Monday, May 14, 2012

Money Saving Monay - Laundry

Money Saving Monday is back! Today we will talk a bit about how to save money on laundry and dishwashing.

First, start washing your clothes in cold water -  that simple switch can start saving you a little money.

Next, air dry - you can either hang your items outside in the sun (which acts as a stain remover too - not sure why, but the direct sunlight can help remove hard to get out stains - this is how I get stains out of my sons poopy cloth diapers, the rays also have antibacterial properties in them too) if you don't want to hang them outside, you can also set up a drying rack in your house. The clothes take a little longer, and you don't have the effect of the suns rays - but it works.

third - do the majority of your laundry after 7pm, or on weekends (if your hydro company utilizes time of use rates - these are the cheaper times)

fourth - if your using your dryer, try and do a few loads back to back - saves energy because the dryer doesn't cool all the way down and have to start back from the beginning!

Use the timer on your dishwasher and set it to start after 7pm - cheapest time to run appliances

11 comments:

  1. We have been doing laundry after 7pm and on weekends, as much as I hate doing it that way....

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    1. I know how much of a pain it is - I often have time in the middle of hte day, while YDS is napping...but to save money, it needs to wait....

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  2. We thought we had it made when we moved to our new house that had the laundry on the upper level with the bedrooms. Until the rate changes kicked in...Now doing laundry after 7pm is impossible because it's right outside the kids bedrooms! We still save as much as we can for the weekends and always use Cold water washes.

    Thanks for the tips!

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    1. I have never been a fan of upstairs laundry rooms - ours was in the basement growing up, and is in our house - no one gets disturbed!

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  3. Wow! Great tip! I try to do my washing after 7PM, but usually I end up doing it in the wee hours of the morning because things get so crazy busy. Surprisingly, no one gets disturbed during my late night cleaning sessions and *I* don't get disturbed or distracted either! The downside is me going to bed much later than everyone else in the house :( lol

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  4. I do most of these tips. I've always done most laundry at night when kids are in bed and I don't have to figure out what to do with the baby while I go to the basement.

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  5. I like the tips about the back to back dryer loads. I never knew this or thought of it like that! Thanks!

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  6. FAB tips, I do all of them except air dry and this year we're putting up a line in the backyard.

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  7. This is awesome information! Like others, I didn't know about the back-to-back loads. I actually do this because I tend to let laundry pile up and then do it all at once. Glad to know I can say it's not just me procrastinating, I'm saving money! lol

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  8. We are huge on saving money on our hydro. I can average a bill of $75 - $100 a month as I never do laundry during the week, dishwasher only runs at night and televisions are also always off during peak hours. Anything that requires higher levels of energy are off.

    To avoid using AC, I also keep windows open at night, and closed during the day. I try only having it run when it is unbearably hot in doors, but never if it is boiling hot outside, which makes it feel cooler indoors!

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