Search Results for: blog the frugal light revolt

Turn Out the Lights Automatically

If your family tends to “forget” to turn out the lights when they leave a room, take this tip from hotels and bathroom heat lamps to make sure that the lights aren’t left on when the room isn’t occupied. To reduce your energy use, install mechanical timer switches on lights that tend to get left on. These timer switches can be found in most home improvement stores and are easy to install yourself. The timers come in a wide range of settings and options. You can find timers that time the switch for 15 minutes to those that time it … Continue reading →

You Know You’re Really Frugal When…

Whether you need a quick laugh or some more ideas on how to be frugal, check out this list of signs that you are really frugal. You look forward to ironing just so you can warm up your hands on the ironing board when you are done (free heat). You look forward to the day you’ve save up enough for that big ticket item at the thrift store. You make do with newspaper until the price of toilet paper goes down. You check the coin star machine at the grocery store to see if anyone left any extra money in … Continue reading →

The Frugal Light Revolt

How many people does it take to turn off a light bulb? Apparently just one. You see, my family is under the incorrect assumption that lights simply turn themselves off. When I raise the issue of leaving the lights on, my family just shrugs. My husband says,” but I was going back in that room next week.” My oldest child says,” I thought we had robots that turned them off.” My middle child says,” I can’t reach. (Hmm, then how did they get on in the first place, and why is there a pink plastic chair near the light switch … Continue reading →

Smaller Garbage Equals More Money

We have been smug. I admit it. When we look at all of the garbage that our neighbors have out, we tend to feel that we are on the right track. This is because we know that the smaller our garbage is then the less money we are spending. While the neighbors can have three or more extra large trash cans a week, we have trouble just filling up half of our can per week. Once we are past disposable diapers (we just don’t want to do cloth), we may even cut that little bit in half. There are so … Continue reading →

Pouring Money Out the Door

I am the morning person in the family. I wake up before everyone else, so I can get the household started. I get out of bed, make lunches, lay out clothing, unload the dishwasher, do some light cleaning, do some freelance writing and wake everyone else up, all before taking a shower. My husband, on the other hand is a night owl. He tends to stay up late paying bills, taking out the recycling and doing small handyman projects before bed. It is not unusual for me to pad downstairs in the morning to find things little things that he … Continue reading →

My Forks Runneth Over

Have a bunch of mismatched old forks, spoons and knives lying around or just want an excuse to upgrade your current set? Here is how you can put that silverware to good use, to avoid waste and be very frugal. For some reason, we wound up with various mismatched sets of forks, knives and spoons. I am not sure how this happened, but it probably went something like this: Boy moves out on his own and is gifted with silverware from friends and relatives: a fork here, a knife there, until he has enough pieces for everyday life. Meanwhile, girl … Continue reading →

Week in Review: February 18-24

As I’m writing this, we are all snuggled in while a snowstorm hits us here in the East. We just finished eating our dinner of homemade pizza from scratch with jello for desert. Now as my husband gets the kids wound down and ready for their baths, I thought I would take the time to offer you the week in review. The week in review is a recap of all of the frugal articles that were posted this last week, from Sunday, February 18th through Saturday, February 24th. Enjoy! Sunday, February 18th How to Maintain Your Refrigerator for Maximum Efficiency … Continue reading →