I used to drive to work each morning. It was a part of my life as anyone else’s. Although I have always been close to my work place, only 5km, actually exactly 5km by the route I went. I could have walked, but I am not a morning person. I like my mornings to be done and over with.

But then something changed. A funny hydrophobic, inflammable, lipophilic substance decided it was going to control our fates. Suddenly prices everywhere were going up and the biggest pain was gasoline. And gas just kept going up, and up and up an…. (you know how it goes).

As I was trying to figure out where I could cut down on some costs it hit me. Cut down on your biggest expense and you will make the biggest savings. Thats the key and as it happened to be, my biggest expense was gasoline. I started to cut down.

• Walk to your destination if it’s less then 3km away.  You’ll burn some 200 calories and save gas. Lots of people don’t walk due to safety issues in there areas, never risk your life just to save a little money.
• Even better, bicycle to your destination. Not only will it cut your time down by 80% but you’ll burn even more calories and if there is a climb, on the way back it’s a downhill.
• If you have to drive learn to cruise. Pump your car up to the speed limit, (disclaimer: I do not condone speeding, it’s bad and illegal, use at your own legal and physical risk) and then let your car cruise down to 20km/h under or so. Yes you will tick off other drivers like crazy, but you will also save a lot of money on gas.
• Car pool! Why not, you sometimes don’t even have to drive and it saves loads of money plus you get to be closer to your co-workers.
• Make sure your tires are inflated. I happened to drive on a flat for a few days and finally realized it after a passer by waved me down. After fixing the hole, which was caused by a huge nail, I instantly noticed my mpg go up by around 7mpg. Yeah, it was impressive :D.
• Get rid of all that extra weight and shed a couple pounds. The lighter your car, the faster and the more economical it is.

I’ve been following these tips for years and the money I have saved is in the thousands. Plus I am in better shape then before, more active and my car has a longer life due to less stress on it. For the last couple years I have been walking to work in the Winter and biking in the summer. In the years 2006 and 2007 I didn’t use a car to get to my workplace once throughout the whole year and you can do the same.

Really, it’s not that hard.

I’m going to share a bunch of different recipes of how to make your own dish washing detergent for dishwashers.

Disclaimer: I have never tried any of these. They have been suggested by random people on the internet and I’ve agglomerated all of them together at this source, so follow these instructions at your own risk.

1.) 1tbs (table spoon) Borax and 1tbs baking soda mixed together.

2.) 50/50 mix of Borax and baking soda.

3.) No brand dish washing detergent, then add vinegar.

4.) Just use vinegar.

5.) Washing soda and Borax, then add vinegar to the rinse cycle.

6.) No brand dish washing detergent, then add baking soda.

7.)1 cup washing soda (crystals) + 1 cup borax + 2-3 drops perfumed oil (optional)

From http://www.recipezaar.com/91963

8.)1 part baking soda + 1 part borax + 1 part water +1 drop lemon or orange essential oil per cup of detergent.

From http://tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipes/

9.) 1-1/2 cups of Borax with 1/4 cup of Citric acid. Use 1.5 tbs per load.

10.) A few cap fulls of bleach per load. (This is really nasty for the environment)

11.) 50/50 mix of borax and washing soda, then 1tbs of corn starch for the rinse cycle. (Very popular supposably)

Thats pretty much all the recipes for making your own dish washing detergent. The reality of it all is that you can basically do whatever you want when making dish washing detergent. It all just different mixes and then mixing them to perfection or to your liking.

Dish washing detergent for the post part is not that expensive and if you worried to the damage some of these recipes may cause to your machine, then don’t try it. From what I’ve been reading, most people are satisfied with the results of these recipes and the only problem I have heard about is some residue building up over time.

I have a bad habit, I must admit. Whenever I leave the TV room, I leave the TV on. Even at this moment, when I’ve been at the computer and other places for hours, the TV is still on. This costs me.

The TV is like a companion, or really more like ambient noise. Like a gentle seashore. So while some people decide to put in the latest Gentle Sea Breezes Cd in, I much like more to leave the TV running on Top Gear or a similar show. To each his own. But it doesn’t stop there.

Lights, computers, printers all cost you and these are the things that people leave on when they leave a room. They figure that it’s more convenient to walk into a room with the lights already on, or to be able to sit down at the computer and instantly be able to check your email. We want things to be convenient like c’mon, no one likes to wait for a computer to boot up for 3 minutes just so you can check your email in 20 seconds.

But these things cost us.

For instance, computers use around 160 watts every hour and it doesn’t matter if it’s just using a screen saver, they still use the same amount of energy. Then you have to add in your monitor, your speaker unit, router, modem and whatever else your using. Suddenly your computer is using over 200 watts each hour,(conservatively) and possibly more if it’s an older model.

Then you factor in the printer, another 100 watts (yes that’s when it’s not being used), so your using up around 300 watts an hour. If you leave that on all year round and many do. Your going to end up paying 234$/Year. Possibly more if it’s an older model, and of course possibly less. Either way, it costs you money.

The same goes with lights, so listen up and Shut the Computer Off!!

Thats right, I don’t like writing on weekends. Be back tomorrow.