Frugal Friday: Saving energy and money in every room

In my quest to save money in 2011, I thought I’d turn my focus on some ways to save energy. I thought I’d organize the tips according to room, although many of these energy saving tips can of course be used in more than one room.
Bedrooms

• Consider using LED energy saving nightlights to avoid turning on room lights when moving around in the night.
  
• Use ceiling fans, blankets and warm night clothes to keep the thermostat lower while sleeping, thus saving heating fuel.
  
• Switch any lightbulbs to CFLs.
  
• Unplug cell phone chargers when not in use.
  
• Keep any TVs and such on a power strip that can be shut off when not in use to prevent energy vampires.

Bathrooms

• Take shorter showers to save on water heating energy.
  
• Reduce or eliminate blow drying.
  
• Switch from electric to manual toothbrushes and razors, or at least unplug them when they are done charging (most only need to charge every few days).

Kitchen

• Keep the refrigerator closed as much as possible. Try to plan to get everything you need for dinner out at once, and organize the fridge so you can find things quickly.
  
• Check fridge and freezer temperatures. You might be able to set them a bit higher and still maintain safe conditions.
  
• Use smaller appliances when possible. Microwaves and toaster ovens use much less energy than stoves and ovens.
  
• Use appropriately sized pans and burners. Don’t waste energy and money boiling more water or heat more surface than you need.
  
• Bake more than one thing at a time, or back to back if the temperatures are slightly different. The oven uses most of its energy preheating.
  
• Don’t preheat the oven to roast or heat something, only if you are doing fussy baking.
  
• Run only full loads in your dishwasher.
  
• Set the dishwasher to air dry, not heat dry.

Living room

• Turn off the TV when it is not actively being watched (and in our house, actively watch it less).
  
• Turn off computers from the power strips when not being used, and unplug laptop chargers when not charging.
  
• Use appropriate window treatments to keep rooms light in the day and dark at night, and warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Laundry room

• Run only full loads of laundry.
  
• Wash everything in cold water, unless there’s an allergy issue forcing you to use hot for sheets and towels.
  
• Experiment with dryer times to hit the minimum that does the job.
  
• Sort clothes by weight so dryer times are similar for everything in a load.
  
• Hang at least a few of your heavier things to dry. You can throw them in the dryer briefly to soften them.

Do you have any great tips to add? For more great frugal advice, check out Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.

Some tips to save money shopping for organic food

The more we hear about our food and the entire food production industry, the more a lot of us start to get scared. Buying more organic food is a great option to protect both your family's health and the health of the planet, but it can be very expensive. It is, however, very possible to eat more organic food without breaking the budget by implementing some simple (and some less simple) strategies.

• Eat less meat and dairy. Probably the easiest way to save money shopping for organic food is to eat less meat and dairy - a proposition that isn't very appealing to most people. Meat and dairy, however, have some of the highest concentrations of any food we buy, and also tend to have the biggest price differential between conventional and organic. It doesn't make sense to feed your family organic carrots and conventional hamburgers, but it also isn't viable for many families to eat organic, grass fed beef every night. The best thing to do is to shoot for a balance. Consider having more meatless meals, so that you can afford to splurge on the organic stuff when you do eat meat, or at least to switch one meat meal a month to organic.
  
  
• Join a CSA. CSA stands for community supported agriculture. It is basically a system where customers by a "share" in a farm's produce for a season. Members pay upfront, giving farmers much needed startup capital, and in turn often get first pick of the produce for the rest of the season. This can be (although isn't always) the most affordable way to buy local, organic food. Check out Local Harvest to see if there is a CSA in your area.
  
  
• Look beyond Whole Paycheck. Most local grocery stores, and even Walmart, offer organic food these days. Ethical issues aside, shopping at these larger stores can be a great way to save money while still getting organic.
  
  
• Buy in bulk. Natural food stores and some grocery stores often have bulk bins for grains, fruit, and some other products. Generally this is less expensive than buying the same organic products pre-packaged.
  
  
• Cook more from scratch. While organic Oreos or organic mac and cheese can be very appealing, try to focus on buying whole, unprocessed organic products and creating your own meals from them. This will save you money and be healthier (and probably more fun!)
  
  
• Use coupons. Whether or not you are a coupon queen, you can probably benefit from organic food coupons. Because organic food companies tend to be smaller, they don't often have coupons in the Sunday paper because they are very pricey to run. About Frugal Living has a great list of organic coupons that you can print or request online, but go ahead and try emailing any organic company you enjoy. The smaller companies are much more likely to mail coupons directly to you if you ask for them. Also, Go organic for Earth Day and Mambo Sprouts both offer booklets with coupons for a number of different brands of organic food.
  
  
• Focus your organic dollars. If you have read much about organic food, you've probably heard of the dirty dozen, the twelve most pesticide-ridden products. If you can't afford to buy everything organic, focus on them. Also, consider changing your eating patterns. Some foods are much less expensive in their organic form than others. Eating more carrots and fewer apples, for example, could save you a ton of money.

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