Experiments
Last years experiment was to find ways to drastically reduce my food costs without compromising the quality of the ingredients. It was a major success. Shopping wisely at CostCo, avoiding mainstream supermarkets, buying veggies at Monterey Market (like an indoor Farmers Market) and packing lunch to work, I managed to trim my per meal costs to a little over $2.00 per meal as opposed to about $5.00 per meal that I had been averaging.
This year, energy savings. I read and did some research on wasted energy in the home. What an eye opener! An amazing array of items can have hidden power drains - even when you may not actively be using them! Cell phone rechargers, computer speakers, cordless toothbrush... all sucking some power, even when not being actively used! So, I've begun to re-educate myself and eradicate needless power usage. All PC components are now plugged into a surge strip which is turned off when the PC is off. Cordless toothbrush recharger is unplugged unless actively charging. Same with the cell phone recharger. I'll be replacing my bedroom alarm clock with a battery operated LCD alarm. The auto-start coffee machine will be replaced with a simple on/off machine and unplugged when not brewing. The TV and DVD/VCR are unplugged now. No big deal there as I watch perhaps an hours worth of TV per month. I just started this quest about 2 weeks ago so the results won't be visible for about a month. If I trim 10-15% from the bill, I'll be happy. 20-25%: ecstatic!
Powering off now. :)
This year, energy savings. I read and did some research on wasted energy in the home. What an eye opener! An amazing array of items can have hidden power drains - even when you may not actively be using them! Cell phone rechargers, computer speakers, cordless toothbrush... all sucking some power, even when not being actively used! So, I've begun to re-educate myself and eradicate needless power usage. All PC components are now plugged into a surge strip which is turned off when the PC is off. Cordless toothbrush recharger is unplugged unless actively charging. Same with the cell phone recharger. I'll be replacing my bedroom alarm clock with a battery operated LCD alarm. The auto-start coffee machine will be replaced with a simple on/off machine and unplugged when not brewing. The TV and DVD/VCR are unplugged now. No big deal there as I watch perhaps an hours worth of TV per month. I just started this quest about 2 weeks ago so the results won't be visible for about a month. If I trim 10-15% from the bill, I'll be happy. 20-25%: ecstatic!
Powering off now. :)