just isn't optimally functional or efficient. Take, for example, that upside down bookshelf hanging on the wall. Actually, I really don't even know WHAT that is. Just another remnant of the incompetent contractor who lived in the house before us. I get the feeling he found a bookshelf at a yard sale (I can't imagine that he built that hideous thing) and slapped it up on the basement wall to "organize" his stuff. Who knows? It's only taken about 14 years of living in the house for me to realize it was not that useful and another 2 years to finally take it down.

Here's what I did yesterday:

Sorry for the grainy photos. 

If you have a beautiful finished basement, I realize you're not inspired or impressed. It is still pretty heinous and blah. But a little organization makes it so much better for me. The embarrassing thing is that it took about 20 minutes to build each shelf (on sale for $30 each) and a total of a couple of hours to purge and organize.

Admittedly, I was held up by Mark's fishing equipment. I needed him to go through it, organize and purge what he doesn't use anymore. Guess what? he still hasn't done that. I just put all of his rods in a giant crock that his mom used to make sauerkraut and the top right shelf holds the other things. Even if he never gets to it, I can live with that. Shame on me for waiting.

I wouldn't mind painting the paneling to brighten things up a tad but this is literally in the recesses of my home. So, that's a project that can wait.

Decommissioning the Freezer

Remember this post  about purging the freezer last year? (Yeah, same photo). I went to sleep last night or woke up this morning thinking that we probably don't really need the extra freezer space that much. At least not enough to justify the extra space in the garage AND the cost to keep it running.

Now that I'm looking at the photo from last year when I cleaned it out, I'm really embarrassed to say that a LOT of the same things were still in there. Let me just tell you what wasn't in there and you'll get the idea. The butter, parm and 2 of the containers on the door were not in there. Everything else you see on the door was (the berries had been used up or pitched from last year and we did bag up our crop from this summer-hopefully we'll use them)

In the main part of the freezer, the hot dogs, ham, pierogies and the bags of frozen homemade pasta sauce were used. Also that yellow bag of something was probably eaten. Everything else was still in the freezer today. I pitched it all. Yikes!

Aside from the 50 lbs. of grass-fed ground beef that we stored for about 6 months, this freezer is not worth the cost. I'll make room in my kitchen freezer.

I will give you an update as to the energy savings-if there is one. If I regret this decision, I feel fine about finding a new, smaller, more efficient appliance.

The Perils of Decluttering- Another Camcorder Update

I purged my camcorder a while back because the door was broken and I didn't feel like investing the time, money and energy to get it fixed. A few months later, Mark asked about it. OOps, but he was ok with my explanation (see above). I think I purged it sometime in the early spring of 2010.

I was sorting through a file box where I keep some important papers, household receipts, insurance policies and apparently, warranties. Can you tell where I'm going with this?

It turns out, I likely wouldn't have had to pay anything to have the camera repaired since it was still under the extended warranty that I bought with it. I wasted $50.00 on a warranty that I could have used and didn't. I probably could have even gotten a refund (prorated) for the unused warranty but didn't discover it until the warranty had expired.

When I think about it, I still wouldn't have wanted to spend the time and energy to fix the camera but I would have and most likely would have tried to sell the camera afterward. Those tapes are cumbersome and now that the kids are older, I really don't video tape that much. Most phones, ipods and Mark's ipad has video capability so I'm only regretting my error a little.

What's the lesson? Declutter so you know what you have. Would I rather have never remembered I had purchased an extended warranty? Maybe, but I think I learned something.

Have a good weekend.

Craig's List-I LOVE YOU! (And some tips)

I've posted before about selling on Craigslist. It has its disadvantages for sure, but recently we've had some luck unloading some things. We finally sold 2 pieces of machinery + miscellaneous parts up in the mountains. On the home front, I sold a bench that I love but that I just don't have room for any more.

Doesn't it have a lovely shape? Even with the chips and scrapes, I sold it for a great price. The woman who wanted it needed it to be black and didn't have time to paint it-so I did it for her. It was worth it.

What I love about listing things on Craigslist is that it takes very little effort to throw something on there and for the most part, forget about it. I love this particular piece enough that I would only let it go for a very high price (70% of its original price). I've mostly sold furniture pieces and have always been satisfied. 

I have a few tips if you're gonna try it:

1. Have a price in mind that you'd want to get for a piece and what you'd accept and be satisfied then list higher than what you'd like to get for it.

2.  List the terms of sale, pick-up, payment in the ad. This seems obvious but is easy to forget to say "cash only".

3. Read up on scams, they usually involve someone offering to pay more by check or telling you to delist your item.

4. Be honest about defects. As you can see from the photo above, the bench has knicks and scratches and I included that information in the ad.

5. Minimize spam by insisting that responses to your ad include the date or some other specific piece of info in the subject line.

6. I always try to google names or email identities to determine if the person exists.

7. I've learned from experience say "first to get here with the cash gets it" but I'm always honest about others who are interested. In some cases, if someone doesn't want to pay what I'm asking, I might tell them, I'll get in touch if I'm willing to let the item go for what they're offering. I don't fake bidding wars.

Always use your judgment and every precaution before having a person come to your home. So far, I've never had an uncomfortable situation but you never know.

What she said...

This photo has nothing to do with the post but it makes me happy

I'm not sure how I clicked over to this blog but I've enjoyed reading it. Maybe because "Jules" also is an attorney and she admits in her "about" blurb that it made her grumpy, too. (I was miserable when I was working in a big firm). She recently completed a series in which she purged and organized for 31 days in October. Right up my alley.

This post explains what motivated her decision to begin the project. Basically she is helping a friend deal with her deceased parents' possessions. This quote in an email from the friend struck me:

Well my friend…I’ve spent the day looking at the petrie dish of my parents’ life, known as the boxes from Lake Arrowhead. The fact that everything has a musty smell just seems to add to the experience. I think everyone’s goal in life should be to not end up in a box for others to analyze. 

I've been so frustrated that my in-laws, who each died in their 80th year, left behind the petri dish of their own lives for my husband (and me) and sister-in-law. All the papers, half used tubes of this and that in the recesses of drawers. Clothes that hadn't been worn in years. You name it, it was left behind-never dealt with. Surprisingly, the above quote reminded me of that but it didn't churn it up for me again. Instead, it made me consider my own petri dish. I'm almost 43 and as I've learned, life turns on a dime. Not to be grim, but any of us could go at any time or be seriously disabled. It's true. I just think it would be rude and so inconsiderate to leave Mark and the kids with the remnants of my indecision.

I will attempt to embrace Jules' battle charge, a popular and relevant quote from William Morris"

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

Seems simple enough. I've seen that quote a lot. One of my problems is that when I think of having something beautiful, I almost always think to myself that I will most definitely get sick of it. Which is why I'm not great at decorating. But this is a good start (restart).

Starting Up Again

Purging, that is. This is a constant activity for me. I really try hard to make tough decisions and not relocate things to the basement when I purge other rooms in the house but I think it's inevitable. I have decluttered my basement more times than I can count and always, it goes back to looking like this........

and this.....

and on the other side of the back recesses....

see those painted cabinet doors against the wall? Those are the doors from my kitchen cabinet...the one that looks like this now....

But let's not get sidetracked. Back to the scary basement (see how I'm humbling myself?)...

Now into what I hope will be a TV room someday soon....

ACK! That primer on the paneling was started about 10 years ago.

And another view...

Doesn't look tooooo cluttered over there except those boxes full of remnants from Mark's previous job but HELLO BRADY'S! That mid-century couch is an iron in the fire...I'll get around to slip-covering or reupholstering that soon. (One of my fears).

There you have it, my cluttered basement. I have already started clearing and making decisions. I took a load to the junk store and one to my mom's. (I swore I wouldn't do that because I have a feeling that I'll be toting it out of there again some day-but that's o.k. for now). I'll post an update.

One thing that I decided to do was to make a conscious effort to get rid of empty or near-empty storage type containers. I had a couple of plastic drawer-type things on wheels that are useful for storage but decided that I wanted them out. If I don't have them then the things that I'd normally store in them wouldn't have a home and I'd have to get rid of those, too. The idea is to have LESS! Simple, right? We'll see.

More than a mini purge-FREEZER!

Ah, that felt good. I forgot to defrost our freestanding freezer this summer. You know how the time gets away from you. I was waiting for an above-freezing day to tackle it before the 50 lbs of grass-fed beef that we ordered is ready in January. New Year's Day is supposed to be warm but I'm not sure what we'll be doing so I went ahead and did it today. I did have to whip out the hair dryer to speed things along but it didn't really take too much time. I ended up pitching some things (mostly leftovers and frozen grated zuchini) that I haven't used and probably never will.

I'm not sure how this qualifies as simplifying except the purging part. Let me add that I'm considering purging the freezer altogether. I'll decide about this after we use the beef. It's an old freezer that a friend gave us and I'm thinking it has increased our electric bill significantly.

A Renewed Focus on Simplifying

1. Sorry if you read this blog and were offended by the naked "follower". I just noticed that, have no idea how that got there and I blocked it. YUK!

2. I've been tackling mini purging projects. In the post-Christmas downtime, I have organized and purged the following:
     A. Pantry cabinet and shelves. (There is definitely more to do here. I'll post a photo of my after-see if I can get some organizing baskets or whatever and post an "after after" photo. I am humble enough to show you my "before" but I forgot to take photos.

     B. Kitchen utensil drawer (the one with the big utensils). It was a mess and getting on my nerves. I'll do the main drawer today. Our flatware stays fairly neat and organized but the side spaces to this drawer need a little attention.

     C. My nightstand. I usually have anywhere from 3 books to 10 stacked on this tiny space. I just took them all off the stand and have to dive into the cabinet underneath and move a few things to the basement shelves. I'm not brave enough to get rid of my favorite Catholic books. These are the books that I read the most. I'll have to consider this as I move toward minimizing.

There you have it. My itty bitty purges.

I'm thinking of jumping into flylady again. When I first discovered her site about 6 or 7 years ago, I probably applied 50% or less of the principles and it still made a huge difference. I just want to be more organized. Speaking of that, I ordered this book. I'll click on SimpleMom occassionally and always enjoy Tsh's articles. I couldn't resist another simplifying book with organization tossed in to boot. I'll let you know how it is.

As I mentioned on my other blog, I'm considering my word for 2011. I haven't decided what it is yet. I'll let you know, though.

Simply Fall

Hannah has been taking photos like crazy. So far our fall has been beautiful. I love the huge maple tree next to our house. About 5 years ago we had about half of it trimmed so it wouldn't overhang and it looks like they literally cut the thing in half. From a certain angle, it looks like half a tree. But it's still beautiful this time of year.

Here's another view since I can't get enough....

This tree makes me smile! Hannah with a camera does, too.

Help Me with the Seasonal Clothing Switch!

Is there any way to simplify this task for a family of 6? I am bombarded by clothes! My boys continue to wear shorts and t-shirts around the house all through the winter (no, my thermostat is not too high-I usually am wearing a scarf). Point being-I don't put those away.

I try to purge but I'm still overwhelmed. I'm giving myself a deadline, here. The kids are anxious to bust out Halloween but I refuse until the regular clothing switch is finished. Any tips are greatly appreciated!

No posting on this blog-I haven't been actively simplifying.

An Update and the True Cost of Furniture

Do you remember this post? Here we are, less than 6 months later and I SOLD the computer cabinet! Craigslist, I love you! Actually I don't think I posted it until after Easter, so really, it only took about 3 months to sell. It was worth it. I had a price that I'd be happy with. Originally I posted for $300 more than that (what the heck, right?) No hits, then I brought it down by $100 increments twice and then reposted high just last week. A woman emailed asking if I'd accept the number I was originally thinking and she just came today with a deposit and will pay the balance when she picks it up. Yippee!

It is a good piece of furniture but I calculated the cost to us over the 11 years we've had it....$100/year. That may not sound like much but considering I haven't needed it for work since 2000 or so, I've had it exactly 10 years longer than I needed it. Ouch!

I think I'm more excited about the space it will free up than the cash. It will also force me to purge what was left in there and reorganize and make my other spaces more efficient to make room for the things that I do keep. All good.

Church Flea Markets

A great way to get rid of clutter and help your parish at the same time! I'm scouring the house for anything that would be saleable at our church's parish festival flea market. That would include just about anything. People buy the strangest things-even used mops. I'll post a photo and maybe a list of the things I parted with. Warning....unless you have a specific need, DO NOT under any circumstances visit the flea market. Especially don't let the kids in there!

Darn!

Every year one of my neighbors hosts a "multi-family" yard sale. Sometimes I'll put something out or let the kids man a table. She usually has it in June but decided to have it early. I wish I would have known sooner because there are still things in the house that I'd love to get out of here. I took so much stuff to the junk store over lent-and I'm glad I did. My point is had I known the sale was today, I'm sure I could dig up lots more clutter. It starts in an hour and a half and I'm certain I don't want to spend my quiet time scrambling around to find and price things. I'm even more certain I don't want to spend my day hovering over a table of my unwanted clutter. Maybe it's a good time to have a "free" table. I'll let you know.

Update on Waking Up

Just reporting that waking up without snoozing has not added or detracted from my days. It hasn't made my days better or worse. No, I'm not getting all the laundry finished by 7 am. I thought I'd be more tired at the other end of the day-but that hasn't happened. I still hit my wall at about 10:30. I'd have to say the only benefit is feeling good about getting up right away. Maybe I do feel a smidge better than when I sleep on and off for the next 20 minutes or so. My days are pretty much the same, though. So, if you're looking for something to transform your life, NOT SNOOZING is not your answer....snooze away. Will I go back to snoozing? No, I do prefer the habit of waking when the alarm goes off.

A Radical Experiment in Waking Up

I am the CHAMPION SNOOZE ALARMER! I've been a snoozer ever since high school-it's an evil invention, that snooze button. But there is just something about ENJOYING the coziness and luxurious comfort of that fluffy bed that makes me want to get back in it. Although I completely appreciate a good night's sleep, when you're enjoying a good night's sleep, you can't truly appreciate the coziness and luxurious comfort of your fluffy bed. As I've gotten older and more achy and after the hip-separating experience of child-birth, I've become accustomed to cozying up to a pillow between my bony elbows and another between my bony knees. I'm not sure I even move during the night.

I'm still an early riser. The alarm is set for 5:30 and I snooze until just before 6:00. I started getting up early when the kids were littler-I craved the early morning quiet before the busyness of the morning. Now that they're not waking up at the crack of dawn and tumbling out of bed at various times, I can still get a good hour of quiet before they make their way downstairs. They're also pretty self-sufficient so I can do other things to get ready for the day as they're having breakfast.

I love snoozing so much, I actually gave it up for lent one year when I was still working. It was so bad that I would snooze for about 20-30 minutes, take a shower and then get back into bed. I really didn't like my job. Unless I have a particularly bad night of sleep, I don't crawl back into bed anymore but I still LOVE to snooze.

I've found that this forum is GREAT for motivation and accountability-even though not many people read it yet. So, starting tomorrow, I'm not going to hit the snooze button. There, I said it. I'm going to try a week (that's reasonable) of getting up when the alarm tells me to. I just want to see if it makes my day more productive. I know I'll be more tired on the other end which doesn't work well for Mark's work schedule-he gets home late 3 nights a week and I do enjoy our time together. A week shouldn't kill us though.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Tackling the Garage

Because of the weather and preparing for Mark's communion, I had to put off decluttering the garage. I rolled up my sleeves and got to it today. The good news is that we have always managed to be able to park in there. The bad news is, there is a lot of clutter in there and not much organized storage space. Talk about a hodge-podge. I have 2 free-standing closets (white particle board things). 1 steel shelf, 1 closet that looks like an old canning cupboard and then random shelves and hooks. I really should pull those white closets out. They're huge and don't really hold that much. (I just thought of that). What I really need is a place to hang the usual stuff you find in a garage, long-handled yard tools, heavy duty extension cords, ladders, and some sports equipment (basketballs, rollerblades, bikes, hopefully baseball stuff). The lawnmower is in there, extra terra cotta pots, yard maintenance things. I know there's a better way to store all of it. I just need to do it.

So, today my goal was to purge. (2 big green garbage bags and a huge haul to the junk store). Tomorrow I'm hoping Mark and I can shop for some storage solutions. Any ideas?

Recycling Easter

My mother-in-law, who passed away in 2008, was a treasure-trove of tips and tricks and methods and habits that I've cherry-picked for our family and home management. She was a child of the depression era so many of her practices were born from frugality. Recycling bits and pieces of holidays and turning them into "traditions" and nostalgia is one of them.

My husband and his sister not only woke up to the same baskets for their entire childhood but the same tin egg, crank-music egg, and other sundries that they looked forward to every year. I was enchanted with this practice when I spent my first Easter dinner with my husband's family. I didn't decide then that I'd do the same thing, but I've been doing it ever since my oldest had her first basket.

Each year, the kids get the same stuffed bunny or in Mark's case a duck in a blue bunny suit and a big plastic egg with Lucky Charms. That sound of the cereal shaking inside the egg when they woke up and found the egg in their beds (or cribs way back) was better than any alarm clock. I also recycle the cellophane grass for their baskets. Some of you are more classy and use something that looks less tacky but I love the Easter "grass". Over the years, uncles or aunts have given them little toys and a few of them have held up over the years and disappear sometime after the holiday and reappear on Easter morning.

Finally, you know how stuffed animals multiply like bunnies? For some reason we happen to have accumulated an inordinate number of stuffed bunnies. I keep these in a bin in the attic and usually the week before Easter, they make their appearance and the 2 younger kids place them all over the house or play with them. Since they're getting older, the novelty is definitely wearing off but I'll bring them out as long as they ask.

I'm not sure this is "simple". I'm sure there are much more simple traditions but I do look forward to pulling these few things out every year.

I don't save everything and keep the baskets pretty simple otherwise.

Camcorder? What Camcorder?

Well, it happened. "Where's the camcorder?" Mark asked the other night as we were going to sleep. Why? I wondered. In the 6 or 7 years since we've had it, he's never asked to used it. Don't be horrified that I made the executive decision to get rid of it. There are some things that Mark feels comfortable leaving to me. Small appliances that only I use is one of them.

When I simply told him that it was broken and I didn't want to spend the time and money to get it repaired, he didn't give it a second thought. No regret, no "we should have...." or "that cost a lot of money..." It was fine and he was at peace with the decision.

I was surprised that I didn't regret the decision not to investigate repair. It was all fine. I just didn't expect the question to surface so soon. I anticipated second thoughts-nope.

Spring Cleaning Made Easier

I've always wanted the house to be clean before Holy Week and have never been able to make it happen. This year, I did it and the house actually feels bigger. I don't know if I made it to 40 bags over the 40 days. I may even have gotten more out of here. But the house is considerably lighter and getting rid of all that extra clutter really made it easier to clean.

I'm anticipating that it will make the house easier to keep clean.

The surprising result of decluttering-and this happens everytime I do a good one-it makes me less tolerant of any extra stuff. This doesn't bode well for the Easter baskets this year-sorry kiddies. I'm enjoying the clear spaces and ready to go another round after Easter. I haven't been bagging things up this week. I'm ready to exhale in anticipation of Holy Thursday through Sunday. I'm looking forward to spending some relaxed, quiet time with Mark and the kids and with my brothers and their families on Sunday. That's a first since "spagetti Wednesday"(our annual night-before-Thanksgiving gathering).

I'll be writing more about simplifying after the holiday.

Happy Easter.