Tip 1 - Bring back the Clothesline

Today's blog is the beginning of our 10-part series on saving at least $1000 (or more) this year with very little pain on your part. Most of the tips will be easy and won't disrupt your routine!

Let's start with the clothesline.

When I was a kid in the 1970's, my mom dried our clothes on a clothesline. We would drag the basket out into the warm sun and hang up all our clothes for mother nature to dry. Your only enemies were rain and running out of clothespins.

Then it happened. Daddy bought an electric dryer. Mama swore to me that we would still hang our clothes outside, but she never did. Somehow, that big old dryer took over and the clothesline died a quiet death. When I bought my first house, the first thing I did was have a clothesline installed. There is just nothing like the starched, crisp feel of your clothes after they have dried in the sun.

When we recently moved and I became a stay-at-home mom, I realized that some corners would have to be cut. I started with the dryer. My dryer gets used so rarely, it has dust on it. Since I haven't been able to get a line up yet, I'm using a drying rack like the one pictured below.

Photo courtesy of oganizeit.com

So let's crunch numbers:

The "Saving Electricity" website says this:

A clothes dryer accounts for a whopping 12% of electricity use in a typical household. (source)  And clothes drying is one of the easiest places to save energy, because you can erase 100% of the cost by simply hanging your clothes up to dry.  At a sample rate of $0.15/kWh and 7.5 loads per week, we're talking a savings of $196 per year by line-drying instead of using an electric dryer.  That's hefty.

That's almost $200 in electricity savings alone! We won't even factor in the savings to your clothes. Line drying is more gentle and extends the life of your delicate pieces. I hang shirts on hangers and hang them in doorways. Sheets have to be dried in the dryer for now.

We use cloth diapers 80% of the time on the Pork Chop (my son). PC actually loves wearing cloth. He never ever gets diaper rash, and let's be honest - cloth just feels better on your bottom. There is something very therapeutic when I do diapers. After washing them, I love to hang them on my drying rack. In warm weather, I sit the rack on my deck, and the sun starches his diapers for me. It's seriously my meditation. Odd, I know, but I do love it.

Pork Chop in his spiffy cloth diapers

Don't forget, the impact on the environment cannot be measured.  The less electricity you use, the better. I know you're thinking this sounds Little House on the Prairie - ish, but I promise, when you have a lower electric bill, you'll thank me (Hello! More wine money!).  Even if you don't line dry every load, there is still the potential to save money by hanging out a few loads per week.

I can't wait to get the line up this Spring! Running between the sheets on the line is a great part of childhood. I don't want PC to miss that! Plus, it's inspiration to lose a few pounds. Don't want the neighbors commenting on the size of my drawers. Maybe I'll just hang those inside.

Fondly,
Amanda Z
Domesticology

AmandaZ is the (mature) stay-at-home mom of Pork Chop, Southern gal, thrifty bad a$$ and writer of Domesticology101.com. This blog tackles all things domestic - from child rearing to cooking and home improvement to frugality. All done with a touch of humor and common sense. This is definitely not your mama's home economics site!