How low can we go?
Sep 30th, 2008 by Alicia
We’re doing a different sort of challenge this fall around here. Fuel prices are so high that heating our house is going to be really expensive this winter. Here in Minnesota most people heat their houses with either natural gas or fuel oil (basically diesel fuel). Some people also have fireplaces and wood stoves, but furnaces do the major work. We’re a fuel oil home.
I spent all summer researching alternative energy options but right now there aren’t a lot of other options for us. We don’t get much sun in the winter so solar panels don’t contribute a lot. If we had a lot of land I’d really consider geothermal (which also cools and costs almost nothing once it’s installed) but it requires way more yard than we have to lay the underground coils. I don’t want to be dependent on oil but for the immediate future we are, like it or not. And this winter that is going to be spendy!
We live on a very tiny income (partly funded by money my mother left me when she died) and really stretch it. We bought our house for $2,000 cash 15 years ago. We buy our vehicles used for cash and don’t use credit cards for anything (though we have debit cards linked to our checking accounts). I make most of our meals from scratch, keep a garden, buy from local farmers and cook vegetarian. We use Freecycle if we can when we need something, and we pass things on to others there. We get most of our clothes used or on clearance and we rely on lots of free stuff like the library and art museums for fun. We also volunteer, which gets us free admissions and perks (though that’s not why we do it) and we help others, which often brings unexpected rewards (again, not that it’s the reason we do). We also barter and know how to just do without.
For what it’s worth, we don’t feel poor at all. We eat well, we love our house and we don’t need for anything. I think homeschooling is another advantage for us here, because our kids aren’t in an environment where they think that things like Wiis, cell phones, designer clothes and fancy homes are necessities.
But the upshot is that we get by on a very tight budget!
I’ve challenged myself this fall to see how long we can go before turning on the heat for the first time. I know it’s only a matter of time, but it makes it easier to add another layer and cook up some Mix & Match Cake to heat the kitchen up a little if it’s a challenge! 
I figure every extra day is that much less fuel oil we’ll use. It’s better for us and I suppose a smidgeon better for the planet too.
Today it’s a nice sunny day but it is cold inside! My hands are like blocks of ice. I’m wearing two sweaters, thick pants and fuzzy socks, and still shivering. Perhaps it’s a sign I need to do some exercise like heavy cleaning. 
I’m plugging away and leaving the thermostat alone though. Every day I make it is another X on the calendar and another tiny feeling of satisfaction.
I love your post. And.. I will second your challenge!!! I’ll join you in seeing how long I can go without turning on the heat… heh… I *DO* have it quite a bit easier living in Georgia.. but, hey.. a challenge is a challenge.. who knows, with a climate like ours, I ought to be able to make it all the way through.
[…] Magic & Mayhem, lives in Minnesota. Her hands already “feel like ice blocks,” but she’s challenging herself to see how long she can make it before turning on the heat. I decided it’s a worthy challenge […]
My brother has said that he won’t turn the heat on until Nov. 1. Our goal is to go even longer! We are Minnesotans. We are strong. We can do this!!!
BTW, I enjoyed the post! Always looking for ways to stretch a dollar….
My parents and I have a contest each fall/winter to see who can go the longest without turning our heat on. We always win because my mom hates to have a cold bathroom.
Cool and I talked about this last night and we set our goal for December this year. We are in Iowa so a bit south of you.
I hope you reach your goal!
Gerky
We’re doing this too, even though it makes it hard to get going in the morning! Brr! I told hubby awhile ago it would be much cheaper to invest in a pile of wool socks and long johns for everyone here and leave the heat turned down lower than our usual comfortable setting. I second your motion — housecleaning is a great way to get warmed up and I’ve been motivated to clean JUST for that reason a few times. So I guess it’s good that it’s always getting so messy around here??
We too live cheap but are happy anyway. :o) A choice was made early last year to walk away from a job hubby hated and take a much “nicer” job that cut our income by about half (he had recently gone on commission and was finally making the good money he’d longed for when this other job came up). I knew his quality of life would improve so I pressed him to jump ship while he had the chance and it was the best thing he could have done for himself. The rest of us weren’t hurt by having less freedom to spend and we don’t feel deprived. Inexpensive stuff like garage sales and home cooking and little things like just sitting around a campfire together can do wonders for creating a feeling of abundance. I’ve always said, if I had to choose, I’d much rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable. Thinking of people I know…it’s plain to see that “rich” or “poor” is mostly a state of mind (not talking about the truly poor people struggling to survive). Seems like nobody ever has enough, so aren’t we all essentially in the same boat, if we hang onto that thinking? I read an article recently about how once you get above having enough $ to cover basic needs, happiness level does not increase proportionately right alongside of income level and in some (many?) cases happiness actually went lower (stress, anxiety, depression). I like knowing that…that it’s not worth chasing that rainbow…that we’re good just the way we are. It all boils down to knowing what really matters….that things are just things…and that you can’t buy happiness, you have to make it. :o)
If the inspiration for this post came from me kidding Daryl about being so poor that the baby had to sleep on newspaper (at the park that day), I was totally just being silly. I don’t see you as poor. Far from it!
LOL Lonni, I didn’t even hear that! I’m sure Daryl thought it was funny.
Congrats to your hubby for the new, more rewarding job. I think you’re absolutely right about money after what we truly need not necessarily making life any better or helping us feel any happier.
Sounds like an awful lot of us are going to be keeping the heat off/down this winter!