I cranked out my first loaf of sourdough today from my starter. It turned out just OK. It was just basic bread. If I was hungry, I would eat it. I will probably eat it anyway. I was a little confused as to the final process of making a quality product, but I assumed it would take a few experiments right out of the gate. Turns out I was right. My loaf, was too flat. It did rise properly, but I flattened it out, planning to let it rise again, but I sort of ran out of time. Next time, I will bake upon the first rise, when the leavening is at its peak. I may also add a bit of honey to the mix. I did not photograph the process, but I will try and remember to do so on subsequent loafage.

Ok, I converted all the light bulbs in my house to compact fluorescent bulbs. Also, I added a programmable thermostat, and programmed it to only be cool in the evenings while I am here enjoying the space. Any time that I am not at home, the house does not need to be as cool, so now it won't be. These two things, I believe, will save me quite a bit on money on electricity bills, which in turns helps me achieve my debt reduction goals.

On the topic of saving money, I made an attempt to go shopping at Sam's in an effort to bulk in bulk, and save money. It did not work out well at all. I found that almost everything I normally purchase at my normal grocer is either the same price, or in a majority of the cases more expensive. There were certainly things that were cheaper such as light bulbs, spray oil (Pam), kitty litter, rice, coffee, and a few other of my regular items, but I am not really sure that the price is good enough to offset the pain in the ass of going to there in the first place. I may schedule a trip there once a month for these few items, since it is between my work and my home, but I certainly will not return for normal groceries on my usual Saturday shopping adventure.

I also took a stab at using coupons. The problem.. no coupons for anything I buy, and it defeats the purpose to buy things I don't want or need simply because I have a coupon. After a couple of experiments, I have found the best way (at least in my scenario) to save money on the grocery bill is to buy my normal stuff, then when my normal stuff is on sale, buy more. Its that simple.

As part of my attempt to lower overall household costs, I also did an energy audit of some of the devices in my house. This was quite interesting. To do the testing, I used a P3 International "Kill A Watt" device, which you plug into the wall, then plug your item into it, and it measure how much electricity is being used. Here are a few of my findings:

My computer. We will say it is an average computer. To be honest, my computer is brand new and has the thinnest and least power consuming processor available. So you can add a little to the figures to work out your own shit if you'd like. In an average month, my computer costs $12.42 to run. Now, that is running 24/7 non stop. I have been in the IT field all my life, I can assure you that your computer hardware is MUCH better off running 24/7 than shutting it down each time you get done with it. Plus, I would have to turn mine on and off probably 25 times a day if I did that. Anyway, $12.4 a month.

My living room TV. It is on 12 hours a day, and off 12 hours a day. This costs me $12.18 a month. I leave the TV on a lot. Well, I did until I was done with my audit. Since I started the experiment to cut costs, it is only on for about 5 hours a day, only while I am actively watching it. It does still cost money to run the TV while it is "turned off" (by TV, I really mean the full entertainment system, including satellite receivers, tuner, etc..). At 12 hours per day turned off, it costs $1.85. so leaving it off more still costs money, but not near as much as while it is on.

My bedroom TV. This ones only on 2 hours per day. This comes out to $4.86 cents a month, only 80 cents of which is from the 2 hours it is on. Unplugging it from the wall when not in use is not realistic, so this really cannot be avoided.

Fish tank. This runs 24/7 as well, so the fish don't die. This tank is a really basic setup. Two power heads, a heater element, a light, which is rarely on, and a decent sized canister filter. The total for the month comes out to $2.58, but hey, fish are fun!

Refrigerator. Obviously runs 24/7. This costs $11.81 a month. Necessary evil. BUT! Here is the stupid part. The damn thing uses 175 watts average. This is about the same as a desktop computer. Now, when you open the door, it kicks up to 255 Watt, then when you open the other door, it kicks up to a whopping 335 watts!!!! Turns out, my refrigerator has a total of 4, 40 watt light bulbs in it. I could lower my cost per month by unscrewing a couple, or not leaving the door open as long. Right now, I am investigating LED bulbs to replace the standard incandescent ones.

These 5 items alone costs me $43.84 a month. My average electricity bill from April to May runs about $148. I cannot wait to see how much less it is this month with the new bulbs, thermostat, and turning shit off more. If it is not considerably less, then at least I can say I tried. If it is a substantial amount less, I shall preach the gospel of saving energy, and look for other ways of cutting back my consumption.

PUSSY!