1. Utilities
- We are keeping the dryer unplugged. Our dryer is on it's last leg and takes FOREVER to dry a load of laundry. 2 HOURS to dry towels! I can't imagine how much money I've been wasting by using that thing when line drying is so easy! I've been doing it for a week now and I actually find hanging clothes to be relaxing. It all dries pretty darn fast in the sun too!
- We are unplugging from 1 - 7pm. Alabama Power charges 5 cents per killowatt hour used on weekends and weekday evenings and mornings. From 1 - 7 pm on weekdays they bump it up to 25 cents per killowatt hour! At 1 pm every day, I stick it to the man and unplug all of our electronics and crank the a/c up to 80 degrees (leaving the ceiling fans running). I also flipped my cooking; I cook meals for lunch most days, then we eat sandwiches or something quick in the evenings for dinner. Supposedly doing this is healthier too. I'm also going to try and get more meals prepped ahead of time during the weekends.
- Less washing laundry and dishes, but when we do, washing in cold water. I'm not talking about becoming the smelly kids, but I am talking about being less wasteful. I tend to throw clothes in the hamper when they've only been worn for like 2 hours. So we're committing to only washing truly dirty laundry. I became so accustomed to washing everything (including my hands) in hot water, but it's not really neccessary. We're using cold water 90% of the time.
2. Electronics
- Phones and Phone Service. We are getting rid of our iPhones, which is HUGE for us. Shane uses his a TON for work. Not just for texting and emails, but specifically for apps that better his lessons with students. However Shane has an iPad that carries all the apps he needs (and it's way easier to use with students in lessons). With the freedom of saying goodbye to our iPhones comes the opportunity to pay so SO much less for cell phone service. We researched it and have decided to switch to Republic Wireless. Their lowest plan is just $5 a month for unlimited talk/text/data. We currently pay $180 for our phones and data. We're going to save a CRAZY amount of money! I'll let you know how it goes when we switch over next month.
- We are saying bye bye to Shane's Macbook. I have a $200 Chrome Book and I LOVE it. It does everything I need it to. Shane has the top of the line Macbook with all the memory and cool things. Shane is ALWAYS grabbing my Chromebook at home and he also steals the front desk Chromebook at the studio to use during lessons. He brings his Macbook back and forth from work, but he rarely turns it on. It turns out he doesn't really need his Macbook like he thought he would when we bought it. He actually likes the Chromebook more! We think we can sell his Macbook for $800, which will put $600 back in our pockets after he buys his own fancy schmancy budget friendly Chromebook!
3. Furniture
Mr. Beanpot and all of his neighbors have houses that look the same and are the same color, "and they like it that way." Then one day a bird is carrying a pail of orange paint and spills it on Mr. Beanpot's house. His neighbors say, "Too bad you have to paint your house!" and Mr. Beanpot says (in what I assume to be an Eeore attitude) "I suppose I do." Well Mr. Beanpot doesn't paint his house the same way it had always been, or in a way that the neighbors approve of. He paints it a trainwreck of rainbowness. Then he sits in a hammock in the front yard and drinks lemonade...with his pet crocodile. Like a boss. The neighbors get annoyed and think he's gone insane. Anyone who finds the courage to talk to him about the matter ends up going home and painting their house into some crazy messed up thing. In the end all the neighbors have crazy looking houses and say, "Our neighborhood is us aand we are it. It is all of our dreams and we like it that way."
Yeah, maybe we'll eventually get a rug and some floor cushions. We actually think we want to make our living room just a giant play room. We'll put some sweet things in for Josiah, and maybe a pool table for us at some point. We're talking about taking our small office and making it into a movie lounge area with our TV and some cushions on the floor. It's liberating to realize that our house doesn't have to look like every one else's and we can be children again and let our imaginations run wild with how we want our house to look and be set up!
The whole idea is this: we're going to strive to get rid of the unnessessary things that do not make us happy in order to make room for the things that do. We might be crazy, but I'm excited because we are not going to be suckered into paying for things we don't really want or need anymore!
I'll keep you updated on the ensuing craziness and how it all unfolds.