Jul 13 2009
Less waste please, let’s save some more cash
Warning, sensitive subject….
Sis and BIL are very good at managing their finances, especially when it comes to putting money away in a savings account. But I can’t help but notice how wasteful they are when it comes to certain things. For example, they live in base housing, so the government pays their utility bill up to a certain limit and if they go over they pay the difference. Now, just so you know I absolutely hate to use a clothes dryer and prefer to hang my clothes to dry. Sunshine and fresh air are free and electricity to run a dryer is not. But when I went to Lowes yesterday and found a tension shower curtain rod to set up in the laundry room so I could hang clothes to dry, BIL threw a fit. He said “We don’t pay an electric bill.” I told him “Well then I’m saving the government money”. Chances are high that I will be the one who mainly uses it, but that’s fine by me. I don’t mind waiting all day for my clothes to air dry.
Also I have been cooking food all week. I went to worship at the military chapel on base for services this evening, but there were a lot of leftovers in the refrigerator so I didn’t lay anything out for dinner. When I came home, I saw BIL had ordered pizza. I had made pizza last night for dinner, and he was well aware of this, as he had eaten a slice of it. When I asked him why he had ordered pizza he said “I didn’t see anything laid out for dinner.” I told him “Yes, but there were leftovers in the refrigerator, you could have had those.” To me throwing food away is like flushing dollar bills down the toilet. It’s just plain wasteful. For a while the thought did cross my mind not to cook until all the leftovers had been eaten. Now I’m thinking that if it doesn’t get eaten, I’ll just put it in the freezer for another time. Hmmm, I may have to ask BIL if he can get some foil pans so I can pan up and freeze leftovers for another meal. The garbage disposal and trash can are the most well fed members of this family, and that’s a crying shame in my opinion.
I’m hoping I can get it through BIL’s head that if he just hangs his clothes to dry and takes leftovers to work for lunch, he can stash away some more cash. My guess it’s not likely to happen, and no I’m not trying to tell him how to live his life, but still it would be nice if there wasn’t so much waste happening.
