Save by Repurposing

Repurposing is a means of using an item
in an unexpected way. Ultimately, you can find new uses for items that you would have discarded. The greatest benefit of doing so is to prevent an additional purchase.

Here is an example our family has been fascinated with this winter: dryer lint. Like most families, we do a lot of laundry, and it seems that there is no end to the amount of dryer lint I clean out of the dryer filter between loads. As we began to research some alternative uses, these are some of the things we found:

• Dryer lint makes an excellent firestarter in our wood-burning fireplace insert. (Watching the speed in which it ignites will convince you to never forget to clean out your lint filter.) While the lint works well alone, we learned that if we place it inside of a cardboard roll with wax chips leftover from a used candle, we can get a good 10 minutes of burn time that gets our fire going extremely well with no kindling.
  
• We placed some of the dryer lint outside on the tops of bushes, and the birds had carried it away to their nests in no time!
  
• We used it to stuff homemade felt heart ornaments for Valentine’s Day.
  
• Although we haven’t tried these yet, there are actually craft recipes for dryer lint paper, dryer lint papier mache`, and dryer lint clay. Who knew?
  
• It can be composted.

So many possibilities from something we used to just toss in the trash! There is really no limit to the number of things that an alternate use can be found for. It requires a little thinking. It may even require a little research. But in the end the benefits are many: the obvious money saved on a new purchase, getting a greater value for your money on the original item purchased, the satisfaction of discovery, and the fun of getting everyone involved in the thought process of it all.

As I thought about making this little entry about repurposing, I was reminded that even I am repurposed. When I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I became a new creation in Him. I hope that you know the excitement of being repurposed in Christ.

Joy in the Journey

As a Christian, I know that my real joy lies in Jesus, and He does not want me to be robbed of that joy by my circumstances. As our family continues to make progress with a more frugal lifestyle, we want to have positive feelings about those changes. It is important to us that we reflect for our children that these changes are about the privilege of choice, not deprivation.

Here are a few of the ways we are trying to foster good feelings about being more frugal while forming the habit of making more cost effective choices:

• Review our goals regularly - As we take the time to do this, it helps to remind us that every time we don't spend money and save it instead, we are a step closer to one of our goals. Some of these goals are very tangible. For example, our family wants to travel to Alaska to visit family members before they move back to the lower 48. We want it to be an educational trip that can be part of our homeschooling experience. We have a beautiful framed photo of an Alaskan landscape in our homeschool room, so that we can see this visual reminder of one of the goals we are working toward.


• Celebrate savings by writing them down - I love to make special note of amounts we have saved every week. It then becomes a little game with myself to see if I can top that savings the next week. I'm by nature competitive, so even competing with myself seems to work! It not only makes me feel good, but my husband loves it too!
  
• Validating our purchases - I'm not referring to regular spending like groceries or gas, but for any purchase even mildly out of the ordinary. First, I need to consider why I want the item. It's amazing how lame my rationale can sometimes be. I am finding that when I just take time to think about it, I can pretty easily find an alternative to the purchase -- even if it is just a less expensive purchase.
  
• Ask yourself why - Is this a NEED or a WANT?


• Stay well groomed - I am not proud to admit this, but I have learned that I am less likely to spend money when I feel good. And I feel best when I am showered and dressed completely, including my shoes! I feel more energetic and more efficient. It would be easy to let that slide some days in conjunction with staying home more due to spending less on outside activities.
  
• Enjoy what you already own. I realize that we have CDs, movies, games,puzzles, and books that we rarely use. We have thoroughly loved pulling them out and using them again. The children have been especially pleased with some of these activities. It was fun AND free!

We want our lives to reflect that happiness is not dependent upon the latest gadget or designer label. We want to radiate happiness because we are richly blessed by an Almighty God who doesn't want us to be bogged down in financial worry of our own making or side-tracked by obsession with the things we own. We are learning that in this journey of restraint...there is freedom.

Saving Water

When I think about saving money on utilities, I usually think about our natural gas and electricity. For some reason, increasing measures to conserve our water usage rarely crosses my mind. But recently, one of my neighbors pointed out that the water utility service in our area charges a "sewer usage fee" that is MORE than the charge for the water itself! Seems crazy to me, but there is nothing I can do to change it.

So, I decided it was time to begin focusing more on wise water usage. Obviously, a decrease in our water bill is a main motivator, but it still seems prudent to form better habits of conserving our water. We were fortunate this past summer to not be in an area affected by enforced water restrictions, but that doesn't mean that it could not become necessary at some point for a variety of reasons.

Most of us could easily make a quick list of ways to conserve water, but here are a few suggestions I found particularly helpful:

• When hot water sits in your tap for a little while, it can get cold. If you need hot water, often you run the tap until the cold water in the hot water tap goes warm or hot. That amount of water is approximately 2-4 liters depending upon the distance from the tap to the hot water heater. As a way to utilize that 2-4 liters of cold water, fill up a Brita-type water pitcher and use it for drinking or cooking. You could also fill up your watering can, and give your house plants a quick drink or collect it in a small bucket and use it for cleaning.


• One trick is to turn your toilet into a "low flow" toilet. By doing this you reduce the amount of water used in each flush, and take a bite out of your water bill. You can do this by filling up an empty 2-liter soda bottle or an empty milk jug and placing the bottle in the tank of your toilet.


• Stop those drippy faucets! It's unbelievable how much water is wasted from even the slowest drip. After counting the drips per minute, use the drip calculator here: http://theplumber.com/drip_calculator.html When I used it, I found out that what I thought was an insignificant faucet drip, was causing me to pay for an extra 1051 gallons of water per year! YIKES!


• Running your washing machine & dish washer only when full can save you up to 1,000 gallons per month.


• If your shower fills a one-gallon bucket in less than 20 seconds, replace the shower head with a water-efficient model. You can purchase a water-saving shower head for as little as $15. They are easy to install and can cut the cost of a shower in half. In the past they've been criticized for offering very little water pressure, but newer models produce a full-power spray that uses as little as three gallons of water per minute.


• It can also be helpful to set a timer every time you get into the shower to get yourself into the habit of using less water. Shortening your shower by a minute or two saves up to 150 gallons per month.


• Collect water from your roof to water your garden. This one is something we've committed to try. We intend to install rain barrels at 2 gutter downspouts, and use the free water for our outdoor watering needs.