To "save" money this year, I thought it was time to resurrect my clothesline. The former clothesline served our family very well, but broke in numerous places due to old age. Hmm, sounds like me somedays. The children had all left home, I was battling some health issues & it was just easier to pop the clothes in the dryer. After all, how much laundry can two medium sized people generate?
This worked well for quite some time. It would/ is still working well if I choose to use it. But, no, this year, I have convinced myself I am a healthy,strong woman with literal interpretations of the Proverbs 31 woman who "looketh well to the ways of her household".
What with the ever rising cost of fuel & groceries & taxes & co- pays & gasoline & . . . you get my drift, I feel a huge need to get back to my ultra frugal ways. Thus, the clothesline.
I've used a clothesline all my life till these last few years where I've engaged in riotous living & -gasp- have been using the dryer. Shocking, I know. And I stopped washing out plastic baggies. And even use , just sometimes, mind you, I've not gone completely extravagant, Charmin toilet tissue-but only when it was on sale.Okay. Whew. I confessed. Now you know all my dark secrets.
Ahh, but I digress. Back to my superbly economical solar powered clothesline. Dries clothes with just the power of the sun & a nice breeze is an even bigger help-you know, kinda like the cotton/heavy duty cycle on the dryer.
Well, said clothesline, is over 90 feet one way. It's a pulley system, so I'm going to need over 180 ft. of non-stretching clothesline. I forget the price of this at my local hardware store but I thought I'd shop around for the best price. Lowe's has 200 ft. of "durable, non-stretch line for just $20.00 ! Less than our hardware store. Great! Just what I'm looking for! Thankfully, the pulleys are still in place & my darlin' husband put the line in place for me. Hmm, the no- stretch line stretches. Probably should have got the more expensive one. . .
I am eager to start hanging the clothes out. . . oh, I gave away most of my clothespins & all my clothesline stretchers. Okay. I can hang up approximately 8 things. Hmm. Go to the hardware store again, they are the only ones that sell metal ( read that-"lasting") stretchers. I buy 3. At about $9.00 each. I don't care for wooden clothespins because of the marks they leave on the clothes. The hardware store only carries wooden. I decide to order them from Amazon. Make my purchase of $27.00 for clothesline stretchers. I'm now at $47.00 to save some money.
Get on Amazon. Order $10.00 worth of clothespins & add $15.00 worth of other stuff . . . to get FREE shipping. I'm now at a total of $57.oo, so I can be frugal.
Once I have everything I need, a NY monsoon season begins. I figure I've got about 10 loads of clothes hung out by now & it's nearly July. The first load cost me $ 57.00, but by the time I got up to 10 loads, the cost per load is only about $5.70! Oh, and I find I need some more clothespins & another stretcher. By 2015 I figure this is all going to pay for itself-if the line doesn't break!!
Laundry tips: Need a cheap, safe fabric softener? Try white vinegar. Just don't add too much-you don't want to smell & feel like a soft pickle!
Hope your day holds a smile!!! God bless! And may it not rain on the clothes you hung out, like it is on mine right now!
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1 comment:
It seems like a good idea in the long run. I remember the good old days of hanging clothes out. That was one of my jobs as a kid and I liked it. I don't even have a clothes line and it would cost more to put up a post or something to hook it on to, or maybe we could place a hook on the garage & another on the porch so that would give me about 30 feet. I might try it.
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