This is good news:
Do less work and save more water when running your dishwasher.

I use my dishwasher anyway because even if hand-washing were cheaper, the time it takes is not worth it to me (balance). The recommendations on the enzyme-based detergents are interesting. I am partial to Cascade, but it appears the cost per load is about three times higher than a Walmart or Costco non-brand detergent.

Two other tips I found for reducing the cost of dishwashing were to turn off the “heat booster” (if I can find it?) and turn off the dry heating at the end of the cycle. It is worth a try (although I worry about water-spots).

This is what it is all about when it comes to the frugal balance - finding ways to do things cheaper without compromising your life. Although in this case, using the dishwasher may actually be the more frugal option (yeah!).

Labels: balance, frugality

I established this blog as an extension of The Christian Woman website because I wanted something a bit more interactive. The website covers a wide variety of topics of interest to Christian women, but I wanted this blog to be a bit more narrow in scope. I also wanted this blog to encompass my current interests – a sort of “where I am at right now” – but in a way that could benefit others.

My initial thoughts were to focus on frugality for the Christian woman. That is an area that I am trying to work on myself and an area that I would like to see all Christian women to embrace. But focusing solely on frugality was too narrow, so I continued to think about it.

And then it came to me. The overall theme of my life right now (and likely for years to come), and what I would like to share here, is balance. If I had to come up with a motto for this blog it would be “finding the balance”.

Juggling work, family, the household, church, time with God, etc. requires finding a balance. There always seems to be more to do than there are hours in the day and I want to spend the most time I can with the things that are most important. To do that, I need to have a plan of action to minimize the time-drain of the less important.

Likewise, frugality is a balance of saving versus spending but also a balance of cost versus time. I like to save money on resources where I can, but there are times where spending more is worth it because of the savings in time. Time is also important resource, especially for a mother.

So that is what the main theme of this blog will be. Finding the balance. I hope that all my visitors will join in with the journey.

Labels: balance, introduction