Broken Dryer
My electric clothes dryer broke yesterday, rompting me to finally put up a clothesline. I have been meaning to do this since I moved in here about a year ago, but somehow never got around to it. My craigslist dryer has been holding up quite nicely, so why bother?
Since a brand new dryer is not currently in the budget, it’s back to the basics for us. I am lucky that it is nearly Spring and this weekend was fairly warm and windy. I could even dry towels out there. I also have a large basement where the washer and dryer located, so I could hang a lot of things up there.
I stretched a clothesine from beam to beam along the ceiling in the basement, and hung up all the shirts on coat hangers. They dried in about 24 hours, even the heavier tee shirts. I was kind of suprised. I don’t know why I haven’t done this all along. the dryer is a huge energy-sucker. This is a money-saving basic. It’s just too easy to get lazy when the dryer is right there.
I also forgot how much I actually enjoy hanging things outside on the clothesline. It’s one of those slow down and focus on life things.
So when I find another great Craigslist deal on a dryer, I am still going to do it this way. Maybe I will really see the difference in the electric bill!
Free ebooks for the Nook
Were you fortunate enough to get a Nook for Christmas? The Nook is Barnes and Noble’s newly released ebook reader. It is similar to the Kindle that Amazon came out with a few years ago. It supports PDF, EPUB and PDB formats. You can purchase ebooks at the Barnes and Noble website or, in true budgetingmom fashion, look for free ones! Here are great websites where you can find free ebooks and magazines to download and read on your Nook.
- books.google.com
- fictionwise.com
- Project Gutenberg at gutenberg.org
- Wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/free_ebooks
- Free-ebooks.net
- bn.com – the Barnes and Noble website has a free ebook section
Also, search any search engine for ‘free ebooks’ and find more sites. I’m sure there are many more. These are the ones I have tried and there are so many books to choose from here like classic literature, reference and textbooks, magazines and more, that I haven’t really ventured any further. The Wiki.mobileread site has a great list of other sites to link to also.
Filed under Uncategorized | Tags: free ebooks for nook | Comment (1)Raising Chickens for Fresh Eggs
I know,you think I’m getting a little crazy now, but chickens are cute! They are easier to raise than you think, and fresh eggs are delicious,cheaper and healthier than what you get in the store. Grocery store eggs can be weeks old by the time they hit your fridge.
All you need is a place to keep them safe from predators, a compost pile for the litter and food and water. If you live in the north, you will probably want an automatic watering system, but they don’t cost that much.
The key thing for budgeting moms to watch out for – don’t spend more on the set up than you will save on eggs. Build your own coop or chicken tractor ( a portable coop that will have your chickens digging up a garden for you) or get someone to help you build one. Find scrap wood for at least part of the project. Here are some easy plans to start with – modify them to fit the materials you have.