The No-Spend Zone

Some like it hot... and Amanda does not

This morning I wake up, make breakfast, do some laundry, change the bed sheets... and then I see this note on the air conditioner control.

Well, seems we didn't solve our a/c fight issue. Although Amanda is asleep and I can't ask her (she sleeps in the day and works at night), it seems she isn't pleased with my choice of air conditioner settings.

But seriously, what's the big deal? While she is at work, I'm sleeping. She's not here. So I turn the a/c at something like 79 so it won't blow cold air. I get cold very easily.

I don't see the problem. She's not at home. When she gets home, she should just turn it back to a setting she likes. Why waste energy on a/c when I don't want to use the a/c at night? Come on, Amanda. Earth Day is Tuesday. You're not going to kill me. You're going to kill Mother Earth.

And FPL is on my side, too. This is from their tip list on ways to save energy:

Cool your home at 78° or warmer with the thermostat fan switch on "auto." For additional savings, raise your thermostat to 82° or warmer when you're away from home.

I'm no tree-hugger, but energy = $$$. Why keep it cold when she's not home? Sorry dear, guess the only way you're going to change my ways is to smother me with a pillow in my sleep.

First roommate fight at day three

If you couldn't already tell by the last post by Amanda, yesterday was day three living here and we've already gotten into a mini fight about the air conditioner.

While I'm at work, she sends me this message on Facebook:

"I have a little question for you when you get home. @_@"

Of course that crazy-eyed emoticon worried me, so when I asked what the question was, she wrote back:

"Oh, I don't know...did you, perhaps, maybe, possibly, TURN OFF THE A/C anytime today???"

Well yes, I did the day before. Not so much for cutting back on energy, but because I came from a house where sometimes we turned the air off when we get cold. I get cold very easily, and don't mind having the air off for a little while. So I turned it off at 8 p.m. Tuesday and I didn't think of turning it back on before I left for work Wednesday because I thought it felt fine. Plus, we have fans in the house. Of course, Amanda is home during yesterday afternoon, and by that time it was understandably hot.

I don't blame her for wondering why it was off. Back in college I had this problem with my other roommates because I would turn the a/c off and they were used to the air being on all the time. I had a friend that got into a mega hate-fest with a roommate freshman year over the a/c being on and off and the waste of energy on the bill. I don't want that happening to us, so I guess we'll just have to find a happy medium.

And as Amanda also stated, I do use a new towel after every shower. That's how I was raised since I was born, so that's what I'm used to. In fact, I thought everyone did that until I went to college and saw that people reused towels for more than a day. I thought they were the weird ones.

I don't waste energy by doing a load of wash every day. I own about 10 towels (same towels I've had since college) and I'll do a big load every week and a half with socks and stuff. Amanda brought up that perhaps this could increase the cost of our utilities. Perhaps it's one or two extra washes than the average person does in a month. I'm not sure how it will affect the utilities because it's only the first week of living here, but when I do wash I make a point to do a full load to get the most out of it.

And as she also mentioned, I buy 3 ounce paper Dixie cups for the bathroom. I've also grown up doing that since I was a kid, and it's what makes me happy. A box for less than $3 lasts me more than a month, so I don't consider it wasteful spending.

We all have our quirks. These are some of mine.

Budgetary boiling point

It may not be breaking news to Floridians, but it was hot today.  And not just outside, but inside, as well.  I woke up from my nap with that unpleasantly warm feeling that fooled me into thinking for several minutes that I might possibly be running a fever.  Come to find out, the air had been mysteriously turned off by persons unknown!  Running down the list of usual suspects and utilizing my gumshoe detective skills, it was eventually revealed that Bridget had turned off the A/C sometime last night to "save money".  Now, as trendy as this "go green" thing is, my hormone-driven temperature fluctuations cannot deal with an 86-degree household.  And while I can understand cutting corners in certain areas of life, the A/C is not one of them.  I also find it funny that Bridget seems to attempt to save money in one area, while obliviously wasting it in another. 

For one thing, Bridget refuses to use the same towel more than once before washing it.  Bridget also insists on buying little paper sippy-cups  for when she brushes her teeth, instead of using her perfectly good set of cupped hands (that are FREE upon birth).  It's like living with my grandmother, only twice as neurotic.  It's equally amusing and frustrating to witness, yet all-together awesome for making fun of her.

And while the total cost of sippy-cups and towels might not hold up to the expense of powering the air conditioner for a day - in Florida, what is more essential?  Step outside for a moment if you're having any trouble with that question, because methinks the answer is "A/C"!  I don't put my foot down on many things, but when it comes to comfort cost is simply not an issue.  Truth be told, I'd even invest in a new fan for my bedroom if I didn't think I'd electrocute myself in the process of installing it...