Frugal Mainers like to save money! (zoning, move, dryer)

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

So, who recycles and how do you sort? Do you have a set of containers that you prefer? I've seen in mail order catalogues some pre-divided bins to use for sorting, but never thought to invest in one.

I've been using Freecycle The Freecycle Network here in Arlington VA to pass on a lot of things I no longer need. It is a free site where members post messages with "OFFER:" and the item(s) they have, or "WANTED:" with something they're seeking. It is amazing how much stuff goes through there. I happened to look at Maine Freecycle and see that they have 21 (!) F/C groups. Lotta recycling going on there. And yet another indication that Maine folks have values that make the state attrctive to me.

Lately, I have just looked at the "wanted" messages and have been passing on something every week or so. A humidifier (that proved not good for the plaster in this 1935 house) a set of dishes to a young woman who was going to host Thanksgiving for the first time, hobby spray paints to a Sunday school project, a nice LLBean dog bed for a new puppy, and so on...

It is very satisfying to give these things to people who really can use them. And I am thrilled to start seeing empty spaces a shelf here, a blank piece of wall there. I want to be "light on my feet" when I decide to move from this crazy region, perhaps to Maine.

A couple of days ago, a freecycler posted that he was looking for computer parts and stuff. Oh My! He's going to have to bring a truck! It is so good to be rid of "too much stuff." I remember when I bought my first new car. It was a 1972 Volvo 145S station wagon. Back seat folded down there was over six feet of space. I made a foam mattress for it and curtains for the rear windows. And I could put everything I owned in that car and dreamed of a Kerouacian life on the road Oh to be young and immortal and blissfully clueless...

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by elston

That sounds so nice, but here in southern california if i put up a clothes line, the home owners association would be paying me a visit. lol

I remember when I was a kid in Canada, when i helped mom bring in the wash from the line, we had to be careful not to break the frozen sheets!...

I _love_ my super efficient clothesline. Luckily we have no hoa in this old neighborhood. But the neighbors in the new, infill Mcmansion next door hate it when I hang the laundry in the back yard so that makes me appreciate the clothesline even more I restrung the 1935 poles. Seems it spoils their view.

A book I've read about a man who grew up in Norway described how they hung the sheets on the line in coldest winter. The ice sublimated quickly and the sheets were dry in moments.

[elston]

Originally Posted by quiet walker

I _love_ my super efficient clothesline. Luckily we have no hoa in this old neighborhood. But the neighbors in the new, infill Mcmansion next door hate it when I hang the laundry in the back yard so that makes me appreciate the clothesline even more I restrung the 1935 poles. Seems it spoils their view.

A book I've read about a man who grew up in Norway described how they hung the sheets on the line in coldest winter. The ice sublimated quickly and the sheets were dry in moments.

Ya know, I am remembering helping my mother when I was just a little kid, maybe 5 or 6. I guess if she hung them out, they must have gotten dried--but I do remember her saying if we're not careful we could break them and I do remember towels frozen stiff. But I am sure you are right that laundry left out to dry below freezing still must get dry--or people wouldnt continue to do it. Memory is a very strange filter. (That was in the eastern townships of the province of Quebec.)

[starwalker]

I used to hang laundry out in CO, even when the snow was falling. Folks there looked at me like I was nuts, but the humidity was so low, and the snow so dry (that "powder" stuff they like to ski in) that they got dry before they could get wet. Of course it would take a 5 gallon bucket of that snow to melt to get a tablespoon of water. LOL

I freecycle too, here in NC. Am glad it works so well in ME too!

[Moxie]

Devote 15 minutes a day to being cheap - MSN Money
Quick and easy article to get folks on their way to being cheap.

[Elcarim]

Here's another one:

Yahoo! Personal Finance (http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080208/24498.html?.v=1&.pf='banking-budgeting - broken link)

Very good stuff, Moxie!

[moughie]

Originally Posted by quiet walker

I _love_ my super efficient clothesline. Luckily we have no hoa in this old neighborhood. But the neighbors in the new, infill Mcmansion next door hate it when I hang the laundry in the back yard so that makes me appreciate the clothesline even more I restrung the 1935 poles. Seems it spoils their view.

Maybe hang some provocative clothes to grab their attention, qw Perhaps a neon green mankini?!?!

Out here in sunny AZ, I rarely use my dryer! I have hung the clothes lines just below the wall line so technically we are not violating HOA rules. At any rate, the backyard backs to a foothill, so only the wildlife could complain

When we lived in Maine, I used a clothes line in the summer and my girls would love to run through the hanging sheets and towels, playing hide and seek! I also strung a line in the ( unheated) cellar for winter to help cut down n electricity costs. I guess we have always been use to the rough texture of line dried towels- though I understand it doesn't suit everyone.

[txmom]

Originally Posted by quiet walker

I _love_ my super efficient clothesline. Luckily we have no hoa in this old neighborhood. But the neighbors in the new, infill Mcmansion next door hate it when I hang the laundry in the back yard so that makes me appreciate the clothesline even more I restrung the 1935 poles. Seems it spoils their view.

My German neighbor in Round Rock, Texas used to hang her clothes on a line. You could see it from the road (just barely, above the fenceline). They had a beautifully maintained yard, but the HOA still squawked about the clothesline.

[Elcarim]

I think I'd have to tell them if they don't like my clothesline, they can just feel free to send their maid over to take care of it for me!

[elston]

I won a clothes line and a package of pins in a grab bag at church when we had a "green sanctuary" meeting. I intend to take it with me to Maine--it is against the HOA rules here but I don't think anyone would complain--they have gotten hip to xero landscaping over the past few years.