We’ve been conducting an experiment in our kitchen the past two months, ever since watching a segment on Sunday Morning about the dishwasher (and ever since receiving that $426 Progress Energy bill. As it turns out, we’ve been washing our dishes completely wrong!

I’d be willing to bet that many of you out there have been doing it wrong, too. 😛 So, unless your dishwasher was built during the Reagan campaign, here are a few tips for saving energy, water, and time in the kitchen.

1. Don’t hand wash your dishes. Of course, there are exceptions. ((Like my vintage Pyrex collection.)) But unless a dish specifically states that it’s not dishwasher safe, toss it in the machine. You don’t have to be Al Gore to know that you will waste more water by using a sink full of it, or by letting the water run, to hand wash dishes than you will by loading and running your dishwasher.
2. Scrape, don’t rinse! This has been the hardest habit for me to let go of. I’m a rinser. My mom even commented once “You’re the only person I know who puts clean dishes in the dishwasher.” She was on to something. If your dishwasher was made within the past 10 years, odds are it can handle the crap you leave on a plate. ((If it can’t, it’s time for one that can.)) This one change has cut my kitchen cleaning time in half–which is just as important to me as saving energy. It’s been almost two months and I’ve only had to re-wash one dish that was scraped. I still have the urge to rinse, rinse, rinse. But I resist, resist, resist!
3. Change your settings. Do you really need to heat dry your dishes? I’m guessing, like most people in America, you set your dishwasher to run at the end of the night and you don’t empty it until three days later the next day. So why do you need to use energy to heat dry the dishes? Just let them dry naturally overnight. Sure, that annoying little reservoir that’s held in the indent of coffee cups will be there, but we do have this amazing invention called a towel.
4. Load that baby up! I am the queen of loading the dishwasher. When Chris does the dishes and proclaims he’s done, but can’t fit in the last three glasses, who rearranges everything and makes them fit? It certainly isn’t Zachary. 😉 This is one tip I’ve always followed. The dishwasher uses the same amount of water and energy no matter how many dishes are in it, so why not get the most bang for your buck?
5. Know how to load that baby up. If you still have your manual, check out the manufacturer’s recommended loading instructions. Following these guidelines will help you optimize water and energy usage, while still allowing for proper water circulation. If you don’t have the manual, you are obviously online. Let your mouse do the walking.

I can honestly say that following these tips has really reduced the amount of time I spend cleaning the kitchen, meaning I have more quality time to spend in front of the TV. Our Progress Energy bill has gone down too, thank God. For a while there I was concerned that one of the kids was going to have to go on eBay.

This post was generously brought to you by some cool tv stands. I know this has nothing to do with washing dishes, but hey, I did mention TV. 😉

That pretty much sums up how I feel about the grocery store. There’s guaranteed to be at least one argument a week between me and Chris due to something we need because I’ve been abducted by aliens put off going to the store.

In an attempt to stave off that argument during the upcoming week I bit the bullet and not only went to the grocery store, but went with Jonah. While these trips are not enjoyable to me, there is one thing I DO love: saving money. During today’s excursion, I saved…

…$48.00 off of my total grocery bill! Seriously. At checkout, my total was originally 171.54 and by the time I was done, it was 123.36. My mom would be so proud!

While it’s not really rocket science, saving money weekly at the grocery store does take some planning, and a little effort. Here’s how I do it:

A menu and a list. ((Planning your menu a week in advance also has the advantage of keeping you organized, and in my case, sane.)) Armed with your menu, go through your fridge, freezer, and cupboards to see what you already have. Then you can write down what you need. I never enter the grocery store (except for an emergency trip) without my list.

I also recommend sticking to the list. For the most part, if I didn’t write it down at home I don’t need it. This helps me avoid buying impromptu, unnecessary things that the stores are trying to ram down my throat.

Coupons. D’uh! I know you’re thinking this one’s pretty obvious, however, you’d be amazed to know how many people don’t use coupons when they shop. For some it’s the worry of appearing ‘cheap’ or ‘poor’; for others it’s the time needed to clip and organize coupons; and some people just don’t think of it. IMHO, there is no reason good enough to shop without coupons.

1. I know I’m not cheap, ((I may be easy, but I’m never cheap 😉 )) and I know I’m not poor. I could care less what the person behind me thinks. I’m laughing all the way to the bank.
2. I spend maybe 45 minutes a week—and that’s a high estimate#&8212;clipping and organizing my coupons. The way I see it, this week I earned $48 in 45 minutes. Not bad.
3. If you haven’t thought of it before, maybe you will after reading this post. 🙂

It really doesn’t/shouldn’t take that long to clip coupons. Set aside an hour armed with the Sunday paper, the scissors, and a coupon organizer ((I bought my coupon organizer at the dollar store—for a dollar!)) Clip your coupons and place them in the organizer. And while you’re doing this, remove any coupons you have that are expired. They won’t be honored.

Two final tips about coupon-clipping:

1. Don’t clip coupons for items like BBQ-frosted flakes, or anything else you know you will never buy.
2. Along those lines, however, be flexible. If you see a coupon for a product made by a brand you don’t normally buy, try it.

Store cards. If your store requires a card (like Winn-Dixie and Albertsons) to get store specials, just do it.

Store specials. Once you’re a “card member” take advantage of store specials! The two major grocery chains in my neighborhood both offer weekly buy-1-get-1-free specials and I take full advantage. As with coupons, don’t buy things you know you won’t use even if it is BOGO.

Take advantage of store coupons. I dislike going to Winn-Dixie, however, since it is much closer than Publix, I am forced to shop there at times. What I do like is their coupon machine. Every visit I’m sure to get some coupons with my receipt and one of these coupons is always a $10 off coupon (with an expiration date). I hoard these! There have even been times when I’ve had more than one and have shared the wealth with an unsuspecting shopper.

ATTENTION PUBLIX SHOPPERS: If you shop at Publix, you should know that they take competitor’s coupons. More often than not I will take my Winn-Dixie $10 off coupons and redeem them at Publix. ((Check out your local Publix just in case, however, before presenting them with a competitor’s coupon.))

By following the steps above I average a savings of approximately $40/week. Unfortunately, this month those savings will be going to our energy bill.

This post was generously brought to you by small business opportunity. There are some businesses for sale. In this economy? Who knew?

I was thinking it again the other day when The Goose talked about not having his lunch at school. School dismissal was early, and the school calendar said NO LUNCH for these days. Understood. Oops, maybe not. The Goose informed me that a fellow kindergartener shared his lunch, and his teacher gave him a juice and some chips since he didn’t have a lunch. HUH?? The damn calendar said NO LUNCH. I understand English pretty well, and took NO LUNCH to mean that the students were released for a half day and lunch was my problem. I was obviously wrong. NO LUNCH really means BRING ONE FROM HOME. Couldn’t they have just said that??

It’s times like this that I feel like an idiot and wonder why I’m so ineffective. Today, I stopped myself, and thought of all the crap I did over the past weekend. Here’s a recrap:

• 7 loads of laundry (thank goodness I have a laundry hamper. Or two. Or two dozen)
• cleaned the living room
• cleaned the dining room
• cleaned the kitchen
• cleaned the turtle tank
• went grocery shopping for 3 boys, a dog, a cat, 2 birds and myself
• sent my mom a package
• kept the family fed
• did some online work

And that’s just two days (with a head cold, by the way).

This all has reminded me of those cheesy Enjoli ads from the 70s and 80s. Check it out:

Good stuff. I’m still not going to win any “Mother of the Year” awards, but I’m probably not going straight to hell, either.