Well, I am happy to say we are really seeing a difference in our budget due to the changes we decided to make in our lifestyle last April.

We cut kilowatts using less hot water in the kitchen and with shorter showers.  So while the per kilowatt charges went up, the monthly bill stayed the same.  Now that might seem a bit frustrating to be cutting back on energy usage and still be paying as much, in a way yes, it was.  But it showed us what we could do with less of.  And we really can take shorter showers – we just love that extra minute or two of just standing there in the hot water.

I am going to try a new thing this winter by using the clothes dryer less.  I like the fluffiness of using the dryer but not the extra energy out go, so I am going to fluff the laundry for 10 minutes in the dryer and then line dry the rest of the way in the garage (we live in the rainy Pacific Northwest).  I hope this will eliminate the stiffness of line dried clothes and yet drastically cut the dryer energy consumption.

Thankfully it has been a longer summer here – we just last week turned up the one heater in our house.  We have had colds the past week so we are keeping the house warmer for the time being.  But generally we will keep the thermostat at 68* and wear more layers.   Bedrooms are not heated  all night.  We turn up the heat just prior to getting into bed and then off for the night.  Once under the covers we are quite snuggly.

We spent money this past summer on our garden – probably more than we needed to but we also feel it was an investment.  We bought 200 strawberry plants and enough chicken manure to make them happy.  We acquired some nice thornless raspberry plants for free but for the chicken manure too.

We recently found out that we could have gotten a pick-up truck load of barn litter from the local dairy for $15, so we will do that before it gets too much colder.  We plan to use it to mulch all the perennial plants and prepare the beds for next year’s planting of vegetables.

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So, with that entry begins my Frugal Living Journal.  I am inspired to keep a journal for reference for myself and anyone else who might benefit from our family’s frugal ideas.  I have read the Economides’ book, America’s Cheapest Family as well as Amy Dacyzyn’s book, Tightwad Gazette so l have lots of inspiration but even they don’t go so far as we have had to over the years.

Come back often and even post your own frugal living ideas.  In this way we can help each other out in these tough economic times.