Win Some, Lose Some...

Once more we see the beginning of a new month and I cannot believe we are so close to the end of the year already.  Certainly this  year in many respects has been better than last year which leaves us with hope that things will in fact improve even further.

Many South Africans are struggling to keep their heads above water these days and when circumstances of life take over, as in our case, things can get way out of control.  Many have been affected by theft, burglary and vandalism, but not many more so than us...we have in fact contributed much to the upliftment of people over the years with everything we have lost for which the South African government has yet to thank us...hehe.  Life has become so expensive and everyone you talk to seems to trying to save on everyday costs and cut back wherever they can.  Our biggest 'bug bear' is electricity!!!!!  I think we have reached the point of obsessive saving and yet we are not seeing any change...I don't know how that can be possible.

We have emptied our upright freezer and managed to put what was in that, into our chest freezer...so that is our first saving in the running of that.  We turn our geyser on at 5 pm every day and turn it off again at about 8 pm...just to annoy ESKOM hehe...because they want us to turn it off during that time.  By doing this we let it heat enough so we can bath and it stays warm through the night for the morning dishes too.  We sit in quiet all day long, not listening to the radio, not turning on the TV, not watching DVD's and not listening to CD's, sigh....but at least we have plenty to do without using electricity that means we don't miss any of the above - mostly.  lol
We re-cycle our bath water to pre-soak and wash laundry which saves a cycle in the twin tub, saving both water and electricity.  We don't use the tumble dryer anymore....we don't use heaters...we have cut back on using the fans...what more can we do to save on electricity usage...

The things we don't cut back on are the use of the oxygen machine, which runs all night and sometimes during the day...the nebulizer which is used twice a day and the feed machine which is used at night.  Do the use of these machines counter balance the savings we are making in other areas?  Oh yes and we pump water...we don't cut back on that - but we don't waste water either...we use it very sparingly.  I think we should actually be given a rebate on our electricity every month for trying so hard...hehe.

The Tshwane municipality have said they are going to install pre-paid meters into every business and household in this fiscal year, starting this month. Apparently, agricultural areas are planned for January next year and we are really looking forward to the change over.  I am keen to find out if using pre-paid electricity really is cheaper.  I have reason to believe it is and I say this because a neighbour is a baker who works from home.  She bakes all day, most days of the week.  Her oven stays on for the duration of baking for the day, she has a freezer and two fridges she uses for stock, uses her heavy duty mixer every day and with the running of normal household appliances, manages to come out using less than half the electricity we do with a pre-paid meter.

So while we at Larkwood are helping ESKOM, I for one am looking forward to the municipality helping us....