Life’s Little Successes So, I got notice about a month ago that the water district is rationing this year. They ration based not on house or family size, but on what you’ve been using. So, all those drip systems I put in are now counting against me, argh! The district has determined that whatever I was using, well, now I need to use about 60 fewer gallons each day or pay “penalties,” which looks to the untrained eye like more money. (No conflict of interest there.)
Great. But as I stated, I’ve been instituting changes to save water; even installed a low-flow toilet, so my options are dwindling. That’s why I was really excited to see a practical grey-water collection method from the newly-started Institute of Urban Homesteading. (Bummer, I was going to give a link right to the project, but I can’t find it anymore, so I’ve described the process in my Tip o’ the Week.)
In my case, the tub in question is on the second floor, and my husband actually cares if the neighbors see a garden hose hanging out the window at all hours. I tied some twine to one end, and let the hose settle back down on the ground, so that when I’m not collecting greywater, there’s only a skinny piece of buff-colored string visible. When I want to use the system, I pull the hose up by the string. I can set this up in seconds. Now I just have to figure out a way to use the water without standing there holding the hose....
I won’t save the whole 60 gallons a day this way, but this’ll take care of at least half!
I also noticed this week that my biggest
broccoli plant was starting to bolt and just generally
look “done.” So, I cut off all the useful parts of
this plant, gave the rest to the chickens, and stuck
everything in the slow cooker with some water on Low
overnight. In the morning, I pureed all the contents
of the pot together, yielding about 3 cups of dark
green mush. I made whole-wheat bread with it. The
family gobbled it down. Hee hee hee. So, why am I telling you these stories?
Because these little victories over
waste, time and expense are thrilling for the
unrepentant thrifty-type. Most of us learned how to
save money by sheer necessity, but now we do it long
after the “need” has passed, because it’s actually
fun! I get such a charge out of creatively re-thinking
how to do something so it costs less, and takes less
time, and yet I get the benefit from it. Now, in the
first case, I read about the tip on a website, and
then tweaked things so they’d work for me. In the
second, no one told me specifically to puree my spent,
unsightly garden produce and make bread out of it, but
my pattern of thinking first takes me through all the
ways I can use anything I have before giving up on it. ...Which leads me to discuss my latest book project, and why I need your help with it. If you’ve read my first two books, you know I like to cover information that’s off the beaten path. In fact, I wrote them because I wanted to read them. This one’s no different.
The shelves at bookstores are sagging with budget guides, helpful hints, organization systems with trendy acronyms and so forth. I’m not knocking any of those, I own several of these kinds of books. But what I don’t see is a lot of what really makes a tightwad tick, and how to go about re-engineering a procedure or purchase to maximize benefit while minimizing cost. It’s that strategic thinking that I want to explore and instruct so that both frugal folks and wannabes can refine how they work with what they have.
I can talk all day about my take on how to large on less, but your stories and insights will make this book so much more interesting! If you’d like to add your $.02, please take my short survey. Absolutely none of your personal info will be sold to marketing firms; in fact, unless you give me your contact info, I won’t even know who filled it in. I like my privacy, so I respect yours!