Rant: saving...

RobbMeeX · 08-14-12, 10:11 PM

So I made some rice. It was hot. I set it outside to cool (75°) after we ate, before the fridge. My GF suggests I'm taking the energy savings thing a bit far!!! I really wanted to take her to a walmrat/mcdonals combo and buy her a double big wac meal and a chinese made amurrican flag. God bless American disregard for waste... Argh, Thanks, I'm done.

MN Renovator · 08-15-12, 08:18 AM

I'm single because I realize that if I'm not my heating bill will double, my electric bill will triple, and my water bill will quadruple, and I'd probably end up fitting the bill for meals at places that I rarely ever go to. I live a lifestyle cheap enough that I'm convinced there are few others willing to live the same life outside of a few enviro's. Problem is I'm a resource conservationist and am extremely fiscally conservative at the personal level. I often find it burdensome to have others over at my house because of what it will do to my natural gas or electric bill depending on the season to raise or lower the temperature to the opposite season rather than a level that is comfortable enough.

So by choice, I'm single. For the money I'd have a roommate live with me and allow the temperature to be more reasonable for them as long as it is within reason but food sharing would be out of the question and the utilities would be split. I strongly believe that people are equal in the sense that if you have a job, you share the costs of the relationship(such as food) and if we end up living together, we share the housing costs. None of this 'you pay for meals and gifts for me because I have boobs' garbage. I also don't really miss the relationship aspect, doesn't bother me one bit, I'm extremely happy without an arguing body around me that disagrees with what I'm doing and asks me questions when I want to take a week vacation away from home on my own. Either way, she'll have to live with your decisions, or not, it's up to the two of you to have some form of compromise.

Yes, North America is one of the most wasteful societies in the world. It's difficult to find people on the same page as you.

natethebrown · 08-15-12, 09:40 AM

I was like you, in some ways. My roommate and I kept the house at 59-60 (yes, that is not a typo), during the winter. I often wore 2 pairs of socks and a beanie. When I got my own apartment, I was on the lower level and was surrounded, on three sides, by other apartments. I rarely turned on my heat, because of the heat from the other apartments, and mine stayed around 63-64 for most of the winter. When I started dating my girlfriend, at the time, I would turn up the temperature to a comfortable 66-67, when she would hang out at my place. I didn’t like change, and I wanted things done my way. Once we got married and I moved in with her, things changed, a bit. The two biggest things I have learned from being married, for only 2.5 years, have been patience and humility.

When we first got married, my wife had a large amount of school debt, while I had a large amount of cash saved up. Plus, I had a full-time Engineering job, which made nearly 15x more than her part-time (10-20 hr/wk) minimum wage job. She kept telling me everything she wanted to buy. I had to patiently and lovingly remind her of her school debt and how we needed to pay that off first (FYI, we share everything, including bank accounts). After a while, she came around to my side of fiscal conservativeness. Now, she gets really unsettled about spending any money, even if it is something she has wanted for a while.

I, unfortunately, am lazy when it comes to picking things up. I would usually allow the dishes to pile up for a day or two, than do them all at once. Most of the time, I wouldn’t ‘pickup as I go.’ With that being said, I cannot stand a dirty home, but I didn’t mind clutter. Over the 2.5 years, my wife has had to remind me to pick up my stuff. Fairly recently, I had finally swallowed my pride enough to ‘pick up as I went.’ I couldn’t stand it, at first, even though I knew she was right. Now days, I happily rinse off my dishes almost immediately, and stick them in the dish washer. I pick up my stuff more often, and things are less cluttered. I do all of this because I actually like it better.

What I am trying to say is marriage is a two-way street. There will be things you will have to help your partner with, and there will be things she will help you with. The important thing to remember is relationships filled with arrogance and a lack of patience is bound to have problems. A lot of times, the problem resides within yourself, and not with your partner. Find a woman you can and are willing to learn from, and that she can and is willing to learn from you.

iamgeo · 08-15-12, 09:46 AM

I'm into saving money also. I do some things that others might see as extreme.
I have my thermostat set at 79. I turn off the A/C when I get up in the morning and open the windows and turn on a window fan. I leave the A/C off till I get home from work. I turn off my car and coast as much as possible.
I have to say though that setting a bowl of rice outside to cool is way out there.
I really do not get the part about taking your GF to McDonalds and buying her a big mac and a chinese made American flag.

Higgy · 08-15-12, 12:23 PM

I love your post Nate...very good. Been married for almost 9 years and we're still learning a lot from each other. It's not just a one way street and you're not necessarily only going to find a person who is a consumer whore. My wife and I have changed a lot since we've been married. She was never the energy conserving, organic food eating, etc... type. Now she is turning what she likes to call "granola". We try and go to farmers markets, eat local, eat more organic unpasteurized food. We try and conserve energy and only use the SUV when traveling, otherwise we always use the corolla and would like to eventually trade it in for a Prius. We shut off lights all the time, we watch how much water we use even though we have a well. We even have a fridge that bings at us when we accidentally leave it open too long. We're not the best conserver's of energy, but we're at least a bit better then the average Joe I think. It's a give and take, and you have to find the right person for you.

Iamgeo, I think Robb was meaning that people who don't like to conserve energy are also people who like to shop at Walmart and go eat McDonald's. I think he's also meaning that people think they're so patriotic and yet they go buy stuff at Walmart which has all of their stuff made in china just about. Not really the analogy I would have used but I got where he was coming from.

RobbMeeX · 08-15-12, 07:37 PM

I agree with the positivity of all your posts. I have since discussed savings around the house and I try to maintain good communication in the relationship. I guess I have you guys tolerate with me. I love my GF and overall the relationship is great. My moment of tired frustration has passed. McD's is garbage for food and seeing a made in china on a us flag makes me think theres some kind of irony there.

Thanks for the words you guys and letting me vent my own hot air to the outside so the inside stays cool... How's that for an analogy?

NeilTheCop · 09-03-12, 12:58 PM

16 years of a, most of the time, happy marriage.
The one thing we can never agree on is the temperature

. It doesn't help that I'm originally from the UK, which is cold and wet most of the time, and she's from California. I love it cold.
It even goes as far as my job (check out my title) During the Winter all the Officers are dressed up like Eskimos and I'm is short sleeve Summer uniform. When they ask why I'm not wearing a jacket I tell them I'll put it on when it get's cold

08-14-12, 10:11 PM	#1
RobbMeeX Eco OWNER!! Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: ATL Posts: 99 Thanks: 25 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	Rant: saving... So I made some rice. It was hot. I set it outside to cool (75°) after we ate, before the fridge. My GF suggests I'm taking the energy savings thing a bit far!!! I really wanted to take her to a walmrat/mcdonals combo and buy her a double big wac meal and a chinese made amurrican flag. God bless American disregard for waste... Argh, Thanks, I'm done. __________________ In it for the money (savings)

08-15-12, 07:37 PM	#6
RobbMeeX Eco OWNER!! Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: ATL Posts: 99 Thanks: 25 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts	I agree with the positivity of all your posts. I have since discussed savings around the house and I try to maintain good communication in the relationship. I guess I have you guys tolerate with me. I love my GF and overall the relationship is great. My moment of tired frustration has passed. McD's is garbage for food and seeing a made in china on a us flag makes me think theres some kind of irony there. Thanks for the words you guys and letting me vent my own hot air to the outside so the inside stays cool... How's that for an analogy? __________________ In it for the money (savings)

09-03-12, 12:58 PM	#7
NeilTheCop Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Roswell NM Posts: 43 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	16 years of a, most of the time, happy marriage. The one thing we can never agree on is the temperature. It doesn't help that I'm originally from the UK, which is cold and wet most of the time, and she's from California. I love it cold. It even goes as far as my job (check out my title) During the Winter all the Officers are dressed up like Eskimos and I'm is short sleeve Summer uniform. When they ask why I'm not wearing a jacket I tell them I'll put it on when it get's cold

08-15-12, 08:18 AM	#2
MN Renovator Less usage=Cheaper bills Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 940 Thanks: 41 Thanked 117 Times in 91 Posts	I'm single because I realize that if I'm not my heating bill will double, my electric bill will triple, and my water bill will quadruple, and I'd probably end up fitting the bill for meals at places that I rarely ever go to. I live a lifestyle cheap enough that I'm convinced there are few others willing to live the same life outside of a few enviro's. Problem is I'm a resource conservationist and am extremely fiscally conservative at the personal level. I often find it burdensome to have others over at my house because of what it will do to my natural gas or electric bill depending on the season to raise or lower the temperature to the opposite season rather than a level that is comfortable enough. So by choice, I'm single. For the money I'd have a roommate live with me and allow the temperature to be more reasonable for them as long as it is within reason but food sharing would be out of the question and the utilities would be split. I strongly believe that people are equal in the sense that if you have a job, you share the costs of the relationship(such as food) and if we end up living together, we share the housing costs. None of this 'you pay for meals and gifts for me because I have boobs' garbage. I also don't really miss the relationship aspect, doesn't bother me one bit, I'm extremely happy without an arguing body around me that disagrees with what I'm doing and asks me questions when I want to take a week vacation away from home on my own. Either way, she'll have to live with your decisions, or not, it's up to the two of you to have some form of compromise. Yes, North America is one of the most wasteful societies in the world. It's difficult to find people on the same page as you.

08-15-12, 09:40 AM	#3
natethebrown Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: North Alabama Posts: 167 Thanks: 0 Thanked 40 Times in 20 Posts	I was like you, in some ways. My roommate and I kept the house at 59-60 (yes, that is not a typo), during the winter. I often wore 2 pairs of socks and a beanie. When I got my own apartment, I was on the lower level and was surrounded, on three sides, by other apartments. I rarely turned on my heat, because of the heat from the other apartments, and mine stayed around 63-64 for most of the winter. When I started dating my girlfriend, at the time, I would turn up the temperature to a comfortable 66-67, when she would hang out at my place. I didn’t like change, and I wanted things done my way. Once we got married and I moved in with her, things changed, a bit. The two biggest things I have learned from being married, for only 2.5 years, have been patience and humility. When we first got married, my wife had a large amount of school debt, while I had a large amount of cash saved up. Plus, I had a full-time Engineering job, which made nearly 15x more than her part-time (10-20 hr/wk) minimum wage job. She kept telling me everything she wanted to buy. I had to patiently and lovingly remind her of her school debt and how we needed to pay that off first (FYI, we share everything, including bank accounts). After a while, she came around to my side of fiscal conservativeness. Now, she gets really unsettled about spending any money, even if it is something she has wanted for a while. I, unfortunately, am lazy when it comes to picking things up. I would usually allow the dishes to pile up for a day or two, than do them all at once. Most of the time, I wouldn’t ‘pickup as I go.’ With that being said, I cannot stand a dirty home, but I didn’t mind clutter. Over the 2.5 years, my wife has had to remind me to pick up my stuff. Fairly recently, I had finally swallowed my pride enough to ‘pick up as I went.’ I couldn’t stand it, at first, even though I knew she was right. Now days, I happily rinse off my dishes almost immediately, and stick them in the dish washer. I pick up my stuff more often, and things are less cluttered. I do all of this because I actually like it better. What I am trying to say is marriage is a two-way street. There will be things you will have to help your partner with, and there will be things she will help you with. The important thing to remember is relationships filled with arrogance and a lack of patience is bound to have problems. A lot of times, the problem resides within yourself, and not with your partner. Find a woman you can and are willing to learn from, and that she can and is willing to learn from you.

08-15-12, 09:46 AM	#4
iamgeo Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Lakehills, Tx Posts: 168 Thanks: 4 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	I'm into saving money also. I do some things that others might see as extreme. I have my thermostat set at 79. I turn off the A/C when I get up in the morning and open the windows and turn on a window fan. I leave the A/C off till I get home from work. I turn off my car and coast as much as possible. I have to say though that setting a bowl of rice outside to cool is way out there. I really do not get the part about taking your GF to McDonalds and buying her a big mac and a chinese made American flag.

08-15-12, 12:23 PM	#5
Higgy The Gardener Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Manitoba - Canada Posts: 492 Thanks: 17 Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts	I love your post Nate...very good. Been married for almost 9 years and we're still learning a lot from each other. It's not just a one way street and you're not necessarily only going to find a person who is a consumer whore. My wife and I have changed a lot since we've been married. She was never the energy conserving, organic food eating, etc... type. Now she is turning what she likes to call "granola". We try and go to farmers markets, eat local, eat more organic unpasteurized food. We try and conserve energy and only use the SUV when traveling, otherwise we always use the corolla and would like to eventually trade it in for a Prius. We shut off lights all the time, we watch how much water we use even though we have a well. We even have a fridge that bings at us when we accidentally leave it open too long. We're not the best conserver's of energy, but we're at least a bit better then the average Joe I think. It's a give and take, and you have to find the right person for you. Iamgeo, I think Robb was meaning that people who don't like to conserve energy are also people who like to shop at Walmart and go eat McDonald's. I think he's also meaning that people think they're so patriotic and yet they go buy stuff at Walmart which has all of their stuff made in china just about. Not really the analogy I would have used but I got where he was coming from.