Don’t Rinse Money Down the Drain

At an average of 120.00/month, our water bill is our most expensive utility (due to private ownership of the local water company, no regulatory oversight, etc.). One way I save money is to use all of the frugal settings on my dishwasher. I use the water miser, the light wash, and of course, the air dry settings (to save on electricity). All of my savings were going “down the drain”, however, when my 15 year old daughter loaded the dishwasher. She was running the water the entire time she rinsed the dishes, even though I told her how to do it a different, more frugal way. So, I assigned other chores to her and now do the dishes myself. I am happier that it gets done my way and it also saves on our water bill.

      -Sharon Y.

 

I am a big believer in teaching kids to do chores correctly and efficiently but I have to agree, if they just refuse and are wasting a lot of money, then give them something else to do. Yes, I know they may intentionally do a poor job to get out of doing the chore but if you give them something comparable in its place, I really don’t see any harm in giving them another job.

      -Tawra

Another tip for saving when rinsing dishes is to rinse them immediately. The best habit you can teach your children is  to take their used dishes to the sink as soon as they are finished and rinse them right away. It only takes a second. If you leave the dishes to sit, you have to rinse and rinse and scrape and scrape to get them clean but if you immediately rinse them before things get stuck on, washing the dishes is much easier. The decrease of your water usage is amazing.

      -Jill