Guest post by Vanessa Miller

When it comes to being frugal and eco-friendly, many people may not realize the amount of laundry that they do can have a significant impact on their expenses and their energy-consumption. The average size household will do at least 7 loads of laundry per week, which totals around 400  loads of laundry per year. A load of laundry can use 20-40 gallons of water meaning a year’s worth of laundry will use 16,000 gallons of water.

That is not to mention the amount of electricity that will be used to wash and dry 400 loads of clothes, towels, and blankets.

When you are looking for ways to save money and reduce your family’s carbon footprint, the laundry room and your washer dryer is the perfect place to start.

Pro Tip 1: Wash in Cold Water

By washing your clothes in cold water, you can cut the amount of electricity you use by more than half! The average load of laundry washed in hot or warm water, uses 4.5kWh of electricity (about $0.68 per load-$265/year) whereas a load washed in cold water uses a mere 0.3kWh ($.04 per load- $16/year). [Source]

Pro Tip 2: Use Other Drying Methods

The clothes dryer is a major culprit in raising electric bills. Any item that generates heat uses more electricity to operate. Use a clothesline to dry your clothes or hang them from hangers on the shower rod in the bathroom. Clothes will take longer to dry; however, you will save a great deal of money on your energy bill.

Pro Tip 3: Avoid Expensive Detergents

Yes, expensive detergents smell great and will leave you with the impression that your laundry is clean because of the way it smells. However, cheaper, economy-sized laundry detergents contain the same basic ingredients and will work just as well.

For half the price, you can purchase larger containers of laundry detergent and your clothes will be just as clean. Furthermore, there will be less packaging to recycle or toss out. You can also choose eco-friendly detergents. Environmentally-friendly ingredients to look for include grain alcohol, coconut plant oils, rosemary and sage.

Pro Tip 4: Top Load Versus the Front Loading Washer

If you are still using the outdated washing machine that you bought ten years ago, chances are you are wasting a lot of water. The average top load washer uses almost 40 gallons for one single load of clothes. A front-load washer only uses about 20 gallons per load.

Upgrading to a new washer can dramatically reduce the amount of water that you use in your home and is an eco-friendly choice.

Pro Tip 5: If It’s Not Dirty, Don’t Wash It!

Okay, this does not mean that you and your family should wear dirty clothes just because you are trying to reduce the amount of money you spend on laundry. Just make sure that you are not washing clothes that are not dirty. If you wear your nice dress slacks for an hour and then change, they most likely will be fine to fold up and put back in the drawer.

Some other tips to try:

-          Cut your dryer sheets in half (or omit them altogether). This way you can cut these dryer sheet costs by half!

-          Dilute your laundry detergent. By keeping an extra detergent bottle aside, you can fill it half way with detergent and the other half with water.

-          Use vinegar instead of fabric softener. ¼ cup of fabric softener (for big loads) saves money and does just the trick.
By paying a bit more attention to how, and when, you do your laundry, it will be completely possible for you to save hundreds of dollars each year.

This will help reduce the impact that your family has on the environment by cutting water and energy usage as well. Everyone likes to have clean clothes to wear, but this should not come at such an expensive cost and it really does not have to.

I guess with the other big announcement, I failed to tell you about the December Digest. It’s Molly Saves! In the Powder Room. As usual it’s filled with great frugal tips about the Powder Room and more.

Here’s what our reviewers have to say.

Leah from I’m Livin’ My Dream said,

My house is older, and both of our bathrooms are sooo small.  Storage is a big issue for us with four children sharing the bathroom.  So, I was excited to see some ideas for storage in small bathrooms in this issue.  I especially liked the idea of repurposing an old dresser as storage.  I can definitely see a way that I could use this in my small hall bathroom. I think I’ll be on the lookout for a dresser at the thrift stores.

Laura from Laura Williams’ Musings mentioned,

One of my favorite articles was the homemade Liquid Soap Dispensers. What pretty dispensers from things normally just tossed in the trash or recycling bin. This is the ultimate recycling!

Annie Kate  from Tea Time with Annie Kate added,

Among the horrors of winter are static hair, dry skin, and static clothing.  Three of this month’s articles, one about the benefits of humidity in your home, one about skin care, and one about winter hair care, address this issue.  Some of Molly’s fun, frugal, and healthy ideas are new to me and I’m eager to try them out when the cold weather appears.

Denise from 3D Reflections said,

This is the time of year when everyone is getting colds and flu, so pull those turkey bones out of the freezer from Thanksgiving and make some Turkey Stock. Molly takes you step by step through the process, and it is not hard at all, but it is so much better than anything that you can get in a can or box.  If you don’t need it now, freeze it and save it for that day when you are feeling a bit ”under the weather”

Jen from Reflections in the Window shared,

But with the great printable forms you will find in this issue, I can get my children involved in cleaning up their mess.  I’m really trying hard not to criticize them for the way they clean.  I usually just say, “forget it I will finish”.   I know they will not learn unless they do it.  So I put together a cleaning basket full of homemade cleaners.

Chantol from Organized Chaos mentioned her favorite parts,

* The dresser turned into storage…for the bathroom (or any other room, really).
* Ingredients for making homemade cleaning supplies.
* A Nod to Pinterest, which I am COMPLETELY addicited to!
* and most of all…what I really need is the Winter Weather Hair Care tips!

Hopefully you’ve noticed that I haven’t posted anything here for the last several days. There’s a reason for that. I have some good news and some bad news to share.

First the bad news.

I’m not going to be making daily posts here on Econobusters for a while because I’m taking a rest. But I should be popping in every week or so to share a helpful tip or a great guest post.

Now the good news.

Molly is going to be taking a rest to prepare for an even better Molly in the spring. The Digest will be replaced with an amazing  interactive digital magazine. It will have the money saving tips you expect from Molly and friends but more of them every month.

Now the amazing news.

In celebration of the new magazine, we are offering the most amazing deal on every single Molly Digest and E-Book ever written. You can get the whole collection for $49! (The regular price is $238.85) And we’re letting you keep one copy and share one copy with a friend!

This deal is good for 1 week only. Read all the details and place your order here.

Welcome to another Freebie Friday!

Do you need help planning your Christmas activities? Try this free holiday planning countdown from Martha Stewart.

If you need some inexpensive gift ideas,  try these 18 cheap, creative, Christmas gifts.

Then use this gift tag template to print and save your gift tags for next year.

Here’s a free cookbook of overnight breakfast casseroles for Christmas morning. And another one for  Christmas Dinner Menu Ideas.

For meal planning help throughout the whole year, try the Cozi menu planner.

For planning next year’s planning, here are printable monthly calendar pages.

Homeschoolers, don’t miss the Freebie Directory from The Old Schoolhouse.

There is still time to order photo Christmas cards, but order soon so you’ll have time to send them!

Snapfish currently is offering 40% off photo cards AND free shipping. Use code CARDSFS40 at checkout through December 11.

Shutterfly is offering 30% photo cards. Use code CHEER at checkout.

The Little Card Company is offering free shipping through December 9. This is a Christian company specializing in cards with a genuine Christian message. They also donate at least 10% of their profits to charity.

Tiny Prints has 20% off and free shipping through TODAY!

I love to crochet when I find time to do it, but supplies can get expensive really quickly. I found instructions for making “yarn” out of things that you already have at home that you probably were either going to throw or give away. And I know it’s getting late to be thinking of making any Christmas gifts, but I’ve found a lot of small projects that would make cute gifts.

First, here’s a tutorial on making yarn from old t-shirts. From that yarn you can make trivets or these flower hotpads. These woven placements are so cute and easy enough for a child to make. You probably don’t have time to make this rag rug before Christmas, but I love it, so I decided to share it anyway. This rag basket could even be used to hold a gift.

You can also make “yarn” from  plastic grocery bags! It’s called plarn. I saw this idea years ago, and I’ve been planning on making a tote bag whenever I can make the plarn from my plastic bag stash. Some other interesting things to make with plarn are this soap dish and baby bib.

How about a purse from an old placemat? Or I bet a young girl would love this purse from old jeans!

So if you’re like me and Christmastime gets you in the crafty mood, you can use some of these ideas to get you started on a project without having to leave the house or spend any money!

Guest post by Marie of Our Best Daze.

I invited my sister-in-law over a while back and she taught me how to coupon in an easy, stress-free way, that doesn’t require my sitting for two hours cutting coupons (is that really possible?—Yes ma’am, read on)

Here is what I learned from her:

1.  GET YOUR COUPONS

• Get your hands on some newspapers. I found out that my local paper now offers a Sunday only subscription. I got it at a discounted rate of $1 per week for 26 weeks because I’m a new subscriber. I also told 3-4 people to save me their coupons. I usually end up with 2-3 copies of the Sunday coupons
• Sign up for SWAGBUCKS or some other points based program.SWAGBUCKS pays you for browsing the internet.
• Subscribe to All You magazine. I had enough SWAGBUCK points earned for Amazon cards so I got a years subscription for free. I haven’t received my first copy, it should be here sometime this month, but I’m told there are lots of great coupons inside.
• There are several other ways to acquire your coupons. There are catalina’s that are printed out at the register, dispensers in the store, on the product itself, you can contact manufactures (just received $70 worth of coupons from Proctor & Gamble yesterday, all because I went to their site and asked), and there are loads of them online at coupons.com, RedPlum.com, and SmartSource.com

2.  JOIN WEBSITES

You will want to go online and create accounts at the stores you’ll shop.  You can get promo deals, extra coupons, view their ad’s and even make your shopping list at some of them. Make sure you have store cards (example MVP for Food Lion) if they offer them. And be sure to check their coupon policy while there.

There are other sites you can join to earn rewards and points you just have to watch for them and/or ask others what they use. Another good way to earn high dollar coupons is by “Liking” Facebook pages. Example, Nabisco does a cookie and milk coupon the first day of each month.

3.  MATCH UP

To get the best deal you will want to have the product on sale AND use at least one coupon. Some stores will double coupons and/or allow you to use a manufacturer and store coupon together (a.k.a. stacking). It can be very confusing when you first start couponing, knowing what is really a good deal and what isn’t, remembering what coupons you have and when to use them, etc. The best option is to find a website that does the work for you.

My sister in law told me about Southern Savers and since then it seems everyone I meet already knows about this site. It is an amazing place to find the deals. She has a list for every store you can think of in the south (except for some of the really small ones) and a day or two before the ad comes out she gives you a list of good sale items and tells you which coupons can be used. She does all the work for you.

Here is why you don’t have to clip coupons! She recommends writing the date on your coupon flyer and filing it in an accordion file folder. When you visit her site, she’ll tell you where to find the coupon by giving you the date of the flyer and the name of the flyer (SS=SmartSource, RP=RedPlum, and P&G=Proctor & Gamble).

Even if you don’t live in the south you can glean lots of information from her site. She has video’s and detailed instructions about everything I’ve mentioned here and more.

If you don’t live in the south you can use another site, such as Couponmom.com(this is a great one, she even tells you the % of your saving),RainingHotCoupons.com, DealSeekingMom.com, or TheKrazyCouponLady.com. I really only have experience with SouthernSavers so I would recommend her first.

I’ve been trying these tips for several weeks now and I’m not seeing a change in my budget. After asking some of the veteran couponers in my life what they do, I think I’ve found the problem.  I’m trying too hard. I know that doesn’t make sense but what I’ve realized is, I’m shopping too often and buying too much.

Here are some tips they offered:

• Shop for sales only and if the sale is really good (50% off or more) grab it. If you have coupon fine, if not, that’s okay too
• Shop Aldi’s if what you need isn’t on sale anywhere. They are much cheaper than paying full price at the other stores. Aldi’s is even way cheaper than Wal-Mart
• To get the best price on meats, find out when your store reduces theirs and be there to grab it
• Use drug stores (CVS, Walgreen, Rite Aid, etc.) for all your health/beauty and household products. You can get a lot of it free 

I think if I decide to make 40-50% savings my goal, I will do well. That will cut out a lot of these extra trips into town that I’m making. I know I won’t be able to do that with every item, like meats, but I should be able to get close to that with the other food items. If I lived closer to the stores I would go weekly but since I’m further away and the gas is so high, I think this will work better for my situation. It will also require a lot of will power. I’m having a hard time letting a deal pass me by…but I’m finding out not all deals are created equal!

Hope you save big and have fun doing it!

About the Author:Marie is a homeschooling mom to three boys and one very rotten little girl. She loves her life and believes the Lord hand picked her husband just for her! It is her greatest desire to grow in the Lord and to be a living example for her children to see and learn from.

The Old Schoolhouse magazine has published their annual Christmas supplement. It’s another beauty! This year it’s about Christmas traditions and the whole magazine has gotten involved. You can read what all the columnists and staff are having for their Christmas dinners. Plus there are lots of yummy recipes!

Download your free copy today!

What do you eat for Christmas dinner?

I have found some more great freebies this week. Many of them are Christmas themed.

First, I’m so happy to share this special Freebie made just for Econobusters. It’s a Free Christmas Songbook from CelebratingHolidays.com! This collection of music is great for families to sing Christmas carols together at home or with a larger group.

If you’re interested in making unique, inexpensive gifts this year, don’t miss this free Gifts in a Jar e-book.

It’s not too late to start this Happy Birthday Jesus Printable Advent Calendar or this Countdown to Christmas Printable.

Here are Free Nativity Printables for young children, and I love these Christmas Listening Pages for children during church services.

Even your desktop can get into the Christmas spirit with this December Computer Wallpaper.

Planning a holiday get together? Download this Holiday Party Checklist from Martha Stewart.

Here’s a great gift idea: Free 8×10 Canvas from Photo Canvas People (you pay shipping).

Christmas is the time for homemade candy and chocolate goodies. I found Chocolate and Cocoa Recipes and Homemade Candy Recipes free for Kindle.

While I was searching the Kindle shop, I found some other interesting looking cookbooks: Recipes Tried and True, The American Frugal Housewife, and Made Over Dishes. While many of the recipes are out dated, I find old cookbooks fascinating reading. Plus there are some great frugal tips!

Disclaimer: All these products were available at the time this post was written. All deals are subject to change at the discretion of individual sites.

If you haven’t sent your Christmas cards yet, it’s time to get started. Mail delivery definitely takes longer the closer you get to Christmas.

I love homemade Christmas cards because they make me feel special. They don’t have to be complicated.

Here are just a few ideas I’ve found for handmade cards:

A child’s drawing can be scanned and printed for the front of the card.

This stamped snowman card is a cute idea.

Here’s a fun photo and homemade card combination: a changing faces snowman card.

These hanging mittens are also a cute idea.

How about this wreath card of your family member’s names?

Here are some free printable Christmas card planner pages.

Have you made handmade cards before?