I am a big fan of saving money in any way possible! We conserve water at our house. If we are just rinsing something out we save the water to put on our garden. If we do not finish a glass of water we put it into a special pitcher and it is given to our cats and dogs. If we find a bottle of water we pour it on an outdoor plant. Sheri D.
Some families couldn’t handle this next tip but we always drank after each other so I kept a small lightweight jug of water in the fridge. The kids would take a drink out of it and pop it back in to stay cold. I never had a pile of dirty glasses and at an earlier age the kids were able to open the fridge and get a drink so I didn’t have to get water out of the sink for them to drink each time.
I guess most people now have refrigerators with the water on the door but I sure did love my jug because it saved not only water but prevented me from having to wash so many glasses and finding glasses sitting all over the house.
-Jill
when i was growing up, my mom gave us a plastic cup with our names on it and we were responsible for washing out our own cup and if she had to wash it, she charged us (from 1 cent to 10 cents depending on our age)…
some might think that is cruel but her reasoning was (and she used to tell us this all of the time), she was our mother not our maid and we had 2 hands just like she did and well, if were big enuff to make a mess than we were also big enuff to clean up after ourselves too…
and with 5 kids, she had to do this… and the water jug in the fridge? we had that too… but we had 2 jugs… and if one jug ran out of water and wasnt filled up again (to keep a fresh supply of cold water in the fridge at all times), then we would be in trouble…
but then mom had to be this way, there were 5 of us and only one of her and she worked full time too…
we never had soda or kool aid or tang or anything like that when i was growing up…
if we had iced tea it bc either my older sisters bought the mix (where you just add water) or they brewed the tea bags and added the sugar to it…
but other than that, it was mainly water…
now for breakfast, we drank hot tea (which mom made a big coffee pot of) or hot chocolate (only in winter)… other than that, it was water…
rose :D
Sheri and Jill,
So true! I save water “leftovers” for the houseplants and other things, too. Like Jill mentioned, we have dispenser in the door. I taught the kids at an early age that they could pick one cup (we have a multicolored set of plastic random cups) from the cabinet below the counter (stored at a level they can get to on their own!) and use that cup all day or longer. There is a space on the counter where everyone’s water cup sits until it gets scooped up in a load of dishes. If the cup is there, they must use that one, and if the dishes have been done, they can get another one until next time. The kids loved it so much from an early age that the most requested drinks in our house are milk with meals, and water at other times. We don’t go through much juice, it’s a special treat.
My Mom gave us each a different color cup, plate, bowl etc that was our responsibility. She also had four daughters/dishwashers which made us conserve glasses.
I conserve water too. After washing dishes I pour it in a bucket and use it to flush the next time. I rinse the plates first because they need the least water to do so and work my way up to pots. I normally only use one dishpan for washing and another for rinsing. I also use the dehumidifier’s water to fill the washing machine. Its amazing how much water you can save.
I have a question, why bother to use the chemcials or time to bleach diapers? Babies only pee on them. Who cares what they look like?
What I’m going to say may seem kind of silly, but the picture you have on this article about water is so pretty. It looks like a water crown. Beautiful.
Not silly at all Bea and we appreciate you noticing the pictures. I mentioned before we spend a lot of hours and time now with the new web site trying to match the pictures to the article so when someone mentions they like it it makes it worth the hours I spend looking a couple of hundred pictures of chocolate chip cookies or drops of water to find just the right picture. So thank you.
When I first became frugally conscious, I didn’t notice how much water I was using around the house and yard. I had 60 pots with plants outside, I let the water run while I did dishes and brushed my teeth. If I was cooking I would turn the water on, then turn away and do something else, then come back to the sink. Meanwhile all that water was going down the drain, and my water bill was going up. I have reduced the potted plants outside to 12 pots and the plants in them are drought tolerant. I wash the dishes in pans and then water the plants with the used water. We turn the water off while brushing our teeth and we put a little water in the sink to wash and rinse our hands. We have shortened our showers to 5 minutes. I love the challenge of becoming more frugal as we learn different ways to accomplish things. This is off the subject, but I noticed something today. As I cook more and more from scratch, my pantry cupboard is becoming less cluttered. The boxed items and cans of various soups and sauces are getting less. Then I noticed that I have more drawer and counter space as I got rid of the paper towel holder and plastic bags, etc. I made a pretty rag bag (kind of like a clothespin bag) and it hangs in my kitchen. More space in my drawers for pretty cotton towels I’ve trimmed and dishcloths I’ve knitted. I store beans, pasta, nuts, and dried fruit in jars and when I open my pantry it is pure pleasure to see all those jars sitting there. I doubt whether I will ever can, but my jars of dried fruit are very satisfying.
Diane
Jill, There’s just something beautiful about water. It reminds me of “The Living Water” mentioned in the Bible and that will flow from the Throne of God in Heaven, so pretty water pictures fascinate me.
When I was growing up, we had a cistern for water and had to conserve. We used one glass of water for tooth brushing. Dip the brush to moisten, brush, take a sip to rinse mouth,use the remaining water to rinse the brush (and hand if you were messy). I don’t do it that way any more, but I’m still careful and have never left the water running while I brushed–or for that matter kept the water running while washing dishes.
In our house, everyone is allowed to keep a water glass at their place on the kitchen table. It’s everyone’s responsibility to wash their own glass as they deem needed. It does save on all the washing of glasses.
We just got back from visiting relatives in Iowa and Illinois. My in-laws are under a voluntary water restriction due to the drought. It may become mandatory. I try to be conscious of our water consumption but witnessing mile after mile of ruined corn crops was very sobering. I am convinced we Americans (myself included) don’t realize what a blessing we have in our ready access to fresh water.
This is for Grizzly Bear Mom. People use bleach to get the smell out or to strip their diapers. Also it is a good idea if you get your diapers second hand to wash them in bleach to know they are germ free. I personally don’t use bleach on my diapers unless I get them second hand. The sun does a good enough job on the stains for me.
I save my water from cooking potatoes, pasta, boiled eggs,
and other things. I let it cool completely and water my
plants with it. You should see my geraniums!!!
I try to save water. Our winter use is about eighty cents a month in the winter. Summer is different, this months water bill was $169.00! I tell my husband to go pick the twenty dollar squash in the garden. Due to the heat and drouth neither the lawn or the garden is doing well. We are going to kill some of our grass and use the area for next years garden. The sprinkler system will water the trees and veggies for the same cost of just the grass. We are not supposed to use gray water in our town, but we are going to try sneaking some water from the washer to water some trees. We have a rain barrel I use for outdoor plants. Getting too old to tote water far.
Saving water in the house. Run the water into a bucket while waiting to get it warm for a shower. One or two showers is enough to flush the toilet if it is a one and one half gallon flush toilet. Pour the water in quickly to make it flush and use the rest to fill the bowl. Keep a plastic bowl in the sink to catch hand washing water to add to the water supply. I read this on another sight, If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down. I do this but if it’s stinky go ahead and flush. Water left in glasses is used for plants. Fill a bowl of water to wash veggies, use a brush to clean and rinse with clear water. Recycle the water.
One tip for those building or remodeling a house make sure the hot water heater is close to the shower and sink. In the house I have now the water only travels about 4 ft. from the basement so I have almost instant hot water and don’t have to wait.
Our bathrooms are close to hot water, the kitchen is not. DH put in a new plastic line for the kitchen but still wastes a quart of water to get it hot. We replaced all copper water lines with plastic, it keeps the heat in. Our electric rates went up 30% this month. Sure glad I line dry my clothes. turn off the lights, use CFL bulbs in most used rooms. I turned off the AC last night and the phone charger. We turned the thermostate up and use fans to keep cool, just be sure to turn them off if no one is in the room.