Dandelions and Daydreams

As the golds of autumn begin to trade out for the grays of winter and night time lows have dropped well below freezing, it’s time for me to admit that I need to begin winterizing our house.  The purpose of winterizing is to stop the leaks and save some cash on our winter heating bill.  My personal challenge this year is that we still have an offer out on a house and are unsure whether we will be in our current apartment 6 months (or more) or 6 weeks.  Since we are hopeful of moving soon, I don’t want to spend a lot of money winterizing someone else’s apartment/duplex.  At the same time, if we are going to be here all winter, I would like to take some steps to cut heating and energy costs.  Balance is the key.

Mission:  Close off unused rooms rather than paying to heat them all winter

Guest rooms, spare bedrooms, the junk room, your college kid’s old bedroom–chances are you have at least one room in your house that rarely gets used.  There are several quick and frugal ways to close off these rooms so you don’t pay to heat space you are not using.

Easiest:  Just close the heater vent and keep the door closed.

Most heater vents have a tab that you can open or close the vent.  This strategy is most useful for a room that will be used occasionally throughout the winter because this quick fix can be quickly undone too(Perhaps a guest room when you know you will be hosting the family Christmas, or a craft room that only gets used once or twice a month).

Easy: Use clear packaging tape over a closed heater vent

Even with a closed heater vent, you will probably hear a whistling sound as some air escapes into the room.  To solve this problem, we put clear packaging tape over the vent and completely sealed the vent.  This is another quick fix and super easy to undo/redo if you need to use the room later in the year.  We used clear packaging tape, but I imagine most any kind of tape would work well.  The clear tape is nice because it doesn’t show up as really obvious if someone does peak into the room.

A bit more complicated:  Pull off the vent register, add cardboard and insulation to seal off

The most complicated method (although still very simple) is to remove the vent register (this usually is held in place by 2 phillips head screws).  Inside the vent push in some insulting material then add a piece of cardboard or cardstock cut to the size of the vent and replace the register.  Some good suggestions for insulating material include leftover insulation from your house, pillow filler (batting), or perhaps just an old t-shirt.  The insulation will further reduce heat-transfer into the room.  This is the most complicated fix, but it still will only take 5-10 minutes.  I would only do it in a room that I knew I wouldn’t be using all winter.  This is a good solution if you have a big house and all your kids have moved out.

Final Notes and a Warning

The goal of this project is to stop heating the rooms that you are not using.  My only warning is this:  If you live in an area where the temperature gets cold enough to freeze water pipes, please take appropriate cautions.

If I were to sum up my philosphy on frugality in three statements they would be:

1. Begin from a mindset of abundance
2. Know where you are going
3. Saving money doesn’t require spending a lot of time

Begin from a mindset of abundance (or Count your Blessings)

In times like these, frugality is easily motivated by fear: The future is uncertain, the job market is shakier than we would like, money is not as easy to come by. Even with all that, most people who are reading this blog are abundantly blessed with more than enough to survive.

Frugality often takes on a miserly personality when not tempered with counting your blessings. Rather than hoarding out of fear, recognize that you have enough already and save to increase personal security. Ultimately, hoarding out of fear is a failure to trust God’s provisions. On the other side of the coin, saving and being frugal is part of being a responsible steward of all that He has given.

It probably sounds a bit nit-picky, but the take away lesson is that living in fear is no life at all.

Know where you are going (Set goals)

Why do you want to save money? At different points in our lives, B and I have lived frugally just to make ends meat, cut back on expenses so we could buy some toys, saved for a down payment on a house, and currently, we are saving towards having an emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses.

I am a big fan of financial guru David Bach’s idea of values based spending. The basic principle is to know what is important to you and spend your discretionary income on those things rather than spending it without thinking. Tell your money where to go, don’t let the neighbors spend it for you as you try to keep up with the Joneses. Right now, our goal is to continue saving on that down payment and to build a 6-month emergency fund (I am amazed at how being pregnant has activated my security gland. Seven months ago I was not too concerned about getting that emergency fund in place!)

Saving money doesn’t require spending a lot of time

We’ve all read those frugal tips that include baking everything from scratch, spending hours and hours planning your couponing shopping strategy, spinning your own yarn, weaving your own cloth, and sewing your own clothes–you know exactly what I am talking about. While none of these things are bad, you probably had the same response as I did, “Who has time for this stuff?!?” My goal in being frugal is to save the most money with the least amount of time. As for baking my own bread and sewing my own clothes–I only do it because I enjoy it.

What do you think should be added to my frugal philosophy? Why are you saving money right now? Do you have a frugal tip to save time and money or a hobby (like sewing) that you enjoy and helps your family live a bit more frugally? Leave a comment and let me know!

Allow me to state the obvious: the future is uncertain. I’m sure you’ve been watching the news, you know that the economy is unstable. Don’t panic! Right now is not a time to panic, instead this is a good time to make a plan, tighten up your belt, and exercise caution.

October is frugal living month here at Dandelions and Daydreams. The articles this month will help you tighten the budget and save some money. I challenge you to plan for the future by managing finances and stocking up on necessities to help prepare for whatever the future holds.

Over the next month, I’ll be testing frugal tips, posting tightwad recipes, and stocking up my pantry right along with you.

There is an old saying that goes:

“A woman can throw more out the back door with a teaspoon than her husband can bring in the front door with a wheelbarrow.”

It’s time to make sure we’ve put away that teaspoon and closed the back door.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust:
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18:2-3.

After my Pre-day routine that I described last week, I am ready to start my day.  I get changed out of my pajamas and dressed (mostly) to the shoes.  The first thing that I do that I really consider as part of my day is to throw open the front door, which faces East, and shout “GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!”  I step out onto the front porch and stretch my arms to the sky savoring the new day.

If the weather is nice, I will leave the front door propped open, but after the first day of autumn my morning greeting has allowed me to savor crisp fall chill and the scent of woodsmoke.

I told a friend about my morning routine and she told me that her 2 year old wakes up every day, stands up in her crib and shouts, “GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!”

I think we all need to incorporate a bit more 2-year-old enthusiasm into our day.