Get out of the 'box'!

I hosted a session on Saturday titled: Sustainable Living - Working Towards a Prepared and Frugal Future.  It was fun and I'm hopeful that the attendees garnered a few tips to help them in working toward a more sustainable life. 

During our 'conversation' it came up that I don't have a conventional stove - drawing gasps from several women in attendance.  The first words they said were, "how do you cook a turkey?'.  My reply - I use a roaster that can sit on my counter for the three days a year that I cook a turkey dinner.  And that started on the topic of fitting your needs not everyone elses.  What works for me is a Breville Smart Oven ($200), a Salton Induction Cooker hotplate ($80), a double hotplate ($30), a slow cooker ($30), a griddle ($40), and a roaster oven ($50) on occassion. If you bake all the time and use your full oven then, of course that works for you.  I bake small quanitities so my smart oven fits the bill while reducing my costs (a stove with induction cooktop costs at least $1,500) and reduces my electricity costs as less space to heat equals less cost to heat it up.  It was also interesting that a gentleman in attendance came to tell me that his stove just broke and he was wrestling with the cost to replace it...he lives alone and said what you have is ideal for me. :-)

The challenge is to 'get out of the box' and think for yourself.  What are your needs and what works for those needs? Re-think and don't be constrained by the 'box.' When we built our house 'everyone' was doing in-floor heating and I can't tell you how many people said, "you are making a mistake."  With a passive solar house you rely on the floor to take in the heat, so logically if you are already heating it you defeat that purpose and waste your money.  Now if you had oil heat, than maybe that would make sense.  And my favourite - you have to have a tub for re-sale value, 'everyone' has a tub.  Well I don't take baths and hate to wash a tub or even get in a tub to take a shower, yes we have had the all in one - horrible to clean and I don't like to clean more than I need to, especially bathrooms.  We opted for a walk in shower made of tile, no doors to clean, no shower curtain...I love it! It works for me.  I reduce my cleaning time and happily take a shower, and when if I'm ever in a wheelchair I can just roll in it, without doing a total remodel of my bathroom. 

Clearly - where you spend and where you can cut waste is unique to you.  Don't confine your thinking to what 'everyone' else does, look at smart options that fit your needs and you will be happier and most likely waste less time and money.