Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[TomTX]

My latest Mustachian People Problem is that I feel sad that Heather in Ottawa hasn’t logged in since 2016, and therefore probably doesn’t know her thread is at 136 pages and still going strong.

If you click on her name, then on her page you click on the envelope icon - you can send her an email. Presuming she uses the same email address.

[never give up]

That's a cunning plan TomTX. I'm worried I may sound a bit weird though. "Hi you don't know me. I'm a total stranger from the UK but I've just posted in the Mustachian People Problems (just for fun) thread and it's now 136 pages long. If you haven't read it since 2016 you have a lot of catching up to do. Hope you're well. Thanks again for starting an epic thread. Regards never give up and others from the MMM forums"

[TomTX]

That's a cunning plan TomTX. I'm worried I may sound a bit weird though. "Hi you don't know me. I'm a total stranger from the UK but I've just posted in the Mustachian People Problems (just for fun) thread and it's now 136 pages long. If you haven't read it since 2016 you have a lot of catching up to do. Hope you're well. Thanks again for starting an epic thread. Regards never give up and others from the MMM forums"

Well - if it makes you feel less weird - I already sent her an email! ;)

[never give up]

Haha nice one! You'll have to let us know what she says.

[LennStar]

What concerns me is that over the last 2-3 years, it has become much more acceptable in my social circle to be sceptical of climate change, renewable energy etc. And those 'sceptics' have one argument they keep on repeating and that they are completely right about: there is no perfect solution for the energy transition yet. They are right, there isn't one completely perfect solution and we're unlikely to find it ever. But one thing I can also tell you, is that all of these options are better than just continuing to use fossil fuels until we run out of them.

"There is no perfect solution" is about the stupidest thing ever.

Back when the world started to electrify, they were very far away from perfect. There even was a "war" between AC and DC proponents, culminating in the invention of electrical death sentence - Edison (DC) wanted to show how dangerous AC is to kill off not only criminals but also his competition, and proposed eletrocution.

And Japan has even today 2 seperate electric grids - one with 50Hz (like Europe)  and with 60 Hz (US). Why?
Because when it all started, Japanese bought two generators, one in the US and one from Berlin. And since Japan after WWII produced basically all electric household stuff of the world, it is normal that a microwave you buy here in Germany can also work with 60Hz. Isn't history strange?

[BicycleB]

Off the back of this discussion, I wonder if anyone can point me to any accessible resources/discussions about what a genuinely sustainable lifestyle/level of consumption looks like. I'm thinking about something like One Planet Development in Wales (http://www.oneplanetcouncil.org.uk/) but obviously you can't give every person on the planet a plot of land and expect them and society to make a living from it.

So, for example, what IS a reasonable individual allocation of energy consumption? I'd love to read more about opinions on this.

Just got back from a town hall on climate, where I finally heard of an apparently fabulous book called "Drawdown / The Most Comprehensive Book Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming", compiled by Paul Hawken. Its thesis is that by implementing multiple approaches with known technology, we can actually reverse global warming - that we have the power to do this. The book lists 80 techniques and includes some estimation of each technique's impact, apparently.

Since some of the approaches are individual, one way to estimate a reasonable allocation would be to figure out a life that applies the individual approaches, then determine how much energy consumption that life would entail. You could use UCBerkeley's Cool Climate calculator for the calculation, probably.

https://www.drawdown.org/the-book
https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator

I am thrilled to have more direct leverage on this issue than I thought. My MPP is that this topic risks a thread derail, but it's too exciting not to reply to!

[lazycow]

Mine is such a pissy little problem, but I made a double lot of pea and ham soup over winter, thinking I was rocking the batch cooking. The family decided they didn't like it any more, so I have to now eat the whole  big container I defrosted today over the week, as I didn't store it in individual servings.

[shelivesthedream]

Off the back of this discussion, I wonder if anyone can point me to any accessible resources/discussions about what a genuinely sustainable lifestyle/level of consumption looks like. I'm thinking about something like One Planet Development in Wales (http://www.oneplanetcouncil.org.uk/) but obviously you can't give every person on the planet a plot of land and expect them and society to make a living from it.

So, for example, what IS a reasonable individual allocation of energy consumption? I'd love to read more about opinions on this.

Just got back from a town hall on climate, where I finally heard of an apparently fabulous book called "Drawdown / The Most Comprehensive Book Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming", compiled by Paul Hawken. Its thesis is that by implementing multiple approaches with known technology, we can actually reverse global warming - that we have the power to do this. The book lists 80 techniques and includes some estimation of each technique's impact, apparently.

Since some of the approaches are individual, one way to estimate a reasonable allocation would be to figure out a life that applies the individual approaches, then determine how much energy consumption that life would entail. You could use UCBerkeley's Cool Climate calculator for the calculation, probably.

https://www.drawdown.org/the-book
https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator

I am thrilled to have more direct leverage on this issue than I thought. My MPP is that this topic risks a thread derail, but it's too exciting not to reply to!

Thanks! This looks great! I'm reading through the online summaries and finding them really interesting.

(I guess people can PM me if they want to recommend stuff but don't want to to derail the thread.)

[Sibley]

Mine is such a pissy little problem, but I made a double lot of pea and ham soup over winter, thinking I was rocking the batch cooking. The family decided they didn't like it any more, so I have to now eat the whole  big container I defrosted today over the week, as I didn't store it in individual servings.

Unless your family members are exclusively adults, I would vote that you feed them dinner and they can either eat it or not. I ate a lot of split pea soup, tomato soup, sausage pie, and Brussels sprouts as a kid. I can't stand anyone of them, and never could.

[APowers]

Mine is such a pissy little problem, but I made a double lot of pea and ham soup over winter, thinking I was rocking the batch cooking. The family decided they didn't like it any more, so I have to now eat the whole  big container I defrosted today over the week, as I didn't store it in individual servings.

Unless your family members are exclusively adults, I would vote that you feed them dinner and they can either eat it or not. I ate a lot of split pea soup, tomato soup, sausage pie, and Brussels sprouts as a kid. I can't stand anyone of them, and never could.

+1 for "well, that's what's for dinner, like it or lump it." It's not like you're trying to serve them mealworm alfredo.

I have reduced my meal-planning/prep stress by about 50% by planning a reasonably tasty menu, and shifting to a "I'm sorry you don't like it, but this is what's for dinner. If you don't eat it, you will be very hungry later" mealtime rule instead of trying to accommodate endlessly shifting tastes.

[Sugaree]

We can't put wind parks everywhere, but we can put them in some places with lots of wind and not many inhabitants (I can't speak from experience, but apart from the shade they are said to be noisy as well). Those other locations might be much better suited for solar or hydro energy or sources of renwable energy we haven't even discovered yet. On top of that, we need to find ways to reduce energy consumption and I think if everyone put in a little bit of effort, we could already reduce our energy consumption by so much at the current level of technology.

The first protest referenced in that article was a particularly dumb one. They were protesting offshore turbines.

Not only does nobody live nearby to bother, they act as nurseries for fish by keeping out commercial trawlers net fishing, noticeably improving fish stocks in the general area. Recreational fishing is still fine around the turbines (ie, a few people in a boat with some lines) - but by keeping out the huge nets, fish can repopulate - and then the extra population spills out into areas which can be commercially fished, increasing their take as well.

Not to mention providing the hard substrate that a lot of species of fish need to reproduce.  The oil rigs in the gulf are a good example of this.

[lazycow]

Met a friend for a beach swim and forgot to bring my  bathers, so swam in my bra and knickers. But had to spend the afternoon running errands in just my dress as my underwear was wet.

[Linea_Norway]

I forgot to bring a new role of biscuits to work. I ate up my last ones yesterday and today I have a very hungry day. My lunch is already eaten, as well as 2 (small) bananas that work provides. If I stay hungry (very likely), I might need to buy something at the cafetaria.

[SwordGuy]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

[LennStar]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

Your daughter has adopted a grandmother??? *very confused look*

[BicycleB]

^SwordGuy's entire family is having FIRE adventures!

[gaja]

Why? Isn't gas cheaper?
 Does most of you electric come from clean nuclear energy and you want to go green, that's fine, I just want to know, why?

In many areas which have good resources, it's cheaper to build a wind farm than it is to just buy the fuel for a natural gas plant. Just run the natural gas plant when there isn't enough wind.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/wind-power-prices-now-lower-than-the-cost-of-natural-gas/

Note that's based on 2018 data - prices continue to decline.

Although I agree with the greener pastures of engery generation, a lot of my co-habitants in Europe do not: https://earther.gizmodo.com/anti-wind-farm-activism-is-sweeping-europe-and-the-us-c-1829627812

And yes, I'm guessing I'd have issues with a windfarm close to my house but the sites these people are terrorizing are faily distant from housing so they only thing they should see is some blades turning in the distance...

Yeah, these stories are way overblown in the media and usually trace back to just a handful of people. I note that they don't have a single picture of an actual protest, and it only takes one guy to set fire to a couple tires in front of police. But Gizmodo can make it sound way dramatic and get clicks.

The fossil fuel industry has been funding fake grassroots groups ("Astroturfing") to slow anything with renewable energy. For decades. They also sabotaged early-modern electric car efforts via battery patents. The battery patents for the batteries used for the GM EV1 (later, better, almost practical version) ended up with ChevronTexaco, who did precisely nothing with it. Practical electric cars were forced to wait for prices to come down on Lithium rechargeables - the first being the Tesla Roadster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_encumbrance_of_large_automotive_NiMH_batteries

The exact same technique of astroturfing was used for tobacco, to keep it in use (and making billions in profits) as long as possible.

Before that, the exact same technique was used for lead in gasoline (much cheaper to add tetraethyl lead than improve octane safely)

Et cetera.

The fossil industry is raking $5 Billion every DAY, and has trillions in assets which will dramatically drop in value as we reduce fossil fuel use.

Throwing a few million into astroturfing is an immensely profitable "investment" - one day of net delay, $5 Billion.

Trump is mentioned in the article - fossil fuel interests (especially coal) have been pouring money over to him.

https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/climate-denial-machine-how-fossil-fuel-industry-blocks-climate-action

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/how-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-used-astroturf-front-groups-confuse-public

If you don't know better, you think that regular citizens are just speaking up - when in fact they're being paid by Big Fossil to do so.

There are large protests against wind power in Norway now, and although I love windmills and renewable electricity, I agree with the protesters. And I am quite certain they are legit grass root, and not astroturf, since these are led by legit environmentalists that I know well from years back, and their arguments are consistent and well balanced (they do not support fossil energy, but want focus on energy efficiency and renovation of hydro power). The reason I support the protesters: 
1) We already produce 110 % of the electricity we need in Norway, everything is from hydro and other renewable sources. The wind power is all for export, to aid Europe in their transition to renewable energy. And to earn money. It is always nice to add some more energy income to the national savings, but it is not really worth it for the economic side only. We have lost enough waterfalls to get renewable energy, now other people can do their part.
2) The investors are not local, and very little money goes back to the community. We don't even tax them very much.
3) Large scale wind farms are being proposed and built in untouched nature. I very much disagree with the notion that we should place wind mills in areas with little people. We have so very little wilderness left, and we need to protect nature more than people. Why not build windmills along all European motorways, in all industrial areas, and in all harbours?

With that said and done, I will be working to get more windpower built in the area where I currently live (south Norway), but in the industrialized parts and along the motorways. We are close enough to the Swedish and Danish borders that electricity export makes sense, and more cheap electricity could lead to new industries being built.


And as to @Imma's original plan to switch from gas to electricity: good plan, unless you have access to biogas. There are a lot of biogas plants in the Netherlands that are struggling now because the subsidy schemes have changed. Closing those down would lead to increased emissions of methane.


--------------------
BTW: could the resistance to more renewable energy in Norway be considered a Mustachian Country Problem?

[NV Teacher]

Accidentally overpaid my cc this month.  Meant to pay $1070 and actually paid $1700.  Not a big deal because the extra money was headed to my saving account.  Next month my cc bill will be much lower and I'll put the extra into savings.  At another point in my life this would have caused some pretty serious panic.  Glad those days are long behind me.

[SwordGuy]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

Your daughter has adopted a grandmother??? *very confused look*

Our daughter has Down syndrome.  None of the "real" grandparents or step-grandparents involved ever gave a damn about her.
The only one that's still living only bothered to learn how to say her name correctly a year ago.  Our daughter was born in 1973.   Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

We have a wonderful lady who is her caregiver during the workday.   She's been taking care of our daughter for a over a dozen years and she (and her whole family) treat our daughter as family.   So our daughter adopted her as her grandmother.   We endorse her choice wholeheartedly.

[SwordGuy]

^SwordGuy's entire family is having FIRE adventures!

Yeah, we are.  It's been an interesting 1 1/2 years.  I left out my wife and I being sick as dogs for a month with some kind of crud, my wife's injured ankle and knee (two separate injuries at separate times) that both put her in wheel chair, our daughter's broken leg that put her in a wheel chair (same time as her mom!) from a totally separate incident, 3 of my teeth that decided to go walkabout and had to be replaced, and a couple of HVAC systems that had to be replaced in our rentals -- because those weren't really MPPs...   Oh, yeah, and my wife's upcoming cataract surgery.

Less adventure for the next year would make SwordGuy a much more relaxed fellow...  :)

[TomTX]

There are large protests against wind power in Norway now, and although I love windmills and renewable electricity, I agree with the protesters. And I am quite certain they are legit grass root, and not astroturf, since these are led by legit environmentalists that I know well from years back, and their arguments are consistent and well balanced (they do not support fossil energy, but want focus on energy efficiency and renovation of hydro power). The reason I support the protesters: 
1) We already produce 110 % of the electricity we need in Norway, everything is from hydro and other renewable sources. The wind power is all for export, to aid Europe in their transition to renewable energy. And to earn money. It is always nice to add some more energy income to the national savings, but it is not really worth it for the economic side only. We have lost enough waterfalls to get renewable energy, now other people can do their part.
2) The investors are not local, and very little money goes back to the community. We don't even tax them very much.
3) Large scale wind farms are being proposed and built in untouched nature. I very much disagree with the notion that we should place wind mills in areas with little people. We have so very little wilderness left, and we need to protect nature more than people. Why not build windmills along all European motorways, in all industrial areas, and in all harbours?

With that said and done, I will be working to get more windpower built in the area where I currently live (south Norway), but in the industrialized parts and along the motorways. We are close enough to the Swedish and Danish borders that electricity export makes sense, and more cheap electricity could lead to new industries being built.

Sounds very reasonable.

[Dicey]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

Your daughter has adopted a grandmother??? *very confused look*

Our daughter has Down syndrome.  None of the "real" grandparents or step-grandparents involved ever gave a damn about her.
The only one that's still living only bothered to learn how to say her name correctly a year ago.  Our daughter was born in 1973.   Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

We have a wonderful lady who is her caregiver during the workday.   She's been taking care of our daughter for a over a dozen years and she (and her whole family) treat our daughter as family.   So our daughter adopted her as her grandmother.   We endorse her choice wholeheartedly.

Oh, that breaks my heart. If I lived in your vicinity, I'd put myself up for grandma adoption so she could have an extra one.

[RelaxedGal]

Paid off our house today, because we want to move our investments into a "more conservative" direction and 2.5% beats current bond yields; and we're probably taking the standard deduction this year anyways.

My MPP: I'm excited, but I can't tell my coworkers without major jealousy.  So I have to tell you guys - and call my parents when I get home tonight.

[kanga1622]

Paid off our house today, because we want to move our investments into a "more conservative" direction and 2.5% beats current bond yields; and we're probably taking the standard deduction this year anyways.

My MPP: I'm excited, but I can't tell my coworkers without major jealousy.  So I have to tell you guys - and call my parents when I get home tonight.

I felt the same way. Such a huge milestone and makes our lives more flexible when big bills pop up in a random month. But definitely not information I really want to share with coworkers or really much of anyone.

[Linea_Norway]

Paid off our house today, because we want to move our investments into a "more conservative" direction and 2.5% beats current bond yields; and we're probably taking the standard deduction this year anyways.

My MPP: I'm excited, but I can't tell my coworkers without major jealousy.  So I have to tell you guys - and call my parents when I get home tonight.

I felt the same way. Such a huge milestone and makes our lives more flexible when big bills pop up in a random month. But definitely not information I really want to share with coworkers or really much of anyone.

I have one coworker who once bragged about having paid down his mortgage. He was asking other people whether they still had a mortgage. He didn't ask me, so I didn't tell him that I don't have it.
Earlier this person had an issue with being adicted to gamling on the stock market, also with very negative results. And I still get the impression that he very often, if not most of the time, looks at his stash in the stock market.

[Barbaebigode]

I work in the public sector (not US) and my employer has a scholarship program that refunds 60% of the cost of post graduate programs that employees take that are related to their work. So I paid upfront for a 10 month long program that costed about 4500, since the 10 month payment option would cost about 8000, thinking I would save both personal and public money. Today I went to the HR to deliver all the paperwork and was informed that they only refund monthly payments because they want to be sure that the applicants will stick to the classes. They even mentioned that my case was the first they ever saw of someone that paid upfront, so they weren't sure on how to proceed. I told them that I accept being refunded after the post graduate program is finished and now I'm waiting the HR boss to come back from vacations so he can decide if they can do that.

[SwordGuy]

I work in the public sector (not US) and my employer has a scholarship program that refunds 60% of the cost of post graduate programs that employees take that are related to their work. So I paid upfront for a 10 month long program that costed about 4500, since the 10 month payment option would cost about 8000, thinking I would save both personal and public money. Today I went to the HR to deliver all the paperwork and was informed that they only refund monthly payments because they want to be sure that the applicants will stick to the classes. They even mentioned that my case was the first they ever saw of someone that paid upfront, so they weren't sure on how to proceed. I told them that I accept being refunded after the post graduate program is finished and now I'm waiting the HR boss to come back from vacations so he can decide if they can do that.

If they won't, then ask the school to refund your money and allow you to pay them $8000 in monthly payments instead.  You'll come out ahead and your HR department can eat some crow.   Might make them wiser next time.

[frugalnacho]

I work in the public sector (not US) and my employer has a scholarship program that refunds 60% of the cost of post graduate programs that employees take that are related to their work. So I paid upfront for a 10 month long program that costed about 4500, since the 10 month payment option would cost about 8000, thinking I would save both personal and public money. Today I went to the HR to deliver all the paperwork and was informed that they only refund monthly payments because they want to be sure that the applicants will stick to the classes. They even mentioned that my case was the first they ever saw of someone that paid upfront, so they weren't sure on how to proceed. I told them that I accept being refunded after the post graduate program is finished and now I'm waiting the HR boss to come back from vacations so he can decide if they can do that.

Ok, so you have a monthly payment of $4,500 that only lasted one month.

Also that's an insane price difference for paying up front. 

[Sibley]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

[BTDretire]

Met a friend for a beach swim and forgot to bring my  bathers, so swam in my bra and knickers. But had to spend the afternoon running errands in just my dress as my underwear was wet.

Now that's an exciting start! Or was that the end?  :-)

[BTDretire]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

 I could easily have $250 in to our dryer, except I'm a DIYer. I had to install a new belt years ago, then a heater wire and another time an over temp thermostat.
 Always kinda fun because my wife thinks I'm a hero and there's not much in a dryer, so they are pretty easy.
 Recently the washer would not finish a load, together (cause I didn't have enough hands) we unfroze a bearing in the washer, this made it work properly for 4 loads and then it started again. So then I replaced the suspension springs, now it has been weeks and it still works.
 PS. Have your repair guy give you some training, that and Youtube will get a lot done. If that interests you.

[mrmoonymartian]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

There's a high likelihood your fincances and the environment would be better off with a newer, more efficient one. Have you looked at how much power it is using? Newer doesn't mean it has to be brand new.

[Freedomin5]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

My dryer is a clothesline. I’m not handy, so a clothesline breaking is something I can definitely fix. Only cost a couple dollars for a new line (or zero dollars if I find a way to just knot the line), good for the environment, and cheap!

[ysette9]

We are live drying for now but the rain is coming shortly and our dryer is broken. The repair guy didn’t recommend repairing it due to cost and it not being a quality machine to begin with.

So I’m price shopping now while convincing my husband that we are not going to wait a month to see if sales then might be better. Our situation is probably different though as we have three little kids, including an newborn at home, and do laundry every day right now.

[Dicey]

Paid off our house today, because we want to move our investments into a "more conservative" direction and 2.5% beats current bond yields; and we're probably taking the standard deduction this year anyways.

My MPP: I'm excited, but I can't tell my coworkers without major jealousy.  So I have to tell you guys - and call my parents when I get home tonight.

Congratulations! That's a huge milestone.

[BTDretire]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

There's a high likelihood your finances and the environment would be better off with a newer, more efficient one. Have you looked at how much power it is using? Newer doesn't mean it has to be brand new.

  I don't think new dryers are anymore efficient than old ones. I'm talking about electric, I'm not sure about gas although, I'm not finding any break out either.
  The only thing that I found mentioned that could cause them to use less electricity, is have a moisture sensor that turns the machine off when clothes are dry. But when I dry, I usually keep pretty close track so I can get my shirts out just before they are dry.
 I did find this, "Newer dryers are no more efficient than old ones, which is why the federal Energy Star program doesn't rate them."

[LennStar]

Paid off our house today, because we want to move our investments into a "more conservative" direction and 2.5% beats current bond yields;

Haha yeah.
I was just looking if it makes sense to put my auto savings into dividends oriented indexes, because the f**** stock crash has to come now!!! (I think we are already on the longest "boom" since WW2). Don't let me wait any longer!

Putting the fun aside, even the "normal" DAX (German index) ETFs are above 2% dividends, the divDax a bit under 3%.

Bonds are doing... 1%? And will likely drop like a stone in price if the % rise.

Even expexting a stock crash - buying bonds looks so stupid!

[Linea_Norway]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

There's a high likelihood your finances and the environment would be better off with a newer, more efficient one. Have you looked at how much power it is using? Newer doesn't mean it has to be brand new.

  I don't think new dryers are anymore efficient than old ones. I'm talking about electric, I'm not sure about gas although, I'm not finding any break out either.
  The only thing that I found mentioned that could cause them to use less electricity, is have a moisture sensor that turns the machine off when clothes are dry. But when I dry, I usually keep pretty close track so I can get my shirts out just before they are dry.
 I did find this, "Newer dryers are no more efficient than old ones, which is why the federal Energy Star program doesn't rate them."

Old dryers blow the warm, moist air outside of the building. Modern condensation dryings keep the air in the machine and put the water into a drawer. At least the warmth is kept i to the house. Important in a cold country in winter time.

[PMG]

My recent MMP is also laundry related.  I'm in the middle of a multi week work project that I need to wear "paint clothes" for 5 days a week.  I've got 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts. I get dirty enough that I can't rewear things, and I can't wash paint clothes in with my partners nicer clothes.  So, that's two extra loads of laundry per week.  I could fix it by buying more clothes, and that's my dilemma. It's just a temporary project!  I don't need more clothes!  But it seems so wasteful to do two extra loads of laundry each week!

And now it is raining all weekend. We always air dry. We just check the weather and wait a day or two to do laundry if we need to. But I don't have that option with my paint clothes!  There is a dryer in this rental.  We often complain about how much space it takes up and wish we could get rid of it, but I guess I'll be using it this weekend. 

[mrmoonymartian]

My dryer broke, for the 3rd time. Everyone says "get a new one".

Except: it was free! I'm about $250 into it so far. And it was built in 1992. This thing is a tank. So unless the repair guy tells me its terminal (and he would, he did it for the washer), I'm fixing it. And I keep getting weird looks from everyone.

There's a high likelihood your finances and the environment would be better off with a newer, more efficient one. Have you looked at how much power it is using? Newer doesn't mean it has to be brand new.

  I don't think new dryers are anymore efficient than old ones. I'm talking about electric, I'm not sure about gas although, I'm not finding any break out either.
  The only thing that I found mentioned that could cause them to use less electricity, is have a moisture sensor that turns the machine off when clothes are dry. But when I dry, I usually keep pretty close track so I can get my shirts out just before they are dry.
 I did find this, "Newer dryers are no more efficient than old ones, which is why the federal Energy Star program doesn't rate them."

Old dryers blow the warm, moist air outside of the building. Modern condensation dryings keep the air in the machine and put the water into a drawer. At least the warmth is kept i to the house. Important in a cold country in winter time.

Looks like that is the 'heat pump' type, which is apparently 20-60% more efficient.

https://www.energystar.gov/products/appliances/clothes_dryers?qt-consumers_product_tab=2#qt-consumers_product_tab

[Dicey]

My recent MMP is also laundry related.  I'm in the middle of a multi week work project that I need to wear "paint clothes" for 5 days a week.  I've got 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts. I get dirty enough that I can't rewear things, and I can't wash paint clothes in with my partners nicer clothes.  So, that's two extra loads of laundry per week.  I could fix it by buying more clothes, and that's my dilemma. It's just a temporary project!  I don't need more clothes!  But it seems so wasteful to do two extra loads of laundry each week!

And now it is raining all weekend. We always air dry. We just check the weather and wait a day or two to do laundry if we need to. But I don't have that option with my paint clothes!  There is a dryer in this rental.  We often complain about how much space it takes up and wish we could get rid of it, but I guess I'll be using it this weekend.

Sometimes I blow up the page to make the font bigger. It means I can read the text more easily while I'm lolling in bed, but I can't see who wrote it. My first thought was "It's thrift store time." Then I moved the page to see the author. #nevermind and #preachingtothechoir, lol. I know you'll figure out a creative and super cost-effective solution..

BTW, my fave thrift store has everything 75% off today before they close to prep for the season changeover.  Not sure if I'll even bother to go. Don't really need anything...

[Alfred J Quack]

And as to @Imma's original plan to switch from gas to electricity: good plan, unless you have access to biogas. There are a lot of biogas plants in the Netherlands that are struggling now because the subsidy schemes have changed. Closing those down would lead to increased emissions of methane.


--------------------
BTW: could the resistance to more renewable energy in Norway be considered a Mustachian Country Problem?

Biogas does nothing for the CO2 crisis since it still burns something to generate power. But why would the closure of such plants lead to increased methane release? Yes, some of the matter burned is methane but most of it is mainly replantable forest wood which is basically the same as burning charcoal.

And no, I don't think that the cons of windmills are a mustachian problem. People are protective of their assets in general, probably even more so when they are deep in debt because of them.
A windmill 50 yards from your house will have impact on its price but likely also on your pleasure living there. The sounds/noise from it as well as the constant shadow playing on your windows can be very annoying, and if you are susceptible it can likely affect you phisically.

[Alfred J Quack]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

Your daughter has adopted a grandmother??? *very confused look*

Our daughter has Down syndrome.  None of the "real" grandparents or step-grandparents involved ever gave a damn about her.
The only one that's still living only bothered to learn how to say her name correctly a year ago.  Our daughter was born in 1973.   Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

We have a wonderful lady who is her caregiver during the workday.   She's been taking care of our daughter for a over a dozen years and she (and her whole family) treat our daughter as family.   So our daughter adopted her as her grandmother.   We endorse her choice wholeheartedly.

Oh, that breaks my heart. If I lived in your vicinity, I'd put myself up for grandma adoption so she could have an extra one.

If you were in my region I'd offer my son too, but my was very accepting after the initial bout of despondency at the diagnosis.

My dad, if anything, was more accepting at first than with my other son. May also be because my granddad (his dad) passed away not too long before that and he considered it his job to welcome him to the family...

[gaja]

And as to @Imma's original plan to switch from gas to electricity: good plan, unless you have access to biogas. There are a lot of biogas plants in the Netherlands that are struggling now because the subsidy schemes have changed. Closing those down would lead to increased emissions of methane.

Biogas does nothing for the CO2 crisis since it still burns something to generate power. But why would the closure of such plants lead to increased methane release? Yes, some of the matter burned is methane but most of it is mainly replantable forest wood which is basically the same as burning charcoal.

Biogas is very rarely made from wood (i know only one plant in Europe, and that is a Swedish test fascility based on "garbage" from forestry that would otherwise be left to rot. It is being closed down now). The most common source is waste: manure, food waste, and human waste. If these things are left to rot on their own, they release methane. Passing them through a biogas reactor, you collect the methane for energy purposes. By burning this methane, you reduce the GHG effect by a factor of about 24. If it replaces a fossil fuel, even better. EU's REDII, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian research articles all show that if biogas is produced from waste and used to replace fossil fuels, the reduction in GHG emissions is more than 100 %. How much more depends on the source, how the manure is stored, whether the food waste would otherwise be left to rot or would be burned (with or without energy used for district heating), if there are any methane emissions from the production plant, pipes or engines, etc. But a negative 170 % is not uncommon. 

In some countries, where they have had very high feed-in tariffs, people have grown maize and other foodstuff to make biogass. That isn't sustainable, and should of course be phased out.

[RetiredAt63]

And as to @Imma's original plan to switch from gas to electricity: good plan, unless you have access to biogas. There are a lot of biogas plants in the Netherlands that are struggling now because the subsidy schemes have changed. Closing those down would lead to increased emissions of methane.

Biogas does nothing for the CO2 crisis since it still burns something to generate power. But why would the closure of such plants lead to increased methane release? Yes, some of the matter burned is methane but most of it is mainly replantable forest wood which is basically the same as burning charcoal.

Biogas is very rarely made from wood (i know only one plant in Europe, and that is a Swedish test fascility based on "garbage" from forestry that would otherwise be left to rot. It is being closed down now). The most common source is waste: manure, food waste, and human waste. If these things are left to rot on their own, they release methane. Passing them through a biogas reactor, you collect the methane for energy purposes. By burning this methane, you reduce the GHG effect by a factor of about 24. If it replaces a fossil fuel, even better. EU's REDII, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian research articles all show that if biogas is produced from waste and used to replace fossil fuels, the reduction in GHG emissions is more than 100 %. How much more depends on the source, how the manure is stored, whether the food waste would otherwise be left to rot or would be burned (with or without energy used for district heating), if there are any methane emissions from the production plant, pipes or engines, etc. But a negative 170 % is not uncommon. 

In some countries, where they have had very high feed-in tariffs, people have grown maize and other foodstuff to make biogass. That isn't sustainable, and should of course be phased out.

These can be quite efficient.  St. Michel in Montreal burns biogas collected from an old landfill.  This means the carbon would be in the atmosphere anyway as the landfill gave off the methane, but CO2 is a much weaker greenhouse gas.

http://eolectric.com/en/news/2017-10-16?1535446825

Farmers do this with manure too.

[Imma]

The biogas installations I personally know about all processed manure. I have always chosen energy suppliers who invest in biogas and compensate CO2 emissions by planting trees. Sometimes I doubt the effectiveness but it's better than nothing.

I believe the easiest way to reduce CO2 emissions in the short term is to simply reduce consumption, which is also the easiest thing to do for a private person. We have insulated walls + roof and double glass with heavy curtains to keep the cold out. My floor can't be insulated but we have a few heavy carpets and we don't walk around on our bare feet in winter. We put on a sweater when necessary. I have turned on the electric space heater a few times for a short period of time but we haven't yet turned on the central heating this season. I believe that most people can halve their energy consumption if they want to.

Re: wind farms, I don't believe they should be in urban areas but I also really don't think they should be in unspoiled natural areas (those are easier to find in Norway than in NL). When I say I believe they should be placed in locations where no one lives, I also meant locations like along a highway, as people don't tend to live there.

I don't think a single windmill in an urban area will have any negative influence on quality of life or house prices but I don't know how effective those are. Just the other day I was in one of the biggest cities in the country and they have a windmill in the middle of a newly built neighbourhood. I don't think anyone has experienced problems but of course it's only one.

I do believe people sometimes are too worried about the value of their home though. Many people oppose solar panels for the same reason but I"ve never heard anyone say they didn't buy a certain house because the neighbours have solar panels. I live pretty close to a main road and a trainstation which reduces my quality of life (due to noise and pollution) but they actually increase the value of my home. If we don't act I guess @Alfred J Quack both our homes will go up in value due to closer proximity to the beach...

[TomTX]

The biogas installations I personally know about all processed manure. I have always chosen energy suppliers who invest in biogas and compensate CO2 emissions by planting trees. Sometimes I doubt the effectiveness but it's better than nothing.

Hm. I wonder how much electricity could be produced if we turned sewer plants into biogas plants instead of just letting bacteria consume much of the waste and emit CO2.

[RetiredAt63]

The biogas installations I personally know about all processed manure. I have always chosen energy suppliers who invest in biogas and compensate CO2 emissions by planting trees. Sometimes I doubt the effectiveness but it's better than nothing.

Hm. I wonder how much electricity could be produced if we turned sewer plants into biogas plants instead of just letting bacteria consume much of the waste and emit CO2.

Methane comes from anaerobic decomposition. Other gases produced can be quite stinky.  Not an engineer but I suppose it could work.

Collecting methane from remediated landfills is already a known process.

[Linea_Norway]

We used up our ready cash buying (all paid in full) two low mileage used cars and two houses, one for charity and one for our daughter's adopted grandmother.    We'll have to budget very strictly for the next 6 months.

Your daughter has adopted a grandmother??? *very confused look*

Our daughter has Down syndrome.  None of the "real" grandparents or step-grandparents involved ever gave a damn about her.
The only one that's still living only bothered to learn how to say her name correctly a year ago.  Our daughter was born in 1973.   Pretty pathetic, isn't it?

We have a wonderful lady who is her caregiver during the workday.   She's been taking care of our daughter for a over a dozen years and she (and her whole family) treat our daughter as family.   So our daughter adopted her as her grandmother.   We endorse her choice wholeheartedly.

Oh, that breaks my heart. If I lived in your vicinity, I'd put myself up for grandma adoption so she could have an extra one.

If you were in my region I'd offer my son too, but my was very accepting after the initial bout of despondency at the diagnosis.

My dad, if anything, was more accepting at first than with my other son. May also be because my granddad (his dad) passed away not too long before that and he considered it his job to welcome him to the family...

Adopting a grandparent is an old habit. When I grew up, in my street, an elderly couple were the new grandparents for a young boy a few houses ahead. The boy didn't have any grandparents anymore.

But that the real grandparents don't want to known their own grandchild is so wrong.

[PMG]

My recent MMP is also laundry related.  I'm in the middle of a multi week work project that I need to wear "paint clothes" for 5 days a week.  I've got 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts. I get dirty enough that I can't rewear things, and I can't wash paint clothes in with my partners nicer clothes.  So, that's two extra loads of laundry per week.  I could fix it by buying more clothes, and that's my dilemma. It's just a temporary project!  I don't need more clothes!  But it seems so wasteful to do two extra loads of laundry each week!

And now it is raining all weekend. We always air dry. We just check the weather and wait a day or two to do laundry if we need to. But I don't have that option with my paint clothes!  There is a dryer in this rental.  We often complain about how much space it takes up and wish we could get rid of it, but I guess I'll be using it this weekend.

Sometimes I blow up the page to make the font bigger. It means I can read the text more easily while I'm lolling in bed, but I can't see who wrote it. My first thought was "It's thrift store time." Then I moved the page to see the author. #nevermind and #preachingtothechoir, lol. I know you'll figure out a creative and super cost-effective solution..

BTW, my fave thrift store has everything 75% off today before they close to prep for the season changeover.  Not sure if I'll even bother to go. Don't really need anything...

I think once I get through this coming week the work will be cleaner and I'll be able to rewear things.  It has been such a silly dilemma. I just don't want to buy more, have more, store more! I did buy a heavy thrift shop sweater so I don't have to worry about ruining my nice ones. I'm balancing keeping a small wardrobe, dirty work and trying to look at least a little put together when I show up at the office to turn in paperwork.  Shew. 

Many of my "problems" come when I am combining frugality with living in a very small home.  We need laundry detergent.  Haven't bought in 8 years?? What do buy!? Larger quantities are more cost effective, 100 loads should last us a year... but couldn't it be in a smaller container!?! Where am I supposed to put that massive bottle?