Sunday, October 2, 2011

31 Days: Day 3 - How Dry I Am

If this is your first visit I welcome you to my little corner of the world!  You might want to start at the introduction of this series.  It explains what 31 Days of Change is, and has links to each day's post as they occur.  Just click on the 31 Days to Slash Your Budget Painlessly button at the top of my sidebar on the right.

This is the last time I'll be in the laundry room, I promise, but there is one more way you can save some serious change in there. No turning out pockets for loose change...I'm talking savings of around $200 per year! (for an electric dryer...gas runs a little cheaper)


How is that possible? By not using your dryer. For some this one may be a little less painless than the other tips so far. It takes more time to hang clothes on the line, but I'm here to tell you that this has been anything but painful for me this past summer. It is almost a religious experience to be out listening to birds serenade me as the sun caressed me with it's warmth (100 degree days not withstanding). Umm...now where was I...oh yeah... I really enjoyed laundry days when I could hang out clothes on the line. The smell of air dried laundry is a big bonus too. I love to crawl into freshly laundered and air dried sheets.


Another consideration is weather. There were a few times when I couldn't wait for a sunny day and had to resort to my dryer. I'm not sure if I will want to hang them in the dead of winter either, however, we have Amish neighbors who hang their laundry all year long. I am considering hanging some clothesline in the basement for winter drying. We have a long area on one side of the basement that this would work. The savings potential may sway me, even though the trek up and down the stairs will be a bit of a pain. Putting a positive spin on it though, it will be good exercise, which I could really use!

Using the calculator at Saving Electricity, I figured I can save $240/year or $20/month if I never use the dryer. That is probably not reasonable. I know there will be days when it's raining, or I'm in a really big hurry and don't have time. I also don't like to dry my underwear out where all God's creatures can see them. I do have a vintage wood drying rack that I like to hang delicates on. Also they could be hung in the basement. I'm going to estimate that I will use the dryer about 1/3 of the time. Therefore I will save about $160 a year, or $13.33 per month.

If you are benefiting from this series, I’d love it if you would grab my button from the top of my sidebar.  I will be back with another money saving tip tomorrow that could save you $208 per year or more!   I will keep up a running tally of my savings at the bottom of each new post. Just scroll down to the bottom to see.  Come on back & keep the savings adding up!

My tally so far:

$381/year
$31.75/month


5 comments:

  1. I am so enjoying this series. I am not sure if this one is going to work for me. We live in an area that has such huge restrictions on what can show above your fence and a clothes line is not allowed. So hanging one low enough isn't practical, everything would hit the ground. So I may have to pass on this one. However to save energy I do the laundy on weekends only when it is not at the peak hours. That saves a little. Thanks for all the suggestions I look forward to more. Hugs, Marty

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  2. I hadn't thought about restrictions on clothes lines. We live out in the country. It's too bad when something so practical, especially in this age of "going green," is restricted. Another tip you might try is to set your dryer on actual minutes instead of automatic, if you aren't already. I played around with times and found I could dry jeans in about 50 minutes, whites in around 30, etc. Then at least you aren't drying clothes for longer than they really need it.

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  3. not trying to be nit-picky but either you meant you estimate you will use your dryer 2/3 of the time or your estimates need to change to $80... just saying.
    PS: I found your psot via Pinterest and they are really good :)

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  4. To clarify my calculations, I divided $240 by 3 (1/3rd) and multiplied by two, because I would be saving electricity 2/3rd of the year, thus saving $160. I hope that clears up any confusion.

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  5. I would like to use the clothesline image. Do you know where I can get permission/copyright? Thank you. Taylor@preservethepast.com

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